I am a big proponent of primary cardiac prevention, and do everything in my power to improve a patient’s heart health. Most importantly, this means reviewing traditional risk factors, including family history of heart disease, blood pressure, and cholesterol. The basis of my heart protection program is to prevent surprises and leave patients with no regrets, so what I always look to introduce into my medical practice are newer technologies that can personalize risk factors even more. That’s where the EndoPAT comes in. Testing with EndoPAT plays a major role in risk stratification and personalization for my patients and I have performed hundreds of test in the past year. My patients, knowledgeable about the majorrisk factors for heart disease, are aware of the dangers of high cholesterol levels, carrying too much weight, smoking, high blood pressure, and not exercising. Many of them strive to be the best they can be, no matter what their ages. However, there are an equal number of patients who are similarly aware of their risk factors and what they need to do but they don’t follow through with recommendations to lessen or reverse their heart risks. That’s because they feel well and are simply not motivated to make any necessary changes. For these patients, it’s necessary to provide them with concrete evidence that they are at greater risk than they had appreciated, and that they do need to make changes in their lifestyle. That’s when I tell them about the non-invasive EndoPAT test that can quickly help determine the health of their cardiovascular system simply by measuring changes in their endothelium, the innermost tissue that lines all of their bloodvessels. Only one cell thick and half the thickness of Scotch tape, it’s the endothelium that produce chemicals—nitric oxide (NO) is the major one—that affect the vessels’ function, causing dilation, constriction, and clotting. Think of a healthy endothelium as being like a nonstick pan surface: it enhances blood flow. On the other hand, when you eat too many fat-laden meals, don’t exercise enough, or smoke, it’s the endothelium that gets damaged. White blood cells and platelets can then stick to the endothelium, clogging it, and this leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease. |
