As the best heart specialists in NJ, we think that one of the most important services we can provide to our patients is to make them aware of conditions that increase their risk of developing heart disease. In this article, we'll deal with two of these risks: hypertension and atrial fibrillation.
What you need to know about hypertension
Your heart pumps blood through your arteries to provide oxygen and other nutrients to your body. Sometimes, the force required to perform this pumping is too strong for the walls of the arteries. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a medical condition in which the pressure of the blood against the walls of the arteries becomes so high that it damages them.
Many people have high blood pressure for years, but don't know it until complications arise. This is extremely dangerous, because untreated hypertension puts strain on your heart and greatly increases your risk of heart and arterial diseases, heart attack, stroke, and other life-threatening conditions.
Diagnosing hypertension couldn't be easier, and involves nothing more intrusive than wearing an inflatable cuff on your arm as your doctor measures the pressure. The New Jersey cardiologists at CCC can perform this test in a few seconds.
Treating hypertension is almost as easy. Mild cases can often be controlled with changing your diet, exercising regularly, stopping smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and reducing stress. More serious cases can in most cases be treated with prescription medications.
What you need to know about atrial fibrillation
Fibrillation is a medical term for rapid and irregular contraction of the heart muscle. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is what happens when the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) begin to beat very rapidly or in an erratic fashion.
This puts increased pressure on the lower chambers, producing heart rates as fast as 170-180 beats per minute. During an AF attack, blood is not pumped as efficiently. Common symptoms include feeling tired and weak, feeling light-headed or faint, experiencing palpitations (sensations that your heart is racing or pounding), or experiencing shortness of breath. Other people can experience no symptoms at all, but still have AF.
The only sure way to know whether you have AF is to have a checkup. The tests we use at CCC to diagnose atrial fibrillation are all fast, painless, and noninvasive. We'll use procedures such as an electrocardiogram (EKG) to record the heart's electrical rhythms. If we see signs of AF but the episodes aren't consistent, we may use wearable technology like Holter monitors or event recorders that can measure your heart's activity for 24 hours or longer. If necessary, we can also perform a stress test to see how your heart performs under load. And if the diagnosis is still unclear, we can use tests such as echocardiography (the use of ultrasound to create images of the heart).
Again, if we find that you suffer from atrial fibrillation, the condition is easily treatable, in most cases via medication. But treatment IS necessary, because otherwise AF can lead to complications such as stroke, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and worsening chest pains.
The first step to fighting either hypertension or atrial fibrillation is to find out whether you have them. To do that, give one of our leading cardiology specialists: Dr. Rick Pumill, Dr. Fernando Segovia, Dr. Yaron Bareket, and Dr. Irfan Admani a call at 201-630-8445. He can provide a consultation in any of our multiple New Jersey locations – Hackensack, Edgewater, North Bergen and Secaucus.
