FYI from the NHLBI Index
September 2000: Vol. 1, Issue 2
In the News
News from Capitol Hill
Recent Advances from the NHLBI
- Advisory for Treating Hypertension in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Could Affect Millions of Americans
- Researchers Discover Gene for Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Presidential Action Promotes Clinical Trials
The House and Senate have passed the fiscal year 2001 appropriations bills that include funding for the NHLBI.
The Senate gave the NIH a 15 percent increase over fiscal year 2000, with slightly more than $2.3 billion allotted to the NHLBI.
The House currently has allocated only enough funds to give the NIH a 5.6 percent increase, the same as President Clinton’s request.
At the 5.6 percent level, the House would give the NHLBI about $2.1 billion. However, the House remains committed to a 15 percent increase for the NIH
and is trying to find sufficient funding to provide it. If successful, the House, too, would provide somewhat more than $2.3 billion to the NHLBI.
Members of the House and Senate have negotiated a compromise bill that will be voted on by the full House and Senate after their August recess.
If approved, the bill will then be sent to the President for signature.
You can check the status of these bills online.
The
House and
Senate Appropriations Reports urged the NHLBI to give top priority to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to expand CVD research in women.
They expressed interest in asthma, the NHLBI Thalassemia Clinical Research Network, hemophilia gene therapy, and development of a workshop on
hypertension and kidney disease. The reports also encouraged studies of weight loss maintenance and examination of behaviors that influence obesity
and weight loss; basic research, gene therapy, and clinical trials of promising drugs for the treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension;
and research on innovative theories about behavioral, cultural, social, psychological, and environmental methods to increase adherence to lifestyle and
medical regimens.
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In May, the Journal of Clinical Hypertension published a clinical advisory from the NHLBI National
High Blood Pressure Education Program recommending that physicians be more aggressive in lowering the
blood pressure of patients who have both hypertension and diabetes. Both conditions are independent risk
factors for cardiovascular disease and coexist in over 5 million Americans.
Patients with both hypertension and diabetes should work with their physicians to lower their blood
pressures to 135/80 mm Hg. The goal blood pressure for a patient with hypertension but without diabetes
should be 140/90 mm Hg.
Two groups of scientists funded by the NHLBI have identified a genetic mutation associated with primary pulmonary hypertension
(PPH), a rare but devastating lung disease. The discoveries, published in Nature Genetics and the American Journal of Human Genetics,
provide new insights regarding the molecular basis of PPH and open new avenues for studying both familial and sporadic PPH.
Said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant, “This research is the culmination of nearly 20 years of work to identify possible immunologic
and genetic factors in the cause and progression of PPH. Now that we have pinpointed a gene, we can focus on learning how it works.
That information should enable us to devise better treatments and perhaps eventually a preventive therapy or cure.”
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On June 7, President Clinton issued an Executive Memorandum directing the Medicare program to (1)
reimburse providers for the cost of routine patient care associated with participation in clinical
trials and (2) to promote participation of Medicare beneficiaries in clinical trials for all diseases.
The full press release can be accessed online.
Please send us your feedback, comments, and questions by using the appropriate link on the page, Contact the NHLBI.
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