HeartSavers Catches People Before They Develop Coronary Heart Disease

After indulging over the holidays or on summer vacation, many of us get back to healthier lifestyles. We pull out the healthy foods, get rid of the candy and cookies, and get back into our exercise routines.

It can feel like a bit of a letdown. And somewhere, as we pull out the healthy breakfast cereal, we wonder if all of these efforts are worth it. Is this really helping us from having a heart attack, for example? Are we doing too much or too little? And how will we know how effective this is -- until it's too late? Will we have to wait 40 years (or more) for the results?

With HeartSavers(TM) in Cupertino, many of those questions can be answered right now. "The idea is that a heart scan is a preventive measure," explains Dr. Mehrdad Rezaee. "We try to capture people before they develop coronary artery disease."
The scans taken by HeartSavers(TM) can show deposits in the arteries in and around the heart. "Based on that, we can predict how likely someone will develop coronary artery disease," Rezaee explains.

And the company is looking for those just past youth to give them the feedback they are craving. "We're particularly looking for people age 37 and up," he notes.

HeartSavers(TM) is also geared toward people who feel healthy. "It's not necessarily for people who have symptoms. Our goal is to prevent coronary artery disease," Rezaee explains, and by the time a patient has symptoms, chances are the disease is present. "Although if they have symptoms, we can tell whether they are related to coronary artery disease."

Rezaee explains that, unlike other medical tests currently available, HeartSavers(TM) is unique in its ability to diagnose the likelihood of coronary artery disease in people who otherwise look and feel healthy. "An EKG won't tell you. Blood cholesterol tests give an association -- if your cholesterol is high, it suggests it, but it doesn't confirm with certainty that you have coronary artery disease."