Do you have a healthy heart?
Tuesday, August 22, 2006

"View this video on 11 News site":http://www.khou.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=83053&catId=35 Heart attacks kill more people than any cancer, yet many of us are at risk and we won’t know until it’s too late. One Houston research doctor there is a solution and his work is attracting critical attention nationwide. Ken Lay died from a heart attack. Two years ago, former President Clinton could’ve ended up the same way but doctors were able to save him with bypass surgery. With 1.5 million Americans a year having heart attacks, some doctors expressed alarm that the president had never had widely available scans to check for heart disease. The machines use radiation and ultrasound to find early signs of the blocked arteries that lead to heart attacks. “Definitely could’ve picked it up, no doubt about it,” said Dr. Mort Naghavi. Dr. Naghavi is a Houston heart researcher who believes virtually all of us should be getting these tests beginning when we’re middle-aged. “It’s probably more and more important for heart disease because once you’re struck you’re dead,” said Dr. Naghavi. It all sounds good, nobody wants to have a heart attack. But questions are being raised about how effective some of these heart exams really are. And if the doctors promoting them have a financial conflict of interest.” The tests can cost hundreds of dollars each and there are no conclusive studies that prove that the widespread use of them would reduce heart attacks. That was pointed out in an article last month in the Boston Globe. It centered on the efforts of Dr. Naghavi and over two dozen other doctors who are promoting the widespread use of the heart exams. The article pointed out some of the doctors had ties to medical and drug companies that could benefit if such exams were to be given to millions more people. Dr. Naghavi said he makes no apologies for the connection between medical researchers and the medical industry, connections he said they fully disclosed. “That should be regarded as a positive factor, not a negative factor,” he said. In fact, Dr. Naghavi and his colleagues spent two hours showing us how they’re developing a brand new way to check for blocked arteries. It’s a new technology that could make cutting-edge heart exams inexpensive and no more complicated than a getting your blood pressure checked. “There is none like this, we’re the only one in the country,” Dr. Naghavi said. The test involves measuring changes in blood temperature in the fingertips. A cuff cuts off blood flow, then its released. “Now your blood temperature goes back up,” Dr. Naghavi said. The temperature is a measure of how much blood is flowing. The curve reveals if arteries are blocked or not. The device is being designed with help from computer scientists at the University of Houston. “All of us are collaborating very closely with people at the Medical Center,” said Ralph Metcalfe, UH Biomedical Engineer. “For me, its a personal mission because my mother died of heart attack,” said Ioannis Kakadiaris, UH Computer Scientist. If independent tests prove the device effective, millions more of us could be inexpensively checked for early signs of heart disease. The critics can debate whether it’s money well spent.

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