Your vascular health is a window to your overall health. Without optimal blood flow, you cannot get adequate oxygen, nutrients, hormones, immune cells, etc. to your tissues, nor adequately carry away toxins and cellular waste. People with poor vascular health are at an increased risk of not just heart attack and stroke, but also cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. This is because many “non-vascular” diseases have been found to share similar risk factors and common underlying pathologies with vascular disease. Bottom line, if you are vascularly healthy, you will live longer and will be at lower risk for numerous age-related diseases.
We often think that being diagnosed with an illness such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, or cancer as something that happens out of the clear blue. We are healthy one day, then suddenly, we are ill the next. This is almost never the case. Our bodies give us warning signs of poor health long before we get diagnosed with a disease. Our bodies speak to us in subtle ways, ways that are often unknown, ignored, or dismissed by doctors, until it’s too late. Are you certain that your doctor can tell if your health is in danger? If you had a ticking time bomb inside your body, is your doctor thorough enough to find it and, most importantly, would your doctor know how to fix it without resorting to drugs?
A thorough analysis of your blood profile is the proper place to start to prevent disease and secure a long and healthy life. You don’t have to wait until you have a serious illness to get healthy. Your blood often reveals chemical changes in your body before symptoms of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s begin to surface. This vital information gives insight into your true state of health. With this valuable information, corrective action can be taken before you are stricken with a life-threatening disease.
A key to avoiding life-threatening diseases relies not only on obtaining the correct blood tests but applying the correct interpretation as well. Many of the blood tests we obtain are rarely if ever, ordered by your primary care physician, but are crucial for protecting your health and extending your life. Regarding interpretation, the question is not, what is a “normal” test result, but rather, what is an “optimal” test result? Normal ranges are nothing more than statistical averages of the general population. These ranges are often associated with an increased risk of mortality and certain diseases. Optimal ranges, however, are based on the latest scientific research and are associated with people who experience the longest lifespans, the lowest incidence of disease, and greatest quality of life.
When it comes to cardiovascular disease, a routine lipid panel (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides) does not provide enough information about your vascular health. Nearly half of all heart attacks and strokes occur in people with “normal” cholesterol levels! Therefore, routine testing often fails to identify people at risk for heart attack and stroke. So, when your doctor looks at your bloodwork and tells you that “everything is fine,” please don’t take that at face value.
At our office, we go far beyond routine testing so you can know your true risk for our nation’s #1 killer: Cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke). To help predict and prevent fatal cardiovascular disease years in advance, new cardiometabolic testing now allows us to catch subclinical (symptomless) vascular disease at the very beginning, as well as detect more advanced stages of vascular disease. Such an approach is crucial to stop you from digging yourself an early grave due to heart attack, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes.
Who should consider doing comprehensive cardiometabolic testing? Basically, anyone who truly cares about their health and wants to do more to prevent heart attack, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. However, if you have any of the following risk factors, it is especially important that you have this testing done:
- Lipid abnormalities: Elevated cholesterol, LDL, or triglycerides, or low HDL
- Presence of inflammation: Elevated hsCRP, homocysteine, or fibrinogen
- Poor blood sugar control: Elevated fasting glucose, fasting insulin, or hemoglobin A1c, or low GlycoMark
- Elevated ferritin (iron)
- High levels of toxic metals (e.g., lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium)
- Hormone deficiency: Estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, or DHEA
- Hypertension: Now officially defined as anything above 130/80
- Overweight (BMI >25) or obesity (BMI >30)
- Excess belly fat (waist-to-height ratio >50%)
- Chronic fatigue
- Low heart rate variability (HRV)
- Low grip strength
- Erectile dysfunction
- Memory loss
- Osteopenia or osteoporosis
- Sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass)
- Chronic infections such as Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus
- Earlobe creases, deep forehead wrinkles, and/or missing fingernail lunulae (half moons)
- Intestinal dysbiosis (gut bacteria imbalance)
- Smoking (past or present)
- Sleep deprivation
- Inactivity: Lack of exercise or prolonged sitting
- Family history of heart attack or stroke
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Diet high in animal products
- Mental stress: Anxiety or depression
Atherosclerotic disease is characterized by progressive damage to the endothelium (lining of the blood vessels) and an accumulation of fatty plaque. Unstable plaque can rupture and lead to vessel blockage causing a fatal or debilitating heart attack or stroke. The whole goal is the prevent you from getting to this dangerous point.
Our comprehensive cardiometabolic test panel measures advanced blood and urine biomarkers. Armed with this important information, we can now identify vascular disease across a wide spectrum and, most importantly, use potent, natural treatments to combat it. The cost of this important test panel is $699 and is worth every penny for the valuable and potentially lifesaving information it yields. Below is a brief description of the seven biomarkers that are measured in the 3-part panel:
Part 1: The following tests help identify if you are at risk for vascular disease:
- F2-Isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) measures the amount of generalized oxidative stress in your body. High levels can damage the endothelium.
- Oxidized LDL (OxLDL) is a biomarker that measures the amount of LDL (“bad cholesterol”) that has been damaged by excess oxidation.
Part 2: The following tests help identify the presence of vascular disease:
- Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a metabolite of the amino acid L-arginine which can inhibit beneficial nitric oxide production.
- Microalbumin is a test to detect tiny amounts of albumin (a blood protein) in your urine. Increased levels are associated with damage to the endothelium.
- High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a general marker of inflammation. Elevated levels are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, even in otherwise healthy individuals.
Part 3: The following tests help determine if you are at risk for an imminent heart attack or stroke by measuring the severity of vascular disease:
- Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a marker that measures the body’s response to a damaged endothelium that has become thin, cracked, and potentially unstable from excess cholesterol accumulation and inflammation. Your risk for heart attack and stroke increases dramatically as MPO levels increase.
- Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase-A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a marker that measures the active build-up of cholesterol and rupture-prone plaque inside your artery walls. Your risk for heart attack and stroke increases dramatically as Lp-PLA2 levels increase.
Bonus test: A new blood test that measures levels of TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide)—a metabolite derived from gut bacteria—can accurately predict future risk for heart attack, stroke, and premature death in people who appear otherwise healthy. TMAO is produced by the liver after intestinal bacteria digest L-carnitine and lecithin found in a diet containing animal products. TMAO directly contributes to the narrowing of arteries through plaque build-up. TMAO is now included in the cardiometabolic test panel.
