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What is EVGN?
What are the aims of EVGN?
Which are the strategies utilized by EVGN?
Which are the EVGN research areas?
Will EVGN research bring benefits to the general public?
How many people suffer from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe?
Will the risk to develop a cardiovascular disease decrease in the following years?
Which are the most common cardiovascular diseases?
There is a difference of gender in cardiovascular disease?
Is it possible to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease?

What is EVGN?
The European Vascular Genomic Network (EVGN) is an initiative funded by the European Union within its 6th Framework Programme "Life Science, genomics and biotechnology for Health". Bringing together 25 scientific institutions and 3 companies from 10 different European countries, EVGN intends to fight heart diseases by understanding the molecular basis of these problems, identifying new diagnostic measurements and developing new pharmacological therapies to treat cardiovascular disease. top

What are the aims of EVGN?
The main purpose of EVGN is to structure restructure European genomic research in areas of key pathological and therapeutic importance by organizing integrating expertise and competences from leading scientific European groups in a structurated structured network. Its strength and uniqueness stem from the constant knowledge-sharing and integration among the 25 partner Institutions. EVGN intends also to act as interface between basic scientists and clinicians to improve diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases. Further, it is intention of EVGN to integrate basic science activities with commercial entities to promote the transition of knowledge in vascular biology to practical applications. top

Which are the strategies utilized by EVGN?
To carry out their work, the EVGN scientists use the most innovative research tools. The new knowledge arisen from the human genome project is integrated with both new and classical techniques from genomics, proteomics, molecular biology, cell biology and physiology. Gene expression studies, creation of experimental and mouse model, sharing of biobanks and databases and valuation of clinical results are the standard methods utilized to achieve the EVGN goals. top

Which are the EVGN research areas?
The EVGN research is focused on three main area of interest with great therapeutic potential:
1) Endothelial dysfunction which is an early critical event underlying the development of atherosclerosis and hence a target for prevention.
2) Plaque instability, the main life threatening event, characterized by precipitating of atherosclerotic plaque within blood vessels.
3) Therapeutic angiogenesis, a process that promotes the growth of new vessels in ischaemic tissues in order to reduce the risk of heart failure. top

Will EVGN research bring benefits to the general public?
The chosen EVGN is active in research areas that represent a fertile field for making progress in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. This goal will be pursued by developing new diagnostic tools for identifying coronary patients at risk (early detection of endothelial dysfunction, research area #1); novel gene-targeting therapies against plaque instability (research area #2) and new angiogenesis based technology aimed to improve organ recovery following acute cardiovascular events (research area #3). top

How many people suffer from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe?
Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death of men and women in EU countries accounting for over 1,9 million deaths (42% of all deaths) each year. This number arises to over 4.35 million deaths each year (nearly half 49% of all deaths) if we include Eastern Europe Countries. Just under half of all deaths from cardiovascular diseases are from coronary heart diseases (CHD) and nearly a third are from stroke. top

Will the risk to develop a cardiovascular disease decrease in the following years?
No it won’t. On the contrary all the projections tell us that the risk to be afflicted by a cardiovascular disease will arise in the following years. This is due prevalently to the unhealthy lifestyles widespread within European countries, particularly tobacco consumption, as well as unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. Currently the World Health organization (WHO) has estimated that coupling the adverse trends in major cardiovascular risk factors with rising of the life expectancy could lead to a doubling on absolute incidence of CVD by 2050. top

Which are the most common cardiovascular diseases?
It depends if we talk about children, adults or elderly. The main CVD in children are congenital heart disease and inherited disorders, a type of defect that occurs mainly before birth. In adults the major forms of cardiovascular disease are coronary heart diseases (CHD) and stroke. Both these disturbs are caused by a blockage in an artery resulting from atherosclerotic plaque or blood clots. In elderly there is an increase in heart failure incidence (in the over 65) due basically to progression of atherosclerotic process and accumulation of previous acute clinical events during lifetime. top

There is a difference of gender in cardiovascular disease?
Women tend to develop heart disease 10 years later than men. However after menopause their cardiovascular risk increases progressively to reach a level similar to that of men. In the past most research were focused on treatment for men because women were believed to be protected against CVD by oestrogens, but recent studies has shown no significant results. Furthermore women, in comparison to men, are less likely to undergo tertiary care intervention (such as angioplasty and bypass surgery), to participate in cardiac rehabilitation and to return to work after myocardial infarction. It is therefore critical to understand the role of gender and the effects of oestrogens on cardiovascular diseases. top

Is it possible to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease?
Yes, it is. The best way to cut down your risk factors is to adopt an healthier lifestyle. First of all you can quit smoking. It has been shown that smokers have more than twice the risk for heart attack of non-smokers. Second, you can follow a balanced diet in order to take less cholesterol and saturated fat and to keep your weight under control. Being overweight is likely to increase both your blood pressure and cholesterol and the risk for heart disease increases as your total amount of "bad" cholesterol increases. Regular exercise is also important to fight overweight, to keep your blood pressure down and to control your stress level. top