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The Berkeley Heart Program

“The first step to a healthy heart is knowing your risk”

Available exclusively at The Westover, a new advanced blood test, the BH40, that can detect whether you are at risk of developing heart disease.

The BH40 goes far beyond standard cholesterol testing by identifying more than 90% of all individuals with increased cardiac risk. It is called the BH40 because it detects the 40% of people at risk of a heart attack or stroke who are missed by standard cholesterol tests.

Why is the BH40 important?

The BH40 helps identifying what we call “ticking bombs” that were undetected in the standard cholesterol testing. Having been identified at increased risk is the first and most important step to avoid cardiovascular disease.

The process of atherosclerosis begins as early as the “teen” years, with plaque burden intensifying over several decades, often without accompanying signs or symptoms. From the 3rd or 4th decade of life onwards, cholesterol-laden plaques may spontaneously rupture, causing sudden blockage in the coronary artery and impeding blood flow to the heart or brain i.e. heart
attack or stroke. Often damage to the heart and brain can be irreversible, resulting in sudden death or chronic disability or death.

Who should take a BH40?

Ideally everyone above 30 years old should take a BH40 yearly. It becomes very important to take the BH40 for those with risk factors such tobacco use, high blood pressure, family history of heart disease, or being physically inactive and/or overweight.

Moreover, if your test reveals that you are at increased risk – or if you have already been diagnosed with heart disease or suffered a heart attack – The Westover offers the Berkeley Risk Reduction Programme an effective local 12-month comprehensive Berkeley Heart cardiovascular disease risk reduction programme with a personalised plan focusing on exercise, nutrition, stress management and medication adherence. The programme analyses a variety of proprietary and advanced risk markers and assesses environmental, genetic, and lifestyle factors that may contribute to heart disease progression. Led by a personal health coach, the Berkeley Heart CVD Risk Reduction Programme includes quarterly follow-up testing to monitor and reassess progress and goals and is supported by the 4myheart web portal, which secures effective communication and teaming between patient, health coach and physician, facilitating continuous personal follow-up and logging of treatment goals and patient activities.

The Berkeley Heart Program enables The Westover GPs to make informed and precise treatment decisions and to implement effective teaming between the Berkeley Heart trained and certified in-house health coaches and the patient to achieve cardiac risk factor reduction and sustainable positive lifestyle change.

View our BH40 blood test leaflet (PDF)

View our Risk Reduction Programme (PDF)