Do you recall your last doctor’s visit? At one point or another, they probably brought out a stethoscope to listen to your heart. But, what were they looking for?
The sound your doctor hears while your heart beats is known as a murmur. Contrary to public belief, the term itself doesn’t indicate illness or a disorder. But in fact, refers to the movement of blood pumping through the heart’s many chambers and valves.
Living through a heart attack is traumatic. The following weeks and months contain a variety of emotions including depression, fear, and anger. The biggest concern is what’s next. Most people have one pressing question, “How can I stop this from ever happening again?”
Maintaining a healthy heart takes work. You have to manage diet and exercise, limit alcohol intake and stop smoking. You have to juggle blood pressure, good and bad cholesterol, and manage your blood sugar.
Many people have undergone a heart scan that provided a coronary calcium score. However, what many don’t know is that aspirin, beta-blockers and other combinations of medication might not stop the rise in score each year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 95 million U.S. adults age 20 or older have total cholesterol levels greater than 200 mg/dL. Total blood cholesterol is the measurement of your low-density (LDL), high-density (HDL) and triglycerides (VLDL).
Heart disease describes a broad range of heart conditions that could include blood vessel diseases such as coronary artery disease, arrhythmias, and congenital heart defects. It’s also used interchangeably with cardiovascular disease, which refers to narrowed or blocked blood vessels.
You wake up one morning with chest pain, or perhaps your lungs feel tight. Is it heartburn? Indigestion? You’re unsure, but something just doesn’t feel right.
As you age, it’s difficult determining whether a symptom requires medical attention or not. Most doctors are most concerned with new symptoms that develop quickly, but it’s wise to monitor those that can develop over a period of time – and may eventually result in a heart attack.
Cholesterol is a substance your body uses to produce hormones, vitamin D and digestive juices to break down fats in your diet.
Your body needs some cholesterol to function. However, when the levels get too high, build up occurs in the artery and obstructs blood flow. This can lead to coronary artery disease, heart attacks, strokes or other vascular diseases.
In today’s blog, we’ll compare HDL vs. LDL cholesterol and teach you practical ways to improve your levels and reduce your risk of a coronary event.
Why make your heart work harder?
Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is dangerous because it makes your heart work harder than it should to pump blood through your body. It can lead to the hardening of arteries and increase the risk of stroke. It can also cause kidney disease and contribute to heart failure.
Colon cancer is relatively common with more than 200,000 documented cases per year. The Colorectal Cancer Alliance reports that it is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.
Most cases of colon cancer begin as adenomatous polyps, which are noncancerous (benign) clumps. These polyps are typically small and cause few if any symptoms, which in a screening is recommended to look for and remove if they’re found.
In this ebook, we discuss our selection of scans and when it might be beneficial for you to schedule one. We outline our process and what you can expect for each option, including results and reports.
