Cardiovascular and metabolic health: five silent signs to watch for

Cardiovascular and metabolic disease includes illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high levels of “bad cholesterol” (hypercholesterolemia). These can lead to serious complications like heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure—which may require dialysis—, liver disease and some kinds of cancer. [3]

These common conditions often have severe, sometimes fatal, outcomes. CVD is the second cause of death in Canada, with cerebrovascular disease (e.g., stroke) in fifth place and type 2 diabetes in ninth. [4] These illnesses also have non-fatal effects which may still be very debilitating, such as kidney failure. Even a non-fatal stroke can sometimes have very severe outcomes, not to mention amputations or blindness due to poorly controlled diabetes, a limp caused by blocked arteries, cirrhosis of the liver due to fat accumulation (steatosis) in the liver, and more.

Identifying your own risk factors is an essential first step for taking control of your health.

CVD risk factors can be divided into two categories: uncontrollable risks (age, sex, hereditary family history) and controllable risks (poor lifestyle habits such as smoking, alcohol use, unbalanced diet or being inactive).

As their name implies, there’s nothing we can do about uncontrollable risks, but that is no reason to ignore them. To a large extent, the harmful effects of these illnesses can be controlled by medication, but it is particularly important to do something about the controllable risk factors which add to the harmful effects, making them worse. These factors are easy to identify, even though some firmly rooted habits may be hard to change.

Because cardiovascular and metabolic disease is so widespread, it is important that you don’t ignore certain symptoms:

There can be many causes for fatigue, such as medications, stress, depression or hormonal (endocrine) disorders. The impact of chronic fatigue is well known and includes finding it hard to concentrate, low energy for usual activities, irritability, drowsiness and headache. Fatigue is also common in people with high blood pressure, CVD and diabetes, although the connection with unexplained fatigue is not always obvious.

Sudden shortness of breath after walking for a few minutes or going up a few steps is not normal for a healthy person. It may be caused by heart failure or another heart condition, lung problems, anemia, inactivity or another physical problem.

Shortness of breath is a common symptom of cardiovascular disease, particularly in the presence of cardiac overload, poor circulation associated with high blood pressure or a cholesterol-related problem.

Some common conditions such as stress and too much coffee and alcohol may increase how often you need to pee (polyuria). In women, urinary tract infections, and in men, an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH), are also common causes of polyuria.

However, polyuria plus intense thirst (polydipsia) is often a sign of excess sugar in the blood, the very definition of diabetes. Polydipsia and polyuria are often the first, or only, symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

It seems like it’s always easier to lose weight from your face or arms and legs than around your waist. And yet, surplus fat around the abdomen—meaning a waistline more than 94 cm for men and 80 cm for women—is a key indicator of being overweight or obese. This factor is part of metabolic syndrome, closely linked to a higher risk of chronic disease and death. [5]

Symptoms of high cholesterol are not always as easy to identify as the symptoms of other forms of cardiovascular or metabolic disease, but two types of symptoms may reveal a problem:

In people with the highest cholesterol levels—familial hypercholesterolemia—, you can see yellowish deposits around the eyes, called xanthelasma, or deposits under the skin, called xanthoma. In seniors, grey rings around the cornea (corneal arcus or arcus senilis) may also appear. [6]

Another long-term effect of having too-high cholesterol is peripheral artery disease. PAD is caused by deposits of cholesterol plaque on artery walls—atherosclerosis—which reduce blood flow, limit ability to walk, cause leg pain (even at rest), and are responsible for sores on the toes and heels which take a long time to heal. [7]

Symptoms in your legs should not be taken lightly: if peripheral arteries in the legs are partially blocked by cholesterol plaques, other arteries probably are as well, increasing the potential risks of heart attack or stroke.

Taking care of your health means first listening to your body and integrating small habits which make a big difference every day—moving regularly, having a balanced diet, sleeping well and taking time to relax.

When it becomes necessary to do more to prevent cardiovascular or metabolic problems, cardiometabolic screening offers an overview of your key indicators: blood sugar and cholesterol levels, blood pressure, weight and waistline. They help identify your risk factors and confirm your status, so you can make informed decisions before any complications arise.

We provide a no-prescription, accessible service to help you access tests and healthcare providers faster.

• Cardiometabolic screening

For any questions or more information about this service, contact our team at 1 855 657-5458.