What keeps us up at night?
Knowing that many will die from heart attacks that could have been prevented.
Read the op-ed that was featured in The Mercury News today, from the experts in the Right Care Initiative :
We recently learned some of the details of President Trump’s 2018 physical examination.
His exam included a Coronary Artery Calcium CT scan, the same type of scan that Air Force pilots, astronauts and senior military officers have long been given as a tool in determining fitness for duty.
Former President Bill Clinton, however, did not have such a screening scan, and, unfortunately, he later suffered a life-threatening heart attack, surgery, and arduous rehabilitation.
For lay people, Coronary Artery Calcium CT scans can most easily be conceptualized as a mammogram for the heart. These scans yield actionable information that can be used to institute strategies that may prevent heart attacks and strokes. One of the reasons that this is such a breakthrough is that half of all deadly heart attacks come with no warning.
We are lucky to live in an era when we can detect, prevent and treat the No.1 killer of Americans — cardiovascular disease.
Coronary Artery Calcium CT scans offer a modern, low-risk technology that has provided an advanced warning to reduce the risk of a heart attack for many people. President Trump’s “sub-clinical coronary artery disease” was revealed in his Coronary Artery Calcium CT scan as part of his presidential physical examination. This early detection allows for the implementation of effective preventive medications and strategies. There are currently many beneficial, inexpensive generic medications, such as statins and aspirin, that along with healthy diet and exercise can improve outcomes.
As leaders involved in the California Right Care Initiative public-private partnership that works to speed lifesaving medical advances to benefit the general public, we wonder, why can’t this easy and relatively inexpensive ($150) test that is used by certain members of our society — presidents, pilots and astronauts to name a few — be made available to the general public to better guide their treatment?
If the scan reveals that calcium is present in the heart, it is time to take action with potentially lifesaving medications coupled with the lifestyle modifications of stopping smoking, daily exercise, weight control and a more plant-centric diet to have the best odds of a long healthy life.
What keeps us up at night? Knowing that many will die from heart attacks that could have been prevented. Knowing that if only people with silent heart disease knew they had the condition, they would make lifestyle changes and start medications that could save their lives.
We feel a duty and compulsion to warn the public that early detection can save lives. Getting a Coronary Artery Calcium CT scan is one potential tool for early detection that may save countless lives.
Heart attack and stroke victims often don’t live to make it to the hospital or to tell their story. Those with the knowledge to prevent these devastating life-ending events feel an obligation to warn the public.
If this inexpensive preventive screening is good enough for the president, isn’t it good enough for the average citizen who is also at increased risk?
- William Bommer MD, California Chapter Executive Board, American College of Cardiology; Center for Healthcare Policy
and Research, University of California, Davis - Mathew Budoff MD, Program Director and Director of Cardiac CT, LA Biomed; University of California, Los Angeles
- David Maron MD, Director of Preventive Cardiology, Stanford University
- Joseph Sky MD, LtCol, Chief of Cardiology, David Grant Medical Center, United States Air Force*
- Karol Watson MD, PhD, Co-Director Preventive Cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles
- Stephen Shortell MBA PhD, Dean Emeritus, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
- Hattie Hanley MPP, Director Right Care Initiative, University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health Center For Health Outcomes and Innovation Research
*The views expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Air Force.