Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 13:20:47 -0500
From: Dr John R Dykers
Subject: pros and cons of ultrasound screening
A. L. Gums asked on Chatlist 3943 about $129 ultrasound screens.
Depends on age and previous scans and other factors as follows.
The ultrasound of the carotid arteries and the abdominal aorta are the most likely to pick up an important narrowing or ballooning of which you would have no symptoms and which might not be heard or felt on even a careful physical exam and be fixable and lifesaving. The older you are and the “harder” your arteries, being a cigarette smoker or other tobacco user, the higher your blood pressure, the higher your cholesterol, and the more obese, the more likely to find something.
Repeating the scan annually is probably a waste if no findings on the first and if none of the above other problems.
Repeating in 3-4-5 years may be worth it: the longer the interval the older we are and that alone is a factor. The cost is dramatically less even with most insurance than a hospital ultrasound which may be needed for presurgical evaluation.
The bone density screen is often a part of what is offered. If you have never had one, unexpectedly thin bones may occasionally be found and change treatment beyond what we should all be doing to take in 1500 (plus or minus) mg of calcium a day (about the equivalent of a quart of skimmed milk or buttermilk or yogurt a day) and 1-2000 units of vitamin D and 15-20 minutes of sunlight on bare skin (harder to do right now but Spring is coming!) The more skin bared to the sun the less time needed to kick start your own body’s Vit D production – just don’t get arrested! And don’t overdo the sun exposure or tanning booth and increase your risk of melanoma and other skin cancers.
The comparison of your blood pressure in arms to ankles is a reliable indicator of the same general changes in your arteries between your heart and feet that may not have symptoms or other signs – generally called Peripheral Artery Disease and now quite fixable and sometimes localized but usually concurrent with the same process in our heart and brain and kidney arteries. Arteries below the kidneys are usually not candidates for surgery until symptomatic with erectile dysfunction or leg pain on walking.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but your question is a wise one.
John Dykers