Screening Tests For Heart Disease In Women

An important aspect of lowering your risk of heart disease that both men and women are equally at a risk of is managing your lifestyle and risk factors, such as physical activity, quality of diet, smoking, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood cholesterol or blood glucose. High blood pressure and high (LDL “bad”) cholesterol are the major heart disease risk factors. Unfortunately, every American has at least more than one risk factor, and the best way to know about your risk factors that put you at an increased risk for developing heart disease is by taking screening tests or requesting screening tests during regular visits to your doctor.

A screening test allows you to start changing your health in a positive way. You are able to modify the risk factors (the controllable ones like high blood pressure and high cholesterol) to cut down on your heart disease risk. Doctors recommend starting to take cardiovascular screening tests from age 20, which should be followed up frequently depending upon one’s level of risk. You’d require more frequent testing if you’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition such as heart failure or atrial fibrillation, or if you have a history of cardiac events like heart attack, stroke, etc.

The major screening tests for monitoring heart health:

1.      Blood pressure

2.      Fasting Lipoprotein Profile (cholesterol)

3.      Body weight

4.      Blood glucose

5.      Physical activity, diet, smoking

Your doctor may recommend one or more of the following tests to find out if you have heart disease and how severe it is:

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) - creates a graph of the electrical activity of the ticker as it beats.

Stress test (or treadmill test or exercise ECG) - records the electrical activity of the ticker during exercise, mainly on a treadmill.

Nuclear scan- shows how the heart muscle works as blood flows through the ticker.

Echocardiography- changes sound waves into images that show the size, shape and movement of the ticker.

Cardiac catheterization- doctors use this procedure to diagnose and treat certain heart conditions.

Sometimes people especially women have hidden or undiagnosed heart disease even after getting tested for it. A current research has brought to the fore the fact that up to 3 million women in America have a hard to identify form of heart disease called “coronary microvascular syndrome.” Several new, highly sensitive screening tests have been developed in the wake of such hard-to-spot forms of heart disease, which include

1.      Carotid doppler ultrasound

2.      Electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT)

3.      Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

You can ask your doctor about these tests.

If you have been diagnosed with heart disease or have risk factors, it is extremely important to control it or keep the risk factors in check. This you can do by eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight that will help you reduce the severity of your condition. Quit smoking and you need to manage your diabetes well if you are diabetic.

Undergo CPR training and equip yourself in the lifesaving CPR skill that will stand you in good stead during out-of-hospital cardiac emergencies. To sign up for a class, contact the AHA certified CPR Memphis in Tennessee at 901-438-4200.