A heart health check is one of the most effective ways to protect your heart and prevent heart disease. At Territory Medical Group, our comprehensive heart health check helps identify your individual risk factors for heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular conditions.
These heart checks form an integral part of both men’s health and women’s health care.
Keep reading to learn:
What Is a Heart Health Check?
A heart health check is a 20-minute appointment with your GP designed to assess your overall heart health and calculate your risk of developing heart disease within the next five years.
During your heart health check, we assess:
- Blood pressure (including high blood pressure)
- Cholesterol levels
- Blood sugar levels (screening for diabetes)
- Weight and waist measurement
- Smoking status
- Family history of heart disease
- Lifestyle habits such as diet, alcohol and exercise
Using a clinically approved heart health check calculator, your GP determines your cardiovascular risk and discusses strategies to improve your heart health.
The importance of heart health check
A leading cause of death in Australia is heart attack, with stroke also playing a huge role in these deadly figures.
According to the ABS 2017–18 National Health Survey, an estimated 1.2 million Australians (4.8%) aged 18 and over had 1 or more conditions related to heart, stroke or vascular disease.
Checking the health of your heart means you’ll know if you need to cut down on anything or, just as importantly, start doing anything new in your routine.
This could be a particular food group that you eat too much of, or even not enough of, for example.
On the other hand, a simple 20-minute heart health check might confirm you’re fit, healthy and there’s no need for a change in your routine.
Regardless, heart health checks play a massive part in reducing, identifying and confirming or denying serious health complications a person might have.
What are the benefits of regular heart health checks
Regular heart health checks can provide many benefits, including early detection and prevention of heart disease, improved quality of life, and even lower healthcare costs.
The reason that many people have regularly scheduled heart health checks is that lifestyles and our bodies change over time. It’s best to keep your heart health up to date, too.
By detecting heart disease early, our team can provide you with the necessary treatment and lifestyle recommendations to prevent the progression of the disease.
Ultimately, regular heart health checks can improve your overall quality of life.
What are the risk factors for heart disease?
In Australia, heart disease continues to be a major cause of death. Before a heart attack or stroke, many people have no symptoms. Before major problems arise, a straightforward health examination can identify early warning indicators and highlight modifiable risk factors.
Frequent evaluations of heart health are beneficial:
- Recognise elevated blood pressure and cholesterol.
- Identify diabetes early
- Determine the risks associated with family history
- Lower your risk of stroke and heart attack
- Encourage heart health over the long term
Early detection enables your general practitioner to put treatment plans into action, which may involve medication or lifestyle changes to lower your risk.
Modifications to Lifestyle to Enhance Heart Health
Along with regular heart health checks, there are a few lifestyle changes that you can make to improve your heart health.
These changes include:
- A healthy diet
- Limit processed foods and saturated fats.
- Keep your weight in check.
- Engage in regular exercise
- Quitting smoking
- Control your stress
- Limit your alcohol intake.
Making minor adjustments can greatly lower your chance of developing heart disease and enhance your heart’s general health.
No surprises: Your heart is the most important organ in your body and as such, taking care of it is crucial.
Other Heart Health FAQs
Ischaemic heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease, is a condition where the blood vessels that supply the heart with oxygen and nutrients become narrowed or blocked.
This can lead to reduced blood flow to the heart muscle and can cause chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, and in severe cases, a heart attack.
The most common cause of ischaemic heart disease is the buildup of cholesterol and other substances in the arteries that supply the heart, known as atherosclerosis.
This can lead to the formation of plaques that narrow or block the arteries, reducing blood flow to the heart muscle.
Other factors that increase the risk of developing ischaemic heart disease include smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and a family history of heart disease.
Doctors can check heart health in several ways, including:
- Physical exam: The doctor listens to your heart and lungs, checks your blood pressure and heart rate, and looks for signs of swelling or fluid buildup.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG): A test that records the electrical activity of the heart to detect any abnormal rhythms or damage to your heart muscle.
- Echocardiogram: An ultrasound test that uses sound waves to create images of the heart’s structure and function.
- Stress test: A test that monitors your heart’s response to exercise or medication to detect any changes in heart rate, rhythm, or blood pressure.
The need for the above varies from person to person and is usually done after or during a heart health check as we described above.
If you haven’t seen a GP in a while, please visit us and seek care services from our doctors. You can start with a general health check. To consult our doctors, book online for a heart health check or call us at (08) 8948 4333
