Heart Scan continued

“If someone is overwhelmed and they don't know where to start, first thing is to start assessing your own risk factors. Like, how old are you? Men, if you are older than 45, and if you're a woman, more than 55. That's where the heart disease starts becoming a risk factor. Do you have diabetes? Do you have high blood pressure? Do you have high cholesterol? Are you overweight, smoking? So, to assess things then you start thinking okay, where I'm going to start? Start first on your own. Like if you know that you're not eating healthy, then start doing the healthy lifestyle, and when we say healthy lifestyle means diet and exercise, if smoker then smoking cessation. Essentially, diet should have vegetables, less processed food. When you are doing your grocery shopping, read the content labels, it should have less saturated fat and trans-fat should be as low as possible. Food should be high in unsaturated fat. So, you start from there, also focus on exercise. Even if its five minutes a day of exercise, start from that and slowly build up. Your goal should be doing at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. So, those are the things you can do on your own and then follow up with a primary doctor so you are up to date on your screening, blood work, cholesterol etc.”

When asked about people that have done everything right and they're still overweight or suffering from high blood pressure, Dr. Gautam shared, “A lot of times it's genetic, there is family history. Some people have a metabolic syndrome so their triglycerides or cholesterol level runs high. In general low to intermediate risk for heart disease such as family history of early heart disease, inflammatory disease as Rheumatoid arthritis, or populations at higher risk of heart disease are the people that should consider getting scans. Even if they feel healthy and they do not have any history, they should get it checked.”

Dr. Gautam stressed that if anyone is to only make one change for their cardiovascular help, see a family medicine doctor for regular check-ups.

“See a primary care physician so they can monitor your blood pressure. They can do the cholesterol check and the diabetes screening. They can start to screen and catch problems. A heart scan is not an appropriate exam if you have a history of cardiovascular issues including placement of stents.

Heart Scans are available at:

Norman Regional HealthPlex 3300 HealthPlex Parkway

Norman, OK 73072

Norman Regional Moore 700 S. Telephone Rd. Moore, OK 73160

Norman Regional Nine 2000 Ann Branden Blvd. Norman, OK 73071

Schedule a 10-minute, $35heart scan at Norman Regional by calling 405-307-2290 or schedule now via our website, no referral needed.