Top Innovators Tackling #1 Killer ...and WINNING!

Diagnostic & Treatment Innovation, Social Innovation, Food Innovation, and Lifestyle Innovation give new hope to people around the world for a longer, healthier, better quality of life.

Everyone knows someone who’s had a heart attack. And it’s more than likely that they didn’t even see it coming. 

Why?

Forty-percent of heart attacks show no signs or symptoms beforehand and risk factors are expanding beyond what doctors have traditionally used to measure such as obesity, smoking, heredity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and age. So, what many doctors use as standard indicators during annual exams could give false hope, such as:

• Your doctors say you’re too young. In terms of age, Heart Disease is no longer considered an “old man’s disease” after an AHA Journal Circulation published a study in 2018 showed 30% of the 28,000 people hospitalized for heart attacks between 1995 and 2014 were between the ages of 35 and 54.
• Your doctors say your blood pressure is normal. But did you know that stress, a significant trigger for artery damaging inflammation, doesn’t have to translate into high blood pressure? And being at the top of our game can sometimes mean our bodies are screaming inside which triggers our body’s healing response, causing plaque to build up and bandaid the artery damage.
• Your doctors say you have ‘normal cholesterol’ levels. If you think you’re off-the-hook for heart disease having ‘normal cholesterol’ levels in a basic lipid panel, think again. About half of all heart attacks occur in people with “normal cholesterol” levels in a basic lipid panel during a standard annual exam. It’s not until your doctor requests advanced blood work to measure the size and number of the so-called ‘bad cholesterol’ particles, LDLs, that you know something dangerous might be brewing. This is important because if you have a high number of the small LDL particles, which are more likely to become oxidized by consuming a diet that is high in trans fats, then you are likely to have more plaque build-up in your arteries.

But don’t freak out!

Innovators are coming to the rescue!

Several innovators are making great strides in tackling the #1 killer with game-changing advances from prevention through treatment that are proving to have an impact on reversing the course.

So, in honor of American Heart Association’s “American Heart Month” and “Red Dress Day,” which is the first Friday of every February, global nonprofit, “The Way To My Heart,” which focuses on educating, engaging, and empowering patients in this fast-paced world of innovation where patients are falling behind and quick, released the first-ever patient-driven “2020 Heart Health Innovation Awards” for those innovators making strides in changing the course of Heart Disease. Their Board of Directors and patient survey revealed the biggest game-changers:

2020 TOP INNOVATORS TACKLING #1 KILLER…AND KILLIN’ IT!

Prevention Innovation: Virta Health.

Virta Health provides the first clinically proven digital treatment program to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes without medications or surgery. They provide an on-demand virtual clinic of medical professionals and patient support community to help people lower their blood sugar using personalized nutritional programs. About half the population of the United States is either Diabetic or pre-diabetic. That puts them at-risk for Cardiovascular Disease, already the #1 killer in America, because the sugar your body can't process effectively ends up in the blood stream and those sugar molecules scratch the arteries, damaging them, which leads to plaque build-up with your body's healing response to 'bandaid' the vessel. Lowering blood sugar to levels acceptable for your body is critical to preventing Cardiovascular Disease

Diagnostics Innovation: Eko Devices.

More than 40% of heart attack sufferers show no signs or symptoms. They don't even see it coming because traditional testing using advanced imaging technology such CT Scans and MRI's are cost-prohibitive for every patient who might be deemed at-risk for heart attack due to age, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, lifestyle, chemo treatment, and/or heredity. Eko's new "Eko DUO Point of Care Device" offers clinicians a high-fidelity heart diagnostic tool for in-clinic use to quickly spot heart abnormalities including arrhythmias, heart murmurs, and valvular heart diseases.

“It's brilliant because it pairs AI with a tool doctor's use every day anyway, a stethoscope, which makes it quick and easy to use for every patient in every appointment,” explains Dr. Athar Ansari, Interventional Cardiologist, California Heart & Vascular Clinic.

Treatment Innovation: Ornish Lifestyle Medicine.

It comes as a big surprise that topping the list of preferred treatment options for patients is not technology, rather it's lifestyle changes. Patients say they've experienced a significant reduction in symptoms once they have switched to a healthier diet, increased exercise, and reduced stress. Doctors can push plaque to the side using angioplasty, remove plaque physically using a variety of atherectomy devices, and attempt to maintain the vessel open using stents. But the surgical fixes are only temporary if major lifestyle shifts don't occur. Dean Ornish, MD continues to lead the way in 2020, inspiring patients to lead a heart healthy lifestyle with his latest book "Undo It! How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases," and a new (to be announced this Spring). Dr. Ornish has directed revolutionary research proving, for the first time, that lifestyle changes can often reverse—undo! —the progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases and even begin reversing aging at a cellular level. Medicare & many insurance companies now cover his program to support patients.

Food Innovation: RightRice.

Rice is considered as staple food in many parts of the world where it is consumed regularly as the main source of calories and to meet the nutritional needs of millions of people every day. But white rice has a high score on the glycemic index (GI) — a measurement of how foods affect blood sugar levels — meaning that it can cause spikes in blood sugar. High blood sugar can cause artery damage, leading to life-threatening plaque build-up in the body. RightRice is a breakthrough, shelf stable rice made from 90% vegetables, that’s packed with more than double the protein, five times the fiber, and almost 40 percent fewer net carbs than a bowl of white rice, and most importantly, is low-glycemic index. RightRice was the brainchild of Keith Beiling, who founded the revolutionary “PopChips,” which were touted as the healthier option to a standard potato chip.  

"It's nice to have a heart healthy and diabetes-friendly canvas to build upon that is incredibly tasty and satisfying," says Bite-size Nutrition Dietitian Melissa Hooper.

Social Innovation: Innit. This is the last mile to help with compliance for many patients who say they were told by their doctors that they must make significant dietary changes. Doing a complete 180 to a lifetime of eating habits and re-learning new ones can be a full-time job. Some patients have tried healthy food delivery services. But healthy food delivery is short-term fix, not a long-term solution for most Cardiovascular patients, in rural areas especially, because of cost and sometimes accessibility. Long-term diet compliance requires a simple, cost-effective solution that gently eases patients into new healthy habits. Food technology company, Innit, which has developed the world's first connected food platform, is that solution of choice. Since acquiring nutritional information app, Shopwell, and integrating it into its platform, patients can set-up a personal profile that includes only an offering of heart healthy recipes, create a weekly meal calendar using those recipes, add all ingredients to their shopping cart, and have them delivered at their convenience from their favorite grocery outlet, including WalMart, which helps patients on a budget. This platform truly democratizes healthy eating for patients especially in the hardest hit areas in what I call, "The Fried Food Belt." After a couple of weeks of using the app, patients have an entire kitchen filled with only those ingredients which are conducive to a better quality of life.

CEOs of the “2020 Innovators of the Year,” including RightRice, Innit, Eko Devices, as well as Dr. Dean Ornish will be sharing their impact with patients at the first-ever virtual Cardiovascular Patient Conference on February 22, 2020 during. Go to www.TheWayToMyHeart.org to sign-up and get the link.