New developments to help beat a deadly disease couldn’t have come at a better time.

At a conference last Friday (10 August), a group of local and international healthcare professionals met with Dr Michael Ozner to discuss a Six Week Cardiac Makeover.

Dr Ozner is a renowned advocate for heart disease prevention and offered sound advice and strategies.

During his presentation he noted that 41% of deaths in Cayman are heart-disease related. He believes that bypass surgeries can be replaced with lifestyle changes and proper medication. A preventative approach that Dr Ozner thinks is better than intervention.

With the help of local physicians, Dr Ozner and his team can determine patients’ diabetic and heart disease status. Then the right treatment can be provided at the right time. As a result, over time, cardiovascular disease can be eliminated from the population.

Addressing the crowd, Minister responsible for Health, Hon. Mark Scotland, JP said, “We are constantly looking for ways to improve our medical resources. Our nation’s primary asset is our people, and the health of our community should take priority in everything we do.”

In the past, doctors measured patients’ cholesterol levels to determine the risks of heart attacks and strokes. However, Dr Michael Ozner confirmed, “We were measuring the wrong thing. We should have been measuring the particles that carry cholesterol.” He urged the public to get frequent medical check-ups when healthy, “Don’t wait until you’re sick.”

Expressing her appreciation, local physician and MC for the night, Dr Sook Yin said, “I thank the Ministry of Health for their continued support and commitment to the members of our professional medical community.”

She also added, “Our local medical personnel will be able to build on their knowledge in order to improve efforts to lower the risk, and manage heart disease and stroke in the Cayman Islands – and our patients can begin on a path to becoming heart attack proof.”

Photos submitted