HJAR Mar/Apr 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2023 57 Nazneen Tata, MD Interventional Cardiologist CHI St. Vincent stroke, is preventable according to theAmeri- can Heart Association. That is made possible by relationships focused on managing risk factors, early detection of symptoms, and preventative care. YOUR PARTNER FOR HEART HEALTH For many patients, routine checkups with a cardiologist can provide a wake-up call for the need to prioritize heart health and limit risk factors for heart disease. It’s too easy to get distracted with the stress of work, school, family, or relationships, but that can often lead to negative consequences for the heart. We all make mistakes, whether it’s our health choices or how we take care of our- selves, but once patients recognize that their physicians are trying to give them quality of life, they’re likely to turn around their lives. They quit smoking, start exercising, see a counselor for stress management, and they start educating other family members and loved ones about symptoms. These kinds of changes don’t happen over- night or just because someone is told to do them. If that were the case, we would all live heart healthy lifestyles today. People make WHEN you sit down with a cardiologist for your regular checkup, you’re likely to hear a lot about the importance of exercise, eating better, losing weight, and other heart healthy lifestyle fundamentals, but one of the most important things you can do to combat car- diovascular disease is what you’re doing right at that moment. Even with a firm commit- ment to a heart healthy lifestyle, those routine checkups with a cardiologist are essential if you want to limit your risk for heart disease. Routines come naturally to some of us. For others, they will always feel like a challenge. A routine visit that helps build a relationship with a primary care physician or cardiologist, though, will allow them to identify issues be- fore they become severe and help improve the quality and length of your life. We see a lot of people sit on symptoms and hope for the best because they’re afraid to come into the hospital or clinic. Whether it’s your health or anything else, having that hindsight where you wish you would have come in sooner is one of the worst things. Even though heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death, as much as 80% of cardio- vascular disease, including heart disease and these kinds of positive, and sometimes dif- ficult, changes in their lives because they’ve grown to trust their cardiologist. BUILDING A HEART HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CARDIOLOGIST Trusting relationships are not built over- night either. They take time to build. Gener- ally speaking, you’re looking at somewhere between six months and 12 months for a regular checkup and as needed in between. Breaking down why we recommend things to patients and helping them understand what is really happening to their bodies is such an important aspect of the relationship. When someone understands what they need to do and why, that’s when we see success. n Nazneen Tata, MD, is an interventional cardiologist with CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute in Hot Springs. Tata completed medical school at Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. She has a fellowship in interventional cardiology fromDartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon,NewHampshire,and a fel- lowship in cardiovascular disease from the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NewYork. “Routine checkups with a cardiologist can provide a wake-up call for the need to prioritize heart health and limit risk factors for heart disease.”