Pritikin Center Revolutionizes Angina Treatment

American Fitness, May, 2000 by David Cooper

For more than 25 years, the Pritikin Longevity Center[R] has earned a reputation for innovative disease treatment, specifically heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. Now, the center is once again at the forefront of treatment by providing the first EECP therapy program in metropolitan Los Angeles at its Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel location.

EECP stands for Enhanced External Counterpulsation, a new nonsurgical therapy designed for patients suffering from angina that utilizes a series of compressive air cuffs wrapped around the legs to increase blood flow to the heart. The treatment has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is available at several major medical centers across the country, including Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"We see this new treatment as an adjunct to our first-line therapy of nutrition and exercise, particularly for participants suffering from angina," says Robert Pritikin, director of the center. "It's noninvasive and can enhance the beneficial effects of the Pritikin[R] Approach in lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure, which is why we've chosen to add it to our program. In addition to the EECP therapy being used by Pritikin participants, we're also making it available on an outpatient basis in our medical facility here at the center."

The most overriding benefit of EECP as a treatment for angina, or chest pain caused by regions of the heart not receiving the amount of blood (oxygen) needed, is that no surgery is required. Usually, the reason for the oxygen deficit is that one or more of the heart's blood vessels are narrowed or blocked.

Today, the most common treatment for angina is either medication of balloon angioplasty, in which the tip of a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel and inflated to clear the blockage and restore blood flow. More than 400,000 initial and repeat angioplasties are performed in the United States each year. Another 35,000 coronary bypass procedures are also performed, in which new blood vessels are actually transplanted around the blocked artery to carry more blood to the heart. This procedure involves opening the chest and temporarily stopping the heart.

"The EECP procedure involves no hospitalization or surgery, and its safety record is impeccable," says Dr. Monroe Rosenthal, medical director of Ocean View Medical Group, the medical professionals who care for and treat participants in the Pritikin Program. "Although angioplasty clears blockages, its benefits are sometimes only temporary. Also, angioplasty may damage vessels to the point where they no longer respond to diet and exercise therapy or even cholesterol-lowering drugs. The important point here is that EECP adds another dimension of treatment for patients with heart disease that is noninvasive and non-pharmacologic."

Another physician at the Pritikin Center, Dr. Heather Pena, has noted how the EECP therapy also enhances the other elements of the Pritikin Approach, namely a regular exercise regimen. "We're finding that men and women utilizing the EECP therapy are much more able to start and sustain an exercise program. Some who had trouble getting through any kind of program initially were also able to exercise more regularly and at increased levels, so that all the benefits of our overall treatment program were being realized."

A usual course for EECP therapy is 35 one-hour sessions over a seven-week period, or two treatments daily for about four weeks. The inflation and deflation of the cuffs wrapped around the legs and buttocks are electronically synchronized with one's heartbeat using EKG (electrocardiogram) signals. Patients often read, listen to music, watch television or even sleep during the sessions. Cost of the treatment series is about $8,000 compared to about $21,000 for an average angioplasty. The treatment is covered by many private insurance companies.

"By combining the proven benefits of EECP therapy with the dramatic reductions in cholesterol and other results of the Pritikin Approach, we've expanded the comprehensive nature of our treatment of heart disease to restore the joy of healthy living in our program participants and the community at large," says Pritikin.

For further information on EECP therapy, prospective patients or their physicians should contact Dr. Monroe Rosenthal at (310) 899-4000. For more detailed clinical information regarding EECP, visit the Web site for the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco at www.eecp.com.