Heart Disease Specialist

Montgomery Family & Urgent Care

Family Medicine located in Mt Sterling, KY

Heart disease is the leading cause of death, but it’s often preventable. Healthy habits and properly managing heart disease risk factors can keep heart disease at bay. At Montgomery Family & Urgent Care in Sterling, Kentucky, family medicine physician Taufik Kassis, MD, and his experienced team offer heart disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to reduce your risk of complications. Call the office to schedule an appointment or book one online today.

859-659-7851

Heart Disease Q&A

What is heart disease?

Heart disease takes in a wide range of conditions that affect your heart. These conditions include coronary artery disease, heart rhythm problems, congenital heart defects, and more. When left untreated, heart disease increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. See the Montgomery Family & Urgent Care team at the first sign of a heart problem.

What are the symptoms of heart disease?

You might not show any heart disease symptoms, at least not right away. If you do experience symptoms, you could notice:

Chest pressure
Chest pain
Chest tightness
Shortness of breath
Numbness, weakness, or coldness in your limbs
Throat, jaw, neck, back, or abdominal pain
Racing heartbeat
Fluttering in your chest
Irregular heartbeats
Dizziness
Lightheadedness
Fainting
Leg, hand, foot, or abdominal swelling
Gray or bluish skin
Fatigue

If you or a family member shows signs of a heart attack or stroke, like shortness of breath, fainting, chest pain, numbness, or paralysis (especially on one side of your face), call 911 or go immediately to the nearest hospital emergency room.

What are the risk factors for heart disease?

Heart disease is common and can happen to anyone. But some things boost your risk of having it, including:

Older age
Physical inactivity
Poor dietary habits
Obesity
Family history of heart disease
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Smoking
Poor dental health
Diabetes
Ongoing stress

Maintaining a healthy weight and adopting healthy habits is the best way to reduce your risk of heart disease.

How does my doctor diagnose heart disease?

Your provider uses several methods to detect heart disease and develop an effective treatment plan. They review your medical history, discuss your symptoms with you, and check your blood pressure, pulse, and other vital signs.

Your provider also completes a physical exam to assess your overall health, along with a blood test and heart-function tests or imaging procedures. Examples include electrocardiograms (EKGs), echocardiograms (echos), Holter monitoring, stress tests, cardiac catheterization, MRIs, or CT scans.

How is heart disease treated?

Your personalized heart disease treatment plan depends on which heart problem you have and how severe it is. Your Montgomery Family Care team could recommend:

Lifestyle changes

Making diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes can help you better prevent or control heart disease and reduce the risk of complications. Don’t smoke, maintain a healthy weight, keep your stress levels low, and properly manage chronic diseases if you have one.

Medications

Your specialist could recommend that you take medications to better control heart disease and reduce the risk of a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure.