Cardiology - branch of medicine
Our cardiology healthcare specialists are more than equipped to provide exceptional care to our customers who have a history of cardiovascular ailments. They have a great record in treating and diagnosing patients, and helping them on their road to recovery. Our doctors offer precise treatments that help elevate our customers’ quality of life, and even restore their health. Al Jameel Medical Center is fully equipped with the latest technologies that enable us to assess the heart’s condition, which allows us to design better treatment plans.
How Does Smoking Cause Heart Disease?
The chemicals in tobacco smoke harm your blood cells. They also can damage the function of your heart and the structure and function of your blood vessels. This damage increases your risk of atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up in the arteries. Over time, plaque hardens and narrows your arteries. This limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your organs and other parts of your body.
The major elements of the cardiac exam include observation, palpation and, most importantly, auscultation (percussion is omitted). As with all other areas of the physical exam, establishing adequate exposure and a quiet environment are critical. Initially, the patient should rest supine with the upper body elevated 30 to 45 degrees. Most exam tables have an adjustable top. If not, use 2 or 3 pillows. Remember that although assessment of pulse and blood pressure are discussed in the vital signs section they are actually important elements of the cardiac exam.
The evaluation of the cardiovascular system focuses on the heart, but should also include an assessment for disease in the arterial system throughout the body. Atherosclerosis, the most common cardiovascular ailment in the western world, is a systemic disease. As such, appropriate evaluation requires a broad assessment.
Studies suggest that home visits can lead to improved
medical care
through the discovery of unmet health care needs. One study found that home assessment of elderly patients with relatively good health status and function resulted in the detection of an average of four new medical problems and up to eight new intervention recommendations per patient.
The four major types of home
• Illness visits
• Visits to dying patients
• home assessment visits follow-up visits after hospitalization
An electrocardiogram can be a useful way to find
out whether your
high blood pressure has caused any damage to your heart or bloodvessels. Because of this, you may be asked to have an ECG when you are first diagnosed with high
Some of the things an ECG reading can detect are:
• cholesterol clogging up your heart's.
• A heart attack in the past. • Enlargement of one side of the heart
• Abnormal heart rhythms
The Resting ECG is done if your doctor is interests in how your heart is working while you are at rest you will be asked to lie down and relax while the heartbeat is being recorded.
A regular stress test is considered in the following circumstances:
• Patients with symptoms or signs that are suggestive of coronary artery diseases (CAD).
• Patients with significant risk factors for CAD.
• To evaluate exercise tolerance when patients have unexplained fatigue and shortness of breath.
• To evaluate blood pressure response to exercise in patients with borderline hypertension.
• To look for exercise-induced serious irregular heart beats.
Please remember that the regular stress test is heavily dependent upon interpretation of EKG changes produced by exercise. Therefore, the reliability drops drastically if there are significant EKG changes at rest (for example in patients with long standing high blood pressure, an artificial cardiac pacemaker, use of medications like digitalis, or presence of a bundle branch block pattern, etc.). In all such cases, the physician will usually order an Echo Stress Test or a Nuclear Stress Test particularly if he or she is suspecting coronary artery disease. However, a regular stress may be sufficient in stable patients or those with a low suspicion of coronary artery disease who are being assessed for exercise tolerance (for example, prior to undergoing a structured exercise or rehab program).
An echocardiogram (also called an echo) is a type of ultrasound test that uses high-pitched sound waves that are sent through a device called a transducer. The device picks up echoes of the sound waves as they bounce off the different parts of your heart. These echoes are turned into moving pictures of your heart that can be seen on a video screen.
Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). This is the most common type. Views of the heart are obtained by moving the transducer to different locations on your chest or abdominal wall.
Doppler echocardiogram. This test is used to look at how blood flows through the heart chambers, heart valves, and blood vessels. The movement of the blood reflects sound waves to a transducer. The ultrasound computer then measures the direction and speed of the blood flowing through your heart and blood vessels. Doppler measurements may be displayed in black and white or in color.
