Heart Health

Common heart symptoms:

How do you know if your heart is healthy?

Heart disease can be sneaky. You may not know you have a heart problem until several symptoms start to show up. As the most common cause of death, it is important that each person check in with a doctor about how their heart is doing at least once or twice a year. There are several common risk factors for heart problem. Every item you can check off below increases your risk of current or future heart disease:

Heart Health Assessment

Based on the health history relayed during a visit, it may be necessary to order some labs and imaging. It is important to delineate how deep the problem has gone and if it now involves other organs. Alternately, it is possible another organ is the cause of the illness.

Here’s an example of what may be run:

Most Common Heart Problems

In general, nearly all of the most common heart problems can be traced back to an imbalance in the diet and a lack of exercise which lead to high blood pressure (hypertension) and/or high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia). 

Once either of those heart issues is present, there are downstream issues that will develop if they are not treated. It is much easier to correct the heart problem at the initial presentation of elevated blood pressure (hypertension) or high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia), rather than wait until it turns into another type of heart disease.

High Cholesterol (Hypercholesterolemia)

Although genetics can play a role in causing an increase in cholesterol, according to the American Heart Association, lifestyle is the biggest contributing factor, and even kids as young as 9 could be at risk.

Especially if there is:

If you identify with any of those lifestyle factors, have diabetes, hypertension, or you know of family members with cholesterol issues, diabetes, or hypertension, it’s a good idea to get some labs done. Identifying and treating high cholesterol can prevent:

Notice that “sterol” is the ending. Any medical word ending in -sterol means that the substance is a hormone or acts like a hormone. If you have certain hormone imbalances, high cholesterol may be involved. It’s important to investigate cholesterol issues if you:

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

There are times when blood pressure increases and doesn’t stay there, such as during a competition, high stress situations, or when we get anxious or upset. Blood pressure can increase when an illness occurs or when there has been too much caffeine or sodium intake. The problem is when blood pressure increases and does not go back down. This is called hypertension. Like high cholesterol, even kids need to be screened for high blood pressure if they fit the picture below. People who are more likely to have problems with high blood pressure are women, persons over age 65, and those of African American descent. 

If hypertension is left uncontrolled, it can cause problems with your eyesight, sexual function, metabolism and memory. It can cause chronic headache or migraines, as well as heart attack, stroke, heart rhythm problems, issues with your kidney function, and even dementia.

Naturopathic Approach to Heart Health

Heart problems can be scary, but so much can be done. Regarding overall heart health, naturopathic principles teach us to start with the least invasive therapies first: nutrition, exercise, stress management.

When those things aren’t enough to create balance, we move to the next level: flower essences, homeopathics, hydrotherapy.

If the heart problem is already established and some mild physical symptoms are present, herbal medicine and/or basic nutritional supplements will be added in.

As heart disease, valve disease, rhythm defects and such continue to progress, more aggressive methods are needed such as targeted nutriceuticals, hormone therapy, injection therapies.

Sometimes, it is necessary for a heart patient to take medication. Our naturopathic doctors are highly knowledgeable about these, and able to create an effective treatment plan.

No matter where you are with your heart health, a naturopathic doctor can help. Request a complimentary phone consult today!