Q. What is heart disease?
A. Heart disease or coronary heart disease refers to a collection of diseases and conditions affecting the heart. It is one component of cardiovascular disease, which also includes diseases of the blood vessels (vascular system). The leading type of heart disease is coronary artery disease or CAD. CAD is caused by the gradual buildup of fatty plaque deposits in your coronary arteries. This process is called atherosclerosis.
Q. How common is heart disease?
A. Heart disease is the #1 cause of death of American males and females. 13.2 million Americans have heart disease, also called coronary heart disease. Cardiovascular disease (includes heart disease and stroke) claims more lives each year than the next four leading causes of death combined, which are cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes. Many steps, however, can be taken towards cardiovascular disease prevention.
Q. How can I reduce my risk of developing heart disease? What symptoms of cardiovascular disease should I look for?
A. There are several established risk factors for heart disease that are controllable from a heart disease prevention standpoint. These include smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, obesity and diabetes. Some risk factors are not controllable including family history of heart disease, increasing age and male gender. Cardiovascular disease prevention is dependent on the knowledge and awareness of your risk factors.
Q. Which Life Line Screening blood tests check for heart disease risk factors?
A. Life Line Screening offers simple blood tests that identify risk factors for heart disease. The test requires a finger-stick fasting blood sample, and lab-accurate results are available in less than 10 minutes for total cholesterol, HDL "good" cholesterol, LDL "bad" cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (in select states). CRP is a new marker for cardiovascular disease risk that can also be measured from a simple finger-stick blood sample.
Q. How accurate are the Life Line Screening blood tests?
A. We use the Cholestech LDX® system for our blood tests. The equipment is FDA-approved and is certified by the Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network. This certification validates that the system meets the gold standards for accuracy and reproducibility developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the measurement of total and HDL cholesterol, consistent with the National Cholesterol Education Program analytic goals. Although there are no nationally accepted guidelines for glucose total error, the Cholestech LDX System provides test results which are consistent with good patient care. Cholestech equipment is used nationwide in physician offices, hospitals and pharmacies.
