How to Prevent Heart Disease with Dr. Beth Abramson

The point of preventive cardiology is to inform people they're on a path toward developing heart disease and other cardiovascular problems—so that they can change their lifestyle and delay the onset of any issues. Recent advances in cardiology like new hs-Troponin testing are helping doctors detect heart health risks earlier than ever before. Heading into February's Heart Health month, guest host Dr. Peter Nord talks about these advances with Dr. Beth Abramson, Medcan's director of cardiology. For complete show notes and a full episode transcript go to www.eatmovethinkpodcast.com.

Link:

https://www.eatmovethinkpodcast.com/podcast/ep50-preventive-cardiology

Episode Notes

Guest bio: Dr. Beth Abramson is associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. She is director of cardiac prevention and rehabilitation, and women's cardiovascular health, at St. Michael's Hospital. Learn more.

Links, references and highlights:

• February is Heart Month. Learn about ways to control your heart health from the CDC and Canada's Heart & Stroke.
• Learn more about women's heart health at a complimentary Medcan Presents webinar hosted by Dr. Beth Abramson. Date: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, at 12:30 p.m. Register here.
• The Canadian Women's Heart Health Centre is promoting Wear Red Day for women's heart health. It's happening Feb. 13. Learn more here.

Drs. Abramson and Nord discussed four innovative ways to predict whether you're headed toward heart disease. Including:

• CIMT—Predicts future cardiac risk by examining the thickness of the carotid artery in the neck. CIMT stands for Carotid Intima-Media Thickness. Learn more about the test here or here.
• hs-Troponin I—The High Sensitive Troponin-I test measures blood concentration of a biomarker that scientists believe is associated with stress on the heart muscle. The test can predict risk of future heart disease even in healthy people. (Medcan is the first clinic in Canada to provide it.) Learn more about the test in this article by Dr. Nord.
• TMAO—The trimethylamine N-oxide test (TMAO) screens for a biomarker in the blood that is produced when digesting red meat, full-fat dairy, egg yolks and certain dietary supplements. Higher levels in the blood are associated with elevated risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Learn more about TMAO here.
• Lp(a)—What Dr. Abramson refers to as "LP-little-a" is the short form of "lipoprotein-a," a type of cholesterol in the blood. Doctors may order a test to measure levels of this cholesterol if you have normal cholesterol levels but a strong family history of cardiovascular disease. If your lp(a) levels are high, you too may be at elevated risk of developing heart disease. Learning that early enough can spur lifestyle changes that may help decrease your risks. Learn more here.

Dr. Beth Abramson helped to develop an app called My HeartPath. Here's the news release about it. Download it at the Apple App Store or Google Apps.

The book Dr. Beth Abramson wrote is called Heart Health for Canadians.