Cardiovascular Health
The heart pumps blood to the entire body through a network of blood vessels, arteries and veins, called the cardiovascular system. This network is essential to supply blood with it’s life giving oxygen and nutrients to every organ in the body. Cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke are all major causes of death.
Cardiovascular disease starts when fats and cholesterols collect on the inside of the heart arteries and build up to form plaque. This condition, called atherosclerosis, takes many years to form and is mostly silent with no symptoms. After decades of accumulation, the atherosclerotic plaque can cause a narrowing or blockage of blood flow leading to a heart attack.
Unfortunately, as many as 50% of all cardiac deaths due to heart attack occur in individuals with no prior history or symptoms and up to 80% of athletes who die suddenly had no symptoms or family history of heart disease. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to screen for cardiovascular health and heart disease before it is too late.
Risk factors for heart disease include:
- Older Age (men over 40 and women over 50 years old)
- Men are at greater risk than women
- Family history of heart disease
- Smoking
- Unhealthy diet that is high in cholesterol, fat, salt and sugar
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Lack of exercise
- Stress
Be sure to reduce these risks by leading a healthy lifestyle:
- Don't smoke
- Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat
- Exercise at least 150 minutes/week
- Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Reduce and manage stress
And of course, be sure to have your heart and blood vessels checked to make sure there is no silent accumulation of atherosclerotic plaques. ADDLIFE’s Advance Heart Program evaluate’s your heart health and screens for plaques.
Our program includes:
- EKG
- Exercise Stress Test (EST)
- Echocardiogram
- VO2Max Testing
- Arterial Stiffness and ABI
- CT Coronary Calcium Score
- Genetic Testing