Heart Disease: A Preventative Approach
Heart Disease is the leading cause of death for men in the United States. Find out your cardiac risk with a simple test (and its not cholesterol)!
What if…
- There was a simple way to look inside your arteries to see if they were covered in plaque?
- You could not only see the plaque burden, but could also predict your risk of experiencing a heart attack, stroke, or other life-threatening event?
- There was a way to measure the degree of inflammation in your arterial wall or the size of the plaque that may contribute to the most common cause of death in America - heart disease?
We can, at the Stram Center!
Measuring the thickness of the intima and media layers (stay with me!) of the carotid artery wall (carotid intima-media thickness, or CIMT) is one way to assess your own cardiovascular health. This non-invasive, 10-20 minute procedure gives you and your healthcare provider another tool in their toolbox to further solve the diagnostic puzzle and help you both accurately assess disease presence, risk of events, and progression of the disease before you present with acute symptoms.
What is Carotid Intima Media (CIMT) Testing?
Many patients suffering the early and intermediate stages of atherosclerosis (a.k.a. plaque build up in the arteries) show no outward signs or symptoms of the disease.
- As many as 50% of those who died from heart disease had no prior signs or symptoms
- As many as 50% of those who died from a heart attack had cholesterol levels that met current guidelines
CIMT Solves a Very Real Problem
What do we do for someone who is at intermediate risk for heart disease and who is asymptomatic? The standard of care says we should treat the symptoms of the disease. Unfortunately, this may be grossly inadequate because many people show evidence of soft plaque (i.e. significant atherosclerosis), and have IMT measurements that place them at very high-risk for an ischemic event.
Many of these men and women still have significant amounts of soft plaque lining their arteries. Soft plaque (or echoluscent plaque) of any size has been shown to increase the odds ratio of an ischemic event nearly 2.5 times higher than a person who has an old MI. (Honda, et al J AM Coll Cardiol 2004; 43:1177-84)
How it works?
Measuring CIMT by Ultrasound
CIMT measurements using B-mode (brightness mode) ultrasound have been performed since the mid-1980s. A trained sonographer can easily and non-invasively acquire images of the carotid artery wall for analysis. A CardioRisk trained and experienced sonographer can complete the procedure in just under 10 minutes time.
With these results, the Stram Center staff is equipped to lower your risk through lifestyle interventions. and continue to monitor your safety.
Integrative medicine treatments have been shown to prevent cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome at a cost less than prescribed medication. This integrative approach to care, combined with a plant-based diet, paleo diet when appropriate, physical activity, yoga-based mindfulness training, and group support. In well-controlled clinical trials over the past 30 years patient experienced 80% reversal of disease who changed their lifestyles avoided heart surgery or angioplasty.
Heart Disease Facts in Men:
- Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in the United States, killing 30,225 men in 2012—that’s 1 in every 4 male deaths
- Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men of most racial/ethnic groups in the United States
- About 8.5% of all white men, 7.9% of African-American men, and 6.3% of Mexican-American men have coronary heart disease
- Half of the men who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms. Even if you have no symptoms, you may still be at risk for heart disease
- Between 70% and 89% of sudden cardiac events occur in men
