HAYWARD, Calif. and BERNE, Switzerland, March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cholestech Corporation , announced that the Swiss Heart Foundation, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting cardiovascular research and promoting cardiovascular health, featured the Cholestech LDX(R) System, a leading cholesterol monitoring tool, during heart health screenings of 14,000 people in 32 cities around Switzerland, as part of the “Au rendez-vous du coeur” or “Meeting of the Heart” program. On Valentine’s Day, the Swiss Heart Foundation submitted its report on Swiss cardiac health to Pascal Couchepin, Member of the Federal Council and Head of Federal Department of Home Affairs.
The Swiss Heart Foundation’s “Meeting of the Heart” is the largest cardiac health study of its kind in Switzerland. The ongoing program is designed to educate the general population about cardiovascular risks and the means to avoid cardiovascular events by adopting healthier lifestyles. The program includes health seminars that explain basic medical principles behind heart health and ideas on how to adopt a lifestyle that is knowledgeably oriented towards improving one’s health. The program also featured the “Cardiomobile,” which traveled between November 2004 and November 2005 to 32 Swiss cities and provided heart health screenings to more than 14,000 people. Participants were offered glucose and cholesterol screenings, as well as blood pressure and body mass (BMI) assessments.
Results of the “Meeting of the Heart” program demonstrated that 10,000 out of 14,000 participants have at least one cardiac risk factor, the most prominent factors include abnormally high lipids (cholesterol), excessive weight and hypertension. According to Professor Felix Gutzwiller, National Adviser and Director of the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine in Zurich, of particular concern was the fact that between 30 and 50 percent had multiple risk factors. To combat this risk, Minister Couchepin and Professor Gutzwiller urged everyone over the age of 40 to actively monitor their blood pressure and cholesterol levels annually.
As part of Cardiomobile screening events, the cholesterol screening was being conducted using the Cholestech LDX(R) System, which generates comprehensive lab-accurate results in minutes. Using a simple finger-stick, the LDX System can measure cholesterol, glucose and liver enzymes, and now, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). This enhances the ability to quickly identify patients with risk factors for heart disease, enabling physicians to focus on getting patients on the right treatment sooner and making sure they stay on the right therapeutic mix.
“We commend the Swiss Heart Foundation for its leadership and commitment to improving the heart health of the Swiss people. We are proud that the Cholestech LDX System was chosen for this program, validating our ability to offer the highest quality point of care diagnostic tools that can generate lab-accurate results in minutes,” said Warren E. Pinckert II, president and CEO of Cholestech. “This is another example of growing international support for and adoption of point of care testing as a means of improving cardiac health.”
The Cholestech LDX System, which carries the CE Mark for marketing of medical devices in the European Union, has been certified by the United States Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network (CRMLN), which validates that the system meets the gold standard for accuracy and reproducibility developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the measurement of total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol consistent with National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) analytical goals. The NCEP recommends that everyone over the age of 20, or more than 200 million Americans, should be screened for cholesterol.
“The Meeting of the Heart” Program was implemented and supported locally by DiaMedic, Cholestech’s partner in Switzerland.
About Swiss Heart Foundation
The Swiss Heart Foundation is active in combating cardiac diseases and stroke. The goal of the Foundation’s public education programs is to reduce the number of people that are affected or handicapped by cardiovascular diseases; to reduce the number of young victims of myocardial infarction or cerebral stroke; and to improve the quality of life for those patients that are affected. To reach this goal, the Swiss Heart Foundation supports cutting edge research projects, develops patient education tools to encourage prevention, and provides heart health counseling for patients. The Swiss Heart Foundation is an independent not for profit organization recognized to have public utility by the ZEWO and the Swiss Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations.
About Cholestech
Cholestech is committed to enabling people to lead longer, healthier and more active lives. Cholestech provides easy to use, accessible diagnostic tools and information to health care practitioners in over 35 countries around the world. Cholestech offers efficient and economic diagnostic testing for cholesterol and related lipids, blood glucose and glycemic control, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and liver function at the point of care. Health care providers can use the CLIA-waived Cholestech LDX(R) and GDX(TM) Systems and the hs-CRP test, which is cleared by the FDA for use in moderate complexity labs, to initiate and monitor the progress of patient therapy. By providing effective disease management solutions, Cholestech’s goal is to be a leading provider of diagnostic tools and information for immediate risk assessment and therapeutic monitoring of heart disease and diabetes.
NOTE: Cholestech LDX(R) is a registered trademark and Cholestech GDX(TM) is a trademark of Cholestech Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. For more information about Cholestech and its products visit us on the web at www.cholestech.com.
Cholestech Corporation
CONTACT: Warren E. Pinckert II, President and Chief Executive Officer ofCholestech Corporation, +1-510-732-7200, or wpinckert@cholestech.com; orChris K. Joseph of ckj Communications, +1-510-339-2293, orchris@ckjcomm.com, for Cholestech
