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Glossary
Angina Pectoris: The most common symptom of coronary artery disease also known simply as chest pain. Angina can be described as a discomfort, heaviness, pressure, aching, burning, fullness, squeezing, or painful feeling due to coronary heart disease. Often, it can be mistaken for indigestion. Angina is usually felt in the chest, but may also be felt in the shoulders, arms, neck, throat, jaw, or back.
Angina is caused when blood flow to an area of the heart is decreased. This impairs the delivery of oxygen and vital nutrients to the heart muscle cells. When this happens, the heart muscle must use alternative, less efficient forms of fuel so that it can perform its function of pumping blood to the body. The byproduct of using this less efficient fuel is a compound called lactic acid that builds up in the muscle and causes pain. Some medications used to treat angina work by inhibiting the use of this fuel source.
Artery: Blood vessels that carry blood from the heart throughout the body. They're lined by a thin layer of cells called the endothelium. The endothelium works to keep the inside of arteries toned and smooth, which keeps blood flowing.
Atherosclerosis: Hardening and narrowing of the arteries. An unnoticeable process that slowly blocks arteries, and limits blood flow.
Blood Pressure: Pressure exerted by the blood upon the walls of the blood vessels and especially arteries, usually measured on the radial artery by means of a sphygmomanometer, and expressed in millimeters of mercury either as a fraction having as numerator the maximum pressure that follows systole of the left ventricle of the heart and as denominator the minimum pressure that accompanies cardiac diastole or as a whole number representing the first value only.
BPro®: It is a simple, non-invasive watch-like device that easily straps on your wrist and within a few minutes calculates your personal waveform profile.
Brachial Artery: The chief artery of the upper arm that is a direct continuation of the Axillary artery and divides into the Radial and Ulnar arteries just below the elbow.
Cardiac Catheterization or Femoral: a test to check your heart and coronary arteries. It is used to check blood flow in the coronary arteries blood flow and blood pressure in the chambers of the heart find out how well the heart valves work, and check for defects in the way the wall of the heart moves. The purpose of cardiac catheterization is to find out if you have disease in your coronary arteries (atherosclerosis).
Cardio Pulse Wave Screening: The action of taking a person through the steps of strapping on the BPro and measuring their CASP and RAI. The screening shows the elasticity or stiffness of the cardiovascular system and the strength of the heart.
Coronary Angiogram: See Femoral or Cardiac Catheterization.
Carotid artery disease: The carotid arteries run up either side of your neck. They supply oxygen to your brain. The accumulation of arterial plaque in the carotid can lead to stroke.
Central Aortic Systolic Pressure (CASP): The pressure exerted by the blood as it flows out of the very top of the aorta. The higher the number, the harder the heart must work to pump the appropriate amount of blood through the body.
Cholesterol: Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and other cells and found in certain foods, such as food from animals, like dairy products, eggs, and meat. The body needs some cholesterol in order to function properly. Its cell walls, or membranes, need cholesterol in order to produce hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat. But the body needs only a limited amount of cholesterol to meet its needs. When too much is present health problems such as heart disease may develop.
Coronary artery disease: When plaque accumulates in the arteries carrying blood to the heart, it results in coronary artery disease, or heart disease. This condition can lead to heart attacks and is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Cuff: Used to take brachial blood pressure. The cuff is wrapped around an individuals upper arm so that the sensors are positioned over the Brachial Artery.
Dealer: A BPro Technician who also owns the device and has passed significant training by UHS to be certified and licensed to sell the BPro device to the medical industry.
Diabetes: Affects the body’s ability to use blood sugar for energy. It is the most common disorder of the endocrine (hormone) system, occurs when blood sugar levels in the body consistently stay above normal. Diabetes is a disease brought on by either the body's inability to make insulin (type 1 diabetes) or by the body not responding to the effects of insulin (type 2 diabetes). It can also appear during pregnancy. Insulin is one of the main hormones that regulates blood sugar levels and allows the body to use sugar (called glucose) for energy.
Diastolic: The diastolic blood pressure number or the bottom number indicates the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats.
A normal diastolic blood pressure number is less than 80.
A diastolic blood pressure between 80 and 89 indicates prehypertension.
A diastolic blood pressure number of 90 or higher is considered to be hypertension or high blood pressure.
Dicrotic Notch: The bump on the graph of a Pulse Wave Screening that indicates the reflective wave.
Endothelium: An epithelium of mesoblastic origin composed of a single layer of thin flattened cells that lines internal body cavities (as the serous cavities or the interior of the heart).
Femoral Artery: The chief artery of the thigh that is a continuation of the external iliac artery lying in the anterior part of the thigh and is undivided until a point about two inches (5 centimeters) below the inguinal ligament where it divides into a large deep branch and a smaller superficial branch.
Femoral or Cardiac Catheterization: a test to check your heart and coronary arteries. It is used to check blood flow in the coronary arteries blood flow and blood pressure in the chambers of the heart find out how well the heart valves work, and check for defects in the way the wall of the heart moves. The purpose of cardiac catheterization is to find out if you have disease in your coronary arteries (atherosclerosis).
High density lipoproteins (HDL): HDL, also called "good" cholesterol, helps the body get rid of bad cholesterol in the blood. The higher the level of HDL cholesterol, the better. If your levels of HDL are low, your risk of heart disease increases.
Hypertension: Abnormally high arterial blood pressure that is usually indicated by an adult systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or greater or a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or greater, is chiefly of unknown cause but may be attributable to a preexisting condition (as a renal or endocrine disorder), that typically results in a thickening and inelasticity of arterial walls and hypertrophy of the left heart ventricle, and that is a risk factor for various pathological conditions or events (as heart attack, heart failure, stroke, end-stage renal disease, or retinal hemorrhage).
L-Argenine: A crystalline basic amino acid C6H14N4O2 derived from guanidine that when combined with L-Citrulline helps to boost the bodies nitric oxide levels.
L-Citrulline: A crystalline amino acid C6H13N3O3 formed especially as an intermediate in the conversion of ornithine to arginine in the living system.
Low density lipoproteins (LDL): LDL, also called "bad" cholesterol, can cause buildup of plaque on the walls of arteries. The more LDL there is in the blood, the greater the risk of heart disease.
Metabollic Syndrome: Is a group of risk factors including High Blood Pressure, High Blood Sugar, High Cholesterol Levels, and Belly Fat. These risk factors increase the risk of Heart Disease and Diabetes. Diet, Exercise and Supplementation improve it.
Nitric Oxide: L-arginine is converted in the body into a chemical called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide causes blood vessels to open wider for improved blood flow. A poisonous colorless gas NO that occurs as a common air pollutant formed by the oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen and that is also formed by the oxidation of arginine in the mammalian body where it acts as a mediator of intracellular and intercellular communication regulating numerous biological processes (as vasodilation and neurotransmission).
Peripheral artery disease: If plaque builds up in the blood vessels that carry blood to your legs, it can reduce the amount of oxygen delivered. The reduced blood flow can cause you to experience pain, numbness, or serious infection in your legs and feet.
Plaque: Plaque that accumulates on the inner walls of your arteries is made from various substances that circulate in your blood. These thick hard deposits include calcium, fat, cholesterol, cellular waste, and fibrin, a material involved in blood clotting. In response to plaque build-up, cells in your artery walls multiply and secrete additional substances that can worsen the state of clogged arteries.
Radial Artery: The smaller of the two branches into which the brachial artery divides just below the bend of the elbow and which passes along the radial side of the forearm to the wrist then winds backward around the outer side of the carpus and enters the palm between the first and second metacarpal bones to form the deep palmar arch.
Radial Augmentation Index (RAI): The measurement of the flexibility or stiffness of an individuals arteries. The higher the index, the stiffer the arteries, indicating a degree of atherosclerosis.
Stroke: Brain damage caused by a blocked blood vessel or bleeding in the brain. Strokes are caused by a blood clot that blocks blood flow to the brain. A blood clot can develop in a narrowed artery that supplies the brain or can travel from the heart (or elsewhere in the body) to an artery that supplies the brain. Blood clots are usually the result of other problems in the body that affect the normal flow of blood. One such cause is atherosclerosis.
Systolic: When your heart beats, it contracts and pushes blood through the arteries to the rest of your body. This force creates pressure on the arteries. This is called systolic blood pressure. A normal systolic blood pressure is below 120.
A systolic blood pressure of 120 to 139 means you have prehypertension, or borderline high blood pressure. Even people with prehypertension are at a higher risk of developing heart disease.
A systolic blood pressure number of 140 or higher is considered to be hypertension, or high blood pressure.
Technician: An individual that has been trained and certified by UHS to administer a cardiovascular screening using the BPro.
USB Port: Typically 2-4 ports on the laptop that has the A-Pulse CASP software. The port is where the end of the usb shrowd is plugged into the laptop.
USB Shrowd: The usb cable that is attached to the watch-head of the BPro wrist device, and then plugged into the laptop that has the A-Pulse CASP software.
Vasodilater: An agent (as a parasympathetic nerve fiber or a drug) that induces or initiates vasodilation.
Vasodilation: Widening of the lumen of blood vessels allowing increased blood flow.
