Every year hundreds of thousands of people die of heart disease, it's our nation's number one killer.
A Grand Strand doctor says our area has a high rate of heart disease partly because of Southern food and partly because we are in the tobacco belt.
A new tool at Conway Medical Center, the Cardiac CT, helps discover heart disease and it's warning signs much earlier than ever before.
Our CEO at NewsChannel 15, and a member of the hospital board, is Billy Huggins.
He became one of the first patients in our area to undergo the test.
Huggins stays in shape, eats well, and doesn't smoke, but he has another reason for taking the test, family history.
He says, "For me it's family history, in my family my brothers, my dad, all my uncles and many other didn't survive. And while I've exercised and done all the things I can do to live a healthy life, it's genetics."
Dr. Keith Wyche says the Cardiac CT takes 64 images of the heart while it's beating, then he can analyze 3 dimensional images of the organ. He says it will detect things other tests can't, like plaque outside of arteries which could eventually lead to a blockage.
Wyche says, "the (test) allows us to image the coronary arteries to see if there's any blockage, to see if there's any plaque."
The test revealed plaque outside of some of Billy's arteries. That means in addition to his healthy lifestyle now he will have to add some medications.
He's just happy he took the test.
And Dr. Wyche says thanks to what the tests revealed, Huggins is better off now and should be in better shape even 10 years into the future.
The test is covered by most insurance companies, and will be even more widely available when it's reclassified by Medicare.
If you don't have insurance, but still want the test, Dr. Wyche says it costs around $1,000.
If you would like to watch the video portions of this story click the links below:
Watch Part 1 of the video here
Watch Part 2 here
