Picture Your Future

If you're debating about whether you should get a virtual colonoscopy or a traditional one, you may want to consider all the perks and benefits of the first option. You can actually get your yearly virtual colonoscopy scan while also getting a bone-density scan. This may be a wise choice for women in their middle ages as a large majority of women struggle with bone-density issues.

WebMD has reported,

"Speaking at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), he noted that colorectal cancer and osteoporosis generally affect adults over age 50."

Getting both procedures done at once under the same machine can save you time, especially during the busy winter season.

In true Holiday spirit this December cherish your heart and family. Although we tend to overindulge in food and wine over these coming weeks, maintaining heart health is vital to living well. While visiting loved ones and partaking in celebrations make an effort to eat properly and moderately, exercise regularly and get a preventative heart scan as a present to yourself and your family. Heart health awareness is also an important idea to advertise to those you love this season, thousands of families are torn ravaged by heart disease and heart attack, in order help prevent such pain seek out and promote a healthy eating, exercise and check-up regimen.

Make getting a heart scan a group or community effort; get involved in a big group for a good cause and healthy heart and arteries. Detecting heart disease at early stages can significantly increase chances of survival and successful treatment.

The New York Times is publicising the dilemma with virtual heart scans. The idea of preventative heart scans, virtual colonoscopies and full body scans have been debated for years now by physicians. Many of these scans are becoming mainstream techniques for lung and colon cancer screening and prevention; however some old-school doctors have yet to convert to scanning-aficionados.

According to the NYT the longstanding debate is,

“CT scans are faster and less invasive than conventional angiograms, the gold standard for diagnosis and identification of blockages, but they expose patients to higher doses of radiation, which may increase the risk of cancer.”

Though there are some sceptics many cardiologists have been quick to instil preventative scanning yearly for their patients. Although the scans are not widely adored by all cardiologists, the results stand positive for yearly check-ups for high risk candidates.

From Heisman Trophy winners to Hall of Famers, they all lined up to get heart scans. The NFL Player Care Foundation has launched a new program to promote comprehensive heart screening for players. 33 former and current NFL stars underwent scans earlier this month. Players have long denounced against the NFL’s poor health watch, so many were thrilled to see this new program. Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Ted Mcknight excitedly said,

“This has been needed for a long time. This can help catch things in guys who have had issues who probably would have let it skate by. It’s important to have an idea of where we are physically. We know we are beat up … but to know internally where we are … you’re curious to know.”

The players had nearly $3,000 worth of testing done to them: heart and artery imaging, cholesterol testing, blood pressure testing, body fat and a 64 Slice CT Scan. Hopefully this new awareness towards heart scans and heart disease will influence other athletes and organizations to take steps towards prevention.

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With Thanksgiving dinner approaching in the next few days, binge drink and excessive overeating us inevitable. Researchers may have found that the link between binge drinking and clogged arteries. The research attempts to correlate drinking patterns with cardiovascular disease as opposed to the total amount of alcohol consumed over long periods of time. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that,

“Many studies suggest that an irregular pattern of heavy drinking brings about a two-fold increase in risk for a fatal heart attack, even as moderate drinking has been shown to reduce risk (the red wine effect). About 65 percent of Americans drink alcohol, with 15 percent reporting binge patterns in a national survey of problem drinkers.”

The study says that a certain type of immune cell is developed during drinking that attaches to the walls of the artery more easily which then promotes and initiates cardiovascular disease. Hopefully with such research people who are aware of their drinking habits will take action and get yearly heart scans as a means of prevention.

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A study published yesterday by the Cancer Causes and Control group has said that physical inactivity may be a major factor in colon cancer. Similarly the study suggests that physical activity like sport and exercise may reduce the risks of colon cancer. Howrad R. A. of the National Cancer Institute led the study and said they, “…found men engaging in exercise five or more times per week compared to those who were never or rarely exercising were at a 21 percent reduced risk of colon cancer. For women, the reduction was 15 percent.”

The study went into further detail highlighting the number of hours of exercise which help reduce colon cancer – more than 7 hours of physical activity a week. And people who sit for long periods of time – 9 hours or more – doing nothing like watching television or surfing the net may fall victim to colorectal cancer more often. Though it is important to note these are still preliminary numbers and figures, the National Cancer Institute will further investigate the research. It is also a wise decision to get yearly virtual colonoscopies to help further prevent colon cancer.

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Siemens Healthcare has unveiled a new CT Scanner that emits a fraction of the CT radiation that traditional screening techniques give off. The Somatom Definition Flash scanner is also said to be faster and more precise, with two X-Ray tubes that revolve around the patient’s body. Siemens says the entire chest region can be screened in 0.6 seconds. This new added efficiency means patients will no longer have to hold their breath during a chest examination as the previously had to.

Director of CT Physics at Siemens Thomas Flohr was thrilled to say,

“The dual-source system together with the extremely fast rotation time results in a scanner about three times faster than existing technologies. You can scan the entire body in about four seconds, or the entire heart in a quarter of a second."

This new scanner will be released in early 2009, and will be presented to the Radiological Society of North America in November. Not only will this new technology be faster, but most importantly may be safer for patients.

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Adolescent girls suffering from anorexia are in serious risk of developing bone density issues. Physicians are urging parents and these young girls to get bone density scans to prevent and diagnose bone abnormalities. The ever increasing number of anorexia has led many to believe they will develop health issues earlier on in life, but this new study shows that health problems like osteoporosis can develop in the teen years.

Gynecologist Dr. Michelle Warren says,

“This CT methodology is new and gives better knowledge about what is going on in the bones, because it gives information about their architecture. It shows that we really should pay more attention not only to the absolute value of the bones, but also to how much weight an individual has lost."

Early detection of bone density problems can help physicians impede the strength of osteoporosis. The CT scans take images of thin slices of the bone to better see abnormalities, structure and density of the bone. Similarly by getting scanned regularly the doctors can track changes yearly in the bone density of these young girls.

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A study released by the British Medical Journal has found that women who smoke may be four times more likely to have an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Similarly female smokers may be eight times more susceptible to emergency health issues as opposed to non-smokers. The BMJ is hoping to show people yet another reason and incentive to quit smoking, or simply never pick it up. Aortic aneurysms cause over 15,000 deaths each year in the United States alone and of that number, 40% are women. Women are not paying enough attention to such issues, so it is vital to get screened and scanned for prevention methods.

Regardless of if female smokers are worried about aortic aneurysms, virtual lung scans are essential to staying healthy. Early detection of lung cancer may considerably increase your chances of recovering. A large part of early detection involves yearly lung scans.

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Physicians and parents alike are worried about obesity among young children. A study released today shows that obese and overweight children have the same plaque build up as 40-year-old adults do. This alarming fact is prompting cardiologists to urge young children to get their arteries and hearts scanned. Obesity is running rampant and is nearly an epidemic these days, and the plaque build up in the neck arteries is of serious concern.

Cardiologist Dr. Geetha Raghuveer says, “

The blood vessels of obese youngsters age more rapidly than those of their normal-weight counterparts -- raising their risk of developing heart disease at an earlier age.”

This research was discussed and presented at the American Heart Associations 2008 conference just this week. Dr. Raghuveer and her colleagues did the study on nearly 70 obese children, most of whom had high cholesterol, blood pressure and were at great risk of developing serious heart conditions like stroke or heart attack.

After all they say you’re as old as your arteries. It may be time to get our kid’s arteries back to their youthful ages.

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