Arterial disease and vein disease are part of the same branch of medicine, known as vascular disease, which is defined as any condition that affects and impairs the circulatory system. Your arteries and your veins have different purposes within this system. Arteries carry oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood from the heart and lungs to other parts of the body, and veins carry the deoxygenated blood and waste materials back to the heart and lungs for renewal and recirculation. Diseases of both the arteries and the veins are serious, but some forms of vascular disease are more dangerous than others.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America, and the leading cause of long-term disability. Every year, about 800,000 Americans have a stroke; 75% are first attacks, and 25% are recurrent attacks. And yet, despite the fact that someone in the U.S. experiences a stroke every 45 seconds, most people know very little about them.

In the field of vascular medicine, staying "state of the art" is an ever-changing challenge. Only a short time ago the only way to permanently remove varicose veins was a surgical procedure called vein stripping, which required hospitals, general anesthesia and surgical incisions (with their associated dangers), long recovery periods, and possible scarring. Today, varicose veins can be removed in the comfort of your local New Jersey vein clinic in about an hour, and you can walk out afterwards and return immediately to your normal activities or work.

Let's face it…no one wants to end up in the hospital. So when your doctor tells you that you have high blood pressure and high cholesterol or other signs of arterial disease and that if you don't do something about it you'll end up in the hospital, you listen, right? But strangely enough, when people are told that they have signs of disease in their veins – the other blood vessels critical for good health – they often do nothing about it, ignore the problems, and avoid seeking the vein treatment they need.

If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you know that you often have to make some lifestyle changes to get it back down to safer levels. For example, your Hudson County cardiologist may have suggested that you need to cut down on salt, fatty foods, and alcohol, stop smoking, and get more exercise. These lifestyle changes do help to bring blood pressure down, but let's face it – not everyone welcomes having to make them.

Being pregnant and looking forward to giving birth is, for most women, a joyous time. But Hudson County Cardiologists also know that it's also a time to take extra care with your health, and that includes your cardiac and vascular health.

An estimated 2 to 6 million Americans have a type of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or AFib. But because AFib doesn’t always display strong symptoms, many of these people don’t know they have it. In this article, the best heart doctors in Bergen County explain why it’s important to know, because having atrial fibrillation makes you five times more likely to have a stroke.