Dr. Maciej Malinski is on the medical staff at Sherman Hospital. He has been kind enough to answer some frequently asked questions related to maintaining a healthy heart. Look for additional articles in our popular Ask the Cardiologist series over the coming weeks.

Q: I was recently diagnosed as having severe atheroma in my aorta and descending coronary artery-what can be done about this? I’ve had 2 TIAs and feel like I’m a walking time bomb. Help! -Colleen

A: What you refer to is atheromatous plaque. Atheroma in the arterial vessel is an accumulation in the artery wall that is made up of various cells and cell debris containing lipids (cholesterol, and another fats), calcium and fibrous tissue. The process forming this pathological structure starts in young children, and all children older than 10 have them. It is an unhealthy condition, but it is present in all older humans.

As we age we develop more atheromatous plaques, and in some people the arteries (in the heart, brain, legs) become severely narrowed, and they become diseased. That is what we call cardiovascular disease (CVD). Depending on which organs are affected it can be called coronary artery disease (heart), TIA/stroke (neck or brain), or peripheral arterial disease (pelvis and legs).

That’s a lot of information to take in, so let’s back up a bit. TIA stands for transient ischemic attack. You can think of it as a mini-stroke in which all the symptoms are the same as a stroke, but they last for less than 24 hours. If the symptoms persist for longer than 24 hours, the TIA officially becomes a stroke.

Sometimes people also have large atheromatous plaques in the largest artery in the body, the aorta. When pieces of this plaque go to peripheral arteries they can ‘plug’ them causing small strokes/TIAs in the brain or kidney damage.

As you now know, we all have these plaques, so to a certain extent we are all loaded with “time bombs,” so to speak. But it turns out that not everybody develops the symptoms, and not at the same age. So far we can’t explain it, but most likely this depends on both our lifestyle and our genes.

The most effective approaches to reduce atheroma progression are:

• reduction in saturated fat ( meat, cheese, milk ) intake
• if indicated, treatment with cholesterol-lowering medications, especially ones known as statins
• aerobic exercise
• normalizing blood glucose levels
• weight loss
• if indicated, aspirin

As you see, help is available. The best option for you, Colleen, is to see your cardiovascular specialist if you’ve already had symptoms, which it sounds like you have. Thanks so much for your question!

-Maciej

Do you have a question for Dr. Malinski? To submit your question, either post it in the comments section below or email luke@shermanhealth.com with the subject line “Question for Dr. Malinski.” For more information on heart health, click here to visit Sherman’s Heart and Vascular Center.

This post is published by Sherman Health to provide general health information. It is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained directly from your physician.

Dr. Maciej Malinski is on the medical staff at Sherman Hospital. He has been kind enough to answer some frequently asked questions related to maintaining a healthy heart. Look for additional heart information from Dr. Malinski in the coming weeks.

Q: What is periodontal disease? Is it related to the gums? Can it affect my heart?

Yes, periodontal disease (P.D.) is essentially a disease of the gums. Periodontitis is an infection of tooth-supporting tissues (gums), which is highly prevalent today. Studies have shown that P.D. is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and several other systemic diseases. Chronic periodontitis is thought to have an important systemic impact.

Periodontitis is associated with increased risk of systemic diseases driven by a persistent low-grade systemic inflammation. Current evidence suggests that periodontitis is associated with an increased likelihood of coronary heart disease (narrowing of the arterial vessels in the heart causing angina or heart attacks), and may influence the severity of diabetes. Intensive periodontal treatment reduces systemic inflammatory markers. Systolic blood pressure improves lipid profiles with subsequent changes in cardiovascular risk when compared to standard therapy.

Health education to encourage better oral health should be considered as part of current healthy lifestyle messages designed to reduce the increasing health burden of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Do you have a question for Dr. Malinski? To submit your question, either post it in the comments section below or email krystin@shermanhealth.com with the subject line “Question for Dr. Malinski.” For more information on heart health, click here to visit Sherman’s Heart and Vascular Center.

This post is published by Sherman Health to provide general health information. It is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained directly from your physician.

A recent article on cnn.com discussed how cholesterol levels affect your risk of heart disease. Basically, your overall cholesterol level should be under 200, but the number can vary depending on factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or a family history of heart disease. For complete details just follow this link. [CNN]

Click here to visit Sherman’s Heart and Vascular Center, where you can find information on why we have performed almost 10 times more open heart procedures than the next 3 nearest hospitals combined.

Over the past few weeks we have brought you professional information about the cardiac specialists at Sherman Health. We will conclude this series with four doctors who either have their main offices at Christy Cardiology, Ltd. or Cardiac & Vascular Specialists (click links for maps).

George W. Christy, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, 1985
Internship/Residency: Emory University School of Medicine
Fellowship: St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital/ Texas Heart Institute
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: February 2002
Main Office: Christy Cardiology, Ltd., 915 Center Street, Suite 2002, Elgin, IL 60120
Office Contact: 708-229-2110

Asim Nisar, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine
Medical School: King Edward Medical College, 1977
Internship/Residency: Sinai Hospital
Fellowship: Jewish Hospital of St. Louis
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: June 1985
Main Office: Cardiac and Vascular Specialists, 915 Center Street, Suite 2001, Elgin, IL 60120
Partners: Muhammad K. Riaz, M.D.; Rajindar Singh, M.D.; Neda Zamani, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-931-4200

Muhammad K. Riaz, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: King Edward Medical College, 1971
Internship/Residency: Cook County Hospital
Fellowship: Loyola Cook County Hospital
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: June 1979
Main Office: Cardiac and Vascular Specialists, 915 Center Street, Suite 2001, Elgin, IL 60120
Partners: Asim Nisar, M.D.; Rajindar Singh, M.D.; Neda Zamani, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-931-4200

Neda Zamani, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: Tehran Medical School, 1996
Internship/Residency: Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Fellowship: Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: July 2007
Main Office: Cardiac and Vascular Specialists, 915 Center Street, Suite 2001, Elgin, IL 60120
Partners: Asim Nisar, M.D.; Muhammad K. Riaz, M.D.; Rajindar Singh, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-931-4200