Screening is believing:
A few minutes can change your life.

Diagnostic screenings offered by the 2BigHearts Foundation are a critical step in detecting irregularities that could point to potential heart problems. Screenings are quick, painless, and vitally important.

Free heart screenings have become a major effort of the 2BigHearts Foundation in its effort to educate women and detect any irregularities that may point to cardiac problems. What sounds like a long, involved procedure actually takes just a few minutes — and can save your life.

They typically include an echocardiogram, which uses ultrasound waves to non-invasively make images of the heart chambers, permitting physicians to view the size of the heart and its motions as it beats. Participants also receive an electrocardiogram, or ECG, which records electrical activity in the heart. The ECG is also a non-invasive test. Electrode patches are attached to the skin to measure electrical impulse from the heart. An ECG can show disturbances in the electrical activity of the heart, which may identify abnormal heart rhythms and areas of injury.

Participants are also likely to receive fasting blood sugar, lipid panel, height/weight/blood pressure, evaluation of waist circumference and body mass index, or BMI, health risk assessment, and a consultation with a cardiologist or nurse practitioner.

Armed with this information, doctors can make an assessment of whether a participant is at risk for developing heart disease, or whether any heart condition is already present and could pose a danger to the woman.

Screening focus on risk factors for women, which include high blood pressure, high total and LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, being overweight, being physically inactive, age (55 and older), and family history.

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