New Year, New You on NBC

The start of a new year is the customary time to commit to both losing weight and gaining a new lease on life. Alternity Healthcare in West Hartford urges individuals to take advantage of this time renewal by getting to the heart of their health problems and identifying health risks. In order to make real changes in your life, you must first identify the root causes of your health problems.  At Alternity Healthcare, we take a different approach, performing tests and screenings that reveal your total health picture.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading killer of Americans. Alternity Healthcare offers a screening test that can reveal life saving information about a person’s risk of heart attack or stroke in a completely non-invasive way. An IMT scan is a specialized ultrasound conducted on the carotid artery. It effectively examines the state of cardiovascular disease itself – instead of looking at risk factors for the disease.
The IMT is able to detect evidence of disease even before there is a build-up of plaque in the carotid artery, which is also an indicator of what is happening inside the body’s other vessels, including those connected to the heart. The IMT has been recognized by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography for the early detection of heart disease in asymptomatic patients. More simply put, this tool can look inside the body to see what is happening before the body begins showing warning signs of a problem.

Alternity Healthcare is one of the few practices across New England that offers telomere testing, a method of determining an individual’s true biological age regardless of their chronological age. A telemore is a region of repetitive DNA at the end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration. Telomeres are longer in youth and progressively shorten with each cell division until a critical shortening has occurred, which signals cell senescence or cell death. Shorter telomeres imply a shorter lifespan for the cell.
Shorter telomere length has been associated with an increased risk for a number of chronic diseases, including metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, dementia and premature death. This association has been theorized to be an effect of inflammation and oxidative stress or a combination of both. It has been found that telomeres are significantly shorter in people with aging-associated diseases such as coronary artery disease and chronic heart failure.
Numerous studies have shown that a healthy lifestyle increases activity of the enzyme (telomerase) that builds and repairs telomeres, which is beneficial in controlling the aging process. These healthy lifestyle changes include increased physical activity, eating a plant-based diet, omega-3 fish oils, anti-oxidants, vitamins C, D, E and green tree extract, among others.

Besides getting a handle on your heart health and your risk of disease, a new year is an opportune time to reshape your body. Alternity Healthcare offers the Zerona® Laser, which has been proven to melt away fat cells- pain free. Clinical studies have demonstrated that the Zerona low-level laser stimulates the fat cell to liquefy the fat within the cell. Ultimately, millions of fat cells become smaller, so inches are reduced off the waist, hips and thighs.

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures.  While there is a belief that osteoporosis is a “women’s disease,” more than two million American men have osteoporosis with 12 million more at risk.  Osteoporosis is significantly under diagnosed and undertreated in men.  Osteoporosis in men is expected to increase nearly 50 percent in the next 15 years.  One third of men over the age of 50 will experience a fracture due to osteoporosis, and men are twice as likely to die after a hip fracture than a woman.   The National Osteoporosis Foundation has not established a standard screening procedure for men before age 70. In 2008, the American College of Physicians issued new clinical guidelines that recommended performing individualized risk assessment to determine who should be screened.  Testing is critical. In my practice, 63 percent of men screened over the age of 45 had osteopenia, the early stage of bone loss, and 12 percent had osteoporosis.

 What can men do to offset their risk for osteoporosis?

1.   Get enough Vitamin D, vitamin K, vitamin C and Vitamin B
2.  Eat calcium-rich foods or take calcium pills
3.  Eat adequate protein
4.  Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
5. Don’t smoke
6. Regularly perform weight-bearing, resistance Exercise
7. Check your medications – some medications are hard on bone density
8. Get tested – Osteoporosis is a preventable disease, but there are no symptoms. Testing is critical.