Saint Francis Healthcare Provides Free Heart Age Screenings
Oct 15, 2019Saint Francis Healthcare has announced a new Heart Age Screening program. Provided free to the public, these screenings will help individuals determine their risk for heart disease. Screenings will be held monthly with the location alternating between the campuses of Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis and Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett. The first screening will take place Wednesday, July 20th at the Memphis hospital. To register for the screenings, call 844-644-2273.
Heart age is a simplified measure of your risk for cardiac disease and is based on blood pressure, BMI, blood sugar, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. These in-depth screenings will measure all of these factors. Participants will then be able to meet with an on-site cardiologist to review their results.
“Tennessee has one of the highest percentages in the United States of adults with heart ages 5 or more years older than their actual age,” said David Schwartz, MD, chief medical officer. “These cardiac age screenings can provide people with the information they need to possibly lower their risk of heart disease.”
The most common reasons for an older heart age can generally be managed through exercise, changes in diet, medication and lifestyle changes. They include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and diabetes. Making changes to reduce cardiac disease risk can result in a younger heart age score.