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How to Track the Health of Your Heart
Without our heart, we are nothing. All organs are essential but the heart is central to our ability to live. Working every minute, every hour of every day, non-stop. It pumps oxygen around our bodies, the fuel that makes everything work. We take our heart for granted until it stops working well, then problems arise. Simple tasks become difficult to do.
Predicting whether a problem may arise can be straightforward as long as we pay attention to our health. If we notice a change, we can act and prevent ill health.
This month we will focus on how to track the health of your heart, including the tools that you can use to monitor your heart.
But please remember, if you are over the age of 45 (or over the age of 30 and of Aboriginal and Torres Island descent) and have never been diagnosed with a heart problem, you can book in for a heart health check under Medicare.
Alternatively, if you just want some advice, book in and see us anyway.
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Learn about Your Heart
If you understand how your heart works then you can understand how and why things can go wrong. The heart foundation has a great site that gives you lots of basic information about your heart. Click here to read more.
Track Your Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure is one of those vague numbers that we get worried about as doctors, but many people do not understand why. Click here to read about what your blood pressure is and why a blood pressure machine should be an essential part of your first aid kit, to monitor the health of your heart.
Get Your Cholesterol Checked
We all love a sausage sizzle but too much of a good thing can cause a problem. Unhealthy cholesterol is found in all the "nice" foods: cakes, cheese, biscuits, and our beloved sausage. There are different types of cholesterol but the bad stuff will clog up those pipes in your body that supply blood to an organ. If that happens in the heart, you will have a heart attack. Read more about cholesterol here, but if you have not done so, get your cholesterol checked.
A Heart Check At Home
If there is a worry about your heart, your doctor will order an ECG. This is where we look at the flow of electricity in your heart, which makes your heart beat. If this flow changes, it can indicate a problem with your heart. Now you can do this, accurately on your phone. Today Cardiologists suggest using tools like AliveCor to help check on the health of your heart, at home. Click here to learn more.
What Do I Do In An Emergency?
If there is a major problem with someone's heart, then we need to act fast. Knowing what to do can really be a matter of life and death. CPR is something everyone from the young to the old should know about. The easiest way to do this is by downloading the app by the Australian Red Cross. It tells you how to act in all emergencies including heart attacks. We cannot stress this enough, this type of app should be part of everyone's first aid kit. Click here to learn more.
With these newsletters, we aim to remain in contact with you, regularly to update you on things that may relate to your health. It is our way of staying in touch with you outside the clinic.
All content in the newsletters is for informative purposes only and does not serve as a substitute for medical advice. If in doubt please book in to see us.
All information in our newsletters has been reviewed by our clinical team. We work in conjunction with HealthAide who help provide content.