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 (now affordable and available without a prescription) 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 phone app. It provides real-time feedback about blood-glucose (and insulin) response to food choices.

Insights from these reports make a real difference in the management of 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 inflammation that drives arterial disease and other chronic inflammatory conditions.

What type of CGM do you use at the CureCenter?

Good News! There are new common sense affordable solutions available to access continuous glucose monitors without a prescription. 2 examples are www.stelo.com and www.hellolingo.com that are available to patients who are not taking insulin.

For less than $50 for 14 days, you can continuously measure your blood glucose response to your food and other behavior choices with a Continuous Glucose Monitor CGM.

You will not need a prescription for this CGM. While your insurance will not cover, 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.

What is the difference between a CurePlan and the Ornish Reversal Program?

Years ago, after taking advantage of our CureScreen carotid ultrasound to detect plaque, a patient declined our help. He thought our program was the same as the Ornish Reversal Program, in which he had already been participating. This, however, is not true.

Over the years, we’ve had at least three patients who have compared our program to Ornish. Two of them chose the CureCenter and have shown measurable improvement. The third completed the Ornish Reversal Program with deterioration in his diabetes control. Turns out a whole food plant based diet can have a lot of starch that turns into sugar. He made an appointment to come back to the CureCenter. Sadly, he passed away in his sleep before his appointment.

Our plan is not the same as the Ornish Reversal Program. We think it is a better alternative for most.

What is the Ornish Reversal Program?

The Ornish Reversal Program improves health through lifestyle modifications that prevent or reverse heart disease. Although, on the surface, it sounds similar to the CureCenter’s program, it doesn’t address the role of sweets, starches, and snacks that can be very dangerous to your health.

What are some differences between this program and the CureCenter’s program?

Below is a list of some major differences in philosophy between the Ornish Reversal Program and the CureCenter’s Cureplan:

• CurePlan: Focuses on inflammation as a root cause of atherosclerosis.

• Ornish Program: Barely addresses inflammation.
  

• CurePlan: Encourages plant-focused nutrition and consumption of good fats. Limits sweets, starches, and snacking. Promotes Time Restricted Feeding (also known as intermittent fasting). We call it “window feeding.”

• Ornish Program: Encourages a diet unrestricted in carbohydrates and low in protein and good fats.
  

• CurePlan: Promotes oral health as a priority for arterial health. 

• Ornish Program: No mention of the role of oral inflammatory disease - a driver of arterial inflammation and a contributor to as many as 50% of strokes and heart attacks.
  

• CurePlan: Uses genetic testing to personalize your CurePlan.

• Ornish Program: No personalization based on genetic testing.
  

• CurePlan: Offers manageable nudges in the direction of simple solutions you can live with and accountability through measurement and feedback. Simple solutions are more sustainable and effective than radical complex solutions. Measurement supports success.

• Ornish Program: Requires strict adherence to a vegetarian diet and 72 hours of class attendance that may be difficult to schedule and complete.

The Ornish Program has financial relationships with McDonalds and other manufacturers of highly processed, carbohydrate-rich foods. They sell the root cause of Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease, even in their so-called “healthy” options.  

The CureCenter interests align with your interest.  We both benefit from your longevity and improved quality of life for a long healthy relationship.

The Ornish program is full of activity. Your CurePlan is focused on accomplishment. 

You will decide which is a better fit for you and your life.

Click here for further reading on this topic.

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