Patient and family education

A

• Abdominal obesity

  Too much fat around the belly. It is suspected when the waist measures more than 80 cm in women or more than 90 cm in men.

• Arrhythmia

  A problem with the heart's rhythm: it beats too fast, too slow or irregularly.

B

• Beta blocker

  A type of medicine that slows the heart rate and lowers blood pressure, such as metoprolol or carvedilol.

• Blood pressure monitor

  A device that measures blood pressure.

• Body mass index

  A ratio of weight to height that helps show whether a weight is healthy.

C

• Cardiac catheterization

  A procedure in which a thin tube (catheter) is passed through an artery to the heart to look at or treat its arteries.

• Cholesterol

  A fat in the blood. When there is too much, it builds up in the walls of the arteries.

D

• Diastolic pressure

  The lowest pressure, when the heart rests between beats. It is the bottom number.

E

• Ejection fraction

  The percentage of blood the heart pumps out with each beat. It shows how strongly it pumps.

• Electrode

  A small sticker placed on the skin to pick up the heart's electrical signals.

G

• Gamma camera

  Nuclear medicine equipment that takes images of the body using the radiopharmaceutical.

H

• Heart attack

  Damage to the heart muscle because one of its arteries gets blocked and blood stops reaching it.

• Holter monitor

  A small device you wear for hours that records your heart rhythm or blood pressure while you go about your day.

• Hypertension

  Blood pressure that stays high over time.

I

• Informed consent

  Written permission you give after a procedure, its benefits and its risks have been explained to you.

• Insulin resistance

  When the body responds less to insulin, the hormone that helps sugar move from the blood into the cells. It can appear before diabetes.

L

• Legumes

  Beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas and fava beans. They provide protein and fiber.

M

• Metabolic flexibility

  The body's ability to switch fuels: using mostly sugar after a meal and more fat between meals or during gentle, longer activity.

• Metabolism

  All the processes the body uses to turn food into energy and to use or store it.

• Murmur

  A sound heard as blood flows through the heart. Sometimes it means a valve is not working well.

N

• Nuclear medicine

  A specialty that uses small doses of radiopharmaceuticals to take pictures of how organs work.

P

• Palpitations

  Feeling that your heart is pounding, racing or beating irregularly.

• Perfusion

  Blood flow reaching an organ. In the heart, it shows whether blood reaches all of the muscle.

R

• Radiopharmaceutical

  A medicine with a small amount of a radioactive substance that makes nuclear medicine images possible.

S

• Stroke

  Damage to the brain because a blood vessel gets blocked or bursts.

• Systolic pressure

  The highest pressure, when the heart squeezes. It is the top number.

T

• Transducer

  A device moved over the skin to take ultrasound images.

• Triglycerides

  A type of fat in the blood. They can rise with too much sugar, refined flour, alcohol and calories; genes, diabetes and some medicines also play a part.

U

• Ultrasound

  Sound waves you cannot hear that show the inside of the body, as in a sonogram. They have no radiation.

V

• Valve

  A door inside the heart that lets blood flow in only one direction.