The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste. Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a serious disease that can, over time, damage the blood vessel walls and increase a persons risk of heart attack, stroke and other conditions. Blood pressure is recorded as two numbers and written as a ratio: the top number, called the systolic pressure
Cholesterol is a type of fat (lipid) in your blood. Your cells need cholesterol, and your body makes all it needs. But you also get cholesterol from the food you eat.If you have too much cholesterol, it starts to build up in your arteries. (Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart.) This is called hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis camera.gif. It is the starting point for some heart and blood flow problems. The buildup can narrow the arteries and make it harder for blood to flow through them. The buildup can also lead to dangerous blood clots and inflammation that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
An Echocardiogram, also called an echo or heart ultrasound is a test that takes moving pictures of the heart with sound waves. Qualified sonographers perform the testing daily in our rooms. The test normally takes 30-40 minutes. The sonographer will place a probe onto the chest and take a series of moving images of the heart and the valves.
