Healthy Tips for Preventative Care
By: Nutritionist S. Keith Klein IV CN CCN

Let me just say that no matter how healthy you think you are you’re genetic makeup can override many of your preventative approaches to longevity. I had my first heart scan in my 40’s. Everything came back pristine. On my 50th birthday I had my second heart scan and the cardiologist jumped out his chair to go get three other cardiologist that he practiced with to look at my scan. He was super impressed and said, look guys, this is what a healthy diet can do, this 50 year old guy has zero hard plaque and zero soft plaque! When I was 55 I had my next heart scan and again everything looked great. You see, every one in my family dies of either heart attacks or strokes. So with the recent technological advancements I wanted to make sure I stayed on top of my risk factors.

When I turned 60 I had another heart scan which revealed that I had a defective valve and an aneurysm on my ascending arorta. My aneurysm has grown to a 5.2 as I approached my 65th birthday. They don’t do surgery until it balloons up to a 5.6. This past year, it stayed the same as the year before.

You see, preventative Heath care has never been easier. And if you catch the disease during the early stages it can literally save your life. Here in Texas I use Memorial Herman and it’s important to note that we don’t need a prescription or doctors note to get a heart scan. In fact, it only costs just under $200.00 and for an extra $85.00 they’ll also add an echocardiogram and check the neck arteries for blockage as well.

Just this past week my neighbor died of a massive stroke. She fell a couple weeks before that and the hospital told her to see her cardiologist. They thought she had a mini stroke which was why she tripped. And also told her that this most recent mini stroke most likely wasn’t her first. However, she didn’t want to know about anything that might be wrong. So she never visited her cardiologist and was dead of a brain aneurysm just a week later.

Preventative medicine is here today to help us detect issues before they cause our demise. And because of these medical miracles we are living longer today than ever before. Sometimes it’s the little things that save us. I cannot tell you how many people I have seen over the years where as I was doing their body composition I saw and mentioned a suspicious mole, told them to get it looked at and it turned out to be melanoma. Or meeting with a guy in his 60’s that refuses to see a dr, only after our discussion his blood Test reveals an abnormally high PSA, which in many cases turned out to be prostate cancer.

The future is here. We can look inside your body without cutting you open and catch disease states at much earlier stages. And in doing so, save lives. If you’re over 50 and haven’t done a heart scan, mammogram, colonoscopy or recent blood work, don’t put it off for later. Do it now and you just might save your own life.

Copyright 2023 S.Keith Klein IV CN CCN