This is more of a ‘random thoughts’ post.  It’s not lengthy, but hopefully one to get you thinking a bit differently about heart disease and a way to improve your risk assessment, if not for you, for a loved one.

Why do we call heart disease, ‘heart disease?’ We don’t call a car accident, ‘excessive tire tracking.’ Imagine if we did treat a car accident like we do heart disease. Yes, there is an immediate need at the scene to make sure everyone is safe and traffic doesn’t get too backed up but then an investigation happens looking at the series of events that lead to ‘excessive tire tracking.’

There could be texting, speed, substance abuse, deer, or a faulty traffic light.  But policy isn’t made regarding the effect of the accident, the presence of tire tracks.  Policy is made to reduce the root causes of the accident.

With heart disease, the standard of care is to label the scene of the accident, call that the cause, and design national campaigns and policy regarding that finding.  You have high blood pressure. You have clogged arteries. You have thick blood.  You should be screened.

Yet, we ignore the tell tale signs that a heart event is on the horizon.  We know things like inflammation and insulin resistance are major risk factors affecting the heart.  But those are rarely quantified until after the heart event has hit.

Our healthcare system lacks the investigation.  And the more we try and boost heart health and early detection of heart problems, the more heart disease rises.  This happens for every diagnosis.  Cancer is an effect.  Diabetes is an effect.  Arthritis is an effect.  Yes, the current health expression may need immediate attention but that treatment doesn’t ever work to create health.  So I’m proposing we change the name of heart disease to something like ‘liver overload syndrome.’

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