COPENHAGEN, Denmark,
May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --
Globally, cardiovascular diseases due to atherosclerosis – the
build-up of plaque in arteries – are the leading cause of death. A
new Danish-Spanish research collaboration aims to develop methods
to detect atherosclerosis at earlier ages and encourage prevention.
Denmark's Novo Nordisk Foundation
has granted up to EUR 23 million to
cover the first 2.5 years of the REACT initiative. The
initiative is expected to run for 8 years in total.
One in three people around the world die from cardiovascular
disease, which is mainly caused by atherosclerosis. This makes
atherosclerosis the leading cause of death globally. Additionally,
many people live with serious manifestations of atherosclerosis,
for example, following a heart attack or a stroke. Atherosclerosis
not only represents a significant burden for these individuals, but
also a heavy burden on healthcare systems and societies in all
parts of the world.
"Atherosclerosis may develop from an early age and often remains
'silent', that is, without symptoms, for many years until it
suddenly hits, for example with a heart attack," says Dr.
Henning Bundgaard, Chief Physician
and Professor at the Department of Cardiology at Rigshospitalet,
Copenhagen, Denmark, and leader of
the project. "In REACT, we hope to identify new means to
detect atherosclerosis at earlier stages and at a younger age, that
is during the 'silent' period."
Aiming for precision treatment
REACT is a collaboration between Danish hospitals
and Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), a
Spanish research center, world-leading in imaging diagnostics for
atherosclerosis. CNIC and Rigshospitalet have collaborated for many
years on the development of new and better methods for early
detection of cardiovascular disease.
"At present, we use factors like blood pressure, cholesterol
levels, age, and lifestyle to estimate the risk of
atherosclerosis," says Dr. Borja Ibáñez, Scientific Director of
CNIC, cardiologist at Fundación Jiménez Díaz hospital, and leader
of the Spanish part of the study. "By contrast, REACT will develop
– at scale - methods to directly visualize the disease
(atherosclerosis)."
Today, the treatment of atherosclerosis is largely the same in
all cases, but the two professors anticipate a future with far
better, individually tailored precision treatment of many more
patients and from earlier ages.
A total of 16,000 individuals — 8,000 from each country — aged
20-70 will be included in the first phase of the project. The
program includes imaging of arteries in the neck and groin and of
the coronary arteries, as well as genetic analysis and blood
tests.
The goal is prevention
The purpose of the first phase of REACT is to establish
the prevalence of atherosclerosis in various sites in the body and
to identify optimal methods for detection of atherosclerosis – and
its risk factors – from an early age and at early stages, with the
ultimate goal to enable prevention early in the 'silent' phase.
Prevention may be pharmacological or involve lifestyle changes, the
exact method being dependent on the individual's risk profile.
"The study represents a shift in paradigm from the traditional
treatment of diseases to detection and prevention at early stages,
that is, before serious or potentially life-threatening disease
presents. At the Novo Nordisk Foundation, we strongly support this
development," says Martin Ridderstråle, Senior Vice President at
the Foundation.
"A crucial purpose of REACT is to find out who should be
recommended which type of treatment and when, or for that matter,
who should be advised against treatment: what we call precision
medicine."
Depending on the results of the first phase of REACT, the
next step – phase 2 – is to expand the collaboration and to
investigate if treatment of early-detected atherosclerosis is
effective and will prevent the many lives lost. This part of the
project would last 5.5 years.
Rigshospitalet is a highly specialised hospital that
serves all of Denmark, providing
treatment, research, innovation, and training at an international
level. Working with national and international healthcare
stakeholders, Rigshospitalet contributes to developing the overall
healthcare system so that all patients, irrespective of the rarity
or complexity of their illness, receive high-quality treatment.
The CNIC is an affiliate center of the Carlos III Health
Institute (ISCIII), an executive agency of the Spanish Ministry of
Science, Innovation, and Universities. Directed by Dr. Valentín
Fuster, the CNIC is dedicated to cardiovascular research and the
translation of the knowledge gained into real benefits for
patients. The CNIC has been recognized by the Spanish government as
a Severo Ochoa center of excellence
(award CEX2020-001041-S, funded by
MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). The center is financed through a
pioneering public-private partnership between the government
(through the ISCIII) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, which brings
together 12 of the most important Spanish private companies.
Established in Denmark in 1924,
the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with
philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to
improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the
planet. The Foundation's mission is to progress research and
innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and
infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions
to support a green transformation of society.
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