UH Harrington Heart Vascular Institute’s Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine Co-Authors Three Major Publications on Environmental Impacts in Cardiovascular Health

Recent publications lay out a roadmap and call to action

Innovations in Cardiovascular Medicine & Surgery | Winter 2024

NEWS BRIEF

Research increasingly shows that cardiovascular health and the environmental health of the planet are inextricably linked. Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine for University Hospitals (UH) Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute and the Herman K. Hellerstein, MD, Professor of Cardiovascular Research, is fast becoming one of the leading physician-scientists making this important connection, advocating for a cleaner world and a heart-healthier population.

Dr. Rajagopalan recently published a commentary in the prestigious journal Circulation on this crucial topic, detailing the health impacts of pollution with a special focus on air pollution. “Air pollution contributes to more deaths per year than all wars, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and other infectious disease combined, more than half of which are of cardiovascular origin,” they write. They also lay out a host of potential solutions, including a call for the healthcare sector to do more to reduce its environmental footprint.

To that end, Dr. Rajagopalan and colleagues have created a roadmap for how cardiovascular medicine practices can become more sustainable, publishing their plan in the European Heart Journal. This new model will require an entirely new way of thinking on how we deliver cardiovascular care. They write: “Transitioning to sustainable models of cardiovascular care requires a major reorientation to acknowledging the interconnectedness between health, environment, and society. A systems thinking perspective facilitates understanding of the complex dynamics and feedback loops that contribute to sustainability and the close interdependence of multiple systems from the micro to macro (planetary) scale.”

Dr. Rajagopalan was also a co-author on the recent high-profile study of microplastics and nanoplastics and cardiovascular events, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). “Patients with carotid artery plaque in which micro- and nanoplastics were detected had a higher risk of a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause at 34 months of follow-up than those in whom micro- and nanoplastics were not detected,” the research team writes. Although the study does not show causality, it’s an important data point in the ongoing conversation about how to reduce micro- and nanoplastics in the environment.

Mehdi Shishehbor, DO, PhD, MPH, President of UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute and the Angela and James Hambrick Chair in Innovation, says he’s grateful to have someone of Dr. Rajagopalan’s talent and commitment pursuing crucial issues like these for environmental and human health.

“His contribution in highlighting the impact of environmental and social determinants of health on disease and recent attention to sustainability and our footprint on our planet is cutting-edge, exemplary and will define the future of medicine,” he says.