The Berkeley Heart Program

“The first step to a healthy heart is knowing your risk”

Available exclusively at The OEHC, a new advanced blood test, the HH40, that can detect whether you are at risk of developing heart disease.

The HH40 goes far beyond standard cholesterol testing by identifying more than 90% of all individuals with increased cardiac risk. It is called the HH40 because it detects the 40% of people at risk of a heart attack or stroke who are missed by standard cholesterol tests.

Why is the HH40 important?

The HH40 helps identifying what we call “ticking bombs” that were undetected in the standard cholesterol testing. Having been identified at increased risk is the first and most important step to avoid cardiovascular disease.

The process of atherosclerosis begins as early as the “teen” years, with plaque burden intensifying over several decades, often without accompanying signs or symptoms. As such, our pediatric heart health screening can identify early heart issues for your kids. From the 3rd or 4th decade of life onwards, cholesterol-laden plaques may spontaneously rupture, causing sudden blockage in the coronary artery and impeding blood flow to the heart or brain i.e. heart attack or stroke. Often damage to the heart and brain can be irreversible, resulting in sudden death or chronic disability or death.

Who should take a HH40?

Ideally everyone above 30 years old should take a HH40 yearly. It becomes very important to take the HH40 for those with risk factors such tobacco use, high blood pressure, family history of heart disease, or being physically inactive and/or overweight.

Moreover, if your test reveals that you are at increased risk – or if you have already been diagnosed with heart disease or suffered a heart attack – The OEHC offers the Berkeley Risk Reduction Programme an effective local 12-month comprehensive Berkeley Heart cardiovascular disease risk reduction programme with a personalised plan focusing on exercise, nutrition, stress management and medication adherence. The programme analyses a variety of proprietary and advanced risk markers and assesses environmental, genetic, and lifestyle factors that may contribute to heart disease progression. Led by a personal health coach, the Berkeley Heart CVD Risk Reduction Programme includes quarterly follow-up testing to monitor and reassess progress and goals and is supported by the 4myheart web portal, which secures effective communication and teaming between patient, health coach and physician, facilitating continuous personal follow-up and logging of treatment goals and patient activities.

The Berkeley Heart Program enables The OEHC physicians to make informed and precise treatment decisions and to implement effective teaming between the Berkeley Heart trained and certified in-house health coaches and the patient to achieve cardiac risk factor reduction and sustainable positive lifestyle change.

Carotid Ultrasound with Direct Plaque Area Assessment

Direct imaging of the carotid arteries in the neck using non-invasive ultrasound permits quantification of cholesterol plaque area (atherosclerosis) that, in turn, is highly predictive of risk of both future stroke and heart attack. Sequential testing over 6–12 months, following interventions designed to reduce cardiovascular risk such as lifestyle changes and medications, will confirm whether plaque amount is reducing. Another component of this testing is Carotid Intimal Media Thickness (CIMT) that reflects the effects of high blood pressure and is predictive of stroke.

Cardiovascular Health (Advanced Cholesterol Testing)

To assess the risk of cardiovascular disease, our team utilizes NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) fractionation technology for state-of-the-art lipid markers and other advanced risk factors including: Lipoprotein (a); Homocysteine; Fibrinogen; Direct Lipoprotein Quantification/Particle Size; Insulin Resistance Score; and, Lp-PLA2.

24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor

A small blood pressure monitor is worn for 24 hours that provides half hourly readings during the day and hourly readings while sleeping. Nocturnal blood pressures are particularly important as they normally drop, but will elevate in those with sleep apnea and other hypertensive diseases and this strongly predicts future stroke risk. The test is further interpreted and a customized report with recommendations is presented to you and your Physician.

Brain Boost CogniScreen

For those with an abnormal cognitive screening test from their annual medical, or for those who remain concerned about their cognitive function and desire a higher level test, the Brain Boost CogniScreen™ provides several additional tests of memory and executive function, as well as some unique and ecologically relevant test components. Brain Boost CogniScreen™ has increased sensitivity for the detection of early brain disease such as Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, as well as for the effects of occupational or other toxins including alcohol.

Brain Fitness Package

This package combines the Extended CogniScreen and blood testing for the presence of genetic risk markers of neurodegenerative disease including the SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) from the Neurogenomic panel as well as ApoE4 alleles. It includes assessment and interpretation by the OEHC Genomics Specialist, in conjunction with your Physician.

Customized pharmacogenomics

Others genetic screens includes assessing for genes that metobolize specific medications so that treatment can be personalized to your body.There are many, many enzymes in our blood that act to metabolize or break down specific drugs, allowing them to be excreted in urine or by other means. There have been cases regarding individuals who are given a certain therapeutic drug to treat symptoms or to keep symptoms from occurring in which the individual has a very violent reaction to the drug or feels no affect whatsoever. Many times this happens because of the genetic makeup of the individual. The study of this phenomenon is called "pharmacogenomics" or "pharmacogenetics."At present, there are comprehensive testing programs in place that can give us an overall picture of our specific genetic variations that may cause us to be unresponsive or over-responsive to a therapeutic drug.