Our new Healthy Heart Clinic is designed for patients at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. We work with our GP practices to identify patients who are at risk and offer appointments in our clinic to help monitor and improve their health. Catching any issues early on can help to stop conditions worsening or developing in the future.
What is Cardiovascular Disease?
Cardiovascular disease is a general term for a range of conditions that affect the heart or blood vessels. You can find out more about CVD on the websites below:
If you are eligible for our clinic, we will contact you to invite you to an appointment. Please see below for details on what to expect at your appointment.
What to Expect
A few tests will be performed to obtain information related to your heart health.
These tests are:
- Blood Pressure
- Cholesterol (blood test)
- Kidney Check (blood and urine test)
You will also be asked a few questions about your lifestyle. You can read more about each test below.
Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is recorded with 2 numbers. The systolic pressure (higher number) is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.
The diastolic pressure (lower number) is the resistance to the blood flow in the blood vessels between heartbeats when blood is pumped around your heart.
Everyone’s blood pressure will be slightly different. What’s considered low or high for you may be normal for someone else. If your blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on your blood vessels, heart, and other organs, such as the brain, kidneys and eyes.
Cholesterol (blood test)
Cholesterol is a fatty substance which is mainly made in the body. The liver makes some of the cholesterol from the saturated fats in the food you eat, and the body can also take in some cholesterol from certain foods.
Too much cholesterol in your blood can increase your risk of having a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke.
Finding out your cholesterol level helps your doctor to decide whether you should make changes to your lifestyle and start taking a cholesterol-lowering medicine to reduce this risk.
If you’re already taking tablets to lower your cholesterol, a cholesterol test will tell whether the treatment is working well or whether the dose of your medicines should be increased.
Kidney Check (blood and urine test)
The main test for kidney disease is a blood test, this test measures the levels of waste product called creatinine in your blood. The laboratory uses your creatinine level to predict how well your kidneys are working, this calculation is known as your estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).
Healthy kidneys should be able to filter more than 90ml/min of blood. You may have chronic kidney disease (CKD) if your rate is lower than this.
A urine test is also done to:
- Check the levels of substances called albumin and creatinine in your urine.
- Check for blood or protein in your urine.
Alongside your eGFR calculation from your blood test, urine tests can help give a more accurate picture of how well your kidneys are working.
Your test results can be used to determine how damaged your kidneys are, known as the stage of CKD. This can help your doctor decide the best treatment for you and how often you should have tests to monitor your condition.
Lifestyle
In clinic, you will also be asked questions about your lifestyle, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity. If lifestyle behaviours are affecting the health of your heart, it will be discussed with you in clinic. If you agree, referrals to other available services that can assist you to make lifestyle changes will be offered.
More Information and Alternative Formats
If you would like more information, or this information in a different format, please speak to your GP practice or call us on: 0333 332 6570. Our opening hours are Monday – Friday, 09:00-18:30.
