Most people running with high risk factors of Heart diseases do not even know they are on risk of Heart Disease. Irrespective of age these risk factors are becoming more and more common because of the lifestyle, pollution, stress and contamination and many such uncontrollable factors.
Blood pressure is one such risk factor. High Blood pressure (BP) or hypertension if left untreated, increases the risk of Heart Attack. High blood pressure means heart is having difficulty in the flow of oxygen, hence can prove to be highly dangerous and cause heart attack. Age is no sure shot way to believe that Hypertension, heart problems etc are not going to happen to me.
Is Blood pressure enough to know I am having a heart disease?
Blood Pressure can rise when exercising or when in stress, but this doesn't mean that all hypertensive people will have a heart attack. Over a period of time High BP can restrict the normal flow of oxygen to heart muscle, which can eventually lead to heart attack. This usually happens when a plaque is formed around Heart muscle or it hardens the arteries, eventually impeding the blood flow, hence a heart attack.
Is Monitoring Blood pressure enough for me to curb a Heart attack?
Monitoring blood pressure is very important in case you are hypertensive to make sure it is not damaging the heart muscles. However, just monitoring BP will not make sure that your Heart is safe, because Hypertension is sometimes called a 'Silent Killer' because it has little or no symptoms.
What is a 'Silent Heart Attack'?
A Silent Heart attack is when little or no symptoms are presented when a Heart attack happens. The symptoms which are present can be very normal like fatigue, flu-like symptoms, discomfort in chest, jaw or left arm or indigestion. They can easily be ignored. The only way to detect a heart disease or Heart attack is to take an Electrocardiogram (ECG).
What is an ECG?
ECG is a test which measures an electrical activity of heart and shows if the heart is working properly or not. ECG is the best way to find whether your high blood pressure has caused any damage to your Heart.
Some of the things an ECG reading can detect are:
- cholesterol blocking your heart’s blood supply
- a silent heart attack in the past
- enlargement of one side of the heart
- abnormal heart rhythms and Heart rate
How do I take an ECG regularly, considering it is expensive and cumbersome?
ECG traditionally has been associated with multiple wires coming out of a big bulky machine attach, with body at multiple points on chest and limb with ECG displaying on a monitor. But, with the advent of technology and innovation happening in medical technology we now present a pocket ECG device SanketLife, which is capable of taking full medical grade ECG just by touching the sensors at different chest points and the ECG is displayed on your smartphone. Not just this, SanketLife connects you instantly with your doctors with your ECG report with doctor providing instant review within minutes.