What is Integrative Cardiology and how can it help my heart health?

Transcript

Integrative cardiology is a relatively new concept. What do I actually mean by this? In simple terms, it's a heart specialist who uses standard evidence-based cardiology, things like scans, blood tests, proven medications and procedures, and combines that with a structured focus on prevention and lifestyle.

So alongside diagnosing and treating heart conditions, we look closely at what drives risks day-to-day. Sleep, exercise, nutrition, weight, stress, and habits like smoking or alcohol. Where it's useful, we may also do more detailed risk testing, things like apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein little A, inflammation markers, VO2 max, and body composition scanning.

And we don't ignore the bigger picture, issues like sleep apnea, thyroid problems, menopause-related changes, chronic stress, or medication side effects can all influence heart health. The key point is this. Integrative cardiology is using today's guideline-based heart care and supplementing it with a personalized preventative-based approach.

The idea is to treat today's problem and reduce tomorrow's risk.