Monitoring Your Heart Health As You Age

Your heart is a vital organ, so looking after it is essential. However, knowing whether you’re doing the right things and how you can improve your heart health — especially as you get older — can be tricky.

This blog post explores what being proactive with your heart health means and how and when to start monitoring your heart health. We also offer some practical lifestyle tips to support your cardiovascular system. 

Discover all you need to know about monitoring your heart health as you age with Expert Cardiologist.

Why be proactive with your heart health?

Like all other aspects of your health, being proactive can help prevent illness and disease. Heart health screenings and tests can detect any signs of heart problems at the earliest stage, making treatment more effective. 

Monitoring your heart health also provides insights into possible risk factors for specific heart conditions. Based on your test results, you’ll receive personalised advice, including lifestyle changes to minimise your risk of developing certain conditions. 

Proactively looking after your heart can make all the difference, as you often don’t know something is wrong until it’s too late. However, advanced, modern technology means many heart tests are non-invasive and accurate, allowing you to protect your heart painlessly. 

How can I monitor my heart health?

There are many heart tests to assess your cardiovascular health, including: 

• Electrocardiogram (ECG) – an ECG is a non-invasive test that records your heart’s electrical activity, providing insight into its rhythm, rate and health. Cardiologists can use this test to diagnose arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), coronary artery disease, heart attacks and structural abnormalities.
   
• Echocardiogram – this non-invasive test uses ultrasound waves to create images of your chest. It can help us to diagnose and monitor heart conditions, such as congenital heart defects, heart disease, heart muscle disorders and heart valve problems.
  
• Coronary angiogram – this special type of X-ray uses a contrast dye to assess your coronary arteries. Cardiology experts inject the dye into your body to see clear images highlighting your coronary arteries. A coronary angiogram can detect coronary artery disease, arrhythmias and aneurysms. 
   
• Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – a non-invasive scan that creates detailed, high-resolution images of your heart and arteries. A cardiac MRI can detect coronary artery disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart valve disease and cardiac tumours.

• 24-hour blood pressure monitor – wearing a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours can help to diagnose hypertension (high blood pressure) and decide whether medication would be effective at treating it. This non-invasive test shows what your blood pressure looks like over a long period, instead of just while at the doctor’s or hospital, giving more accurate readings. 

The many possible heart-health monitoring methods make being proactive simpler than ever. 

What age should I start monitoring my heart health?

Although many doctors advise screening your heart from 40, starting younger can be beneficial. You should start monitoring your heart health from the age of 30 onwards, with tests every two to four years. However, if you have specific risk factors, you may need to have them from a younger age or more regularly. 

Risk factors that can mean you need heart check-ups when you’re younger include: 

• Genetic predisposition – some people are more at risk of heart problems, which can run in families.
  
• Pre-existing heart conditions – certain heart conditions, such as congenital heart defects, can require regular heart check-ups from a younger age.
  
• Other medical conditions –  if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol at a young age, you may benefit from heart check-ups sooner than you think.
  
• Lifestyle risk factors – being a smoker, leading a sedentary lifestyle or being overweight are all potential risk factors for heart problems and complications. 

As you age and get closer to your 50s and 60s, you may want to increase the frequency of your monitoring tests, such as every one to two years. 

Once you’re over 60, annual heart check-ups are vital. It means doctors can quickly detect changes to your heart health, making them much more manageable and treatable. It also means you can implement healthy changes sooner rather than later, as you’ll receive personalised advice on supporting your heart health. 

Tips for optimal heart health as you age

Once you’re managing your heart health better, you might find lifestyle changes will protect it even further. 

The following tips can support your cardiovascular health: 

• Cut down on alcohol – too much alcohol can lead to several problems like high blood pressure and heart muscle damage.
  
• Lose excess weight or gain necessary weight – being over or underweight strains your heart and can cause numerous issues.
  
• Eat more fruits and vegetables – your body needs their nutrients and the foods also contribute to your overall health.
  
• Increase your exercise – activity helps your heart grow stronger and can be effective when trying to maintain a healthy weight.
  
• Boost your fibre intake – a diet rich in fibre may help lower high cholesterol, which contributes to heart problems.
  
• Quit smoking – stopping smoking is vital for your heart health as the chemicals in cigarettes damage your heart and blood vessels. At the same time, the smoke decreases your blood’s oxygen levels, increasing your blood pressure and making your heart work harder.
   
• Cut down on saturated fats – foods high in saturated fats can increase bad cholesterol in your blood and elevate your risk of heart and circulatory diseases.

When combined with regular heart monitoring, leading a healthy lifestyle and making positive changes are all great ways of proactively looking after your heart.     

Proactively protect your heart with Expert Cardiologist

Monitoring your health throughout your life is essential; the younger you can make positive changes, the better. From undergoing a healthy heart screening annually to improving your diet and exercising more, you can take many simple steps to improve your heart health. 

To protect your heart proactively, contact Expert Cardiologist today. Our dedicated team, led by Dr Georgios Karagiannis, can help you determine the ideal heart tests based on your age and circumstances. You can successfully monitor your cardiovascular health as you age with our support.