In the USA, one person dies from heart disease every 36 seconds.
Sadly, many people believe there’s nothing they can do to prevent heart disease – but this isn’t true. There are steps you can take to improve your heart health.
A simple consultation with a cardiologist can prove vital in providing you with the knowledge you need to get started improving heart health. In this article, I will share 10 reasons that indicate you should talk to a heart health specialist.
1. Shortness of breath
Shortness of breath can be caused by a number of factors, most commonly:
- Asthma
- Chest infections
- Obesity
- Smoking
- Panic attacks
Many of these are easily treatable or can be addressed with simple lifestyle changes.
They can, however, also be an indication of more serious conditions – including heart disease.
If you experience shortness of breath, it’s crucial for heart disease prevention that you don’t ignore it, especially if you also suffer from any of the other potential symptoms of heart disease.
2. A history of smoking
We all know that smoking is incredibly bad for your health, in particular its relation to many forms of cancer and respiratory issues. Mentioned less often is its relation to heart and cardiovascular disease.
Smoking causes significant damage to the cardiovascular system and can lead to:
- High blood pressure
- Blood clots
- Narrowing of blood vessels
All of these can increase your chances of suffering from heart disease.
3. High blood pressure
High blood pressure is an indication that your heart is having to work harder than it should to pump blood around your body, and is a significant factor in all forms of cardiovascular disease. It can also be present for a long time before disease takes hold.
Because the daily symptoms of high blood pressure are easily overlooked, adults are advised to have regular checks. Those symptoms include:
- Blurred vision
- Nose bleeds
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Dizziness
- Headaches
Perhaps it’s not surprising that of the 100 million Americans that suffer from high-blood pressure, one in five is unaware.
When working on heart disease prevention, it’s important to take control of your blood pressure, and an online consultation with a heart specialist can help you to learn what you can do to help lower your blood pressure.
4. A family history of heart disease
There is a recurring tragedy that I see in my patients: the belief that heart disease was something that could not have been avoided.
Heart disease prevention is possible, even in cases of increased genetic risk of developing heart disease. An increased risk does not mean inevitable, but it does indicate that you should work harder to increase your heart health.
A person is considered to have a genetic risk of developing heart disease if a member of their immediate family has suffered a heart attack or required heart-related surgery at a young age.
Discovering that you have a genetic risk of heart disease is definitely a reason to visit a cardiologist, so that you can assess any other potential risk factors and get started improving heart health.
5. Diabetes
If you have diabetes, you’re more likely to get heart disease. There are a number of reasons for this, and some can be attributed to the impact of diabetes itself – a person suffering with diabetes will often have times when their blood sugar level is too high, which can cause damage to the arteries by causing them to become stiff and promoting the buildup of fatty deposits.
Diabetes is also a sign that a person is in poor metabolic health. Maintaining good metabolic health is crucial for heart disease prevention and diabetes is a big warning sign that you need to make some changes.
6. Cancer
Despite saving lives by helping people overcome cancer, certain treatments can increase the risk of heart disease.
Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra says ‘almost every chemotherapy drug has some effect on the cardiovascular system, and most are not good.’
Chemotherapy can lead to a number of heart related problems, such as:
- Cardiomyopathy
- Arrhythmia
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Blood clots
These are all significant risks or heart health conditions, so it’s recommended for anyone who has gone through cancer treatment to seek consultation with a heart specialist.
7. Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia is a condition that can affect pregnant women and recent mothers. Symptoms of pre-eclampsia include:
- Severe headaches
- Vision issues
- Pain below the ribs
- Vomiting
- Swelling of the hands, face or feet
Women who have suffered from pre-eclampsia have been shown to be up to four times more likely to develop heart disease.
8. Congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease is a blanket term for a number of birth defects that affect the way the heart functions, and research has shown that people born with a congenital heart disease have a significantly increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life.
For this reason, it can be valuable to seek consultation with a heart specialist and to learn what steps to take to help with heart disease prevention.
9. Referred by a doctor
A doctor will refer patients to a cardiovascular specialist when they display a number of troubling risk factors for heart disease.
If you’re referred by a doctor, it’s vital that you attend this appointment for further testing, to receive treatment, and to learn what steps you can take to increase heart health.
10. Poor metabolic health
Metabolic health is a measure of how well your body functions, and a body in good metabolic health is able to regulate itself and protect against many chronic illnesses and their risk factors.
There are five measurements that indicate a person’s current metabolic health:
- Waist circumference
- Blood Pressure
- Fasting glucose level
- HDL Cholesterol
- Triglycerides
As symptoms of poor metabolic health can be present for as long as a decade before chronic illness takes hold, understanding and taking control of your metabolic health is crucial when it comes to heart disease prevention.
Taking control of heart health
If any of these ten reasons apply to you then you should consider talking to a heart specialist, with an online consultation or in person.
If you don’t already have a cardiologist, you can book a free consultations with me.