NEW CENEGENICS CAROLINAS PROGRAM AIMED TO HELP PREVENT "THE ONE MILLION DOLLAR HEART ATTACK"

Practice to Launch Ground-Breaking Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program February 1

Representatives from Cenegenics Carolinas, the Southeast's leading age management practice, are excited to announce the launch of a ground-breaking Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program, featuring advanced screening technology, to be available to patients and non-patients beginning February 1, 2012.

Recent studies show that the average cost of having a heart attack is $1 million per patient, and the physicians at Cenegenics Carolinas are offering highly effective ways to reduce this burden by utilizing the latest technology to detect heart diseases and issues that may lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Cenegenics Medical Institute has partnered with three cardio-diagnostic leaders - Panasonic Healthcare Group, Berkeley HeartLab and Cleveland HeartLab - to design the program, which combines the best aspects of the nation's top laboratories that screen for and prevent cardiovascular disease.

The program will accompany medical staff at Cenegenics Carolinas in making the most comprehensive and valuable assessment of an individual's cardiovascular health and features genetic screening, advanced lipid panels, laboratory markers for plaque formation and assessments for inflammatory markers - a cause of cardiovascular disease leading to tissue damage, organ destruction, shift in the cellular matrix as well as potential blood clots and heart attacks.

The lynchpin in Cenegenics developing this program was partnering with Panasonic and being able to utilize their cutting-edge technology, the CardioHealth Station, a device that features a built-in portable ultrasound system optimized to perform a non-invasive examination of the carotid arteries. Cenegenics will be one of the only facilities in the country offering this type of screening, which provides an automated real-time measurement of the intima-media thickness (IMT) and allows the physician to search for arterial plaques. Moreover, the touch-screen keyboard allows the physician to input various parameters related to traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

Cenegenics' Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program is available to everyone, patient or not, and is recommended for those 40 years of age and older.

"As we approach American Heart Month in February, there's no better time to raise awareness for, and support, early heart disease detection and age management," said Dr. Mickey Barber, CEO and CMO of Cenegenics Carolinas. "Seeing as the average cost of having a heart attack is $1 million per patient, one of the most effective ways to reduce these long-term healthcare costs, is by utilizing technology to help detect disease at an early stage. Atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries, is the leading cause of heart attacks, stroke and peripheral vascular disease; but it is reversible. This is why it is essential to identify the problem early and learn how lifestyle changes can extend your life and help you live longer."