Getting your heart checked

moosed · May 2, 2013

So a work colleague of mine who was completely healthy and had no known issues died of a heart attack about a week ago at the age of 29, turns out he had a heart defect which hadnt been spotted... Bleak

This has freaked me out massively, is there any way to get something like a complete check over to make sure your heart is fine or do you have to display symptoms of a dodgy heart to get looked at ? Can I just phone up my doctor and tell him I want to get checked over even though I feel fine and seemingly have no issues ?

Deloodid · May 2, 2013

Ive always thought this. can u ask for a check up, for hearts and vital organs.

Philw · May 2, 2013

I would imagine without any symptoms that suggested a problem, or a history of heart problems yourself or in oyur family, you couldnt via NHS. But im sure if you had private healthcare you could if you really wanted.

Wat Tyler · May 2, 2013

My family has a bit of trouble with heart problems, we all have been checked out for it. I am not sure if you can get one randomly but I imagine if you explain to your GP, he would sort it.

Pat's Van · May 2, 2013

yes you can, if you speak to your GP

davek · May 2, 2013

Doctors are going to protect their surgery cash (that's the type of ****ing world we live in now like). You'd probably have to blag it and say you had symptoms that are heart related for a few weeks and let them make the call....though they'd maybe just do an ECG on the spot and gauge matters on that.

You're right to want to get a full check up though.

cbpointblank · May 2, 2013

There are a frightening number of conditions that "normal" testing won't find. To put it another way, you can't find it unless you're specifically looking for it - and under most circumstances there's no reason to look. My mother died of a brain tumor just over a year ago. She was perfectly fine, went to bed absolutely normal one night. When she woke up the next morning, her speech was slurred, she had no balance, her short term memory was gone. When they ran through the battery of tests, it turned out that she had a stage 4 tumor behind her right eye, size of a golf ball. They told us that it had probably been growing for well over a year, and just never manifested symptoms until it got large enough to put pressure on her skull.