Foundation for Health Improvement and Technology (FHIT) Launched to Beat Cardiovascular Disease

RICHMOND, Va., March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Foundation for Health Improvement and Technology (FHIT), www.fhit.org, announced today the launch of its nonprofit, with the mission to rid the world of preventable cardiovascular and related metabolic diseases through educational programs promoting early detection and aggressive medical treatment.

"Recent advances in biomarker research have made it entirely possible to detect many of the underlying pathologies of metabolic disorder and other contributors to heart disease before overt clinical symptoms manifest. Many of these factors will respond to appropriate treatment," said Russ Warnick, co-founder of FHIT. Warnick, a recognized expert in cardiovascular biomarkers and a co-editor of the Handbook of Lipoprotein Testing, has been published in over 200 medical and scientific journals and has more than 35 years of experience in analytical methods for characterizing cardiovascular and related diseases and in the application of laboratory testing to manage diseases.

"FHIT was created to increase awareness and educate physicians and other clinical and laboratory professionals across the United States and around the world about the latest scientific developments in cardiovascular and related diseases," said Warnick. The organization was formed as a response to over fifty years of research proving that early detection and aggressive medical treatment can prevent cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes.

The board of directors at FHIT, which will be announced later this month, have a history of serving at the forefront of medical, educational, and industrial institutions. As the foundation begins to reach out to the medical community during the spring of 2012, it will roll out new technology, interactive platforms, and other educational programs designed to help physicians combat the alarming increase in metabolic diseases and other contributors to cardiovascular and related chronic diseases.

The unique aspect of FHIT is the organization's ability to not only spread the message of early detection, but to also develop unique, online resources for peer-to-peer education. "These comprehensive and dynamic compilations of biomarkers and other cardiovascular resources will undoubtedly become invaluable to medical professionals and set a new standard for the medical community," said Warnick.

FHIT, which advocates for comprehensive testing to help physicians personalize treatment based on a total patient profile, will measure its success by how well it helps the medical community detect risk factors that pre-dispose patients to disease at an earlier stage. By taking a preventative approach, FHIT argues that physicians now have the opportunity to access advanced tools and scientific evidence to predict angiographic disease or coronary heart disease events. 

"FHIT will encourage the medical community to move beyond total cholesterol and other outdated measurement techniques, and instead provide physicians with education and research that demonstrates firsthand how medical practices can surpass the mainstream lipid panel and take advantage of the more advanced biomarkers now readily available," said Warnick. "Through the FHIT organization, we will teach physicians around the world how to focus on all of the cholesterol components, other biomarkers, and their impact on overall heath. This is an important step toward turning cardiovascular and related metabolic disorders into diseases of the past."

SOURCE FHIT