How Healthy Is Your Heart?

Medical Lab Test Kit for Checking Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Kathryn, Nurse Practitioner

Each of us has the opportunity to impact our health in either positive or a negative ways. For example, if we choose to embrace habits such as smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, or regularly eating more calories than we need, we are increasing our risks for developing health problems. On the other hand, if we regularly choose to eat healthy, nutrition-dense foods, get daily exercise and avoid habit-forming substances, these types of behavior lay a foundation for building and maintaining a strong, healthy body. Certainly there are factors that are out of our control, such as our age, genetic factors, and etc., but even our environment can be changed if we choose to live in a specific geographic area and surround ourselves with supportive friends.

The way we eat has a huge impact on our overall health. For example, if an individual habitually and regularly eats sweets, desserts and processed or junk foods, that person’s risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes will increase. This type of diabetes is preventable and also reversible. However, by the time an individual is diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, he will simultaneously be diagnosed with heart disease. These two diagnoses go hand in hand.

Male Heart Health

When hormones are out of balance, heart health can be compromised. For example, in a male, if his testosterone levels are low, the volume of blood his heart is able to pump with one heartbeat (ejection fraction, or EF) will be less than optimal. In other words, a male with low testosterone levels  will pump less blood in one heartbeat than a man of similar age whose testosterone levels are normal. [A little known fact among individuals who choose to drink alcohol on a relar basis, is that alcohol intake lowers testosterone levels in males.]

Female Heart Health

Similarly, in hearts of females with low progesterone/estradiol ratio, heart health is compromised.

List of Risk Factors for Health Disease

Below is a list of the major risk factors for developing heart disease:
Age
Genetics
Smoking
Nutritional Deficiencies
Being Overweight (elevated BMI)
Lack of Exercise
Gum Disease
Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Arterial calcifications
Low Testosterone in males
Low Estrogens (estradiol) in females
Lab Tests listed below:

Lab Tests for checking a person’s risk for Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease

Elevated Fasting Insulin
Elevated Hemoglobin A1c  (HgbA1c)
Elevated Highly Sensitive C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP)
Elevated Triglycerides
Elevated Total Cholesterol
Elevated and/or oxidized LDL (low-density lipoprotein – the “bad” cholesterol)
Low HDL (high-density lipoprotein – the “good” cholesterol)
Elevated Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL Cholesterol)
Elevated Homocysteine (this lab test is an independent risk factor for heart disease)

Medical Lab Test Kit for Checking Risk Factors for Heart Disease

In my clinic, I routinely order labs to assess for certain health risks in my patients. The in-home medical lab test kit for checking risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease is the CardioMetabolic Profile I (Blood Spot). The labs included in this kit include: fasting insulin, Hemoglobin A1c, High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP), Triglycerides, Total Cholesterol, HDL and LDL Cholesterol, and VLDL Cholesterol. These labs assess risks associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular (heart) disease.

Questions?

For additional questions, please send me an Email from the Contact Page.