The Arizona Heart Institute (AHI) is to prescribe the Vital Living Cardiovascular Nutraceutical following a successful three-year trial of the product. A new formulation of the product was developed jointly by Vital Living and the AHI and includes nutritional supplements that have been shown to be beneficial in clinical trials or are recommended by national guidelines.
The AHI agreed to the formulation of the nutraceutical and to formally endorse it with the use of the AHI logo, two important milestones that now enable the product to be prescribed by AHI's physicians. The nutraceutical will be incorporated in the AHI healthy heart protocol that every patient receives before leaving AHI, and is intended to complement other treatments such as drugs and lifestyle changes.
The nutraceutical will be available in July, and the agreement is for three years. AHI and its 15 affiliates serve over 25,000 new patients each year. Vital Living and AHI will also jointly introduce the cardiovascular nutritional regimen to AHI's active database of 150,000 heart patients.
Brad Edson, CEO of Vital Living, commented: "We all know that nutrition is important to cardiovascular health. Clinical trials show that specific nutritional supplements improve cardiovascular health and national guidelines recommend specific supplements. Yet, there has not been a product on the market which patients and physicians can embrace and which reflects all of this knowledge.
"We are pleased to have the Arizona Heart Institute, a world-renowned pioneer in cardiology, as our first partner in bringing the benefits of our science based nutraceutical to all of its patients. We believe this is an industry first - we collaborated with a world-renowned heart institute and its physicians to develop a science-based proprietary supplement, incorporate it into an overall health programme including a lifestyle programme, and reach a targeted audience of heart patients. We believe this collaboration will improve the health and quality of life for AHI's patients."
Ted Diethrich, founder and medical director of AHI , said: "Once patients leave our facility, it is critical that they continue with a comprehensive exercise and diet regimen that is complementary to their drug therapy. Our relationship with Vital Living is yet another example of our commitment at AHI to provide our patients with leading-edge therapies to improve their heart health. I believe that the Vital Living nutritional programme will be of great benefit to our patients, and look forward to our collaboration."