If you have elders or older adults in your family, you must have come across them complaining about heart issues. They either feel restless even when not engaging in physical activities or experience a tingling pain in the heart from time to time. Why does all this occur? To find out the answer to this question you have to go for a heart checkup. The purpose of a heart checkup is to find out the current condition of your heart.
A heart checkup includes a lot of things. Through this check-up, the doctor finds out if your blood pressure blood sugar cholesterol, and related other health components are in the normal range. Today we have come up with a blog regarding heart check-ups and everything inclusive of it. So, let’s explore about heart health check-up in details.
Why do you need a heart checkup?
You may come across doctors and cardiologists who will advise you to undergo heart check-ups at regular intervals. This is primarily because, through the check-up, the cardiologist will be able to figure out if your heart is prone to any risk. You must have seen people embracing death due to facing cardiac arrest all of a sudden. The reason for this cardiac arrest does not occur overnight. It is because of people’s callousness that people lose their lives due to stroke.
Here are the signs you ought to be careful about:
- Chest pain and discomfort
- Racing or slower heartbeat
- Extreme fatigue
- Dizziness
- Experiencing shortness of breath
- Fluttering feeling in the chest
- Extreme panting even while doing light activities
- Swelling in the abdomen or feet
Types of tests for heart check-ups
The kind of heart health examination you undergo depends on a variety of factors. It is the discretion of entirely the doctor to categorize you into some types of heart tests that can benefit your heart. Before getting into the heart tests, the doctor may ask you a few things as pointed out below:
- Your cardiologist will ask you if there is anyone in your family with the same issue. In short, he will ask you about your family medical history to find out if there is a connection.
- Furthermore, the doctor will ask you the kind of medications you are taking currently. Sometimes you can have a heart issue due to some drugs.
- He will ask you about the various symptoms you are experiencing lately. These signs and symptoms will help the doctor find out the current situation of your heart.
- Above all the cardiologist will ask you about your daily routine and lifestyle you undergo. In most cases, the kind of life we lead determines our health issues.
Now that you know the things you have to be prepared for when visiting a cardiologist, given below are other various types of heart checkup tests the doctor may ask you to undergo:
- Routine screening test
The routine screening test stands as the basic and primary form of a heart health check-up. If you do not have any history of heart issues or any familial history of poor heart health, the doctor recommends you undergo these screenings:
- People over the age of 20 years should undergo the cholesterol test and blood pressure
- People within the age group of 40 to 45 years must conduct the blood glucose test
- People with heart disease signs need to check their body mass index measurement
Sometimes, the cardiologist may ask you to undergo a C-reactive protein test. Wondering why? Well, this is nothing serious. The doctor wants to find out if your heart is at a severe condition of facing a stroke any day.
- Additional heart tests
If the doctor understands that your heart health is in a weaker condition, he may ask you to undergo the following heart health assessments:
- Electrocardiography
In electrocardiography, the doctor sticks small electrodes on the top of your chest and attaches the other part of the electrons to the ECG machine. The function of this ECG machine is to record the activity of your heart in the electrical form. This gives the doctor a piece of detailed information about your heart rhythm and rate.
- Exercise cardiac stress test
Similar to the electrocardiography the exercise also uses small sticky electrodes on your chest. Simultaneously the other end of the electrode is attached to an ECG machine. However, there is a striking difference between an exercise cardiac stress test and an electrocardiography. Unlike the latter, the former asks you to run or walk on a treadmill or cycle on a stationary bike. The purpose of putting you into action is to find out how your heart responds to physical stress.
- Echocardiography
When you go for a heart test, you must have seen the doctor sitting with an ultrasound machine and waiting for your arrival. The function of this ultrasound machine is to deliver images of your heart in motion. Further, it also helps the doctor assess the pumping function of your heart. Again, through echocardiography, your doctor can make an assessment of the heart valves. Often, the doctor prefers performing the echocardiography right after or before your exercises to check your heart’s response to stress.
- Nuclear stress tress
In a nuclear stress test, a healthcare professional injects a tiny amount of radioactive dye. After injecting the die into your bloodstream, it travels straight to your heart. The purpose of using this die is to produce a clear image of your heart. Through this test, the doctor also learns about the mechanism through which your blood flows through your heart.
- Coronary catheter angiography
In coronary catheter angiography, your cardiologist uses a catheter that looks like a small tube. This catheter can be inserted either through your growing or the arm and placed in the artery of your heart. Similar to the nuclear stress test, coronary catheter angiography makes use of a contrast dye to gather clear images of your heart. This coronary catheter angiography performs a two-tier function:
- It tests if the coronary arteries of your heart are blocked
- It checks if they are narrower than the usual size
Conclusion
Therefore, your heart health is important and a thorough heart checkup can help you in this. If you are troubled with some heart issues, make sure to go for a private cardiologist consultation now. Since it is a matter of your heart, ignoring it now can lead to a detrimental health condition.