When it comes to managing our health, especially as we age, there are few parts of us that demand a closer look than the heart. Rather than simply working off the assumption that you’re in perfect health until you’re not, cardiac screening can be essential for helping you ensure your heart stays healthy for longer. Here are the reasons you should consider making yourself an appointment.
Risk factors can pile up over time
When you’re in your early twenties, it’s easy to make the assumption that you are as fit as a fiddle and that your heart is in the same condition. However, our risk of heart problems increases over time. Risk factors like weight gain, high cholesterol, and negative impacts from pregnancy are all likely to happen to us as we’re older, so cardiac screening becomes more and more important as the years go on.
You may have symptoms that you have been ignoring
Not every heart problem is going to manifest as a pain in your chest. There are other symptoms that can seem unrelated, so they may be easy to ignore. If you’ve experienced any of the following, you should consider arranging a cardiac screening as soon as possible: frequent indigestion, heartburn or stomach pain, unexplained dizziness and light-headedness, jaw or throat pain, snoring, an irregular heart beat.
There are less obvious risks that you aren’t able to spot as well
When it comes to risk factors like smoking, weight gain, and a sedentary lifestyle, those are all trackable and manageable on your own. However, there are just as many risk factors that you can’t check alone. Visiting a cardiologist is the only way to really get a comprehensive look at your heart health. Even if a cardiac screening doesn’t highlight anything you should be too worried about right now, it can give you further advice on lifestyle changes you can make to protect your heart in the future. For example, poor dental health can lead to very serious physical problems. So don’t neglect your oral health and seek dental expertise from North Texas Dental in sherman.
There’s a lot you can do right now
Whether or not you have any reason to be concerned, the more you do to get your heart in better shape right now, the easier it is to take care of your health as you age, too. This includes cutting back on foods high in calories, fat, and sugar and adding at least nine servings of fruits and vegetables to your meal. Quitting smoking and limiting both salt and alcohol consumption and getting your daily exercise is important too. But the best way to know how you should counteract the risk of heart problems is with the advice of someone who knows the specifics of your heart health in particular.
If you’re in good health, eat well, and are active, it’s easy to assume that your heart is in perfect condition. However, there are plenty of risk factors outside of your control and plenty of reasons to make sure that’s the case and learn for certain. If you haven’t had a cardiac screening yet, it might be time to arrange one.
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