Cardiovascular health - preventative medicine

Pulse Wave Analysis: Your Early Window Into Cardiovascular Health

When most people think about checking their heart health, they imagine a quick blood pressure reading at the doctor’s office. And while blood pressure is important, it only tells a tiny piece of the story. It’s a snapshot, not the full picture we need.

Pulse Wave Analysis (PWA) is different. It looks deeper, earlier, and more accurately than a simple blood pressure reading. It helps you understand how your cardiovascular system is actually functioning. It is such a wonderful tool that I now test everyone in my clinic. Previously I only tested people over the age of 40, but I often see people in their mid twenties with readings that are out of range. This is indicating early changes that can be intervened with and reversed now.

Pulse Wave is the kind of testing I use when someone says things like:

• “I feel fine but heart disease runs in my family.”

• “My blood pressure has crept up and I don’t know why.”

• “I want to stay on top of my health as I get older, not wait until something happens.”

If you’re someone who wants to be proactive, stay well, and age with strength and vitality, PWA is one of the most powerful tools we have.

What Is Pulse Wave Analysis?

In simple terms, PWA measures how blood moves through your arteries. How elastic they are, how hard your heart has to work, and whether there are early signs of arterial stiffness.

Unlike a standard blood pressure cuff (which measures pressure in your arm), PWA sends the wave directly to your aorta and translates that pulse into information about:

• how flexible or stiff your arteries are

• how efficiently your heart is pumping

• how well your blood vessels respond to each heartbeat

• how much stress your cardiovascular system is under

This is incredibly important because arterial stiffness often develops many years before blood pressure becomes abnormal. By the time blood pressure is “officially high,” the vessels have usually been struggling for a long time.

PWA lets us catch these changes early, when they’re still fully reversible.

Why Arterial Stiffness Matters (Even If You Feel Well)

Your arteries are meant to be springy and elastic. When they stiffen, your heart has to push harder with every beat. Over time, this increases cardiovascular stress and raises the risk of heart disease.

Arterial stiffness is driven by things like:

• chronic inflammation

• insulin resistance

• nutrient deficiencies

• stress

• low fitness levels

• poor recovery or sleep

• smoking or alcohol

• aging

None of these cause symptoms in the early stages — which is why people are often shocked when a routine check suddenly shows high blood pressure later in life. Pulse Wave Analysis helps us see the early patterns before blood pressure changes, and certainly before cardiovascular disease develops. This is the real meaning of preventative medicine.

What Pulse Wave Analysis Measures

The CardiAction PWA screening I use analyses 9 key cardiovascular markers, giving real-time insight into how your cardiovascular system is functioning:

1. Brachial Blood Pressure – your standard blood pressure reading.

2. Heart Rate – reflects cardiac health & fitness

3. Pulse Rate Variability – reflects resilience and stress load.

4. Central Systolic Pressure – This is the pressure directly at your aorta and far more predictive of risk than your arm reading.

5. Central Augmentation Pressure  - relates to arterial stiffness.

6. Central Pulse Pressure – the difference between your central systolic and central diastolic indicating how much pressure the heart is under.

7. Central Augmentation Index – relates to arterial stiffness.

8. Central Ejection Duration – how efficient your heart is at pumping its full volume of blood in each pump.

9. SEVR (Subendocardial Viability Ratio) – shows how well your heart muscle is oxygenated and your cardiovascular fitness.

You don’t need to understand the technicalities, that’s my job. What matters is this:

These markers tell us about function, stress, oxygenation, and inflammation long before disease develops.

This is the kind of insight that changes the trajectory of someone’s health, not just their numbers.

What I’m Looking for in Your Results

When I interpret a PWA report, I'm looking for:

1. Early signs of arterial stiffness

This often shows up years before traditional tests pick it up. Arterial stiffness is heavily influenced by inflammation, poor metabolic health, and stress; all things we can improve.

2. How efficiently your heart is working

Some patterns show that your heart muscle is working harder than it should be. This is reversible with lifestyle and targeted support.

3. Your cardiovascular fitness

The test shows how well your heart and arteries oxygenate your tissues, a strong predictor of long-term health and longevity.

4. How your blood vessels respond to each heartbeat

A healthy cardiovascular system responds dynamically, not rigidly.

5. How stress is affecting your body

Pulse rate variability gives valuable insight into stress load and resilience.

This is the level of detail that helps us truly personalise prevention.

PWA + Advanced Pathology = A Complete Cardiovascular Picture

PWA becomes even more powerful when combined with your advanced pathology results.Alongside your PWA results, I also assess:

• Homocysteine – relates to methylation and cardiovascular risk

• High-sensitivity CRP – inflammation marker

• Full lipid profile – not just cholesterol numbers

• Insulin – early predictor of metabolic dysfunction

• B12, vitamin D, and thyroid markers – key for energy and cardiovascular health

Together, these tests give us an incredibly comprehensive view of your cardiovascular wellbeing. Doctors typically look at whether your results are “in range.”As a naturopath, I look at:

• how patterns are forming

• how markers relate to each other

• whether you’re trending towards or away from disease

• whether your body is functioning at its best

This is the difference between treating disease and optimising longevity.

The Best Part? Everything We Find Is Changeable

Even if your PWA shows areas that are out of range, this isn’t a life sentence.Most of the markers can improve significantly with:

• anti-inflammatory nutrition

• consistent movement and strength training

• improved sleep

• stress regulation

• targeted supplements

• better metabolic health

• reducing alcohol and smoking

• personalised lifestyle strategies

When we support the cardiovascular system properly, it responds beautifully — often far more quickly than people expect.

This is prevention in its truest form.

Pulse Wave Analysis Is Available in Clinic

If you’d like a deeper, clearer, more proactive look at your cardiovascular health, one that actually helps you prevent problems rather than react to them, Pulse Wave Analysis is available in clinic. It’s quick, non-invasive, and incredibly informative. This is one of my favourite tools for anyone who wants to protect their heart, improve longevity, or simply understand their health on a deeper level.

If that sounds like you, you’re welcome to get in touch and see how we can work together to optimise your health and longevity.