By Doug Hubley<\/p>\n
It’s not surprising that physicians as motivated as Dervilla McCann and Stephen Meister are increasingly prominent in Maine medicine.<\/p>\n
Meister, an Augusta-based pediatrician, is at the forefront of the Mid-Maine Child Trauma Network, a federally funded initiative to serve children and families who have experienced traumatic stress.<\/p>\n
“He does not take care of the worried well,” says his wife. “He takes care of the devastated kids with no advocates and nowhere to go.”<\/p>\n
McCann enjoys a reputation as a cardiologist with a diagnostic specialty in non-invasive imaging techniques, like echocardiography. As a clinical scientist, she’s helped give her practice, Androscoggin Cardiology Associates, a growing renown for research rarely seen outside of a major academic center. With her colleague Dr. Robert Weiss as lead investigator, McCann estimates she is involved in some 30 research studies as sub-investigator.<\/p>\n
She’s particularly excited about one drug trial, undertaken with Maine Medical Center, seeking ways to reverse coronary artery disease \u2014 something that’s currently not possible. She’s involved in a national hypertension study, the largest-ever of its kind, that made headlines with the finding that traditional, low-cost diuretics lower blood pressure more effectively in many cases than more recent statin drugs.<\/p>\n
McCann is also curious about the high levels of the harmful cholesterol LDL, an important indicator of heart attack risk, among some Lewiston residents of French descent. In fact, a fair number \u2014 no one has studied how many \u2014 of local Franco-Americans have a gene that leads to high LDL levels. The accepted theory is that French founders of Quebec carried the gene and shared it with their Lewiston descendants.<\/p>\n
But another genetic source of high LDL could be Native Americans. It’s pure speculation, McCann says, but Native Americans living in Maine centuries ago might have benefited from a genetic predisposition to high LDL, “because the molecule is critical for a repair response after injury.” Intermarriage between Native Americans and French settlers would only reinforce the condition. “I wish some scientist would come to Maine and take a look at this,” she says, “because it’s a fascinating genetic puzzle waiting to be put back together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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