Spotlight on Vascular Disease
March 2008
As Seen in Chattanooga Times Free Press
“I learned I have some plaque buildup, and I need to monitor it at least once a year,” Mrs. Blaylock said. Mrs. Blaylock was alerted to the health concern through a free screening provided by Dare to CARE, a vascular screening and education program of Hamilton Medical Center.
Now that she knows, Mrs. Blaylock can make changes in her diet and exercise routine and talk with her doctor about medication therapy.
“Noncardio vascular disease is the No. 1 under-diagnosed disease in the country,” said Ian Hamilton, director of the program and a vascular surgeon at Hamilton Medical Center.
“That’s the whole reason for this program, to catch it earlier and prevent the progress into cardiovascular disease.”
The Dalton hospital has participated in the Annapolis, Md.-based Dare to CARE program since February 2006. Education and screening sessions are held quarterly.
The program has been a success in terms of participants, said Emily Michael, hospital spokeswoman.
“With this group, we’ve seen over 800 people,” Ms. Michael said. “We started with 50 people. We were full in two days and had a waiting list with little or no marketing effort, just word of mouth. That’s when we said we needed to plan more sessions, and ever since we have had a waiting list.”’
Dare to CARE was founded to teach people about diseases of the blood vessels, said Elaine Gairy, manager of the home office in Annapolis.
“People know about cancer and they know about heart disease,” Ms. Gairy said. “But what do people know about vascular disease?”
The screenings are free to people 60 and older and for those 50 years old who have risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and smoking.
Heredity is one of the risk factors that mandates screening. It’s a factor that bridges the gap between elderly care and medical care for baby boomers, many of whom think they are too young to worry about some illnesses.
But Jan Hair, 52, said that it is not too early to be aware about vascular disease. Mrs. Hair said she has some of the risk factors in her family.
Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of adults in America, Dr. Hamilton said. It and noncardio vascular disease are silent killers but can be detected with simple tests, he said.
The screenings include ultrasound examination of the carotid arteries for blockage and of the abdominal artery for aneurysms.
Buildup in the carotid arteries is responsible for about 300,000 strokes a year, the third-leading cause of death in the United States, medical experts said.
Aneurysms affect more that 2.3 million Americans, but symptoms rarely show up before the artery ruptures. The chance of surviving an aneurysm is just 10 percent.
If screenings detect a serious or potentially life-threatening condition, Dr. Hamilton or his staff will immediately notify the person’s primary care physician. Otherwise, the results of the screenings are faxed to the personal physicians.
Ms. Michael said they typically find about two people per session with some degree of vascular disease.
Ms. Gairy said she became manager of the Annapolis program after being screened herself.
“It literally saved my life,” she said. “I was in my 50s and had no symptoms or risk factors. I had brought my husband in. My carotid artery was almost totally blocked. If I hadn’t come in, I’d probably be stroked out by now.”
ON THE WEB
For more information about vascular disease and the Dare to C.A.R.E. program, visit www.daretocare.us
WHAT IT MEANS
Dare to C.A.R.E. offers free screenings for people over age 60, or over 50 with specific risk factors, to check for a variety of diseases that affect the heart and the arteries.
C - Carotid artery stenosis, or narrowing
A - abdominal aortic aneurysms
R - Renal artery stenosis*
E - Extremity artery stenosis
*The program does not screen for renal artery disease but does note any indicators to report to a primary care physician.
Source: Dare to C.A.R.E. Web site. www.daretocare.us