Heart Disease Detection Goes High Tech
Heart Disease Detection Goes High Tech
When former President Bill Clinton was diagnosed with heart disease and underwent a quadruple bypass operation to clear his blocked heartarteries in 2004, some Americans panicked and opted to undergo all sorts of tests to find out if they, too, had heart disease.
This hysteria -- and call to arms -- has been dubbed the "Bill Clinton Effect." More than two years after he underwent surgery, cardiologists now have even better high-tech tests enabling them to diagnose heart disease earlier -- with pinpoint precision. And more tests are being investigated.
My WebMD: In My 20s With a Pacemaker
"Does your bra really go up that high?" the TSA officer asked, running her hands along my chest. My boyfriend, Adam, and I were headed for a romantic getaway, and being held at airport security wasn't on our itinerary. "I have a pacemaker. That's a scar, not my bra," I said. "You're too young for that," she said.While I'm not the only 26-year-old with a pacemaker, I'm the only one most security officers have seen. Of the pacemakers installed yearly, 84% are for people older than age 65. Only 6%...
Read the My WebMD: In My 20s With a Pacemaker article > >
"Ten to 15 years ago, industry and academia alike identified cardiovascular disease [CVD] as a disease to be tackled," says Stanley l. Hazen, MD, PhD. Hazen is section head of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "The boon of this research has yet to be materialized, but there are an extensive number of compounds and screening methods in the pike that look promising and attractive."
From blood tests to advances in imaging, here are a few highlights in heart disease detection.
When you ask your doctor if you have heart disease, he assesses the likelihood based on risk factors. Some key risk factors are age, smoking, diabetes, being male, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. But studies have shown that almost half of the people who suffer coronary events have only two risk factors: being male and over 65. So it is very exciting when new tests come along that can help identify people before they have an event such as a heart attack.
In terms of blood markers, Hazen says that "the mainstay for assessing heart disease risk is low density lipoprotein ['bad'] cholesterol testing". But while we know that LDL plays a major role in determining heart disease, the relationship between severity and the timing of the disease is "incredibly poor. There is much room for improvement," says Hazen.
In terms of blood-based screening tests, doctors are increasingly looking at levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is an inflammatory marker found in the blood. Several studies have shown that increased concentrations of CRP appear to be associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease, sudden death, and peripheral arterial disease. Inflammation is increasingly being viewed as a major risk factor for heart disease.
"This test is recommended by the American Heart Association and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," Hazen says. "If it's used as a routine screen in intermediate-risk subjects, it's an even stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than LDL," he tells WebMD. While CRP levels are not specific to the heart, "in terms of risk prediction, it's equal to or better than cholesterol," he says. "More and more we will be seeing an increase in the use of CRP as an adjunct to risk stratification."
This hysteria -- and call to arms -- has been dubbed the "Bill Clinton Effect." More than two years after he underwent surgery, cardiologists now have even better high-tech tests enabling them to diagnose heart disease earlier -- with pinpoint precision. And more tests are being investigated.
Recommended Related to Heart Disease
My WebMD: In My 20s With a Pacemaker
"Does your bra really go up that high?" the TSA officer asked, running her hands along my chest. My boyfriend, Adam, and I were headed for a romantic getaway, and being held at airport security wasn't on our itinerary. "I have a pacemaker. That's a scar, not my bra," I said. "You're too young for that," she said.While I'm not the only 26-year-old with a pacemaker, I'm the only one most security officers have seen. Of the pacemakers installed yearly, 84% are for people older than age 65. Only 6%...
Read the My WebMD: In My 20s With a Pacemaker article > >
"Ten to 15 years ago, industry and academia alike identified cardiovascular disease [CVD] as a disease to be tackled," says Stanley l. Hazen, MD, PhD. Hazen is section head of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "The boon of this research has yet to be materialized, but there are an extensive number of compounds and screening methods in the pike that look promising and attractive."
From blood tests to advances in imaging, here are a few highlights in heart disease detection.
Blood Markers
When you ask your doctor if you have heart disease, he assesses the likelihood based on risk factors. Some key risk factors are age, smoking, diabetes, being male, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. But studies have shown that almost half of the people who suffer coronary events have only two risk factors: being male and over 65. So it is very exciting when new tests come along that can help identify people before they have an event such as a heart attack.
In terms of blood markers, Hazen says that "the mainstay for assessing heart disease risk is low density lipoprotein ['bad'] cholesterol testing". But while we know that LDL plays a major role in determining heart disease, the relationship between severity and the timing of the disease is "incredibly poor. There is much room for improvement," says Hazen.
Checking for C-Reactive Protein
In terms of blood-based screening tests, doctors are increasingly looking at levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is an inflammatory marker found in the blood. Several studies have shown that increased concentrations of CRP appear to be associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease, sudden death, and peripheral arterial disease. Inflammation is increasingly being viewed as a major risk factor for heart disease.
"This test is recommended by the American Heart Association and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," Hazen says. "If it's used as a routine screen in intermediate-risk subjects, it's an even stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than LDL," he tells WebMD. While CRP levels are not specific to the heart, "in terms of risk prediction, it's equal to or better than cholesterol," he says. "More and more we will be seeing an increase in the use of CRP as an adjunct to risk stratification."
