Free cholesterol screening to attendees of NBAA convention

Sep 29 2009

For the 19^th consecutive year, MedAire (booth 775) will offer free cholesterol screening to attendees of the 62^nd Annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Meeting and Convention.

Test results, which are available within approximately five minutes, will be discussed one-on-one inside the booth with a MedAire MedLink Global Response Center emergency room doctor, including MedAire Medical Director David Streitwieser, FACEP, MD.

“Last year, we saw 600 conference guests in our booth taking advantage of this critical health screening,” reports Dr. Streitwieser. “Because cholesterol levels tend to rise with age, they should be checked often.”

The American Heart Association estimates that about 36.6 million American adults have cholesterol levels of 240 mg/dL or higher—the level at which cardiovascular risk begins to rise.

According to AHA.org, your Total Blood Cholesterol will fall into one of these three levels:

• Desirable — Less than 200 mg/dL. In the desirable range, if your “good” HDL cholesterol, “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels are also desirable, and you have no other risk factors (i.e., age, gender, heredity, smoking, physical inactivity, overweight, etc.) you are at relatively low risk of coronary heart disease.
• Borderline-High Risk — 200–239 mg/dL. People in this category should work with their doctors to develop a prevention treatment plan to avoid high risk.
• High Risk — 240 mg/dL and over. People in this range typically have two times the risk of coronary heart disease than those in the desirable category.

“High cholesterol levels usually do not cause any physical signs or symptoms before cardiovascular disease develops,” explains Dr. Streitwieser. “The first step is to stop by MedAire’s Booth (#775) at NBAA and find out your risk level.”

In relation to this free cholesterol screening, MedAire’s Vice President of Aviation and Maritime Health Paulo Alves, MD, MSc will present the topic Cardiovascular Risk Factors for Pilots and Crew on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. During this session, Dr. Alves will discuss NBAA cholesterol screening results from 2008 and from the first day of 2009, giving a sampling of heart health on the NBAA showroom floor.

“Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common causes for a pilot’s medical disqualification in the United States and worldwide,” explains Dr. Alves. “And while there is no single cause for heart attacks, a series of risk factors can increase the likelihood of developing cardiac problems.”