Mount Sinai Heart takes an active role in tackling the global epidemic of cardiovascular disease. We promote inexpensive, easily adopted preventative measures to address this international health priority.

Since the beginning of his career, Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Professor of Cardiology and Director of Mount Sinai Heart, has worked to end heart disease worldwide. Dr. Fuster believes there is a moral obligation to extend prevention measures to everyone.

Dr. Fuster and his team members at Mount Sinai Heart are involved in many international projects designed to prevent and eradicate cardiovascular disease worldwide.

Projects include:

Millennium Villages Cardiovascular Disease Project

Mount Sinai Heart will participate in the United Nations’ Millennium Villages Cardiovascular Disease Project to help broaden the understanding of cardiovascular disease in Tanzania, Malawi, and Rwanda. The project seeks to identify risk factors as well as study attitudes toward diet, exercise, obesity, hypertension, and lifestyle modifications.

Sesame Street Education Project

The Healthy Habits for Life initiative in Colombia, South America, uses "Plaza Sésamo," a Latin American version of the popular children's TV show "Sesame Street," to promote the health and well-being of children 3 to 6 years old. The project has three core objectives:

• To get youngsters to eat a healthy, varied diet
• To increase physical activity
• To foster a better understanding and appreciation of a healthy body, especially in terms of heart health

In Colombia, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death.

"Big Bird and his colleagues are among our strongest allies in creating a new generation of healthier kids. And we cannot discount the influence that children have over the behavior of their parents," Dr. Fuster says.

The Polypill Initiative

Cardiovascular science has identified medications that lower the risk of heart disease. Statins are given for cholesterol. Diuretics, beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors lower blood pressure. And aspirin thins the blood to reduce clotting. In order to get the benefits of each medication, patients may take multiple pills every day. But many individuals, especially those who feel healthy, may find it difficult to stick to a complicated daily medication regimen. What if all these medications were combined into a single pill?

Dr. Fuster sees tremendous value in developing a three-in-one pill combining a statin, an ACE inhibitor, and a low-dose aspirin.

"We're ready to embark on two studies in three countries of varying socioeconomic wealth and access to health care," he says. "One study will see if the combined pill is effective in reducing cardiovascular disease. The other will see if a single pill improves adherence and accessibility to health care."

A standard combination of the medications could cost $60 a month. In contrast, a month's worth of polypills would cost just $1.

"We need to develop an easily adoptable, cost-effective preventive treatment," says Dr. Fuster. "And with all of Mount Sinai Heart's capabilities, we are in a perfect position to move from theory to action."

Pioneering Global Projects

Cardiovascular disease was unheard of in the United States in the 1890s, says Jonathan L. Halperin, MD, Professor of Cardiology and Director of Clinical Services. "It is a 20th-century disease. And now with development, we are seeing it transmitted like an infectious disease across the world."

Mount Sinai Heart has embarked on a series of important projects in developing nations. Our aim is to create a health care infrastructure to forestall heart disease and stop it from reaching epidemic levels.

Grenada Heart Project
In partnership with the World Heart Federation and under the direction of Dr. Fuster, a team of Mount Sinai Heart physicians will evaluate 10,000 people on the Caribbean island of Grenada to determine their risk of heart disease. The team will also use peer pressure in small communities to encourage healthy habits.

"Everyone in your own culture will be looking at you to see whether or not you are doing what you should," explains Dr. Fuster.

"We believe we have the potential to influence an entire nation at risk and to create a model that can be adopted throughout the developing world," says Michael Farkouh, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiology and Clinical Coordinator of the Grenada Heart Project.