LONGEVITY PROGRAM
Your Health, Your Body, Your Heart. It’s Your Life

Wellness is a dynamic process that often changes with age and is influenced by genetics, lifestyle habits and circumstance. Learning the current state of your wellness improves your knowledge base, helps you set goals for your health, learn about your options and empowers you to make better choices for a longer and healthier life.

My Goal:

Provide my patients an accurate and educated picture of their physical and emotional wellness and a basic understanding of the role that cholesterol, inflammation, arterial plaque and genetics play in their risks for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia and auto-immune diseases. Further, understanding the importance of their intestinal biome, nutrition, weight, exercise, stress management, meditation, smoking, and blood pressure is essential for achieving an optimal quality of life and improved sense of well-being.

With this foundation I am able to provide my patients with a proactive lifestyle plan that, if adapted, will have a dramatic effect on lowering their lifetime risks of having a future cardio-vascular event (heart attack or stroke), complications of diabetes, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s. Hopefully, this will be a lifetime journey. The process isn’t complicated, but success does require a constant commitment to learning and being consistent in practicing their new LifeStyle habits. I am constantly uplifted by the achievements of my patients. At times, their results are just plain awesome. GOAL: Your Healthspan will equal your Lifespan (Longevity)

My Lifestyle Longevity Program is probably unlike any other you may have previously experienced. One major difference is that I have been utilizing Doppler vascular ultrasound to diagnose atherosclerosis (arterial plaque) for well over 25 years. I have measured the location, amount and type of plaque of the carotid arteries in the neck (risk for stroke) in over 2000 patients. Non-invasive vascular ultrasound can establish two important landmarks: (1) the actual presence of disease (plaque) and (2) if plaque is present, a baseline for future comparison. This simple office procedure provides the ability to classify a patient as more accurately being high risk (plaque) or low risk (no plaque) for a future heart attack or stroke.

My goal: prevent Heart Attacks and Strokes by diagnosing plaque, stabilizing its progression and potentially reverse and eliminate it. The use of Doppler vascular ultrasound over time provides me an insight as to the effectiveness of a patient’s lifestyle changes and their medical treatment program. In other words: How a patient is really doing?

My cardiovascular and diabetes risk prevention recommendations are based on a patients’ actual or measured risk. Risk classifications have been created by various heart associations and are an educated guess based on personal and family health histories and a basic cholesterol panel. Personal risk factors include age, current smoker, high blood pressure, waist measurement, diabetes, low HDL-C, high LDL-C, high triglyceride. Family history of early heart attacks and stroke and genetics are known risks. High-Risk includes anyone that has had a prior heart attack or stroke or meets certain calculated criteria. Low-Risk patients frequently have ’normal’ cholesterol levels and no risk factors. Yet low-risk people still have heart attacks and strokes. How many times have you heard about someone who is the epitome of ‘good’ health, exercises regularly, eats right, doesn’t smoke, etc. and has a sudden heart attack. How can that happen? Answer: previously unknown and untreated plaque in an artery suddenly ruptures without warning.

Recommendations for reducing future risk of a heart attack or stroke are generally referred to as either Primary or Secondary. Secondary Prevention (after surviving an event) recommendations are for high-risk patients and are generally treated more aggressively. Primary Prevention is recommended for low-risk patients and are generally less ‘aggressive’. All patients, however, are encouraged to eat healthy, lose weight (if not at an optimal BMI), exercise regularly, not to smoke, monitor their blood pressure and learn to manage stress with mindful meditation. All these risk factors (except genetics) can be successfully modified to reduce risk, if and when education, motivation, lifestyle planning and coaching are provided. The problem with this dual standard of care is the fact that nearly 50% of patients who have their first heart attack or stoke are in the low risk category.

Plaque is NOT normal! Patients who have been diagnosed with mild atherosclerosis (plaque) in their arteries on ultrasound scans are frequently told that ‘plaque is normal as they age’ and ‘not to worry’, unless it is causes a partial blockage of blood flow (to the brain or heart). Reports from mobile vascular ultrasound screening services actually state, “mild plaque is normal”.

This ‘not to worry’ belief stems from the 1970's ‘clogged pipe mentality’ of cholesterol plaque buildup causing blockage of arteries as being the main cause of heart attacks and strokes. This belief led to the development of many vascular procedures over the past few decades, including angioplasty, bypass artery surgery and insertion of stents in the heart’s arteries or removing the plaque (endarterectomy) and insertion of stents in the carotid arteries supplying the brain. However, studies have clearly shown that while pain symptoms may be improved, these procedures have failed to lower the actual incidence of future heart attacks or strokes.

GOAL: Your Healthspan will equal your Lifespan (Longevity)

HOW TO GET STARTED:

• Go to www.BostonHeartDiagnostics.com
• Select: Patient Login tab
  o Login under your Account
  o If you are a New Patient to the Boston website, create your account using the I.D. number Boston assigned you at the top of the page of your Boston Lab results
• Select: Take Your Questionnaire tab at the top of the page. Upon completion:
• Select: View my Life Plan tab
• Print your Personalized Nutrition and Life Plan
• Next, click on ‘Select a Coach’ and benefit from an initial consultation by selecting a coach.
• Monitor your dietary program using the DietID Dietary Assessment link.
• Download the 'Heali' app and access recipes, grocery products and your local grocery home delivery service options.