Sherman Hospital Healthy Heart Mobile Details

The Sherman Heart Mobile is at a new location once a month in Bartlett! As a reminder, our healthy heart mobile performs heart and vascular screenings especially beneficial for people over 55 or with risk factors for heart disease. Screenings are also available for blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, osteoporosis and more.

Call 847-429-6500 to register. For essential information including dates and locations (Algonquin, Elgin, South Elgin and Bartlett), just click here! Also, click here to visit Sherman’s Heart and Vascular Center.

Cardiac Bios: Chicago Cardiology and Valley Medical & Cardiac Clinic

Over the past few weeks we have brought you professional information about the cardiac specialists at Sherman Health. We will continue this series with four doctors who either have their main offices at Chicago Cardiology or Valley Medical & Cardiac Clinic (click links for maps).

Parag Doshi, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: Baroda Medical College, 1988
Internship/Residency: Christ Hospital and Medical Center
Fellowships: Christ Hospital and Medical Center and Indiana Heart Institute
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: December 2006
Main Office: Chicago Cardiology, 915 Center Street, Suite 2002, Elgin, IL 60120
Office Contact: 847-717-0600

Syed A. Hasan, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine, 1999
Internship/Residency: McGaw Medical Center
Fellowship: University of Illinois at Chicago
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: August 2007
Main Office: Valley Medical and Cardiac Clinic, 87 North Airlite, Suite 100, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Richard B. Park, M.D.; Timothy Wang, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-888-2320

Richard B. Park, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, 1989
Internship/Residency: Loyola Medical Center
Fellowship: University of Wisconsin
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: July 1995
Main Office: Valley Medical and Cardiac Clinic, 87 North Airlite, Suite 100, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Syed A. Hasan, M.D.; Timothy Wang, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-888-2320

Timothy Wang, M.D.
Specialties: Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: University of Singapore, 1969
Internship: Penang General Hospital
Residency: Carncy Hospital
Fellowship: University of Chicago
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: June 1979
Main Office: Valley Medical and Cardiac Clinic, 87 North Airlite, Suite 100, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Syed A. Hasan, M.D.; Richard B. Park, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-888-2320

Cardiac Bios: Advanced Cardiology Consultants

Over the past few weeks we have brought you professional information about the cardiac specialists at Sherman Health. We will continue this series with the four doctors who have their main offices at Advanced Cardiology Consultants, Ltd. (click here for a map)

Maciej K. Malinski, M.D.

Specialties: Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: University of Warsaw, 1993
Internship/Residency: University of Massachusetts School of Medicine
Fellowships: Harvard Medical School and St. Vincent’s Hospital
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: August 2005
Main Office: Advanced Cardiology Consultants, Ltd., 1710 N Randall Road, Suite 340, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Azmey A. Matarieh, M.D.; Solomon I. Secemsky, M.D.; Raminder P. Singh, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-695-3168

Azmey A. Matarieh, M.D.

Specialties: Cardiology, Echocardiography, Nuclear Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine, 2001
Internship/Residency: Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Fellowship: Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: July 2007
Main Office: Advanced Cardiology Consultants, Ltd., 1710 N Randall Road, Suite 340, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Maciej K. Malinski, M.D.; Solomon I. Secemsky, M.D.; Raminder P. Singh, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-695-3168

Solomon I. Secemsky, M.D.

Specialties: Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: Chicago Medical School, 1976
Internship/Residency: George Washington University Hospital
Fellowship: Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: June 1981
Main Office: Advanced Cardiology Consultants, Ltd., 1710 N Randall Road, Suite 340, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Maciej K. Malinski, M.D.; Azmey A. Matarieh, M.D.; Raminder P. Singh, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-695-3168

Raminder P. Singh, M.D.

Specialties: Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Internal Medicine
Medical School: University College of Medical Sciences, 1984
Internship: Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center
Fellowships: State University of New York and Indiana Heart Institute
Joined Medical Staff at Sherman Hospital: July 1999
Main Office: Advanced Cardiology Consultants, Ltd., 1710 N Randall Road, Suite 340, Elgin, IL 60123
Partners: Maciej K. Malinski, M.D.; Azmey A. Matarieh, M.D.; Solomon I. Secemsky, M.D.
Office Contact: 847-695-3168

To visit Sherman Health’s Heart and Vascular Center, click here. Look for additional Cardiac Bios in the coming weeks!

Ask the Cardiologist: Can Heart Failure Be Cured?

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: My great-aunt was just diagnosed with Heart Failure. Is this something that can be cured with medicine or surgery?

A: Heart Failure (HF) is a term describing failure or decreased ability of the heart to perform its function as a pump. When the heart-pump fails there is not enough oxygen going to the tissues, which causes shortness of breath and fatigue. The blood is not circulated effectively, and as a result there is swelling, usually described as leg edema or fluid in the lungs causing shortness of breath.

In western society the most common cause of HF is coronary artery disease (CAD – narrowing of the vessels of the heart) and hypertension, which causes damage of the heart muscle. The other causes include disease of the heart valves, damage of the heart from alcohol or drugs, and disease of the heart muscle from unknown causes. I assume your great-aunt is probably person of age, so CAD, hypertension, or valvular disease causes her HF.

An initial approach would include therapy with medications to improve symptoms. Some tests would also be conducted to diagnose the cause of her HF. Reduction in salt intake, taking medications to improve secretion of fluid (diuretics known as “water pills” that increase amount of urine), and control of blood pressure will improve symptoms and survival.

Ultrasound of the heart in most cases will give a clue as to the cause of HF. Very often the patient will also have a stress test. If the cause of HF is coronary artery disease or valvular disease, the treatment could include a coronary angiogram (invasive test to take pictures of the heart), stenting, or open-heart surgery. If the cause is hypertension or the other disease mentioned above the treatment most likely will be medical therapy. In elderly patients, usually we try medical therapy first.

To answer your question, no, there is not a cure for heart failure. I always tell my patients that this is a chronic disease and there is no cure, but there are treatments that improve symptoms and survival. Patients who are compliant with therapy nowadays do fairly well, and we are able to treat patients for many years so they can live a comfortable life. To ensure compliance with therapy, and to help patients understand the disease, patients are enrolled in HF programs.

At Sherman Hospital we have a very successful Heart Failure Recovery Center. I enroll most of my patients with HF to this clinic, and results are excellent. Patients with better monitoring are less frequently admitted to the hospital because we are able to treat them before they develop disabling symptoms. I would encourage you to sign up your great-aunt to such a program in the area she lives. You can also visit AmericanHeart.org or the Sherman Library website to find more about living with HF.

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.