The Importance of Yearly Heart Health Screenings

Yearly checkups, particularly heart health screenings, are a source of anxiety for many Americans. If you’re relatively healthy, yearly exams seem like overkill. However, they increase your chances of detecting and beating potentially fatal heart diseases.

Along with controlling health risk factors, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center lists yearly heart health checkups as the best way to prevent heart disease. If you’re still not convinced, let’s investigate some statistics, different kinds of heart tests, and how regular screenings can help you live your best life.

Why Should I Get a Yearly Heart Health Checkup?

The CDC has gathered some grim statistics about heart health. On average, one person dies every 36 seconds from cardiovascular disease, making it the leading cause of death across all demographics.

According to the same datasheet, one in five heart attacks is silent. This means that many people suffer from them without knowing them. While surviving a heart attack is obviously a positive thing, silent ones do lifelong damage.

You should trust your body when it tells you something’s wrong, but these statistics show that it doesn’t always do that. Don’t let that be intimidating, though — use it as motivation to work with your healthcare team.

Common Symptoms of Heart Disease

Your body has many different ways of alerting you to heart disease. If you have any of these symptoms, consult your physician as soon as possible:

• Frequent fainting
• Irregular heartbeat (racing heartbeat at rest, for instance)
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling in extremities or abdomen

These symptoms may indicate strokes, heart attacks, arrhythmia, congenital heart defects, and coronary heart disease. By scheduling regular checkups, you prevent these symptoms from turning into full-blown heart disorders that require invasive surgery.

When Should I Get a Heart Health Checkup?

Always consult your doctor about your risk for heart disease, but some factors point to getting more frequent heart health checkups. These include:

• High blood pressure
• A family history of heart disease
• Obesity
• Frequent tobacco use
• Heart complications during pregnancy such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes
• Any type of diabetes or prediabetes

The American Heart Association recommends regular heart health screenings starting at age 20. The frequency and types of tests depend on your risk factors, but building them into your routine keeps you and your doctor informed.

What Do Doctors Check During a Heart Health Screen?

A heart health screen isn’t a single test — it’s a catchall term for many tests that look at different parts of the heart. Depending on your risk factors, you may only need some of these tests every few years, while others might need to be done yearly. If you don’t have regular heart health checkups, you’ll never know what tests you truly need.

While this list isn’t exhaustive, these are some of the most common types of heart health tests:

• Electrocardiograms (EKGs). Cardiologists use this test to check for irregular heartbeats by measuring electric impulses.
• Echocardiograms (Ultrasounds). A technician uses sound waves to create a picture of your heart. This lets cardiac doctors check valve and heart muscle health.
• Carotid Ultrasounds. Like echocardiograms, a doctor uses sound waves to check the carotid arteries on both sides of your neck for plaque buildup that may lead to a stroke.
• Chest X-rays. Using a small amount of radiation, a doctor makes an image of your chest that determines why you might be experiencing short breath and chest pains.
• Coronary CT Angiography. Using x-rays, doctors check arteries for fat or calcium deposits.
• Calcium Score Screening. Another type of x-ray test, a calcium score is determined by creating a cross-sectional image of arteries to check for calcium buildup.
• MRIs. During this test, a doctor makes images of your heart using magnets and radio waves. They use this test to diagnose coronary artery diseases and heart muscle weakness.
• Stress Tests. By monitoring your heart as you ride a stationary bike or run on a treadmill, a doctor checks how your heart reacts to physical activity.

Your symptoms and risk factors determine what tests a cardiac specialist uses. Frequent heart health checkups allow doctors to find problems before they do irreparable damage.

Heart Health: Taking It Home

Unfortunately, your body, including your heart, is always changing. Its strengths and weaknesses shift with age. What worked for you in your twenties might not work in your fifties.

Yearly heart health screens help you and your doctor comes up with a plan. To do this, doctors will give you a baseline or goals. This might mean:

• Losing weight
• Lowering your blood pressure
• Keeping blood sugar low
• Raising your heart rate by a certain amount a few times a week
• Eliminating or reducing tobacco and alcohol use

This is the crux of a healthy heart: application. Use scales, heart rate monitors, blood pressure machines, glucose meters, prescribed medication, and anything else your doctor recommends. By working with your doctor to identify and manage risks early, you’re saving yourself from more drastic measures down the road.

Schedule Your Next Heart Health Screening at Greenwich Medical

At Greenwich Medical Associates, they know regular heart health tests can be stressful. That’s why the doctors provide expert medical services and comfort from the moment you walk in. The waiting room is calm and tranquil, the staff takes every factor of your visit into consideration, helping you get what you need as quickly as possible.

To schedule your next heart health screening contact them today. Specializing in heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, arrhythmia, and more. Don’t wait until you need heart surgery. Let Dr. Gandelman and Dr. Mayus create a plan that works for you with concierge-level services that keep you and your heart healthy.

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