What is the prevalence of hypertension in Phoenix, Az residents?

According to the best heart doctors in Phoenix, nearly everyone will experience high blood pressure at some point in life, whether from unhealthy lifestyle, heredity or aging. Many people have high blood pressure for several years without knowing until complications arise. Uncontrolled hypertension can put excess strain on the heart, leading to heart and arterial diseases, heart attack, stroke and numerous other life-threatening conditions.

What causes hypertension?

Arteries and veins loose elasticity with age, causing blood pressure to go up. High-salt diet, dehydration, poor organ and blood vessel function and hormones all influence blood pressure. The majority of the time, however, no cause is pinpointed.

The following factors also put a person at an increased risk for hypertension:

• Race (African American)
• Obesity
• Chronic stress
• Alcohol abuse
• Family history
• Diabetes
• Smoking

High blood pressure can also be caused indirectly or secondary to another condition or from taking certain medications. This type of hypertension is caused by:

• Chronic organ diseases (kidney disease)
• Adrenal disorders
• Thyroid disorders
• Pregnancy and associated complications
• Hormonal medications, diet pills, some cold and migraine medicines

How is hypertension diagnosed?

Hypertension is easily diagnosed by a Phoenix circulation doctor using a blood pressure cuff and a physical exam. A blood pressure cuff determines blood pressure in two ways – one that tells how much blood is being pushed through the heart when it contracts and another to reveal how much resistance to the blood flow there may be. If there is a lot of blood being pumped through narrowed arteries, the blood pressure will be high.

Normal blood pressure is lower than 120 over 80 (120/80 mmHg). Either one or both of these numbers must be high in order to classify someone as having high blood pressure.

How it hypertension treated?

Mild cases of hypertension can often be controlled at home through a healthy low-sodium diet and regular exercise. Quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and reducing stress are other effective ways to reduce blood pressure.

However, not all instances of hypertension can be adequately decreased by healthy lifestyle alone. A physician may prescribe a pressure-reducing medication or combination of medications when necessary.

The heart care specialists in Phoenix offer patients quality care with the some of the most advanced tools and techniques available today. To learn more about hypertension and treatment options, give us a call at 888-377-7122. We look forward to hearing from you.

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In mild cases of PAD, the narrowing of arteries is caused by a buildup of arterial plaque has not completely blocked blood flow. Early detection means that many cases can be treated with lifestyle changes and with medication.

This does not mean, however, that these mild cases of PAD are not still serious. They are. The existing plaque is still there, still impairing the normal flow of blood. This means that people with PAD are more at risk of developing other serious health problems. It can also make existing conditions such as diabetes worse.

PAD increases your risk of other cardiovascular problems

Peripheral arterial disease causes diminished blood flow through your arteries. However, the disruptions to your circulatory system don’t stop there. PAD affects your veins, heart, too, and greatly increases your risk of:

• Atherosclerosis – more buildup of arterial plaque, leading to full blockage.
• Chronic venous insufficiency – a condition in which blood “backs up” in your veins, causing varicose veins, swelling in your feet and legs, and pain.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) – an extremely dangerous condition in which blood clots form in the veins of your legs. These clots can cause a pulmonary embolism (PE), which is potentially fatal.
• Heart attack – in which diminished blood flow causes permanent damage to the heart muscle over time.
• Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) – interruptions to the blood flow to the brain.

PAD is most dangerous for patients who also have diabetes

Diabetes is one of the known causes of PAD. Diabetics have a much higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, which causes a buildup of plaque in the arteries. The combination of PAD and diabetes is particularly problematic. The plaque deposits most often block arteries to the legs and feet. This can lead to pain, especially when walking, and to other symptoms.

For example, PAD can lead to the development of corns, callouses, or open sores on the legs and feet that are slow to heal. If you have diabetes and notice such sores, you should not attempt to treat them yourself. Instead, you should see your doctor or podiatrist and follow their advice. If left untreated, these sores can fester and develop gangrene, which sometimes requires amputation of the affected limb.

At CICC, we are experts in treating Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)

We specialize in a non-surgical procedure called atherectomy, which can remove the buildups of plaque and calcium that block your arteries. The procedure is so safe and painless that it can be performed in our offices. There is no need for hospitals or general anesthesia. Removing the blockages can help to remove the ongoing danger that PAD poses to your overall health.

We have CiC locations in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah, so give us a call and schedule an appointment. We’d love to help you find out what you can do to reduce the impact of PAD on your overall health.

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The American Heart Association recommends that you start having heart screenings at age 20. These screenings are important because they help your Phoenix heart care specialists identify risks to your heart health, and take steps to reduce those risks early, before they become dangerous. After your first heart screening, the frequency with which you should have follow-up screenings depends on your risk factors, and how serious they are.

What are the factors that place you at risk of developing heart disease?

Naturally, you should follow your vascular doctor’s recommendations for how often you should have screenings, but in general you should have them more often if you have any of the following risk factors:

• Age 55 or older, especially if you are male
• Uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension)
• High cholesterol (high levels of LDL and low levels of HDL cholesterol)
• Smoking
• Being overweight or obese (more than 20% over your ideal weight)
• Physical inactivity (exercising less than 100-150 minutes per week)
• Family history of early heart disease
• Personal history of previous heart problems
• Uncontrolled diabetes

How often should I have certain tests during my medical examinations?

The following are general guidelines from the American Heart Association. If you have any of the risk factors above, you should consider having them more often:

• Blood pressure.This should be measured in every medical examination.
• Body weight and BMI.Your doctor should measure your weight and calculate your body mass index at every visit.
• Blood glucose levels. Test this every two years, starting at age 45.
• Fasting lipoprotein (cholesterol and triglycerides). The AHA recommends having this test every five years, starting at age 20, more often if you have been identified as having a higher heart risk.

What can I do to reduce my risk factors for heart disease?

This is the most important question you should address to your doctors after your next heart screening. The most important thing in avoiding heart disease is to understand how “at risk” you are, and to take steps to lower that risk. At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, we work with our patients to help them do what is necessary to reduce their heart risks – whether that is losing weight, stopping smoking, getting more exercise, or following a more heart-healthy diet.

The first step, however, is to have a thorough checkup and screening, especially if you haven’t had one in a while. Give the best heart doctors in Phoenix a call at 888-377-7122 and set up an appointment for an examination to determine your risk for heart disease. Based on the results, we can make recommendations to help you lower that risk.

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Five heart-healthy habits that can literally save your life

1. See your doctor regularly. Most of the indicators of elevated risk of heart disease can be detected in a simple checkup that takes less than an hour. A few minutes spent checking the status of your heart rhythms, your blood pressure, and your cholesterol levels can provide “early warning signals” of heart disease before it has had an opportunity to become serious.
2. Eat a more heart-healthy diet. Focus on eating a more balanced diet, low in saturated fats and trans fats, and high in fruits, vegetables, and sources of unsaturated fats like lean meats, poultry, and fish. Add more grains, soluble fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids to your diet, and avoid fast foods, processed foods, and sugary foods and drinks. At the same time, reduce the amount of sodium (salt) you consume, 75% of which we tend not to notice because it comes “hidden” in processed foods and meals we eat in restaurants.
3. Get more exercise. And “exercise” doesn’t have to mean going to the gym and “pumping iron” every day, or running marathons. Just walking more can greatly reduce your heart risk. Work up to a goal of exercising 30 minutes every day, even if that is just a brisk walk. Swimming, playing sports, and even climbing the stairs rather than taking the elevator can also help.
4. Maintain a healthy weight. Statistics tell us that most Americans need to lose weight. Every extra pound you carry around puts more pressure on your heart and your circulatory system, and increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Eating a healthier diet and exercising more can help, but if you are more than a little overweight, or obese, working with your Phoenix cardiologist to develop a sensible weight loss plan can literally add years to your life.
5. Pay attention to what your parents told you about “vices.” Remember when they told you that smoking and drinking too much alcohol were bad for you? They were right. Stopping smoking will lower your blood pressure within 20 minutes and cut your heart attack risk in half within a year. A glass of wine at dinner can actually be beneficial to your heart health, but drinking more than that – especially on a long-term basis – significantly increases your cholesterol levels and thus your risk of heart disease.

What other lifestyle habits can make my heart healthier?

We’ve listed the “Top Five” heart-healthy habits above, because they are the ones that will have the most positive impact on your heart health, and in the shortest period of time. But naturally there are other habits you can develop that will help to keep your heart healthy. For example, finding ways to reduce stress like yoga, meditation, or tai chi can benefit your heart by lowering the strain placed upon it by stress in your environment. Getting enough sleep is as important to your heart health as it is to maintaining your overall health

But the “Top Five” suggestions are still the most important, as is finding a trusted source of medical information about heart health and how to improve it. At Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers, we pride ourselves on our devotion to patient education. We work with our patients to find ways to “help them help themselves” to keep their hearts and their circulatory systems healthy. So call your Phoenix area cardiologist heart doctors today and “tick off” the first habit on our list today. We’ll help you with the rest of the list.

The post Phoenix Vascular Doctors List Five Heart-Healthy Habits You Can Adopt Today appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

What types of testing do your Phoenix heart doctors use?

After listening to your heart through a stethoscope to detect irregular heartbeats or murmurs, one of the first tests your heart doctor may perform is called an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This non-invasive test performs an electrical assessment of your heart to determine its “electrical footprint.” The results from an ECG test can reveal irregular heart rhythms and whether your heart is enlarged or damaged. ECG analysis can be expanded upon with the use of an echocardiogram, in which ultrasound waves are used to create a “real time” visual image of the heart as it pumps blood. Both of these tests are completely painless, require no preparation, and can be completed in a few short minutes.

Sometimes suspected heart arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) do not show up clearly during the 3 to 5 seconds of heart activity captured by an ECG. In these cases, your heart doctor can have you wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to detect symptoms of the heart racing or having palpitations during your daily activity. If these tests are still not conclusive, there are event monitors that can be worn for up to 30 days to get an even more precise picture. Both of these monitors are also non-invasive, and are worn unobtrusively under your clothing during the test.

Exercise stress tests and nuclear stress tests

If your Phoenix circulation doctor suspects that you may have coronary artery disease (CAD), and you have reported occasional chest pains or trouble breathing, they may recommend that you take an exercise stress test. You just walk on a treadmill while your blood pressure, ECG, and other vital signs are constantly monitored. Then the angle and pace of the treadmill are speeded up until you report any discomfort or distress. A stress test requires no preparation other than refraining from eating or drinking the morning of the test, and the actual walking part of the test takes only about ten minutes.

Because a standard treadmill stress test can occasionally generate false positive or negative results, your Phoenix heart care specialists may recommend a nuclear stress test, in which a harmless nuclear isotope is injected into your blood so that it can be tracked by a special camera watching your progress as you perform the test.

If you have experienced episodes of syncope (unexplained fainting), the doctor may recommend another non-invasive procedure called tilt table testing, in which you recline on a special table that raises you from a prone to an upright position while your heart activity is monitored. And if there are concerns about your cholesterol levels, advanced lipid testing can be performed, and requires only a blood sample.

How do I find out more?

If you have additional questions about the types of non-invasive diagnostic procedures commonly performed by our Phoenix cardiologists, please examine the Cardiology section of our website, which provides much more detailed information. Or give us a call and we’ll answer any questions you might have in an initial consultation.

The post Phoenix Heart Care Specialists Discuss Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Testing appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

But some heart disorders do not always appear when the patient is resting in a chair or reclining on an examination table, and manifest only when the heart is more active, and “under load.” So another tool in the cardiology doctors’ arsenal of diagnostic methodologies is the stress test, which enables them to determine the amount of exertion (stress) that your heart can manage before it develops either ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle) or abnormal rhythms.

What exactly is a stress test?

First, you can relax, because the test itself only takes about 10 minutes, and is not particularly stressful. For most patients, skipping breakfast the morning of the test is the most stressful part. The most common type of test used by the doctors at Comprehensive Interventional Care Centers is an exercise stress test, in which the patient is asked to walk on a mechanized treadmill. The pace of the treadmill advances through a standardized protocol of speed and incline changes, which vary every three minutes to place increasing loads on the heart.

During the test, the patient’s blood pressure and ECG readings are continuously monitored, and the doctor periodically questions the patient about possible symptoms. If chest pain develops, this can be an indication of a blocked artery that is causing ischemia. The reduced blood flow from the ischemia will also be reflected in the changing electrocardiogram readings and in blood pressure measurements. This information can help the doctors pinpoint problems with heart rhythms that only appear under stress conditions.

Do you need to have a cardiac stress test?

The best way to answer this question is to call our offices at 888.377.7122 and schedule an appointment for an initial consultation and examination. During this examination, some of the best vein doctors in Phoenix will use more standard tests to evaluate your heart health, and will recommend a stress test only if they feel it is necessary. For more information about any of these procedures, please visit our website at www.ciccenters.com.

The post A Cardiology Doctor in Phoenix Explains What a Stress Test Is appeared first on Comprehensive Integrated Care.

How do arteries become blocked?

Atherosclerosis or “hardening of the arteries” occurs as the result of a lifetime’s buildup of cholesterol-laden arterial plaque inside the walls of the arteries themselves. As you age, the plaque burden becomes greater, and the arterial walls become inflamed and sticky, and attract other substances like lipoproteins, inflammatory cells, and calcium, creating even more of a buildup. These deposits of plaque cause the arteries, which start out smooth and elastic, to become more narrow and rigid. Naturally, this restricts the proper flow of blood to the heart, starving it of the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function properly.

What are the effects of blocked arteries?

Phoenix cardiologists explain that narrowed coronary arteries can lead to cardiac ischemia, in which the clogged arteries simply cannot deliver enough oxygenated blood to the heart to meet its needs. Eventually narrowed coronary arteries may become so narrow that they develop collateral circulation, in the form of new blood vessels that go around the blockage to pump blood to the heart muscle. But during times of stress, these new vessels may not be able to supply sufficient oxygenated blood to the heart muscle for it to keep pumping properly, and the result may be a heart attack. Ischemia is more pronounced when the heart is under load (meaning being used more heavily, for example when you are climbing stairs or exercising). But CAD can progress to the point that ischemia can occur even when the heart is at rest.

Symptoms of blocked arteries and Coronary Arterial Disease

One of the most common symptoms of CAD-related ischemia is angina, or chest pain, often described as feelings of heaviness, aching, pressure, numbness, or fullness in the chest area. Angina can be severely painful, or so moderate that it is mistaken for indigestion or heartburn. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, heart palpitations (irregular rhythms), faster heartbeat, weakness, dizziness, nausea, or sweating. On the other hand, some people with advanced CAD experience no symptoms at all, and their first indication that something is wrong is when they have a heart attack.

How are CAD and narrowed arteries diagnosed and treated?

Phoenix heart doctors can detect blocked arteries and CAD as the result of a physical examination, combined with specialized diagnostic tests such as electrocardiograms (ECG) and stress tests. Treatment for CAD often involves lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, weight loss, lowering high cholesterol levels and lowered intake of high-cholesterol foods, and adopting a low-fat, low-salt diet. Medications can help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and to help your heart work more efficiently. In severe cases, invasive surgery may be necessary to open severely clogged arteries.

How can I avoid blocked arteries and CAD?

The best way to be proactive about your heart health is to get a complete checkup from your local Phoenix cardiologist. Give us a call at 888-377-7122 and we’ll set up an appointment to determine the state of your heart health, and based on those findings we can make recommendations to keep you healthy.

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