Heart disease is the leading killer in the United States.
Heart disease is the leading killer in the United States Early detection and prevention can help change this statistic. Although some conditions — as well as some lifestyle factors — can put people at a higher risk, you can make healthy choices to help prevent heart disease.
• Eat a healthy diet
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Exercise regularly
• Don’t smoke
Do you know your risk for heart disease? Plaque is a build-up of cholesterol and calcium that can narrow the arteries or close off blood flow to the heart. For half of Americans, the first symptom of heart disease is a heart attack. Early identification of heart disease and treatment can prevent a heart attack.
At Summit Health, you can get screened for cardiovascular risk factors using evidence based guidelines. Based on your risk of current and future risk, our board-certified cardiac specialists design an individualized intervention management program to help you reduce your risk and stay healthy.
Early screening includes:
• A cardiac CT scan to detect the early stages of plaque calcification in the arteries. A high calcium score indicates the early stages of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes
• Nuclear stress testing to measure blood flow to the heart using a specialized gamma camera
• A hemoglobin A1C test, a common blood test used to diagnose type 1 and type 2 diabetes — which
• increase the risk of heart disease and stroke
• A lipid panel to assess cholesterol levels
• A clinical review and report to discuss findings and make recommendations
Who?
Consider screening if you are a man over 40 or a woman over 45 with at least one of the following risk factors:
• Family history of heart disease
• High cholesterol level
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Sedentary or high stress lifestyle
Coronary Calcium Scoring
Coronary calcium scoring is a painless, non-invasive scan that evaluates whether you may have heart disease by detecting coronary artery calcifications on a low-radiation CT scan.
Diagnosing Lipid Disorders
Cholesterol and other lipid disorders or related metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, often lead to heart disease, stroke or atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In the United States, nearly one-third of individuals over the age of 20 have high cholesterol, a risk factor for both heart attacks and stroke. It is imperative to diagnose and treat advanced lipid disorders. At Summit Health, we have a board certified clinical lipidologist on staff to help manage your cholesterol and find treatments that will fit your needs.
Imaging Services
• Echocardiography
• Electrophysiology
• Nuclear cardiology
• Stress testing
• EKG & arrhythmia services
• Coronary calcium screenings
• Cardiac CT angiography
• Carotid ultrasound
• Diagnostic screenings