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Thursday, June 25, 2009
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Heart Scan Bill Passed in Lone-Star State
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Texas Governor Rick Perry signed off on a Texas Heart Attack Prevention Bill just last Friday, giving the industry a necessary boost in confidence and hopefully revenue. The initiative will mandate healthcare benefits and coverage for patients seeking out prevention screenings. Many cardiologists claim that early detection is key to preventing heart attacks and heart disease, which is why this bill is being praised a huge step forward for the heart scan industry.
The details of the legislation have been highlighted in TheHeart.org,
"The final wording of Act HB1290 stipulates that health-benefit providers cover the cost of CT coronary-artery-calcium (CAC) scans and carotid ultrasonography in men between the ages of 45 and 76 and women between the ages of 55 and 76, as well as anyone (at any age) who has diabetes or is deemed to be at intermediate risk or higher for developing CAD, as determined by the Framingham risk score. With the governor's blessing, the act is now poised to go into effect September 1, 2009."
In recent months there has been much opposition against virtual scanning methods. Medicare backed out of covering virtual colonoscopies and heart scans came under scrutiny as well. This will hopefully raise awareness for prevention and offer Texans a financial means to afford such procedures.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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Canadians Take Top Honor
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Heart disease deaths are significantly lower in Canada than many other countries. The numbers have dropped nearly one third over the last ten years. It is said that this drop has come due in part to better and more improved heart attack survival treatments, drugs and techniques. However, some would argue prevention tactics have also added to these figures.
Canadian Reuters said, "The decline is likely explained in part by better prevention and in part by better treatments," Dr. Jack V. Tu, a researcher at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, told Reuters Health. Fewer Canadians are smoking now compared with a decade ago, Tu noted, and there is greater awareness of and better control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol."
Prevention methods like virtual heart scans are also touted as key elements to lowering death rates of cardiovascular disease, as they are noted for catching heart disease early on so treatment can be effective.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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Psoriasis and Heart Disease
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A recent study suggests that people suffering from psoriasis are said to have increased chance of developing heart disease. The research shows that psoriasis has the same adverse affects as significant heart disease inducers like obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. The skin disease affects roughly 2 to 3 percent of the world's population, which is estimated to be about 7 million Americans.
According to a Forbes health report, "The risk appears to stem from the chronic inflammation associated with psoriasis, he explained."This systemic inflammation causes damage to blood vessels, leading to increased risk," he said. The medical lesson of the study is that "it is critical for people who have psoriasis to understand their increased risk and have their other risk factors addressed," he said."
For those of you suffering from psoriasis, alongside going to your dermatologist for treatment, it may be a wise choice to visit a cardiologist and have regular heart scans as the risks for heart disease development seem to be quite high.
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
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Chemicals from Plastic may Induce Heart Problems
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Bisphenol A (BPA) the chemical found in clear plastic bottles may be linked to causing heart problems in women. The issues that researchers have found are arrhythmia and irregular heartbeat, especially heightened among women who are generally more susceptible to cardiac issues than their male counterparts.
A Forbes health report said, "Researchers for one of the studies to be presented this week concluded that estrogen and BPA cause heartbeat irregularities in heart cells isolated from rats and mice."Basically, it's very clear that BPA is acting like estrogen," said study co-author Scott Belcher, an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Cincinnati. "If we give estrogen at physiological concentrations, then add BPA, it's actually a synergistic effect. It's not like adding the two together. It's worse."
Millions of pounds of BPA are used in products all over the world, many of which are in common materials we use daily. High risk patients like those with family history, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol are urged to get scanned and regularly checked, and it seems that women should also be getting heart scans and check-ups.
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Monday, June 08, 2009
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Diabetes and Heart Disease
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Cardiologists are finding that type 2 diabetes patients with heart disease have better chances of treatment from medicine as opposed to invasive heart surgery. Compliance and consistency with heart medications is also key to preventing heart attacks and stroke in such patients. Generally Type 2 Diabetes patients have serious risk of developing such ailments, and are considered high-risk. Such high risk patients according to physicians should get regular heart scans for early detection and prevention methods.
USA Today said, "It's the first time any randomized clinical trial has shown a reduction in non-fatal heart attack rates in stable patients with diabetes and heart disease," says cardiologist Robert Frye, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and a study chairman. "The study reinforces that for people with diabetes and mild heart disease, medical therapy works, and works very well," Zonzsein says."
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Monday, June 01, 2009
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Tomato Pill Perks
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Researchers are saying that a tomato supplement pill may be able to ward off
heart disease. Ateronon, the tomato pill, is said to block out 'bad
cholesterol' LDL from the arteries - which is a key instigator of heart
attacks and strokes. Researchers however warned patients at high risk of
heart disease and those currently on medications for high cholesterol or
blood pressure to continue as advised by their physicians because these
findings are still at the early stages. The prelimary results have a
promising prospect, however much more research and experimentation is
required.
BBC News reported on the pill saying, "Professor Anthony Leeds, trustee of
the cholesterol charity Heart UK, said: "The new lycopene product Ateronon
represents an entirely new approach to the treatment of high blood
cholesterol and opens up the exciting possibility." He said the preliminary
findings were "very promising".
It is vital that high-risk patients maintain their regular regiment of
eating healthy, excericse, taking their medications while also getting
regular yearly heart scans to prevent from blocked arteries and heart
attacks.
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Friday, May 29, 2009
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Vitamin D Perks
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For years scientists and researchers have been doing studies on the perks
and benefits of Vitamin D. Dermatologists have long been promulgating the
importance of Vitamin D for skin health and getting it from outdoor activity
in the sun. But now new studies have emerging linking Vitamin D to heart
health.
The Alternative Health Journal said, "Yet they do say that keeping an
adequate amount in the bloodstream doesn't seem unhealthy-and might turn out
to be a health ace in the hole. Scientists speculate that low vitamin D
levels might lead to calcium build-up in plaque on artery walls or perhaps
adversely affect blood pressure or heart muscle contractions."
For people with high-risk issues like smoking, obesity and diabetes it is
essential to get regular heart scan check-ups. Now it may be a wise decision
to get scanned if you have low levels of Vitamin D.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
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Young at Heart at Risk
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Today's youth who are struggling with obesity or diabetes may be at serious
risk later in life. Recent studies show that youngsters who struggle with
such issues may be in store for serious hardening of arteries and heart
disease.
A Forbes health article said, "The walls of these carotid arteries, which
carry blood to the brain, showed a thickening and stiffness known to
increase the risk of future strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular
problems, according to a report to be published in the June 9 issue of
*Circulatio. *Dr. Elaine Urbina, director of preventive cardiology at Cincinnati
Children's Hospital Medical Center, associate professor of pediatrics at the
University of Cincinnati and lead author of the report. "This could be the
first generation of Americans that has a shorter life expectancy than its
parents," she said."
The plaque built up in arteries is typically what heart scans look to find
and detect early on, usually physicians recommends high risk patients over
the age of 35 to get yearly scans. But with studies showing the potential
for young children to be adversely affected it may be a beneficial idea to
get high risk kids checked as well.
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Monday, May 18, 2009
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Heart Health
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Meat lovers beware. Recent studies show negative affects of regular meat
consumption and heart disease. There has long been debate about the long
term affects of meat consumption, but for many people not eating meat is
quite the difficult feat regardless of it's side effects. Physicians
recommend that people only eat 1 hamburger a week or rather a few pieces of
meat/steak every couple of days.
According to the New York Times, "The study found that, other things being
equal, the men and women who consumed the most red and processed meat were
likely to die sooner, especially from one of our two leading killers, heart
disease and cancer, than people who consumed much smaller amounts of these
foods. But the number of excess deaths that could be attributed to high meat
consumption is quite large given the size of the American population."
It seems as though we can now add meat-lovers to the high risk candidates
that are recommended to have yearly heart scans to check up on their heart
and artery health.
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Monday, May 11, 2009
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Sleep Apnea may be Linked to Heart Disease
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Sleep apnea may be causing blood vessels to thicken which can cause heart
disease. In general people with sleep apnea the viciously obstructive
sleeping disorder has bothered many people alongside the possibility of
inducing vascular and coronary ailments. One in every 50 women and one in
every 25 men is said to have sleep apnea, and this research done by Emory
University has been published *American Journal of Respiratory Cell and
Molecular Biology.*
According to Science Daily, "Cyclically depriving mice of oxygen –
researchers call this "chronic intermittent hypoxia" -- in a way that
simulates obstructive sleep apnea gives them pulmonary hypertension.
Pulmonary hypertension, which can be life threatening, is a condition in
which the right side of the heart has trouble pumping blood because of
resistance in the lung's blood vessels."
Physicians have urged high-risk heart disease patients to get yearly scans
of their heart for early detection and prevention, and now patients with
sleep apnea may find it a wise decision to also get heart scans.
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