Heart Health

[GeezerPeformance]

I am 51 and have a family history of heart disease, most of it from the poor lifestyle choices of family members. I have been involved in cycling (bicycles) and weightlifting for most of my adult life. That being said, I know of several very fit people who dropped dead from heart attacks. If you have any concerns about heart health and have a Wellstar hospital near you its $139 to do the Advanced Heart Assessment which includes:

Cardiac calcium scoring read by a Wellstar radiologist
BMI
Wellness survey
EKG (AFib screening)
Blood pressure
Blood work (Cholesterol, Glucose, CRP, liver function)
Risk screen questionnaire (sleep apnea, peripheral artery disease, chronic heart failure, abdominal aortic aneurysm)

I go in for my test next Monday. Hopefully they won't find any major issues.

 

[Tbaz192]

I’ve done all of these. They’re decent markers to know about your heart health. But I wasn’t happy and stress free till I got a stress test and an echocardiogram.

Food for thought…
If you’re truly concerned about your heart I saw my PCP and got a referral to a cardiologist. Said I wasn’t sure about my family heart history but my grandparents had pacemakers. And he was like no worries let’s schedule you for a a stress test and an echo. It’ll give us direct answers and measurements of every part of your heart.

All covered by insurance.

 

[buck]

From a few studies i have seen intense exercise over long periods to time as in decades, can be bad for the vascular system. Seems all the high blood pressure and stress that happens from intense exercise can stress the vascular system leading to higher calcification for starters.
The last cardiologist i saw said standard stress test and echocardiogram where not very useful. He said a stress echocardiogram where they are done at the same time is much better as then they can see what the heart is going while it is actually working hard.

 

[BigDadd7]

From a few studies i have seen intense exercise over long periods to time as in decades, can be bad for the vascular system. Seems all the high blood pressure and stress that happens from intense exercise can stress the vascular system leading to higher calcification for starters.
The last cardiologist i saw said standard stress test and echocardiogram where not very useful. He said a stress echocardiogram where they are done at the same time is much better as then they can see what the heart is going while it is actually working hard.

Good luck getting insurance to cover a stress echo. You have to jump through hoops for that.

 

[Tbaz192]

From a few studies i have seen intense exercise over long periods to time as in decades, can be bad for the vascular system. Seems all the high blood pressure and stress that happens from intense exercise can stress the vascular system leading to higher calcification for starters.
The last cardiologist i saw said standard stress test and echocardiogram where not very useful. He said a stress echocardiogram where they are done at the same time is much better as then they can see what the heart is going while it is actually working hard.

A stress echo? Damn that’s wild. I bet that ultrasound absolutely sucks.
I was lying down for 30 minutes in a weird position for mine. And it was annoying, took over 30+ minutes.

Made my CGM on my left arm go crazy every few minutes.

 

[AlexDavis43]

I have been involved in cycling (bicycles) and weightlifting for most of my adult life.

Keep it up!

Especially the cardio part. Not marathon training but get the heart pumping every day. I usually jog for about an hour a day.

If something bad happens, hopefully it won't be that bad.

 

[buck]

Good luck getting insurance to cover a stress echo. You have to jump through hoops for that.

Maybe. But i have never had an insurance company deny any test or procedure a Dr has ever asked for as long as it is coded correctly. And according to my insurance as long as the Dr thinks it is medically necessary they cover it from my reading. As it can be expensive i am sure some policies may not cover it.

 

[BigDadd7]

Maybe. But i have never had an insurance company deny any test or procedure a Dr has ever asked for as long as it is coded correctly. And according to my insurance as long as the Dr thinks it is medically necessary they cover it from my reading. As it can be expensive i am sure some policies may not cover it.

You will have to already have had every other test first. They won't jump the line and go straight to that.

 

[Tbaz192]

You will have to already have had every other test first. They won't jump the line and go straight to that.

Yup and good luck having a doctor actually request the test.

I’ve had to bullshit so hard for doctors to even consider doing things.
Typical answer from them is
I don’t see why you’d need that test. Everything else is fine.

 

[buck]

You will have to already have had every other test first. They won't jump the line and go straight to that.

I checked with my insurance and prior authorization is generally not required for the test.

 

[BigDadd7]

I checked with my insurance and prior authorization is generally not required for the test.

Not an echo or a stress test, a stress echo? Wording matters.

 

[buck]

Not an echo or a stress test, a stress echo? Wording matters.

Yes stress echo as that is what we have been discussing.

 

[jazz75]

I just turned 50. I've never run anything crazy and never really had any BP issues. Recently I've noticed some higher readings just from running some test tho. Any recommendations as far as BP meds and which ones if any I should be looking into?

 

[Ghoul]

I just turned 50. I've never run anything crazy and never really had any BP issues. Recently I've noticed some higher readings just from running some test tho. Any recommendations as far as BP meds and which ones if any I should be looking into?

What's your BP?

As a reminder "normal" is now at or below 120/80 according to the major cardiology associations that establish these guidelines, There's evidence diastolic at or below 65, if tolerable, has significant advantages protecting against arteriosclerosis.

Depending on how much you need come to come down, and assuming you have no complicating health issues, current guidelines would have you start on a low dose ARB, and if that's not sufficient, add a low dose CCB.

Again, without complicating factors, the ARB of choice would be Telmisartan, and the CCB Amlodipine. However, Cilnidipine is superior to Amlodipine in every way, but unavailable in the US or Europe. It's very low cost and requires just a little effort to get your hands on it.

Both Telm and Ciln offer health benefits beyond blood pressure reduction and sides are very, very rare with either.

 

[jazz75]

What's your BP?

As a reminder "normal" is now at or below 120/80 according to the major cardiology associations that establish these guidelines, There's evidence diastolic at or below 65, if tolerable, has significant advantages protecting against arteriosclerosis.

Depending on how much you need come to come down, and assuming you have no complicating health issues, current guidelines would have you start on a low dose ARB, and if that's not sufficient, add a low dose CCB.

Again, without complicating factors, the ARB of choice would be Telmisartan, and the CCB Amlodipine. However, Cilnidipine is superior to Amlodipine in every way, but unavailable in the US or Europe. It's very low cost and requires just a little effort to get your hands on it.

Both Telm and Ciln offer health benefits beyond blood pressure reduction and sides are very, very rare with either.

I'd have to go back and look my readings up. They were high tho. I kept a log. I do not have any underlying issues. I really appreciate your help and info.. definitely going to look into getting something to keep in check. Thanks again

 

[just some dude]

From a few studies i have seen intense exercise over long periods to time as in decades, can be bad for the vascular system. Seems all the high blood pressure and stress that happens from intense exercise can stress the vascular system leading to higher calcification for starters.
The last cardiologist i saw said standard stress test and echocardiogram where not very useful. He said a stress echocardiogram where they are done at the same time is much better as then they can see what the heart is going while it is actually working hard.

they’ll call you crazy if you say this but it’s common sense, people are just in denial:

“you only get so many heart beats, the faster you use them.. well.. the faster you are going to die”

nobody can tell me otherwise. it’s complete truth.

 

[buck]

they’ll call you crazy if you say this but it’s common sense, people are just in denial:

“you only get so many heart beats, the faster you use them.. well.. the faster you are going to die”

nobody can tell me otherwise. it’s complete truth.

We al have our own opinions. I would think how hard the heart was contracting on each beat would seem to play a role i would think.

 

[Diixencider]

We al have our own opinions. I would think how hard the heart was contracting on each beat would seem to play a role i would think.

each beat def isnt equal. thicker blood is a harder beat

 

[ThinBulk]

they’ll call you crazy if you say this but it’s common sense, people are just in denial:

“you only get so many heart beats, the faster you use them.. well.. the faster you are going to die”

nobody can tell me otherwise. it’s complete truth.

This isnt backed by any evidence... Even if it was, endurance training lowers your heart rate the other 95% of your day.

There are also TONS of studies proving exercise (sustained high heart rate) helps cardiovascular health, and a bunch of other health metrics. There is a point where you can over do it to Buck's post, but it's not really seen in recreational athletes.

 

[Stormwallace]

From a few studies i have seen intense exercise over long periods to time as in decades, can be bad for the vascular system. Seems all the high blood pressure and stress that happens from intense exercise can stress the vascular system leading to higher calcification for starters.
The last cardiologist i saw said standard stress test and echocardiogram where not very useful. He said a stress echocardiogram where they are done at the same time is much better as then they can see what the heart is going while it is actually working hard.

Would love to see these studies if you could send them. I’ve always assumed the opposite, IE the more you can push up the intensity, the better the heart/lunge/vascular system will be