The leading cause of death in our country is heart disease. While this number
is slowly declining due to efforts in preventive care and a focus on healthier
living, the numbers remain staggering. At your next doctor’s visit, two
important items should be discussed: identify (and address) your risk factors
and determine if any cardiac testing is necessary.
Steps to take care of your heart health:
-
Identify your risk factors as one of the following:
-
Modifiable Heart Disease Risk Factors (those that you can control with
such as blood pressure control, cholesterol control, diabetes control,
tobacco cessation and active lifestyle with exercise)
-
Non-modifiable Heart Disease Risk Factors (those that you are born with
such as age, gender and family history)
-
Assess how healthy your lifestyle is and if there is any obvious disease in
the family
-
See your primary care provider to assess your blood pressure and get
screened for diabetes and cholesterol. If you have hypertension (high blood
pressure), diabetes or hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), it is critical
that you understand and adhere to your medication regimen and get routine
office visits with bloodwork to make sure your metrics are in order.
Cardiac testing is also typically recommended, depending on your personal risk
and the presence or absence of symptoms. Cardiac testing comes in several
flavors, but the most common stepwise workup includes:
-
EKG
-
An easy, safe, and inexpensive test that can provide valuable
information about the structure and rhythm of your heart.
-
Calcium score
-
CT scan of the heart which provides information about any potential
plaque that has built-up in your heart. Measuring this gives insight
into your future cardiac health
-
Stress test
-
Assures that you have a healthy heart, but an abnormal test triggers
additional testing to assess the extent of any heart blockages.
Our physicians at North Texas Preferred Health Partners look forward to
partnering with you to make the right choices for your heart health.
