Heart Health Screening
What is Heart Health Screening?
Don’t wait for a life-threatening issue to arise—preventive care is the best approach. Cardiovascular screenings and routine check-ups can help identify your risk for heart disease, stroke, sudden cardiac arrest, and other silent yet deadly conditions.
Heart screenings should begin at age 20. If you have two or more risk factors for heart disease, it’s a good idea to schedule a heart screening today.
What are the main risk factors for heart disease?
Certain heart disease risk factors cannot be changed. If you’re a male over 45, a female over 55, or have a family history of stroke, heart, or vascular disease, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and should consider regular heart screenings.
there are also risk factors that can be modified, treated, and controlled:
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- High cholesterol
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Stress
- Alcohol consumption
- Diet and nutrition
What are the advantages of heart screening?
By gaining a clearer understanding of your heart disease risk, you can pinpoint areas for improvement and take steps to prevent complications. While lifestyle changes may be enough, medications or procedures might be required to enhance your quality of life.
There are three phases to heart screening tests:
- Risk category assignment – What are your specific risk factors for heart disease?
- Early disease assessment – Do you show any early warning signs or symptoms of heart disease?
- Modifiable disease contributor assessment – Which risk factors can be improved through lifestyle changes?
Essential screening tests for heart health
- High blood pressure (hypertension) raises the risk of heart disease and stroke. If your blood pressure is higher than 120/80mm Hg, you may need to consult a specialist.
- Fasting Lipoprotein Profile (cholesterol) levels should be checked every four to six years. This test measures your total cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
- Body weight can be assessed through your body mass index (BMI) during routine visits. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and more.
- Blood glucose levels should be checked at least every three years starting at age 45. Elevated blood glucose levels can contribute to heart disease and stroke.
- C-reactive protein is an inflammatory marker linked to the risk of atherosclerotic events.
What does a heart screening assess?
- Heart murmurs
- Arrhythmias
- Atrial fibrillation
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Sleep apnea
- Stroke
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Sudden cardiac death syndrome
- Glucose levels