Heart and blood vessels diseases are the main cause of death in the population all over the world. The age line between mortality and heart and blood vessels disease is lower and lower nowadays, so there are more and more young persons with these diseases, young meaning the age of twenty. Modern lifestyle is characterized by the presence of stress and that is exactly one of the key triggers for this disease. Smoking, spending all or most of time in physically inactive (sitting) manner, obesity caused by irregular and unhealthy nutrition, as well as some genetic causes represent additional factors contributing to heart disease increase. All together, a number of people are facing increasing coronary diseases, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
In order to prevent cardiovascular disease in time, it is necessary to act preventively and to try to eliminate all risk factors. The best way to achieve this goal is to have regular preventive cardiology examinations and such examinations should be done even before the disease is activated.
Preventive cardiology examination should be performed once a year. Such an examination may diagnose possible risk of coronary disease activation or some signs and symptoms (high blood pressure, angina pectoris, disorders in cardiac rhythm, etc.) and it should estimate the risk of coronary diseases. This is especially important for those persons who have had a family member who suffered from heart disease, as they belong to the medically defined group of persons with family positive circumstances for developing heart diseases. Prevention examination should be recommended to all persons who are planning to start playing sports or any physical trainings.
Preventive cardiology examination includes following checks as obligatory: ECG, blood pressure measuring, while it is recommended to perform ultrasound of heart, exercise stress testing and exercise stress echocardiography examination on a treadmill or ergonometric, exercise bicycle. Special preparation for examination and ultrasound examination is not necessary, while exercise stress testing requires some particular preparation steps in order to ensure adequate and accurate results.
If in some of the mentioned examinations heart function irregularities are detected, it is necessary to have them detected by halter ECG, followed by estimation of the level of need for anti-arrhythmic medicines. In persons with suspicion to high blood pressure it is necessary to have high blood pressure halter device. Both halter devices are carried for 24 hours, and after reading the results, doctors will prescribe appropriate therapy if necessary. Also, both devices may be used in the course of or after the prescribed therapy in order to detect the efficiency of the therapy.
Laboratory analyses are also important and necessary part of the preventive examination. Lab analyses should be done in the morning, before breakfast and before first coffee or tea. This is the way how to detect possible existence of increased sugar level in blood, diabetes, anemia, increased fats level in blood, damages or disorders in kidneys function, disorders in thyroid gland function and other diseases or disorders.
After all examinations completed (as these examinations are so called complete non-invasive diagnostics and Dr Ristic Health Centre can provide all of them), specialists will have a complete picture of your heart condition, which is crucial for further steps, such as consequent plan of activities, appropriate treatment and necessary therapy. Healthy persons should have these preventive health examinations every year, while those diagnosed some coronary disease and already having appropriate therapy should organize routine health checks as agreed with their cardiologist.
All tests we mentioned in this article can be organized and performed at our patients’ homes, except exercise stress testing.
Kardiologija