The Heart & Vascular Center

The Heart & Vascular Center

 

MDs LOOKING FOR CLUES TO TREAT HEART DISEASE

By:  Geoffrey B. Liss, M.D.
    Despite amazing technological advances during the last decade, coronary artery disease is still the major cause of death in the United States.  Every year approximately six million men and women are diagnosed with coronary artery disease, resulting in more than 600,000 deaths.

   Like detectives searching for clues, cardiologists look for ways to diagnose and treat disease before tragedy strikes.  Coronary risk factors are conditions which increase your odds for coronary artery disease and serve as clues for doctors to measure level of risk.

Primary & Secondary Risk Factors

   The  Framingham study in the United States was one of the first to describe the primary and secondary risk factors for coronary artery disease. 

The Primary Alterable Risk Factors are:

1.  High blood cholesterol level.
2.  High blood pressure.
3.  Smoking.
4.  Diabetes.
5.  Sedentary lifestyle.

   Secondary Risk Factors that have a significant bearing on our vulnerability to heart disease, but which cannot be altered include gender, family history, and age.

   Patients with one or more risk factors are at increased risk of developing coronary artery disease. For these patients, cardiac testing should be strongly considered.  Cardiologists have a wide range of diagnostic technology available today to help them determine the source of the problem.  These range from a simple treadmill stress test to the more technologically advanced angiogram or cardiac catheterization. 

   New and aggressive methods of treating coronary artery disease are also continuously under
development.  There are literally dozens of new cardiac medications which have become available in the last three years.  Balloon angioplasty is now being used in combination with atherectomy devices (also known as roto-rooters, which are used to "shave" or remove cholesterol plaque buildup in the arteries), stents (metal lattice-work tubes that remain in the artery to keep it open), and cool lasers that literally dissolve or break up the plaque so it can be passed through the body's natural waste removal process.

   Open heart surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery, is a last resort for treatment, but in many patients can be a life-saving procedure that also restores active lifestyles for many patients. 

   Technological advances are helping uncover the mysteries of coronary artery disease.  As more people become aware of controllable risk factors and alter their lifestyles accordingly, the frightening statistics associated with heart disease can be diminished.