MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Loyola University Health System has launched a new Preventive Cardiology and Lipid Program to help prevent heart attacks and other cardiac-related disorders and provide advanced treatment of cholesterol disorders.
The comprehensive program will help identify patients who may be at risk for developing cardiovascular disease. The program will help patients reduce their cardiac risk by intensely treating risk factors, such as abnormal cholesterol, smoking, obesity and high blood pressure. Patients will receive a personalized cholesterol and risk factor analysis. Some patients will undergo advanced imaging, such as cardiac calcium CT scanning, to identify silent plaque buildup in their arteries. Patients will receive tailored treatment plans, including medical therapy, dietary counseling and a prescription exercise program as needed.
"Procedures and medications such as angioplasties and statins are effective in treating patients who already have heart disease," said Dr. Binh An P. Phan, director of the preventive cardiology program. "A perhaps equally effective approach would be to prevent heart attacks and other cardiac problems by treating risk factors responsible for the disease."
Phan has received advanced fellowship training in cardiology and is a board-certified lipidologist. His special interests include lipidology (the study of cholesterol), preventive cardiology and noninvasive atherosclerosis imaging.
The program includes: Preventive Cardiology and Lipid Clinic. The clinic will evaluate and treat patients who have cholesterol disorders or want to prevent heart attacks and other cardiac events.
Cardiac rehabilitation. Patients who have recently had a heart attack or cardiac surgery will undergo a comprehensive evaluation by a nurse specialist and exercise physiologist. Patients will receive a detailed exercise program tailored to their cardiac conditions, along with nutrition and heart-healthy lifestyle counseling.
Education. Following visits, patients will receive additional printed materials and referrals to ancillary hospital resources. The program also will provide community education.
Research. The program will participate in clinical trials on treating cholesterol disorders and new ways to evaluate and reduce a patient's cardiovascular risk.
Phan is co-author of a recent study which found that MRI scanning could become a powerful new tool for assessing how well cholesterol drugs are working. The study found that intensive treatment with cholesterol drugs significantly reduced the amount of cholesterol in artery-clogging plaque. The study is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.
For more information or to make an appointment, call (708) 327-2784.