Heart health researchers in Manitoba are looking at new and more efficient ways to asses someone’s risk of heart disease.

New, non-invasive pulse wave technologies are being developed which may be able to tell people how hard or soft their arteries are and how much plaque build-up they have. This should provide a much clearer picture of a person’s risk of heart disease.

February is Hearth Health month, which coincides with the Health and Wellness Expo in Winnipeg throughout this upcoming weekend (Feb. 19-21, 2016) at the RBC Convention Centre.  

On the 19th, representatives from the St. Boniface Research Centre will present information on these pulse wave technologies, which include pulse wave analysis (PWA) and ankle/brachial index (ABI.)

A professor at the University of Manitoba and member of the research team at St. Boniface Hospital, Dr. Peter Zahradka, explains how these technologies work.

“Pulse wave analysis is a method where you have a pressure transducer and you can study the structure of the wave as the blood flows past a certain point. It’s usually taken in the wrist and hands where you take someone’s pulse,” said Zahradka. “Analysis of that is supposed to be an indication of whether the blood vessel is stiff or not.”

They are also looking at pulse wave velocity (PWV,) which measures how fast blood is pumping from the heart to the rest of the body.

Zahradka says PWA, PWV and ABI are good ways to examine a person’s blood vessels and arteries. He says it’s important because hardening of arteries and stiffening of the vessels occurs well before a person may experience a cardiovascular disease such as a heart attack or stroke.

Traditionally, cholesterol levels are used to determine a person’s heart health, but that may not be thorough enough, according to Dr. Carla Taylor, also with the U of M and St. Boniface Hospital’s research team.  

“We already know there’s people who have high cholesterol values and never get a heart attack and there are people with low cholesterol values who do get a heart attack,” said Taylor. “We want to help develop a better diagnostic tool identifying who has early stage versus later stage cardiovascular disease.”

“A high cholesterol level says there’s a risk,” added Zahradka. “But there’s nothing in there to say you will have heart issues or you will not.”

In fact, 45 per cent of heart attack victims in the United States fell within their recommended level of cholesterol, according to Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow.

Researchers from St. Boniface Hospital, Nutrition specialists, fitness trainers and representatives from Innotech Nutrition Solutions will take part in a panel discussion tonight (Feb. 19) at 7 p.m. at the Health and Wellness Expo.

Innotech Nutrition will have a booth set up throughout the weekend as well. To find out more information on what Innotech does, go to innotechnutrition.com.

Tickets for the Health and Wellness Expo can be purchased at the door, or you can listen to The Diamond Lane today with Sarah Jo Kirsch, who will be giving tickets away.

For more information on the Health and Wellness Expo, visit wellnessexpo.com.