I’m worried about my heart health – what can I do?
Written in association with:We hear it all our lives and we are taught young what to look for in case of an emergency regarding the heart. However, there is more to it and expert consultant cardiologist Dr Francesco Lo Monaco has given us the most essential information to know about our heart health in this article.
What cardiac symptoms should warrant medical advice?
The three main symptoms which basically for cardiological referral are:
Additionally, loss of consciousness, but mainly the three mentioned above.
What diagnostic methods are used to assess heart health?
The main diagnostic methods used to assess heart health are:
- electrocardiogram (ECG): measures rhythm, rate, and electrical activity of the heart)
- echocardiogram: creates an image of the heart using ultrasound waves
- exercise tolerance test: tests heart function during exertion
- 24hr holter monitor for up to 7 days: portable ECG that records the heart continuously
- CT coronary angiogram: examins conditions of arteries and other blood vessels coming in and out of the heart
- cardioangiogram: X-ray used to examine heart’s blood vessels
Do you recommend certain risk groups to have regular heart screening? If so, who?
Definitely. People who have a family history of heart disease – for example, parents who had a heart attack or any cardiac issues – and people who have cardiovascular risk factors such as:
- smokers
- people with hyperglycemia
- people with hypertension
- people who are diabetic
- people who are sedentary
This also includes any young individual who is physically active and who goes to sports practice or anything like this to exclude any kind of congenital cardiomyopathy or electrical abnormalities of the heart. In theory, everyone should get a cardiac risk assessment for prevention, but especially people who have the cardiac risk factors mentioned above. However, the majority of my patients are actually young individuals who experience chest pain, shortness of breath, or palpitations, regardless of the presence of notorious cardiovascular risk factors.
What is your mobile cardiology service?
I am able to do a cardiological risk assessment at the house of the patient, and I’m able to do electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and holter monitors.
What is advice you would give to patients about heart health?
Nowadays cardiological prevention is the absolute most important aspect because many people have asymptomatic cardiovascular heart disease. They should always have at least a cardiovascular screening because nobody knows, even though of course it is asymptomatic, if there are underlying cardiac pathologies. Mainly this primary prevention on risk assessment, making sure that it’s not overlooked or underestimated because many people think that because they are young, they are okay and everything is fine; but potentially there are many cardiac pathologies, cardiomyopathies, or abnormalities which can manifest at any time without any warning. So that is the most important thing. The fact that we are apparently healthy doesn’t mean that there is nothing that his harboring inside of us from a cardiac perspective.
If you would like to have a heart health check, you can go to Dr Lo Monaco's profile and schedule a consultation.
