NOVEMBER 25, 1996
UNT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER PARTICIPATES IN MAJOR STUDY OF HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- Officials at the University of North Texas Health Science
Center at Fort Worth today (November 25, 1996) announced the institution's participation
in a major study of more than 8,000 patients in the U.S. and in Scandinavia
with hypertension and a type of heart enlargement known as left ventricular
hypertrophy (LVH).
The study will evaluate whether there are benefits of trying to reverse LVH, which afflicts some 13 million people in the U.S. The condition is often caused by chronic high blood pressure and is an important cardiac health risk factor.
Frederick A. Schaller, D.O., chief of cardiology and associate professor of medicine at
UNT Health Science Center, is the principal clinical investigator for the study. "We think this
project will help provide the medical community with a definitive answer to one of the most
important questions facing cardiology today: does attempting to reverse LVH help to reduce
deaths?", he said. Co-investigator of the study at UNT Health Science Center is Muriel Marshall,
D.O., associate professor of family medicine.
Medical evaluations, tests and medications associated with the study at UNT Health Science Center are free of charge to patients who volunteer to participate. The study --- called LIFE for Losartan Intervention For Endpoint --- is expected to continue for five years, Dr. Schaller said.
Persons interested in participating in the study or seeking additional information should call the UNT Health Science Center's Office of Clinical Research at (817) 735-0256.
In addition to the LIFE study, physicians and surgeons at the UNT Health Science Center are participating in some 20 other clinical research projects, including investigations into improved treatments for cervical disc disease, chronic pain, ulcers, stroke and arthritis.