Vasomedical to Raise Awareness about EECP® Therapy as an Effective Treatment for Heart Disease in Diabetic Patients

WESTBURY, N.Y., June 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Heart Association (AHA) Heart Disease and Stroke 2013 Statistical Update reported that 19.7 million Americans over the age of twenty have physician-diagnosed diabetes, and there are an additional eight million Americans with undiagnosed diabetes. The top causes of disability and death among patients with diabetes are heart disease and stroke, and these patients suffer more complications and higher failure rate with the current methods of treating heart disease, including medication, stenting and bypass surgery. It has been long established that Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP^®) Therapy, a noninvasive treatment for patients with ischemic heart disease, is equally effective in treating heart disease for diabetic patients as it is in the non-diabetic patient population.

As such, Vasomedical, Inc. ("Vasomedical") (OTC BB: VASO), a diversified medical technology company specializing in the design, manufacture and sale of medical devices for noninvasive cardiology including EECP Therapy systems, the gold standard of ECP technology, announced today that it will attend and showcase the Therapy, at the 73^rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association taking place on June 21-25, 2013 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Company will also exhibit its BIOX™ ambulatory monitoring and analysis products and EZ™ series patient management products.

EECP Therapy is an FDA-cleared, non-invasive outpatient treatment that increases blood flow and reduces the workload of the heart, which is critical for diabetic patients. Published clinical studies have also shown that EECP Therapy reduces arterial stiffness, improves cardiovascular health and has a significant effect on improving patient quality of life. The Therapy is covered by Medicare and most private insurance companies for the treatment of refractory angina.

In addition, recently published clinical studies demonstrated that EECP Therapy is effective in managing glycemic levels and controlling abnormal glucose tolerance in patients with type-2 diabetes. This has increased interest in the effectiveness of EECP Therapy to benefit this patient population.

"While currently EECP Therapy is FDA-cleared for treating patients with certain cardiovascular diseases, clinical studies suggest that this treatment has additional beneficial results when used for patients with diabetes, although it is not a cleared indication yet," stated Dr. John Hui, Chief Technology Officer of Vasomedical. "We believe EECP Therapy should be more widely utilized to treat heart disease and related complications in diabetic patients, since the majority of these patients suffer or die from cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, published scientific evidence has demonstrated a reduction of blood sugar levels, improvement in insulin resistivity and exercise ability in diabetic patients who have undergone EECP Therapy. Therefore, the potential of EECP Therapy for diabetic patients should be further explored."

"The Scientific Sessions, which will be attended by healthcare professionals from around the globe, is a great opportunity to introduce these professionals to EECP Therapy as a treatment option for their diabetic patients suffering from heart disease," continued Dr. Hui. "By preventing cardiovascular diseases and lowering risk factors, EECP may contribute significantly to reducing the growing threat of diabetes and the high rate of heart disease-related complications and deaths in this patient population, potentially saving billions of dollars for our healthcare system."

Vasomedical will be located in Booth #1054 in the exhibition hall.

About Vasomedical 
Vasomedical, Inc. is a diversified medical technology company specializing in the manufacture and sale of medical devices and in the domestic sale of diagnostic imaging products. The Company's main proprietary products are EECP® Therapy systems, the gold standard of ECP treatment. The Company operates through three wholly owned subsidiaries: VasoSolutions, Vasomedical Global and VasoHealthcare. VasoSolutions manages and coordinates the design, manufacture and sales of EECP® Therapy systems, and other medical equipment operations; Vasomedical Global operates the Company's China-based subsidiaries; and VasoHealthcare is the operating subsidiary for the exclusive sales representation of GE Healthcare diagnostic imaging products in certain market segments. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.vasomedical.com.

About Biox Instruments
Biox Instruments Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Vasomedical, is based in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China.  With long established expertise in miniaturization and low power consumption medical devices, it is a leading company in ambulatory monitoring systems consisting of ECG Holter recorders, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) systems as well as related analysis and reporting software. Biox is in full compliance of revered quality and manufacturing standards such as ISO 13485, ISO 9001, US FDA cGMP as well as the Medical Device Directive of the European Union. Biox products are FDA Cleared, CE Marked and Health Canada Listed. Furthermore, Biox continues to provide OEM and OED services to many businesses that require effective solutions to product design and performance. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.biox.com.cn.

Except for historical information contained in this release, the matters discussed are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. When used in this release, words such as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "plans", "potential" and "intends" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the Company's management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company's management. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: the effect of business and economic conditions; the effect of the dramatic changes taking place in the healthcare environment; the impact of competitive procedures and products and their pricing; medical insurance reimbursement policies; unexpected manufacturing or supplier problems; unforeseen difficulties and delays in the conduct of clinical trials and other product development programs; the actions of regulatory authorities and third-party payers in the United States and overseas; uncertainties about the acceptance of a novel therapeutic modality by the medical community; continuation of the GEHC agreement; and the risk factors reported from time to time in the Company's SEC reports. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements as a result of future events or developments.

Investor Contacts: 
Todd Fromer / Garth Russell
KCSA Strategic Communications
212-896-1215 / 212-896-1250
[email protected] / [email protected]  

Media Contacts:
Samantha Wolf / Michaela Morales
KCSA Strategic Communications
212-896-1220 / 212-896-1273 
[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Vasomedical, Inc.