Heart Scans Save Lives By Identifying Heart Disease

www.modernheartandvascular.com
- In the U.S. a person dies every 34 seconds from heart disease.
What if you could prevent a heart attack before it happens?
The latest technology can take the guesswork out of knowing your heart health
so you can be proactive.
Dr. Rajiv Agarwal with the Modern Heart and Vascular Institute shares how that works
and who should take advantage of it, good morning.
- Good morning, Deborah, how you doing?
- Good, you know, so many of us rely on symptoms to tell us
that something might be wrong and that we should go to the doctor,
but in the case of a heart attack, as we've mentioned before,
sometimes the first symptom is the actual heart attack.
- That's correct.
Actually, one out of three people who we definitively diagnose
with heart attacks have not had symptoms.
I mean, some people think that the only symptom that they'll experience
is , "I feel like there's an elephant sitting on my chest."
No, that's not the case, there's so many other symptoms that mimic a heart attack
that people need to be aware about.
- Other people, another misstep that we make is that we assume
that the heart attacks happen to other people.
For example, we think that it's only people who are obese, or old,
or just men, it's a man's disease.
- No, no, no, it's definitely not just a man's disease.
Women are actually pretty much 50/50 with men having heart disease.
We always encourage our women to get mammograms and all of that,
and women have to remember that heart disease is the number one cause of death for them,
and it's 15 to 30 times more likely than breast cancer.
So, we support the mammograms and all of that but we need all women
to start thinking about heart disease, primarily.
- We've moved the bar from hoping we don't have a heart attack
to knowing if a heart attack could be coming.
So, you know, why wait for that to happen?
We also have to, in health care, I think for a lot of us,
need to move more toward that proactive.
You can actually, with the CT scan, predict if a heart attack could be around the corner?
- The CT technology, it's been around for a few years but the more sophisticated,
up-to-date scanner, like the one that you're seeing on the screen there, it's 128 slice scanner,
which means we can scan your heart literally in one to two seconds
and the information you get from there is profound.
We can see if you have any calcium buildup in the arteries of your heart,
which in turn means blockages, and blockages are what cause heart attacks.
So, to have this amazing technology that can pick up
heart disease at such an early, early stage, especially if you've had COVID,
especially if you have risk factors.
I mean, I don't know why everyone wouldn't get that done.
- And I gotta tell you, for me, I was like,
I went in there and my mindset was, if something's wrong, I have time to fix it,
or if nothing's wrong, gives me peace of mind.
Luckily for me, you explained to me what you saw on that scan there, you said,
"You're good, you're not gonna have any heart issues."
But you mentioned, especially if you had COVID, this is the reason why we're seeing so many
younger people with some heart issues coming in.
- Absolutely, and just the other day we had
a 41-year-old guy, Deborah, who came in 'cause he really wasn't having much symptoms,
he was getting a little more out of breath, and lo and behold, he had a 95% blockage
in the widowmaker artery that one of our internationalists fixed up.
And he, had he just relied on, "Well, I'm gonna wait until I have more symptoms,"
he probably wouldn't be alive today.
I mean, this is hitting all of us very hard at an earlier and earlier age these days.
- And you're seeing it in people who have done everything proactively,
good diet, they work out, they're runners and the whole bit,
you've seen those folks come in and have an issue?
- Absolutely, so some people think that, "Well, I don't smoke, or I'm not diabetic,
I'm not overweight," no, no, no, let's not fall into that trap.
Heart disease does not discriminate.
Modern Heart and Vascular Institute in Humble, TX, Katy, TX & Cleveland, TX is a state-of-the-art cardiovascular practice equipped with cutting-edge diagnostic tools used to assess heart health and diagnose cardiac conditions in the earliest of stages.
We specialize in all aspects of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. We diagnose and treats arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, vein disease, and high blood pressure. The practice also expertly manages cardiac conditions in people with diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, obesity, family history of premature heart disease, etc.
Modern Cardiovascular Care for Modern Patients using Modern Technology

[@farmsimaussie1992]

Maybe if everyone could afford a CT scan they would be able to get one, until then people will continue to ignore chest pain as it is just heart burn or it will pass... But that will never change, it's all about the dollars and not the patients wellbeing like they try to claim it is

[@modernheartandvascular]

In the U.S. a person dies every 34 seconds from heart disease.
What if you could prevent a heart attack before it happens?
The latest technology can take the guesswork out of knowing your heart health
so you can be proactive.
Dr. Rajiv Agarwal with the Modern Heart and Vascular Institute shares how that works
and who should take advantage of it, good morning.
- Good morning, Deborah, how you doing?
- Good, you know, so many of us rely on symptoms to tell us
that something might be wrong and that we should go to the doctor,
but in the case of a heart attack, as we've mentioned before,
sometimes the first symptom is the actual heart attack.
- That's correct.
Actually, one out of three people who we definitively diagnose
with heart attacks have not had symptoms.
I mean, some people think that the only symptom that they'll experience
is , "I feel like there's an elephant sitting on my chest."
No, that's not the case, there's so many other symptoms that mimic a heart attack
that people need to be aware about.
- Other people, another misstep that we make is that we assume
that the heart attacks happen to other people.
For example, we think that it's only people who are obese, or old,
or just men, it's a man's disease.
- No, no, no, it's definitely not just a man's disease.
Women are actually pretty much 50/50 with men having heart disease.
We always encourage our women to get mammograms and all of that,
and women have to remember that heart disease is the number one cause of death for them,
and it's 15 to 30 times more likely than breast cancer.
So, we support the mammograms and all of that but we need all women
to start thinking about heart disease, primarily.
- We've moved the bar from hoping we don't have a heart attack
to knowing if a heart attack could be coming.
So, you know, why wait for that to happen?
We also have to, in health care, I think for a lot of us,
need to move more toward that proactive.
You can actually, with the CT scan, predict if a heart attack could be around the corner?
- The CT technology, it's been around for a few years but the more sophisticated,
up-to-date scanner, like the one that you're seeing on the screen there, it's 128 slice scanner,
which means we can scan your heart literally in one to two seconds
and the information you get from there is profound.
We can see if you have any calcium buildup in the arteries of your heart,
which in turn means blockages, and blockages are what cause heart attacks.
So, to have this amazing technology that can pick up
heart disease at such an early, early stage, especially if you've had COVID,
especially if you have risk factors.
I mean, I don't know why everyone wouldn't get that done.
- And I gotta tell you, for me, I was like,
I went in there and my mindset was, if something's wrong, I have time to fix it,
or if nothing's wrong, gives me peace of mind.
Luckily for me, you explained to me what you saw on that scan there, you said,
"You're good, you're not gonna have any heart issues."
But you mentioned, especially if you had COVID, this is the reason why we're seeing so many
younger people with some heart issues coming in.
- Absolutely, and just the other day we had
a 41-year-old guy, Deborah, who came in 'cause he really wasn't having much symptoms,
he was getting a little more out of breath, and lo and behold, he had a 95% blockage
in the widowmaker artery that one of our internationalists fixed up.
And he, had he just relied on, "Well, I'm gonna wait until I have more symptoms,"
he probably wouldn't be alive today.
I mean, this is hitting all of us very hard at an earlier and earlier age these days.
- And you're seeing it in people who have done everything proactively,
good diet, they work out, they're runners and the whole bit,
you've seen those folks come in and have an issue?
- Absolutely, so some people think that, "Well, I don't smoke, or I'm not diabetic,
I'm not overweight," no, no, no, let's not fall into that trap.
Heart disease does not discriminate.
Yes, those people that have more risk factors are at higher risk,
but even people that have no risk factors, again, especially if you've had COVID.
And the other risk factor that I'll really point out would be family history.
If you've had any family members, I would say below the age of 65,
that have had heart disease, strokes, stents, bypass surgeries,
please don't wait get yourself screened early
because we can prevent what happened to them from happening to you.
- What are the next steps if someone goes in and you say,
"Okay, we see some significant blockage here," what would be the next step then?
- Yeah, really, it depends on their symptoms and possibly some test results.
If they have no symptoms, and let's say, a stress test or pet scan is normal,
then we can manage it conservatively just with medications.
That may be an aspirin, cholesterol medication, and really focus on prevention
from the lifestyle standpoint.
But if they have a bad blockage, then nowadays, it's outpatient.
You come in, you get a stent, you go home, very, very minor stay at the hospital.
There are a lot of things that can happen to us that are out of our control,
this is something that can be in our control with this technology.
- Dr. Agarwal, thank you.
- Thank you, Deborah.
Modern Heart and Vascular Institute has a special offer for "Great Day" viewers.
Throughout February you can get two heart scans for only $149.
Bring a loved one, or bring a family member; or friend.
Dr. Agarwal will review your scans himself.
To sign up give them a call at this number, it's 832-644-8930.
Again, that's 832-644-8930 or you can book your appointment online
at modernheartandvascular.com.
Modern Heart is also seeing patients in two new locations in Tomball
and in the Texas Medical Center as well, with free parking.