My ultrasound did not reveal significant atherosclerotic plaque/atheroma. What are my next steps?

If your carotid ultrasound did not reveal significant atherosclerotic arterial injury/disease (seen as “plaque,” or atheroma/inflammation in your artery wall), and your arterial age is significantly younger than your chronological age, that provides some peace of mind.

However, there may be disease in your coronary (or other) arteries. The following recommendations become stronger as you get older and if you have other common risk factors like family history of stroke, heart attack, stents or bypass surgery, high cholesterol, diabetes or prediabetes, high blood pressure, smoking or others. It is more important for a 60 year old with Type 2 Diabetes and hyperlipidemia than a 35 year old with few if any risk factors.

The next step in searching for arterial disease is Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CACS). If you’ve already had this test, we would be happy to review your results. Coronary Artery Calcium Score above zero means you have calcified atherosclerotic plaque/atheroma in your coronary arteries. Non calcified or homogeneous plaque/atheroma, which is the stage of plaque evolution that is the greatest risk for an event, is not detected by this test.

If you want a CACS, do an internet search for “Coronary Artery Calcium Score near me” online.  You should be able to find an imaging center or hospital that will offer this without a physician order. Call our office at 217-321-1987 or request a Discovery Zoom Call with Dr. Backs to discuss your results.

Beware: Coronary Artery Calcium Score is offered at a low entry price but typically followed by recommendations for cardiology consultation, stress tests, echocardiograms and the slippery slope to stents and surgery. Before you respond to invitations from the intervention focused cardiology program, schedule a Discovery Zoom Call to discuss your findings and options. The only stent any of my patients have needed was to fix the failure of a stent placed a couple of years earlier with no symptoms and for no evidence based benefit.

Of course, if you have had a stroke, TIA, heart attack, stent or surgery for vascular disease or other manifestation or proof of atherosclerosis/arterial disease, screening test results are not needed to get started. Click here to schedule and start development of your personalized CurePlan, a game plan to put your disease into remission.

What does a CureScreen carotid ultrasound with plaque/atheroma vs. no plaque/atheroma look like?

Click here to see a CureScreen carotid ultrasound with plaque.

Click here to see a CureScreen carotid ultrasound with no plaque.

My ultrasound revealed atherosclerotic plaque or inflammation. What now?

If your screening ultrasound revealed atherosclerotic arterial disease, shown as “plaque,” or inflammation in your artery wall, you can stop its progression and even reverse it, heal it and put it into remission. Improvement in the carotids, as measured by intima media thickness and reported as arterial age, predicts improvement in the coronary/heart arteries and elsewhere.  

I’m often asked: “How can this be? How is it possible that I have arterial injury, inflammation and even plaque?  How is it that doing everything I’m told is healthy still leaves me with this serious problem?”

Don’t be offended.  It isn’t your fault.  This happens quite often.

Sometimes the advice we are following is not optimal.  A healthy lifestyle will prevent or slow the development of arterial injury from toxic food and lack of exercise, but it does not guarantee total protection.  There are many factors that are lurking in the background that are overlooked by standard health care.  You now have the opportunity to cover the blind spots, the gaps in your plan for a long healthy life. You can have safety and peace of mind.

This can include genetic factors that can be addressed to reduce the expression of these factors, vitamin D deficiency, homocysteine elevation due to inadequate folic acid, sleep disorders, stress, environmental toxins, insulin resistance (in spite of normal blood glucose levels) and others. 

We identify these hidden root causes with our initial lab panel and then offer solutions to address revealed opportunities for greater safety and peace of mind, avoiding events, stents and surgery.

We measure the improvement and monitor to be sure that success is sustained with repeat lab testing, ultrasound to document improvement in arterial inflammation/age and body composition to follow reduction in body/visceral fat.

You can heal injury, inflammation and dangerous soft and heterogeneous plaque, evolving plaque into stable and safe calcified plaque. Think of atherosclerosis like acne, which is an inflammatory condition of the skin with pimples that pop up in spots. Pimples and plaque are more prone to rupture right after they form. Pimple rupture creates a scab to heal the rupture. Plaque rupture forms a blood clot in the lumen that blocks blood flow, causing damage to the tissue supplied by that artery. Coronary blockage results in heart attack or myocardial infarction. Carotid plaque rupture results in a stroke or transient ischemic attack. Both can be interrupted with rescue procedures, but proactive efforts to intervene and prevent events is far less risky and costly.

Stenosis or blockage, which affects blood flow capacity and chronic symptoms of angina or claudication, is much less important than the risk of plaque rupture, which is greatest with new soft plaque and least with old calcified plaque. Rupture suddenly appears as a stroke or heart attack.

New homogeneous or heterogeneous plaque can rupture, forming a flow blocking blood clot to cause stroke, dementia, heart attack, kidney failure, and other debilitating events.  These events are treated by standard emergency stage rescue care with stents and surgery. While waiting for treatment, you may suffer a fatal or life-altering stroke or cardiac arrest. You could also accumulate small strokes resulting in vascular dementia over time without noticeable acute symptoms.

These disasters can be avoided with proactive action to reverse disease into remission.

At the CureCenter, we strive to reverse atherosclerotic arterial inflammation, achieving remission to the point it is considered cured or healed, and no longer a threat.  In other words, we Make Your Arteries Safe Again.

We will collaborate and share with your current primary care provider and specialists who provide standard care. They probably won’t understand all that we do. Even if they do, the system in which they practice blocks their ability to offer it.  They may disagree, but they can’t offer better.

We always welcome a conversation, especially if they will study this website or read “Healthy Heart Healthy Brain.” Standard care tends to be reactive to symptoms and with procedural intervention, sometimes doing more harm than good.  I always offer my phone number to share with your doctor to discuss differences. It is rarely needed.

Stents can fail, requiring further treatment and high-risk antiplatelet or blood thinners to prevent closure of the arteries. The CureCenter will help you get optimal results by creating a personalized lifestyle and medical CurePlan. We help you make changes you can live with. We don’t expect perfection. We support progress.

We recommend supplements and medication based on documented need and monitor the effects, adjusting as needed.

What does a CureScreen with plaque vs. no plaque look like?

Click here to see a CureScreen with plaque.

Click here to see a CureScreen with no plaque.

Be safe. Be resilient. Request a complimentary Discovery Zoom Call with Dr. Backs to get started.

What is Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM). How is it used at the CureCenter?

At The CureCenter, we understand that dealing with insulin resistance, prediabetes and diabetes can be an ongoing struggle that comes with a wide range of issues, including:

• Trying to reach A1C goals

• Experiencing low blood sugar 

• Not being able to control highs after eating

• Wondering how food is affecting your blood glucose

• Find the right medication and dosage if lifestyle optimization needs help

This is why we support Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) for our patients with Type 2 Diabetes, prediabetes and those who exhibit chronic inflammation from insulin resistance.

A CGM is a device that continuously measures the levels of glucose in the blood. It works through a small sensor that is inserted through the skin and is connected to a transmitter which sends glucose readings to a receiver or app. It can provide real-time reporting about an individual’s blood-glucose levels.

Insights from these reports make a real difference in the management of our patients with insulin resistance. They help us learn the impact of everyday decisions about diet and exercise and gain insights into the effects of medication changes.

CGM is a very powerful tool to optimally manage and control insulin resistance, one of the most common root causes for arterial disease.

What type of CGM do you use at the CureCenter?

At the CureCenter, we prescribe the devices most available to you. It is a cost-effective alternative to ketone metering and finger sticks for blood glucose monitoring for those who want to reduce their risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases. 

For about $4-5 per day for 28 days, you can continuously measure your blood glucose response to your food and other behavior choices with a Continuous Glucose Monitor CGM.

You will need a prescription for this CGM. If you are not taking insulin, your insurance will not cover it. However, it is affordable and the benefits of the data are priceless.

Interested in learning more? Request a complementary Discovery Zoom Call with Dr. Backs to get started.