Researchers explore why stroke, heart disease hit some harder than others

New research at the Medical University of South Carolina will take aim at what one neurologist calls a “festering issue”: the fact that stroke has a more devastating effect on African-Americans and rural South Carolinians than whites and people in larger communities.

Neurologist Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., said that’s why it’s so gratifying for MUSC to receive a $4 million grant from the American Heart Association to study the problem. “The chance to tackle and have a better understanding of rural and racial disparities is really a terrific opportunity,” Ovbiagele said. He serves as chairman for the advisory committee guiding the research at MUSC.

The work will be part of the American Heart Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network on Disparities in Heart Disease and Stroke. The network also includes investigators from Morehouse School of Medicine, Northwestern University and the University of Colorado-Denver. The network will explore the differences that exist and improvements that need to be made when it comes to treating culturally diverse patients.

Nearly half of all African-American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease — 48 percent of women and 46 percent of men, according to the American Heart Association. The association will support the network with an investment of $15 million over four years.

Steven Houser, Ph.D., is chairman of the AHA’s research committee and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He said some Americans don’t have access to high-quality health care and suffer disproportionately from cardiovascular disease and stroke. “In this network, investigators will explore the basis of the disparities and work to identify solutions that improve the health of all Americans,” Houser said.

The MUSC team will focus on four areas. First, Robert Adams, M.D., will serve as program director for a project called Wide Spectrum Investigation of Stroke Outcome Disparities on Multiple Levels, or WISSDOM. It will bring together scientists from regenerative medicine, neuroscience and nursing to try to get a better understanding of why recovery from stroke is more difficult for African Americans.

Second, Gayenell Magwood, Ph.D., will act as principal investigator for a project called Community-Based Intervention Under Nurse Guidance After Stroke, or CINGS. Magwood, chairwoman of the Department of Nursing, and her team will look for ways to improve stroke recovery for African Americans. They’ll interview people who have had strokes along with their families, community leaders and public health experts. Then, they’ll use that information to create new ways of helping people recover from stroke and put the new methods to the test in a pilot study.

Third, Leo Bonilha, M.D., will lead a project called Influence of Pre-Morbid Brain Health on Stroke Recovery. Bonilha, who also serves as principal investigator of the Leo Bonilha Lab at MUSC, will work with a team to explore how a person’s health before a stroke affects recovery, looking at everything from brain tissue to heart problems to physical and mental activity.