Top Medical Breakthroughs of 2009

By Kelley Luckstein

It was the year we were inundated with information about health care—mostly political chatter…2009 delivered remarkable advances in actual medicine 5. Predict Heart Attack or Stroke, Breakthrough: Endo-PAT device…

Now, a device that clips onto your finger can tell by sensing lack of elasticity of your blood vessel lining, a condition called endothelial dysfunction. "A poor score is a stronger warning than the usual risk factors because it indicates that cardiovascular disease has already begun—but at an early stage when you can more easily control your risks," says Amir Lerman, MD, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Prevention Magazine, By Richard Laliberte, 1/2010