re: What age is a good age to start seeing a Cardiologist?

if you are on the nuts and veggie diet you are prolly fine seeing one in the next couple of weeks. If not... should have seen one 5 years ago.

Seriously though if you cardiologist doesn't talk to you about nutrition/diet, find a new one.

I go to a prevention center in Lafayette. She checked tons of bloodwork and is great.

Check out APEX prevention — on Kaliste Saloom road. Call and inquire. It’s been worth it for me. They check way more than a lipid panel and she’s way more into prevention than most cardiologist.

Go now. Actually, your family Doctor is a good place to start. He can tell you where your cholesterol levels are and whether you need a statin drug now. He will probably tell you to lose weight and get lots of exercise (think walking). If you tell him you want to see a cardiologist, he will send you to someone he trusts, which is a good thing. They will likely do a stress test and get some base records going. Warning - you may find yourself getting a heart cath and some shunts right away. If so, it is no big deal any more and may save your life.

Even skinny people, who exercise, never had any heart pain and eat a "Perfect" diet can get full blockage if it is in your genetic makeup. There are folks who are only able to reduce their bad cholesterol through statin drugs, regardless of what they do.

quote:

---

I'm very strict on diet

---

don’t you brag about how much you can eat all the time

Yearly checkups with labwork by your PCP is suffice. Most are knowledgeable enough to know how to manage many of the causes of heart disease. Unless you're symptomatic in anyway, I don't think a cardiologist will do anything your PCP couldn't.

I need to go soon as heart problems run in my family. I'm 38 and my dad passed away last year at 59

quote:

---

nuts and veggie diet

---

And if your cardiologist recommends this, then get a new one.

Diet is important but if one has inherited genes for heart disease diet is going to delay onset but not prevent it.Diet is very important for cancer prevention,though.Smoking is huge risk factor.In my career majority of patients had smoking history.It was surprising how many patients had cholesterol levels considered normal,I even took care one guy with cholesterol level of 135,conventional wisdom was he would never have heart disease.Regular exercise(walking) is valuable in that it encourages development of collateral blood vessels around blockages in coronary arteries.
Chronic inflammation,commonly caused by gum disease,is risk factor.Calcium score is a good screening test,I don’t know why anybody would downvote having one done.
Anyone with diagonal earlobe crease should see cardiologist ASAP.

Do it now. I went for being short of breath when I was 42. No problems. Went back 20 years later, quintuple bypass. If you have family history, don't wait. It's a bitch.

If you have cardiac issues in you mr family, 40 is probably a good time to get checked out. Then let the cardiologist tell you how often you need to visit him/her.