Dear Friends,

In an effort to make heart scans more widely available, I am delighted to introduce a new service:  AHSF’s Coronary Health Starter Kit.

This service consists of an affordable telephone consultation focused on a cardiac prevention.  As part of this service, I order the famed “mammogram of the heart“, the coronary heart scan that can detect the presence of coronary artery plaques in their early stage, before they cause complications such as heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest.

I recommend this service for men over age 40 and for women over age 50 (or younger women  if they had premature menopause).  You may consider obtaining the service at an earlier age if you have strong risk factors, such as a family history of coronary disease at a young age. This is a screening service, so it assumes that you feel generally well and have no specific symptoms to report.

I cannot think of a better investment for your heart health than to take advantage of this service and obtain a heart scan.  Please do not delay.  It is as simple as picking up the phone and calling 1-415-567-1014 between 9a-3p to make time for a telephone consultation.Read more

The phrase “mammogram of the heart” refers to the heart scan that detects calcium build-up in the coronary arteries.  The phrase was coined by the pioneers in this technology to try to impress on the public and on the medical community the simplicity and value of this test.

Calcium in coronary artery detected by CT scan.
Image attribution: Wikimedia Commons

Just as a mammogram can identify cancer before it spreads, a heart scan can identify the presence of coronary artery disease before it causes symptoms.  And like the mammogram, the heart scan is easy to perform, uses a low amount of radiation, and is inexpensive.Read more

Desta and I had the pleasure of participating in a heart screening day at Sequoia High School in Redwood City last Sunday.

Volunteers obtaining 12-lead ECG’s

The event was organized by Via Heart Project, a non-profit organization that equips California public schools with AED’s.   Via Heart recently decided to organize heart screenings, and they put a lot of effort and talent into this first event.

They were assisted by the folks at the EP Save-a-Life Foundation, who have been organizing heart screens in the San Diego area for several years and who provided some of the equipment we used, such as the cardiac ultrasound machines.  In total, 203 volunteers helped out, not including the Redwood City Fire Department.Read more

UPDATE (07/06/2015):  THIS MOVIE IS NOW AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX

Anyone out there concerned about heart disease in yourself or a loved one?

Do me a favor and watch The Widowmaker.  This is the best piece of medical investigative journalism I have ever watched.  It will make you understand what is wrong with heart disease prevention in our broken health care system.

The movie also has great drama, both in the personal testimonies of ordinary folks who have lost a loved one to heart disease, and in the depiction of the political power plays at the highest levels of the cardiology community.

The trailer is below, but it doesn’t begin to give justice to the richness of the movie.  To see the film, click on this link.  You can download it as a rental for $4.99 or buy it for $9.99.  You won’t regret it and I agree with their tag line:  IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.Read more

For most people, the cardiac stress test is the epitome of modern cardiology.  For some, the thought of undergoing one may also cause cold sweats…Perhaps a little introduction can help clarify what it is and what it does, and will minimize any misplaced fear about this helpful diagnostic tool.Read more