The number one cause of deaths in the Western countries is cardiovascular disease. It cause double deaths than all of due for cancer.

Coronary disease is the main cause of cardiac deaths. More than 50 % of affected people has less than 65 years old, with a medium onset age of 30 years old. Moreover, 20 % of the heart attacks affects people who don´t have a known risk factor.

Coronary disease begins with a minimal lesion in the inner artery wall. We have to learn a lot yet about possible causes of the cardiovascular disease ; but it is known that several risk factors can help to its development. We can find high cholestrerol level, high triglyceride level, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, family history of cardiovascular disease, obesity, stress between them..

Once the lesion stands on the arterial wall, there is a cholesterol, calcium and platelet gathering. When the time goes, the arterial lumen narrows, so the blood and oxigen supply to the cardiac muscle.

Coronary disease has differents ways of expression. Sometimes It blows suddenly and the other ones run a known or predictive way, gradually. One very dangerous form is the silent isquemia. In this case the artery obstruction do not have symptoms and It could end in a painless heart attack.
In the long term Framingham study was observed that almost 15 % of the total heart attacks were silent and a very similar percentage were mistakenly diagnosed as stomach upset or any other common symptom.
In synthesis, diagnosis were generally made at the time when the coronary disease was set and damage (high or low) was done.
With the IMTHealthScan™ We can forestall 6 years to that events and prevent them. The diagnosis is made before the illness cause any damage. Since the diagnosis is made, we can take it into account and prescribe the neccesary treatments for the coronary degenerative disease reversion.

RISK FACTORS

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

It is a very common chronic disease. One in five persons (and one in four adults) has high blood pressure. The situation is more critical if one can see that of those people with high blood pressure, 30 percent don't know they have it.

Keep in mind that high blood pressure is usually present for many years before its complications develop. The idea, therefore, is to treat hypertension early, before it damages critical organs in the body. Accordingly, increased public awareness and screening programs to detect early, uncomplicated hypertension are the keys to successful treatment. Chronic high blood pressure can lead to an enlarged heart, kidney failure, brain or neurological damage, and changes in the retina at the back of the eyes. Moreover, gets atherosclerosis worst.

Of all people with high blood pressure, 11 percent are not on therapy (special diet or drugs), 25 percent are on inadequate therapy, and only 34 percent are on adequate therapy. (remember the 30 % who don´t know they have it. Hypertension increase by six the stroke´s risk

DIABETES

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is more frecquent in diabetic (and specially if it is of early onset). Hypertension and type II diabetes are the most frecquent diseases in the Western world. Diabetes increases generall risk and
accelerates heart diseases, peripherial artery disease, stroke, retinopathy and nephropathy.

OBESITY

Obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass (generally a person who has an overweight of more than 20 %). Overweight and obesity were found to be significantly associated with: Diabetes, High blood pressure, High cholesterol and sedentary status. Overweight increases by two the CAD risk.

HIGH CHOLESTEROL

In the last 30 years, high serum cholesterol has became a synonim of heart attack. A high level of cholesterol in the blood is associated with an increased risk of heart attack because cholesterol is the major component of the plaques deposited in arterial walls. Cholesterol, like oil, cannot dissolve in the blood unless it is combined with special proteins called lipoproteins.
A long term trial about cardiac diseases called Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial , reports that men with cholesterol serum level around 300 mg has four more possibilities of died (within the next 6 years) than the men whose level is below 180 mg.
Likewise, in the Framingham study, which has been doing for 40 years, was observed that the heart disease´s risk possibilities increase directly proportional to the cholesterol level.

People who had high cholesterol level at the beginning of the trial, had more tendency to develope heart disease in the future.
Inversely, neither heart attack nor heart-related death happened in 5000 studied men, when cholesterol values were lower than 150 mg.

SMOKING

In the Framingham study, great cigarettes smokers have three more incidence of coronary heart disease and mortality. It was clearly proved the decressed morbimortality from the 3 rd year after stop smoking.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Sedentaries habits of live is another main heart disease risk factor. It is considered that it should be necessary to take a 30 minutes-walk, five days a week. It must be added the overweight and the high cholesterol level to the sedentary habits.

HEART DISEASE IN WOMEN

Although the disease is more prevalent in men, there are a lot of women with high risk profile. This group is up by postmenopausal women who get the same coronary heart disease risk than men in a very short time.

All of that is potencially increased by another risk factors as diabetes, smoking, overweight or contraceptive pill taking.