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Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004
Exeter Times Advocate
Groundbreaking study involves Exeter doctors
By Pat Bolen
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — Two
Exeter doctors are
involved in a ground-
breaking study on pre-
venting heart disease in
people with normal
cholesterol levels and
no previous history of
heart disease.
Doctors Jerome Jadd
and Krista Fatum are
part of the Jupiter
Study, which over the
next few years will
study around 15,000
people to see if choles-
terol lowering medica-
tions (statins) in men
and women with raised
levels of C-reactive pro-
tein (CRP) but with nor-
mal levels of LDL-cho-
lesterol (bad choles-
terol) and no apparent
cardiovascular disease.
The study was origi-
nated by Dr. Paul
Ridker, professor of
Medicine at Harvard
Medical School and
director of the centre
for Cardiovascular
Disease Prevention,
Brigham and Women's
Hospital, Boston, who
was named by Time
magazine this year as
one of the 100 most
influential people in the
world.
Ridker has been a
pioneer in studying one
of the biggest mysteries
of heart disease which
is if cholesterol is one
of the major contribu-
tors to heart disease,
why do half of all heart
attacks occur in people
with normal cholesterol
levels?
For the past 10 years
Ridker has looked at a
link between the infec-
tion fighting immune
system of the body and
heart disease with the
key possibly being the
inflammation process
by which the body
defends itself.
Just as when immune
cells are released when
viruses attack the body,
the same process
occurs when fat builds
up in plaques in heart
vessels.
Ridker measures
inflammation with a
specific indicator of the
process, which is CRP.
CRP can be measured
and is a reliable indica-
tor of how much
inflammation is occur-
ring in the heart and
how likely a heart
attack may be.
Jadd said the study
may change the
approach to heart dis-
ease treatment.
"It is the most excit-
ing study I've ever been
involved in, with hun-
dreds of thousands of
lives in the balance."
According to Jadd, the
study will involve
healthy people whose
only risk is elevated
CRP.
Half of the patients
will be placed on CRP
Crestor and half will be
011 placebos.
Crestor is not an
experimental drug and
has already been
approved for sale in
North America.
Study organizers will
have 500 to 600 sites
across North America
and are hoping to have
around 30 patients at
each site.
Jadd said while heart
disease studies are nor-
mally done in cardiolo-
gists' offices, they don't
see healthy patients,
which is why the study
is being done at the
family practice level.
The study will last
between three and half
and five years.
Jadd said he believes
it is unprecedented for
its size, with a normal
large study involving
4000 people and a
small study 400.
Organizers are look-
ing for men 55 or older
and women 65 or older
with no history of heart
attack or stroke.
The reason for the
age, according to Jadd,
is patients are entering
high risk levels times,
cutting down on the
time needed to do the
study, compared to
having participants
who are younger and
may not develop symp-
toms for several years.
Exeter doctors Krista Fatum and Jerome Jadd are involved in a study looking at
new ways to treat heart disease. (photo/PatBolen)
Those wishing to par-
ticipate in the study
will undergo initial
screening visits to
determine their eligibil-
ity.
If selected they will be
required to make two
brief clinic visits per
year for up to four
years.
They will also be
required to take one
study pill per day for
up to four years.
Jadd said patients are
interested in the study
and there has been a
good response for par-
ticipating.
New audiology services open at Gill Road Health Centre
GRAND BEND — A new service has opened in the
former medical clinic facility on Gill Road operated
by the Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre.
Hearing Health Services, Grand Bend will be open
Wednesdays each week to offer an audiology clinic
for area residents. The building has been renovat-
ed to accommodate a range of sophisticated new
equipment and testing facilities.
Johann Pinto, a Critical Audiologist based at St.
Joseph's Health Care, London is one of the special-
ists who will be visiting the facility regularly.
"We are very pleased to offer this new service in
the Grand Bend area," he said. "Many of our
clients live in this area, and their family doctors
have referred them to us in London. Now we can
provide the service closer to home."
Nose and throat specialists will also visit the facil-
ity, based on demand and patient referrals by their
doctor.
Bill Carr of Carr Hearing Services will also work
at the clinic, offering not only hearing aids but
assisted hearing devices for help in hearing the
doorbell, televisions, etc.
Carr explains their service includes an education-
al approach to hearing loss that involves the
patients and their family, explains the use of hear-
ing aids and assists in rehabilitation.
The clinic's services are largely covered by OHIP.
They are provided based on referral by a doctor,
but Carr notes a referral can likely be obtained by
contacting the clinic directly if someone does not
have a family doctor in the area.
For further information, contact: Ann Joe -
McInnis, Manager, Hearing Health Services, Grand
Bend at 473 3700 or Dan Steinwald, Executive
Director, Grand Bend Area Community Health
Centre at 238-1556 ext. 1.
Hearing Health Services, Grand Bend staff, top: Johann Pinto, Critical Audiologist; Bill Carr, Hearing Aid
Dispenser; Ann Joe -McInnis, Manager; Helen Exley, Hearing Aid Specialist. Bottom: Lori DiMarco, Nurse;
Barb McLeod, Computer Technologist and Vicki Emery, Secretary/Receptionist. (photo/submitted)