If you haven't been paying attention to your heart health, it's a good time to start. Heart attacks are often fatal, and people with cardiovascular disease are at a greater risk. Heart disease tends to be silent. Many early symptoms are simply ignored, or attributed to aging or a lack of exercise. It's important to monitor your heart health before it's too late. Here are some signs of when it's time to schedule your first appointment with cardiology services.
You Have a Family History of Heart Attacks
Although lifestyle factors play a large role in the development of heart disease, there's also a genetic component at play. If you know that some members of your family have previously had heart attacks, especially if they have had heart attacks at a young age, then you may want to schedule an appointment with cardiology services. When your genetics place you at risk for heart disease, it's important to begin monitoring your heart health and take steps to prevent heart disease before you begin to experience any symptoms.
You Have One or More Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease
Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco use, and a sedentary lifestyle are all risk factors of cardiovascular disease. If you have one or more risk factors, it's a good idea to schedule an appointment with cardiology services to have your heart health assessed and to receive guidance on living a healthy lifestyle and managing your risk factors.
You Experience Pain or Tightness in Your Chest After Exertion
The uncomfortable, painful feeling of a heavy weight sitting on your chest is referred to as angina. You are most likely to experience this feeling after you exert yourself, such as when walk up a flight of stairs. If often occurs when your heart isn't receiving enough oxygen, which can be caused by blockage in your coronary arteries. If you're experiencing angina, you should definitely schedule an appointment with cardiology services. An angiogram can be performed in order to examine the state of your coronary arteries and determine how severely they are blocked.
You Are Frequently Short of Breath
When you're short of breath and gasping to breathe, it's typically a sign that your body is trying to get more oxygen. This symptom commonly occurs during the early stages of heart failure. Although its name might suggest that your heart has stopped beating entirely, heart failure refers to your heart pumping too weakly to keep up with your body's demands for oxygen. If you seem to be out of breath all the time, it's a good idea to seek cardiology services and determine if the cause is heart failure. Early treatment of heart failure helps to stop the symptoms from becoming worse.
The consequences of heart disease are often severe, including a greater risk of suffering a fatal heart attack. Thankfully, cardiology services can work to slow the progression of your heart disease and lower your cardiovascular risk factors. If you're suffering from any of the symptoms of heart disease or are at a greater risk of heart disease because of genetics or other risk factors, schedule an appointment with cardiology services and learn what you can do in order to keep your heart healthy.
For more information, contact a company like Temecula Valley Cardiology.
Share21 December 2018
When it comes to taking care of yourself, some people only think about what they should avoid. However, making health care a priority is as much about preventing as it is about treating existing conditions. When I learned that I had skin cancer a few years ago, all I could think about was all of the sunblock I never put on. I want you to understand how to prevent problems, so that you can live a better life. Check out these articles to understand how to make health care a priority, and when you should visit with your doctor. It might seem like a small decision, but doing a little reading might make all the difference later.
