ViaScan for the Heart

DALLAS. (KFSN) -- About 610,000 people die of heart disease every year in the United States and stress tests don't always pick up the problem. A new body scanner could provide a medical breakthrough in early detection and save lives.

Fifty-three year old Steffond Johnson once played in the NBA. After passing out and undergoing an angiogram, Submitthe six-foot- eight retired player underwent a complete body scan, which revealed heart blockage.

Johnson told Ivanhoe, "I think the scan is the wave of the future. There are a lot of people against all kinds of disruptive technologies, disruptive things, processes and procedures. The world is changing."

The ViaScan not only detects heart plaque that leads to heart disease, but it also detects lung cancer and colon cancer while producing minimal radiation; about 10 percent of a typical CT-scan.

John Duncan, founder and CEO of ViaScan told Ivanhoe, "It gives us the clearest, crispest pictures you could possibly obtain, and it does it with the greatest safety."

Submit Dr. Duncan, former chief of clinical research at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said tools like ViaScan are creating a golden age of preventive cardiology.

"Some of the brightest minds in cardiology have indicated if we had all men aged 40 and above undergo a heart scan, we would prevent heart attacks by 50 percent in one year," Dr. Duncan explained.

Johnson, now coaching college, thinks the ViaScan, plus statins, diet, and exercise will keep him healthy, now that his playing days are over.

"This was life-changing for me," said Johnson.

Insurance companies will cover the cost of a heart scan in some states. A complete body scan at ViaScan in SubmitTexas costs less than a thousand dollars.