Cardiovascular Prevention in Slovakia: Detecting Heart Attack Risk Early

“Patients often come to us only when they already experience chest pain or other problems. Ideally, we should address the disease before the first symptoms appear,” says Assoc. Prof. MUDr. Allan Böhm, MSc., PhD., MBA, FESC, FJCS, cardiologist at Premedix Clinic in Bratislava, where the team focuses on comprehensive cardiovascular prevention.

Risk factors we tend to overlook
Many Slovaks are unaware of their cardiovascular risk factors, which means that in many cases the first sign of heart disease is a heart attack. The most common risk factors include:

high blood pressure,
elevated cholesterol,
type 2 diabetes,
obesity,
smoking,
stress and sedentary lifestyle.
Slovakia is among the EU countries with the highest rates of preventable cardiovascular mortality – a clear sign that preventive cardiology is underutilized.

What does a preventive cardiac check-up involve?
Doctors recommend that everyone over the age of 40 should undergo a basic cardiovascular screening, which may include:

ECG and exercise ECG,
echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart),
vascular examination (carotid arteries),
comprehensive blood tests,
assessment of cardiovascular risk using the SCORE2 algorithm, recommended by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
“If we detect a problem early, we can adjust lifestyle, set up treatment, and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke by up to 80%,” adds Dr. Böhm.

Prevention is cheaper than treatment
According to OECD data, the costs of treating cardiovascular diseases are up to 300% higher compared to investments in prevention. That’s why European guidelines clearly state that prevention must be a cornerstone of healthcare.

How Premedix Clinic helps
At Premedix Clinic in Bratislava, we systematically focus on personalized prevention and early detection of cardiovascular risk. We accept patients without referral and provide advanced preventive examinations fully aligned with the latest ESC guidelines.

Schedule a preventive checkup today – and get peace of mind that you are protecting your heart in time.