LECTURES

Ottawa Heart Institute Alumni Fall Lecture
October 19, 2005

"Genetic Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease"
Dr. Ruth McPherson
Director, Lipid Clinic
University of Ottawa Heart Institute

On October 19, 2005, Dr. Ruth McPherson, MD, PhD, FRCPC delivered a most enlightening lecture entitled "Genetic Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease". She covered a wide-ranging spectrum of topics including the state of the art of international research as well as the research that she is leading in the University of Ottawa Heart Institute's Lipid Clinic with collaborating partners in the US and beyond. Her research focuses on identifying risk factors for coronary heart disease and obesity.

Following her talk, Dr. McPherson accepts a thank you memento
from Alumni president Denny Doucette.

In a systematic fashion she traced the causes of coronary heart disease, from human genomes to personal lifestyle. The non-modifiable causes include: age, family history of heart disease, diabetes, and male sex, although both genders over 70 are facing a similar risk factor. The modifiable causes include smoking, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, excess weight, diets high in saturated or trans fat and cholesterol, chronic infections such as gingivitis, and insufficient exercise.

She raised the alarm about the significantly growing obesity of the North American population and the associated human and financial health care costs. She also emphasized that recent research studies indicate that the optimal level of cholesterol is much lower than that recommended in the past. She encouraged the audience to strive for an LDLcholesterol below 2.0 mmol/L, if they have a personal history of heart problems or diabetes.

Dr. McPherson outlined a series of remedies to combat heat disease both proactively to reduce the probability as well as to maintain a healthy lifestyle after an incident. These include:

• Statins as the most effective means of lowering cholesterol. It should be noted that such medications, albeit generally very safe, can occasionally have mild side-effects such as muscle cramps, sometimes responding to remedies such as CoQ10 supplementation.
  
  
• Walking as a simple form of "best exercise". Duration is seen to be more important than speed and vigour (especially for those who are taking any form of beta blockers); and
  
  
• Regular monitoring of cholesterol levels. Here the Lipid Clinic excels as it can conduct more sophisticated tests than many of the smaller laboratories.

At the conclusion of her well-attended speech, Dennis Doucette, President of the Alumni Board, congratulated Dr. McPherson for her devotion to research, furthering the reputation of the Institute, and sharing her experience and results.

Other Lectures