The Heart Prevention Clinic of Idaho
Idaho’s first and only physicians board-certified in Clinical Lipidology staff the Heart Prevention Clinic of Idaho (HPCI), a division of Selah Medical Center. Established in 2004, HPCI is dedicated to the prevention of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular disease by the innovative application of tools, technology and research.

Strokes and heart attacks are the leading cause of death and disability in America. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease affects an estimated 64 million people in the United States. One in every four persons in Idaho may be affected. Help us continue the quest against cardiovascular disease and share this website with someone you love today.

 

Why Heart Prevention? What is Heart Prevention?

It’s not enough to know your risk factors. You must act. Many first-time heart attacks and strokes are disabling or fatal, so prevention is critical. For men and women over the age of 40, it is essential to assess the risk of heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. Even younger persons with risk factors need accurate risk assessment and management; the American Heart Association recommends prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) begin by age 20. The sooner you begin risk management and prevention, the longer and stronger your heart will beat. At the Heart Prevention Clinic of Idaho, physicians board-certified in Clinical Lipidology are experts at prevention with combined experience of over 60 years.

 


What Services Does HPCI Offer to Assess my Heart Health?
The Heart Prevention Clinic of Idaho offers the combined services of personal consultation, advanced lipid testing, and IMT vascular ultrasound scanning to provide you with a comprehensive picture of your heart health.

Personal consultation provides an individual assessment of risk through careful analysis of medical and family history, advanced lipid testing and IMT scanning. Then, targets for action include cholesterol levels, lipid sub-particles, insulin resistance, blood pressure, and lifestyle.

 

 

INFORMATION

The Heart Prevention Clinic of Idaho would like you to be educated about your heart and new and interesting research pertaining to its health. Here is some important information and current research you can talk to your health care provider about.

Alternative Cholesterol Control
Cholesterol is a substance that occurs naturally in all parts of your body. You need some cholesterol for proper bodily function, but too much cholesterol in your blood eventually sticks to and clogs the walls of your arteries.

While most physicians initially prescribe statins to lower cholesterol, Dr. Joseph Keenan of University of Minnesota also focuses on a different method to block the cholesterol we eat and reduce the amount of cholesterol already existing in our body.

Sterols, extracted natural plant sterols, are now available in supplement form and in some foods. They work to lower cholesterol with sterols that block cholesterol when taken in about three to four supplements/sterol-enhanced food per day (about 1,200 mg). Concentrated sterols have not been observed to produce side effects, and are not dangerous to you. They can also enhance the effectiveness of statins you may already take to lower your cholesterol. Look to corowise.com to find information on foods with sterols, and the American Heart Associations’s hearthub.org to learn about what your cholesterol levels mean and the difference between good vs. bad cholesterol.

Excess Overtime Work Linked to Heart Risks
Researchers in Finland and Britain discovered a surprising link between work stress attributable to overtime and increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD): people who work 11 or more hours/day have a 60% higher risk of developing CHD than do those who work normal 7 to 8-hour workdays. The results suggest that extended working hours correlate with lifestyles of people who are competitive and want to achieve, and who dangerously leave less time in their day for things like sleep, healthy eating, and keeping doctor appointments.

Overall, the major finding was that overtime work of 3-4 hours/day was associated with a 1.6-fold increase in the risk of CHD, so talk to your doctor today about healthy ways to manage your work stress if overtime is unavoidable.
 
 

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