Gene Editing Study For Familial High Cholesterol

Transcript generated by AI.

Announcer 0:00

Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio Show, hosted by Kevin Geddings of WSOS St. Augustine Radio and powered by ENCORE Research Group. Each Monday morning, Dr. Michael Koren calls in to bring you the latest medical updates and insightful discussions. MedEvidence is where we help you navigate the real truth behind medical research, both a clinical and research perspective. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn about the truth behind the data in medicine and healthcare. This is MedEvidence!

Dr. Michael Koren 0:31

Jacksonville is an interesting town because we do have some of the quote southern culture, which quite frankly is not the healthiest of eating. But we also have a culture of being active. We have an active sporting community, and not just professional sports, amateur sports, and recreational sports. So I think that brings our weight down overall and keeps our health better. But communities that have, quote, less healthy eating styles and inactivity are the ones that have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes. So it doesn't surprise me that Little Rock Little Rock is up there.

Kevin Geddings 1:06

Yeah. That's Dr. Michael Koren, and he joins us on Monday mornings, and we appreciate him. He's a big part of our family here at WSOS. He's a medical doctor, cardiologist, and research scientist. He also directs efforts at ENCORE Research Group, and they have an office right here in St. Augustine in St. John's County at the Whetstone Building next door to UF Flagler Hospital, where they are engaged in some leading edge clinical research that folks like you and me and I can we can participate in. And indeed, I've been participating in a COVID vaccine study over the last couple of months. So you can participate too in studies dealing with high blood pressure and cholesterol and all sorts of other issues. Right, Dr. Koren?

Dr. Michael Koren 1:44

You bet, you bet. Super excited that we're about to start some real breakthrough technology studies that involve gene editing for cholesterol problems. And this is newer technology. You and I have talked a little bit about it, but it's now here. So we've gotten clearance to go ahead and start to look for folks that may be good candidates for this type of work. It's it's gonna be a very small sliver of all people that have cholesterol problems. These are for the most severe genetic cholesterol problems, a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, for example, where you're born with cholesterol levels that are north of 300. And we now have the ability to give one treatment that will change the genetic expression of your liver and actually, quote, cure these problems or at least uh offset the genetic damage that's done because of your predisposition to have a very high cholesterol level in certain family groups. So we're we're we're super excited about it. We may be the first place in the United States to actually give people access to this therapy, uh, Kevin. So I couldn't be more excited about that.

Kevin Geddings 2:53

Well, and you, Dr. Koren, have been working on statins in this issue for a long, long time, haven't you?

Dr. Michael Koren 2:59

I have. In fact, my very early claim to fame was being very much part of the development program for atorvastatin, otherwise known as Lipitor. And you know, that was work we started 30 years ago, and it turns out that what we learned back then is really true, even today, Kevin, that the lower you get cholesterol levels, the better off people are. People who have lower cholesterols have fewer heart attacks, they have fewer strokes, they live longer. So we're just now understanding the genetics of it so well that we can potentially offer this concept of giving a treatment that will reverse the pre the genetic predisposition to having these problems. So yes, I've been doing this for a long time, and uh this is a really exciting time for us that we may be getting to the true underlying problem.

Kevin Geddings 3:45

Yeah, I was thinking about you last week because I know there was another study that came out that recommended that younger people you know try to get a sense of their cholesterol numbers sooner so that maybe they could benefit from statins. You know, a lot of times I think in regular society we think of dealing with cholesterol, you know, as you get into your 40s and 50s, this study and sort of made the recommendation that you may need to, you know, adjust that and look at perhaps getting on a statin in your 30s, right?

Dr. Michael Koren 4:10

Absolutely. Again, it's all about your predispositions. So, you know, there's some people that are just lucky, as you and I have talked about. One of the most important things in life, Kevin, is to pick good parents. But since that's a little difficult to do, you know, we have a hand that we're we're dealt, and for some people that means a predisposition to developing atherosclerosis. And many of those people that develop atherosclerosis at an early age have very high lipid levels. And again, as I mentioned, statins have been a cornerstone for treatment of this, but there are new technologies on the horizon that may actually change the way we approach things. So imagine the future where we can identify these genetic problems and give therapies that actually treat them, once-in-a-lifetime treatment. So I couldn't be more excited.

Kevin Geddings 4:57

Well, once again, we appreciate Dr. Michael Koren. Any closing thoughts, Dr. Koren?

Dr. Michael Koren 5:01

I guess my final thoughts are we think about healthcare holistically, and our goal is to bring the latest technologies and medical ideas to our communities, and and we we try to do that every single day.

Kevin Geddings 5:13

Well, they do a great job.

Announcer 5:14

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