Nagging Chest Pain? Don’t Ignore It!

Kenneth Zelnick, MD, FACC
Interventional Cardiology
Broward General Medical Center

Are you at risk for heart disease? Why not find out? A few simple tests can save your life. Believe me, I know.  In my role as an interventional cardiologist, my first encounter with patients is often when a nagging little pain in the chest leads to a completely closed vessel and a heart attack.  Unfortunately this can occur in men and women and at an age — much younger then you might think.  

Just this month the call came in for a heart attack on a 37-year-old man. He had none of the traditional risk factors and like many others was shocked when I told him he was in the midst of a heart attack.  Fortunately, he did get to the hospital in time and we were able to restore blood flow to his heart with minimal damage.  

In reality the time to intervene is before this happens and a few simple measures can help prevent this dreaded disease.  Heart disease kills nearly one million Americans each year, more than cancer, trauma, pneumonia, influenza and AIDS combined.  Yet, a brief physical by a quality cardiologist and a simple EKG can detect most serious conditions or at least signal a need for further tests.  

Heart disease is treatable if detected early and the best time to look is before anything happens.  This is a good time to not be shy and take control of your own heart health.  Make an appointment at Broward Health this month (bring your family and friends as well) and take advantage of the free screenings. The screenings include: blood pressure test, BMI (body mass index) and comprehensive cholesterol check (triglycerides, LDL and HDL). Visit Browardheartbeat.com to schedule your appointment.