The Importance of Regular Heart Screenings

Heart health is not just a personal matter; it's a shared concern between employees and employers. Maintaining a healthy heart is crucial for both individual well-being and business success. With heart disease being a leading cause of mortality, regular heart health screenings are imperative. For those over 40, the risk of heart failure stands at 20%. Screenings can detect issues early, offering a chance for treatment and lifestyle changes.

At Cardiovascular Wellness, we believe in the power of regular heart screenings to detect and manage conditions that may impact your heart’s health. Cardiac screening is a check-up that assesses the health of your heart. By testing for a range of medical conditions that could impact your heart’s health, screening gives doctors a good idea of how at-risk you are for heart disease (also known as cardiovascular disease), and what you can do to improve your overall health.

Some of the key benefits of regular heart screenings include:

1. Early Detection of Heart Disease: Heart screenings allow us to catch signs of heart disease early, even before you notice any symptoms. By identifying issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or plaque buildup in your arteries, we can start treatment right away and prevent more severe problems, such as heart attacks or strokes.
2. Monitoring Existing Conditions: If you already have a cardiovascular condition, regular screenings help us monitor your progress and adjust your treatment plan as needed. Whether it’s keeping track of your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, or the effectiveness of your medication, these screenings help us ensure you’re on the right path to better heart health.
3. Reducing the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Events: Regular screenings help us identify potential red flags that could lead to sudden cardiac events, like heart attacks or arrhythmias. By catching these warning signs early, we can take action to reduce your risk and keep you safe.
4. Peace of Mind: Knowing your heart is in good hands provides peace of mind. Routine heart screenings offer reassurance that you’re doing everything possible to stay healthy and address any potential issues before they become serious.

The most commonly performed cardiac tests include:

1. Blood pressure: One of the most important things that your doctor will check, a high blood pressure reading could indicate problems with your arteries that might eventually lead to a heart attack or stroke.
2. Heart rate: Another very important number to check, your heart rate can alert doctors to signs of stress, damage to heart tissue, or other abnormalities.
3. Body weight: Being overweight or obese puts you at a higher risk for heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.
4. Cholesterol Panel: Understanding the level of cholesterol in your blood is important as it is linked to heart and blood vessel disease. Doctors will test for levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), or ‘good’ cholesterol which can absorb cholesterol and carry it back to the liver, and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or ‘bad’ cholesterol, which can build-up in the arteries.
5. Family History: Understanding your family history is important, as having fist-degree relatives (parents, siblings) who have heart disease puts you at an increased risk.
6. Blood glucose: High blood glucose levels can give a very good indication of diabetes.
7. Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG): Looking at your heart rate and how much electrical activity is passing through the muscles of your heart, allows doctors to detect abnormalities in your heart’s structure and its rhythm.
8. Echocardiogram: An ultrasound is used to look at the heart’s function, structure, and shape, to help detect heart disease at the earliest possible stage.

Routine heart check-ups and screenings give you the best chance of receiving the right treatment quickly and diagnosing underlying medical conditions promptly. By scheduling these health services regularly, you can be assured you are taking the correct steps to a longer, healthier life.   

While heart check-ups and health screenings may seem daunting, the good news is that RSU Hermina Kemayoran is here for you. We provide the best comprehensive and preventative cardiology care to our patients to reduce your risk of heart disease. Our goal is to reduce the number of heart disease cases and put an end to it being the number 1 killer of men and women. Our doctors always deliver skilled and personalized care to each one of our patients and we will work with you to develop customized and individualized plans so you can always feel your best. Contact us today at 1500 488.

References

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