MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS FOR SUDDEN DEATH IN MEN/WOMEN

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicants' abstract) The purpose of this Clinical Investigator Development Award is to prepare the candidate, Dr. Christine Albert, M.D., for a career as an independent investigator in cardiovascular epidemiology with a special emphasis on the prevention and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Dr. Albert has developed a great interest in the clinical syndrome of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. The applicant proposes a 5-year program of research that will prospectively examine risk factors specific for SCD in men and women. The hypotheses to be examined include: the influence of dietary factors (in particular, marine n-3 fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid, magnesium, alcohol, and antioxidants), sex hormones, and aspirin on the risk of SCD. Possible triggers of SCD, including physical activity and anxiety, will also be examined. In women, SCD has not been well studied and analyses will be performed to better define pathophysiology. Sex differences will also be explored in the context of these analyses. The investigations will be performed in three cohort studies: the Nurses' Health Study of 121,700 women currently aged 50-75; the Physicians' Health Study of 22,071 men aged 40-84 years in 1982; and the Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study of 8,172 women aged 40 and older with known cardiovascular disease or at least three coronary risk factors. The last cohort provides an opportunity to study SCD in women who are at high risk. At the end of the proposed research program, Dr. Albert will have attained advanced epidemiologic skills which can then be applied to independent research in her chosen subspecialty of electrophysiology.