Even if you feel fine or do not have any cardiovascular problems, as an adult, you should still take the time to see your cardiologist. A cardiologist is a healthcare provider specializing in the cardiovascular system, which relates to the heart and blood vessels.

These routine heart check-ups are an excellent way to detect risk factors and prevent severe heart disease. Plus, with proper testing, your physician can create the best treatment options for you, from modifying lifestyle habits to taking maintenance medications. See recommended primary heart health screening check-ups for preventive health measures:

Blood Pressure Monitoring

High blood pressure is a vital monitoring tool to promote heart health. However, high blood pressure or hypertension usually has no symptoms in the early stages, so you cannot detect it unless you use a blood pressure cuff to measure your blood pressure readings.

Hypertension puts pressure on your heart and causes severe damage to your arteries or blood vessels. If left untreated, you can develop blood clots, which increase your risk of heart attack, heart failure, or stroke.

If your blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg, you can have it checked twice a year, starting at the age of twenty. If it is higher than that, or if you have a strong family record of heart conditions, your physician or healthcare provider may want to check it more often.

Fortunately, you can buy a sphygmomanometer for home use at any drugstore. Beyond that, you may lower your blood pressure with lifestyle changes and maintenance medications.

Lipid Profile Check-up Test (Cholesterol and Triglycerides)

Ideally, it would be best to get a fasting lipid profile every four to six years, starting at twenty. The frequency depends on your health risk factors, such as diet and family history. Knowing your cholesterol levels is vital because high cholesterol usually shows no symptoms.

Therefore, you will see the state of your health once you have a blood test. This check-up test measures your total cholesterol count, considering LDL or bad cholesterol and HDL or good cholesterol.

It additionally measures triglycerides, a sort of fat encountered in your blood. Furthermore, high cholesterol and triglycerides raise the probability of heart disease and stroke. However, the most common causes are lack of exercise, poor diet, poorly controlled diabetes, and excess weight.

Like blood pressure, you can control it with lifestyle modifications and medication. The Circle Snapshot at-home heart health test will be able to determine your lipid profile. An easy and effective way to understand the state of your heart.

Blood Glucose Check-up Test

When you reach forty-five years of age, you should check your blood glucose, or the amount of sugar in your blood, at least every three years. The more sugar you have in your blood, the greater your chances of developing prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and insulin-resistant diabetes.

When anyone leaves diabetes untreated, it can lead to many serious medical problems, such as kidney failure, stroke, and heart disease.

In particular, if you are overweight and have a cardiovascular risk factor (such as hypertension, family background, lack of exercise, or smoking), your physician may test your glucose even before age forty-five and more often than every three years.

If you are concerned and want to monitor more closely, you can purchase a blood sugar testing kit at the pharmacy.

Body Weight Tracking

When you turn twenty years old, your physician or healthcare provider may also ask for your body weight to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI). In addition, your physician may also measure your waist circumference. The number will tell you and your doctor if you have a healthy weight and body composition.

Your physician or healthcare provider will measure this, the before mentioned, along with other vital signs during your annual physical exam. Tracking your weight helps fight obesity. Unfortunately, about one in three adults is overweight.

Additionally, the more pounds you carry, the more it will strain your heart and other organs. That is why being overweight puts you at greater risk for many problems, including stroke, hypertension, heart failure, heart attack, diabetes, and more.

These routine heart check-ups give you the best chance of diagnosing underlying medical conditions and getting the proper treatment.

Although these check-up tests may seem like a hassle, they will help you lower your probability of heart disease and ensure you are taking the proper steps to live a healthy life.

More Tests Performed During a Routine Check-up Exam

Physicians may perform advanced testing for those individuals who need a complete cardiovascular health profile.

When performing a heart screening check-up, there are a variety of tests that physicians may perform. One of the most common tests done is an echocardiography exam.

Echocardiography involves an ultrasound of the heart to seek issues related to pumping function and heart valves, blood clots, fluid in the heart sac, and many more problems.

A test such as the one mentioned before is generally a very safe and non-intrusive procedure, making it easy to perform in a cardiologist’s office.

In conjunction with echocardiography, other standard cardiac diagnostic tests that physicians perform may include:

• Electrocardiograms (ECG)
• Nuclear stress tests
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

These varieties of tests use different methods to look at the heart. As a result, it provides different results that give a better picture of underlying problems that may increase heart disease risk.

Please take reactive measures to keep your heart in shape before it is too late. Instead, be proactive and set aside time for regular check-ups to get the right help and testing to ensure a long, healthy life.

Other Ways to Protect Your Heart Health

In addition to scheduling and attending these heart screenings at a clinic, there are other actions you can do to protect the health of your heart. For example, you should be more vigilant if you have elevated genetic risk factors for heart disease.

Remember, heart medication is the last alternative. As considerably as possible, you should make proactive lifestyle changes to keep your heart healthy. Here is what you should do:

• Cardiovascular exercise for at least thirty minutes about four times per week and incorporate strength training at least three times per week. This physical activity will help you maintain weight, have good blood circulation, and strengthen your body and heart. It will additionally lower your blood pressure and reduce the chances of heart disease.
• Eat more fruit, greens, and whole grains. A clean diet helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol, which is good for your heart.
• Quit smoking; tobacco increases blood pressure, diminishes oxygen supply, and burdens your organs.
• Reduce alcohol consumption as excessive alcohol consumption raises blood pressure.
• Manage stressors since stress raises blood pressure, and extreme stress could trigger a heart attack.
• Get sufficient sleep, as lack of sleep may contribute to developing health conditions.
• Always prioritize preventive health.

While routine heart check-ups and health screenings may seem overwhelming, the good news is that Modern Heart and Vascular Institute is here to help.

We are here to answer vital questions about how often a physician or healthcare provider should check your heart or how other conditions could affect your heart. Our team of expert cardiologists is here to help you manage, prevent, and treat all aspects of cardiovascular disease.

If you notice any warning signs, call 9-1-1; you can help avoid irremediable injury by going to a hospital within one hour of a stroke.

We are Modern Heart and Vascular Institute, a diagnostic and preventative medicine cardiology practice. For more information, contact us.

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Routine Heart Check-ups