Cardiologist in Calgary recommends heart stent for stable heart disease patients when the Heart Fit Clinic is having success with External Counterpulsation.

CALGARY , ALBERTA, CANADA, May 2, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- External Counterpulsation therapy, also known and ECP or EECP, is an evidence-based treatment, for stable coronary artery disease. Calgary’s Heart Fit Clinic is the first clinic to offer this non-invasive and safe treatment in all of Alberta, and is witnessing amazing results. Patients are avoiding heart surgery and heart stents because of External Counterpulsation (ECP / EECP) therapy. It is a common treatment used in the United States and worldwide for heart failure and stable coronary artery disease. Canada has been slow to adopt this treatment.

There is a difference in how we treat stable coronary artery disease versus unstable coronary artery disease. Cardiologists in Calgary are great at treating unstable heart disease and heart attacks. However, if patients have stable coronary artery disease, patients can undergo unnecessary expensive testing and treatments when there is a better way.

The Courage Trial (New England Journal of Medicine, 2007) may be ignored. In this trial they found that the addition of a PCI (heart stent) to optimal medical therapy does not provide any mortality benefit or improve cardiovascular outcomes. A subsequent report from the COURAGE investigators demonstrated that patients who received PCI (heart stent) were free of angina and had improvements in various quality of life parameters at three months after the intervention, though this difference was not sustained at 36 months.

With the addition to optimal medical therapy, patients with stable heart disease can undergo External Counterpulsation therapy. External Counterpulsation therapy is an evidence-based treatment and now Calgary’s Heart Fit Clinic is offering this treatment to the people of Calgary and surrounding areas.

What is the normal course of action to determine coronary artery disease in Calgary? Right now Cardiologists in Calgary will perform exercise stress tests. One of two things will occur. Either the patient is given a clean bill of health because exercise stress tests will only show advanced stages of coronary artery disease. This can be misleading as patients can still have heart disease. The other option is a patient fails the stress test. This is where there is a better option instead of sending patients to the next step which would be a nuclear stress test (also known as a Thallium or MIBI stress test).

Cardiologist in Calgary may send patients onward to a nuclear stress test. The concern is that a nuclear stress test is equivalent to 500 chest x-rays or more, plus the addition of a radioactive isotope that will set off alarm detectors in the airport without even going through the detectors. The information gleaned from the test is valuable but is it necessary for patients when we know that there is a better therapy option? The next step is an angiogram to perform a heart stent or bypass, but research is showing there is a better treatment option.

This is where Calgary’s Heart Fit Clinic can help patients. They can perform non-invasive screenings to determine heart attack and stroke risk along with a better treatment options. This includes External Counterpulsation along with lifestyle intervention. The Heart Fit Clinic focuses on medical exercise programs, heart healthy nutrition and supplement education, cardiac yoga and External Counterpulsation. The Heart Fit Clinic is truly treating heart illness. “The idea is not to just treat illness. It is to treat wellness“(Sir David Lane). “We are minimizing heart disease by increasing heart wellness “says Diamond Fernandes, Founder and Director of Heart Fit Clinic.

For more information please contact Heart Fit Clinic, hfit@heartfit.ca 403-870-4348.

Diamond Fernandes
Heart Fit Clinic
(403) 870-4348
email us here