Heart Scanning UK

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Heart Scanning Process

A heart scan identifies the main risk factors for heart disease and offers practical advice about positive lifestyle changes. It checks for early signs of heart disease and if any symptoms are seen, you will be offered advice on nutrition, exercise and treatment. In this way, your lifestyle will be improved thereby helping in prevention of a heart attack.

The heart scan searches for calcium in your coronary arteries. If no calcium is found your risk of having a heart attack is low. If calcium is present then you may have coronary artery disease , hence your doctor can recommend ways to minimise your personal risk. So information about the state of your heart arteries can be drawn and your risk of a heart attack assessed.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death of men and women in the developed world. According to the British Heart Foundation , over 125,000 people die of a heart attack each year in the UK. As much as forty percent of heart disease is not explained by conventional risk factors and sudden death can be the first symptom in 25 percent of patients.

Heart scan is fast, safe, accurate, painless and non-invasive, taking only 15 minutes to perform. You just have to lie on a padded table under the arch of the scanner. You will simply be asked to hold your breath a few times while a series of images are taken.