Heart Disease

Preventing and treating heart disease is one of the many health care services at Healthy Steps in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Husna Baksh offers advanced heart disease testing services to help diagnose heart disease in its earliest stages when it’s treatable and reversible. Dr. Baksh also helps patients identify lifestyle and risk factors that need to be addressed to minimize the risk factors of a future heart attack. Using advanced interventions and tools, Dr. Baksh and her team take a proactive approach to heart health and wellness.

Heart Disease Q & A

Although it sounds like a single condition, heart disease (also known as cardiovascular disease) is actually a whole range of diseases that affect the function and health of your heart. Heart problems that fall under this category include:

Coronary artery disease
Irregular heart rhythms
Genetic heart defects

Although the names and specific symptoms differ, heart disease always leads to some type of blockage that impairs blood flow to the heart. When blood flow is impaired, it can cause chest pain, stroke, or heart attack. Even though heart disease is very serious and presents a real health risk, it’s often preventable and treatable.

The most common symptom of coronary artery disease is chest pain (angina). You might feel persistent discomfort, heaviness, burning, or a squeezing sensation in your chest. Other symptoms include:

Shortness of breath
Heart palpitations
Rapid heartbeat
Feeling out of breath
Sweating and dizziness

A heart attack and stroke prevention plan consist of looking at multiple risk factors and many different types of data. Taking a multi-pronged approach helps Dr. Baksh give you a specific prevention and treatment plan that may include prescription medications and lifestyle changes. Healthy Steps offers many advanced testing options to diagnose heart disease:

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (bike stress test) is used to assess heart and lung function in real-time during exercise. This test helps doctors identify abnormal heart symptoms years before symptoms actually occur. It also quantifies your peak exercise capacity which is considered the most important factor when it comes to predicting cardiovascular risks.

Advanced Lipid Testing is another method Dr. Baksh uses to develop patient-specific treatment plans. Determining your cholesterol levels and assessing risk factors at the microvascular level helps her get a more accurate picture of your future risk for heart disease.

Corus Technology is a more recent test used at Healthy Steps to get a score that quantifies your risk factors for obstructive coronary heart disease.

Cardiovascular disease isn’t something that can be cured overnight, but Healthy Steps works with you to make the changes you need to improve your heart health and over time, minimize the risk of heart attack or stroke.