Department of Preventive Medicine

Research

Our department conducts research to improve health, focusing on conditions related to heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, osteoporosis, exercise, aging, women's health, and health-risk behavior. The projects that are listed below represent just a sample of the many research studies and multicenter clinical trials that have involved our faculty and staff:

 

• Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD)--a multicenter trial examining the effects of intentional weight loss in obese type 2 diabetic people.
• Activity Counseling Trial (ACT)--a study examining the effectiveness of a primary-care, practice-based exercise intervention on physical fitness in sedentary adults.
• Calcium, Health and Metabolism in Preteens Study (CHAMPS)--a study to determine if calcium supplementation has a benefit on the growing bones of children aged 8 to 13.
• Contraceptive Hormones and Risk Markers (CHARM)--a clinical trial investigating hormonal contraceptives and cardiovascular risk in premenopausal women.
• Fitness, Arthritis, and Seniors Trials (FAST)--a randomized clinical trial comparing aerobic exercise and resistance exercise with a health-educational program in older adults who have knee osteoarthritis.
• Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT)--a clinical trial testing whether an investigational medication (not a hormone) would prevent osteoporotic bone loss, increase the amount of healthy bone, and prevent fractures in postmenopausal women.
• Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study (Health ABC)--a study of the interrelationships between changes in body composition, incident and chronic health events, and incident functional limitation in a cohort of 3,075 older adults residing in the Memphis and Pittsburgh areas.
• Health Opportunities for Physical Exercise (HOPE)--a randomized clinical trial targeting exercise behavior change in overweight urbanites who live in underserved areas.

• Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS)--a multicenter, randomized clinical trial investigating whether postmenopausal hormone therapy can prevent recurrence of heart disease in women.
• Magnesium and Osteoporosis Study (MOST)--a research study to determine if a daily magnesium supplement will prevent the bone loss that occurs as people get older.
• Osteoporosis and Sodium Intake Study (OASIS)--a research study to determine effects of various levels of salt intake on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.
• Providers and Alzheimer’s Caregivers Together (PACT)--a three-year home care intervention study seeking to decrease Alzheimer’s disease caregivers’ depression, anxiety and burden by providing home-based interventions.
• Research on Nicotine Effects in Expectant Women (RENEW)--a clinical trial investigating the efficacy of the nicotine patch in pregnant women smokers.
• Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health (REACH II)--a three-year, multisite, national study, a continuation of an earlier UT Alzheimer caregiver study (REACH I), designed to improve the well-being of the Alzheimer caregiver.
• Sibutramine Use in Cigarette Cessation: Effects on Smoking Study (SUCCESS)--a study to assess whether a combination of a weight-loss medicine and a smoking cessation program may help smokers to quit smoking without gaining weight.
• Smoking cessation Therapy for Adults Ready to quit (STAR)--study to assess the effects of sustained release bupropion and nicotine replacement therapy in helping smokers stop smoking.
• Sports, Physical Activity, and Recreation for Kids: Pre-K (SPARK Pre-K)--also known as the Early Childhood Physical Activity Project: SPARK Pre-K study, which focuses on promoting developmentally appropriate health-related physical activity in preschool children. The study includes the development and implementation of an early childhood physical activity curriculum to be used in the Title I Early Childhood Education of the Memphis City Schools.
• Study of Effects of Nicotine Patch Compared to Placebo--a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to study the effects of the 21 mg nicotine patch compared to placebo patch on blood glucose and insulin levels in premenopausal women smokers.
• Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP)--a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial investigating the efficacy of antihypertensive drug treatment in preventing strokes in older people with isolated systolic hypertension.
• Tennessee Opportunity Programs--research using administrative claims data to examine HIV and AIDS care in Tennessee.
• Trial of Nonpharmacologic Therapy for Hypertension in the Elderly (TONE)--a multicenter, randomized clinical investigation of nonpharmacologic treatment of high blood pressure in older adults aged 60 to 80.
• Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)--a multicenter, randomized clinical trial and observational study of postmenopausal women's health in relation to hormone replacement, low-fat diet, or calcium/vitamin D supplementation.
• Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS)--a multicenter, randomized clinical trial examining the effect of postmenopausal hormone therapy on the development of dementia.

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