How To Get a High Heart Health Score With a Simple Test

There are many tests for your heart. The most important one you could take is the one you can do at home. That’s because unlike many health conditions, heart disease can be symptom free. People skip their annual physical exam. They’re in a hurry when they’re hungry, and don’t always eat heart-healthy foods. They get “too busy” for resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. Meanwhile, they ignore their heart health.

How well do you score on heart health? Preventing heart disease means diet, exercise, and doing everything you can to keep this vital organ beating. Read on to learn about the risks, the rewards, and most importantly why a $99 at-home test from Kyla could save your life. 

What’s Wrong With Your Heart?

The biggest killer in this country isn’t cancer or COVID-19. It’s heart disease. Every year, it kills almost 700,000 people in the United States. For every five deaths in this country, it’s responsible for one of them.

What is heart disease? For most people, it begins when plaque builds up in the arteries adjacent to this vital organ. Eventually, the arteries become completely blocked. Known as coronary heart disease, it has been linked to nearly 400,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. And although strokes also affect the brain, they are considered another form of heart disease. That’s because strokes happen when a blood vessel in the brain bursts or the brain’s blood supply is blocked –– similar to coronary heart disease’s blockage. Taken separately, strokes are the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S.

How do you know if you have coronary heart disease? Men might experience pain or discomfort in their chest, back, arms, neck or stomach. Women are more likely to feel nauseous or have some pain in the neck, shoulders, jaw or upper back. For both genders, fatigue and shortness of breath are also common symptoms. A precursor to coronary heart disease, this is known as angina. 

Some 13 million Americans have coronary heart disease, but here’s the really scary part. Many of them don’t actively experience angina. In a blog on “Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease,” NYU Langone health notes that, “For some people, the first sign of coronary artery disease is a heart attack, which occurs when a coronary artery is completely blocked. Because there may be no symptoms until the late stages of plaque buildup, it is never too early to take steps to help prevent coronary artery disease…”

If you’re wondering what those steps might be, then read on.

Get the Test!

So what should be your first step toward preventing heart disease? Well, you need to find out if plaque is reducing blood flow to your heart by getting a lipid panel. This blood test measures fat molecules known as lipids –– the artery-clogging plaques responsible for coronary heart disease. The panel measures four different cholesterol levels along with your triglycerides –– a common fat found both in your body and in calorie-dense foods like butter. When looking at your cholesterol levels, you’re hoping for a high result (above 60) for your HDL ( the “good” cholesterol) and a low result (below 100) for your LDL (the “bad” cholesterol).

Here’s the best part. Preventing heart disease and getting a test doesn’t mean battling traffic to reach your closest health care facility. You can get everything you need without even leaving your home. All it takes to learn your lipid levels is a simple needle prick and an at-home test that’s part of the comprehensive Primary Care Panel from Kyla Clinics. While other at-home testing companies charge hundreds of dollars, Kyla’s is just $99 –– which may be covered by your insurance. Even better, included along with the lipid panel are tests that measure your thyroid and cortisol levels, Vitamin D deficiency, and whether or not you have an early warning sign for prostate cancer among others. 

Following the test, you’ll have the opportunity to speak with a doctor who can help you formulate a strategy to optimize your health and extend your longevity. Of course, you will also want to improve your heart health score. 

The Heart Health Score 

The American Heart Association has been focused on preventing heart disease for over 100 years. They use a wheel to illustrate the steps everyone can take to avoid deadly killers like coronary heart disease. The wheel has eight wedges –– and every one of them is important.

Recently, the Association added healthy sleep as a vital component for heart health. Getting at least the seven hours of recommended ZZZs each night is a big part of preventing heart disease. Other steps include having a healthy blood sugar level and maintaining a healthy weight. Avoiding cigarettes and other tobacco products is another essential element to good heart health. Although nicotine can affect the heart, a recent study noted that, “Electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine without combustion of tobacco and appear to pose low cardiovascular risk, at least with short term use, in healthy users.” 

How well are you doing on heart health? How well do you score? Well, if you don’t smoke and are getting enough sleep, then the remaining elements are all connected with diet and physical activity. Enjoying a heart-healthy diet and getting plenty of cardiovascular exercise will improve your blood sugar and help you achieve a healthy body weight. It will also lower your blood pressure (another of the eight elements).

Indeed, while the American Heart Association lists having a healthy diet and physical activity as two of the eight elements, they can influence all of the others. Exercising and eating right will even help you get healthier sleep.  Of course before you embark on your heart healthy journey, you will want to make sure that you have optimal blood sugar and hormone levels. That’s why an inexpensive at-home test from Kyla is so important for preventing heart disease. 

Exercise And Eating Right Creates Healthy Hearts 

It all comes down to heart health. What’s the most important thing you can do if your goal is preventing heart disease? 

“Exercise is the single most important factor for a healthy heart,” explains cardiologist Stacy Baird, MD. “People worry they don’t have the time or energy to fit exercise into their schedule, but a recent study found that even 10 minutes of exercise per day — moving enough to get your heart rate up — can be the difference between a healthy heart and problems.” 

Great cardiovascular exercises include running, riding a bike, swimming, or using indoor fitness equipment like the treadmill or the elliptical. However, many activities can get your heart pumping –– from line dancing to canoeing. Even walking can help your heart –– especially if it’s at a brisk pace. Just start slow. If you don’t generally exercise, walking around your block is a great way to start.

Yet even active people often neglect strength training. Although cardiovascular exercise is important, a recent study concluded that resistance training (like you get with weight lifting) is just as valuable. In fact, the study noted that even if you only do resistance trading once a week, you’ll reduce your heart attack risk.

Exercise’s equal when it comes to preventing heart disease is a heart-healthy diet.  The Mayo Clinic recommends that you control your portion sizes by using smaller dishes. Fill those dishes mainly with heart-healthy foods like fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and lean meats or fish. Low-fat, high-protein foods like skim milk or cottage cheese are also great additions to your plate. It’s okay to have the occasional indulgence in a heart-healthy diet but limit your consumption of salt, butter, margarine, and processed meats. With a bit of time and effort, heart-healthy foods can be every bit as tasty and enjoyable as fattening dishes like fried chicken, waffle fries, or cheeseburgers. 

Preventing heart disease is an important component of extending your health span –– that’s the number of healthy years you have left to live. Rather than just lifespan –– which is about living a long life regardless of health –– health span is about really enjoying your time. Kyla Clinics offers a free app you can download. By filling out your unique health profile, you’ll have access to Kyla’s AI-driven risk engine and health care professionals who are trained in not only preventing heart disease but reducing your risk for a wide variety of life-shortening conditions. So download the Kyla app today and start living better tomorrow. 

Sources: 

1. ”Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention,” New York State Department of Health. https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/cardiovascular/heart_disease/#:~:text=About 695,000 people die of,Americans have a heart attack.
2. “Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease,” NYU Langone Health. https://nyulangone.org/conditions/coronary-artery-disease/diagnosis#:~:text=Stress Tests,blockage in the heart arteries.
3. “Cholesterol Numbers and What They Mean,” Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11920-cholesterol-numbers-what-do-they-mean
4. “American Heart Association Adds Sleep to Cardiovascular Health Checklist (American Heart Association Presidential Advisory),” American Heart Association. June 28, 2022. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/american-heart-association-adds-sleep-to-cardiovascular-health-checklist
5. Benowitz, Neal L, and Andrea D Burbank. “Cardiovascular toxicity of nicotine: Implications for electronic cigarette use.” Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine. Vol. 26,6 (2016). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4958544/
6. Baird, Stacy MD. “How to Know Your Heart Is Healthy,” Columbia University Irving Medical Center. April 28, 2023.  https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/how-know-your-heart-healthy
7. Liu, Yanghui et al. “Associations of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise Vol. 51,3 (2019). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7385554/
8. “Heart-healthy Diet: Eight Steps to Prevent Heart Disease,” Mayo Clinic. April 28, 2022.https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-healthy-diet/art-20047702