If You Have Symptoms of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease, Get Tested!

Sunday, March 1, 2015

If You Have Symptomsof Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease, Get Tested! (NAPSA)—Chest discomfort. Heartburn. Tightness or pressure in the throat, jaw, shoulder, abdomen, back or arm. What med- ical condition could these symptoms be associated with? The answer maysurprise you. The answer is a common heart disease called obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). “Obstructive CAD is a blockage of the heart arteries and it can be very serious,” said Dr. Alan Grossman, a Medical Director of NonInvasive Cardiology at the Heart and Vascular Center of Arizona. “Unfortunately, it is one of the most difficult diseases to diagnose because the symptoms are shared by many other health conditions. Diagnosing obstructive CAD in women is even more challenging because the symptoms that women experience are more diverse and less obvious than the symptoms men often exhibit.” For many years, the standard approach to diagnosing obstructive CAD involved advanced cardiac tests that come with risks of radiation exposure and complications from invasive procedures, but an emerging field of medical research called cardiovascular genomics has given doctors a new way to decide if their patients’ symptoms are caused by obstructive CAD. Mandy Welsheimer is glad she lives in the era of cardiovascular genomics. Heart disease runs in her family, so when she began to experience chest pain, she spoke with her doctor immediately. “T was relieved when I learned that my risk of obstructive CAD was low,” said Welsheimer. “All it took to determine that I was at low risk was a blood test taken right in the doctor’s office—I didn’t have to run on a treadmill or do any complex follow-up procedures.” The test Welsheimer received is a blood test that uses age, sex Me “ | me& 9 E

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