Get regular health screenings

High blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your cardiovascular system, including your heart. But without testing for them, you probably won't know whether you have these conditions. Regular screening can tell you what your numbers are and whether you need to take action. A comprehensive cardiac health check should include:

•  ECG . ECG or EKG, an electrocardiogram is an important tool for detecting heart disease and helping pinpoint exactly what's wrong. Each beat of your heart is triggered by an electrical impulse from special cells in the right upper chamber of your heart. The electrical impulse travels to other parts of the heart and causes the heart to squeeze. An ECG records these electrical signals. Many different diseases and conditions affect your heart's electrical signals and change the rhythm of your heartbeats. Your doctor can diagnose some heart problems by interpreting the patterns of heartbeats and rhythms recorded during your ECG.

•  Coronary Calcium Score. Your heart is a muscle that is supplied by a set of arteries on the surface of the heart called the coronary arteries.  These arteries are tubes of living tissue. Sometimes, as people age, some sections of the walls of these arteries begin to fill with deposits of cholesterol and fatty acids that are called atherosclerotic plaques.  If these plaques continue to grow unchecked, they can obstruct the artery and block the flow of blood to a portion of the heart muscle, causing a heart attack. As these plaques grow, small amounts of calcium are deposited in the plaque along with the cholesterol and fatty acids. Using the latest 64-Slice MSCT can help early plaque detection for heart attack risk.

•  Exercise Stress Test. A stress test, sometimes called a treadmill test or exercise test, helps a doctor find out how well your heart handles work. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more oxygen, so the heart must pump more blood. The test can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply the heart. It also helps doctors know the kind and level of exercise appropriate for a patient. Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), and how tired you feel are monitored during the test.

•  Blood pressure. Regular blood pressure screenings start in childhood. Adults should have their blood pressure checked at least every two years. You may need more frequent checks if your numbers aren't optimal or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Optimal blood pressure is less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury.

•  Cholesterol levels. Adults should have their cholesterol measured at least once every five years. You may need more frequent testing if your numbers aren't optimal or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Some children may need their blood cholesterol tested.

•  hs-CRP . hs-CRP is a protein produced by liver, when there is any heart disease or inflammation in our body. It is used to evaluate a person's risk of heart disease like heart attack. Recent studies have found that hs-CRP is a more important measure of heart attack or stroke risk than cholesterol.

•  Coronary Angiogram. Your cardiologist may advise you to undergo coronary angiogram if the above health screening tests show a possibility of coronary artery disease. Coronary angiography, either invasive or non-invasive (eg. 64-Slice MSCT) is an X-ray examination of the blood vessels or chambers of the heart using a special fluid (called a contrast medium or dye) is injected. This fluid is visible by X-ray, and the pictures that are obtained are called angiograms. Non-invasive coronary angiogram is only available at some advanced hospital like HS C Medical Center .