It is crucial to keep your heart healthy. Acting as our body’s engine, the heart pumps blood enriched with oxygen to all organs and tissues. Healthy hearts encourage optimal bodily function and guard against crippling and sometimes life-threatening conditions including heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. In Singapore for instance, approximately one in three fatalities are attributed to heart disease or stroke, making heart health an important concern in the country. There are a lot of clinics in Singapore that cater to heart care such as Dr Devinder Singh in Cadence Heart Centre. This article will discuss ways to maintain heart health with the help of a heart specialist in Singapore.
First, let us define what a heart specialist is. Heart specialists, often known as cardiologists or heart doctors, are a group of doctors who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of a wide range of disorders affecting our hearts and blood vessels. To become a heart specialist in Singapore, you must complete years of hard study, substantial training, and pass very tough exams to be Board Certified. Given these high standards, a heart specialist is required to have the knowledge and skills to deliver comprehensive care to patients.
There are a number of health concerns related to the heart and heart specialists in Singapore have different types or subspecialties that can address the different aspects of heart health. Among the types of heart specialists are the following:
- Preventive Cardiologist: The aim of a preventive cardiologist’s practice is to detect and manage heart disease risk factors in order to stop heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events before they happen.
- Heart Failure Specialist: A heart failure specialist specializes in diagnosing, treating, and managing patients with heart failure, which occurs when the heart fails to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs.
- Imaging Cardiologist: An imaging cardiologist specializes in using imaging techniques such as echocardiograms, MRIs, and CT scans to diagnose and evaluate cardiac diseases
- Electrophysiologists: An electrophysiologist specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm abnormalities using treatments such as catheter ablation and installation of pacemaker.
- Interventional Cardiologist: An interventional cardiologist specializes in treating heart diseases with minimally invasive treatments such as angioplasty and stent insertion.
- Pediatric Cardiologist: A pediatric cardiologist focuses on diagnosing and treating cardiac diseases in newborns, children, and adolescents.
These are a few of the common heart problems:
- Coronary Artery Disease
- a condition where plaque or fatty deposits build up in the blood vessels that supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood, narrowing or obstructing them
- cause angina (chest discomfort), dyspnea, myocardial infarction, and other symptoms.
- Heart Muscle Disorder or Cardiomyopathy
- a condition that affects the muscles of the heart that causes structural and functional heart issues like heart failure, arrhythmias, etc.
- Heart Failure
- develops when the heart muscle is unable to pump blood efficiently and regularly, which leaves the body’s tissues with insufficient oxygen
- may cause the tissue to retain fluid
- Angina or Chest Pain
- characterized by pressure or a burning sensation in the chest that might spread to the jaw and neck.
- commonly caused by a heart attack or coronary artery disease
- Congenital Heart Disease
- birth-related structural defects or deformities of the heart’s valves, arteries, or walls
- Heart arrhythmia
- brought on by abnormal electrical impulses that control the heartbeat where the heart may beat excessively quickly, too slowly, or erratically as a result
Heart specialists in Singapore provide a broad variety of treatments encompassing preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative elements due to the numerous subspecialties in heart health care. Here are some of the medical interventions provided by heart specialists in Singapore:
- Preventive screenings: As the name suggests, these are done by heart specialists to help prevent or reduce risk of heart diseases. These screenings are done regularly (or routinely) to increase chances of early detection of heart disease before it worsens. Among the screening tests performed by heart specialists are echocardiography, blood tests, electrocardiography, cholesterol test, and tests for blood glucose.
- Providing Diagnosis: Tests are done by heart specialists to correctly diagnose heart diseases and plan out the best treatment course. Heart specialists use techniques such Heart CT scan, MRI scanning, echocardiography, electrocardiography, Holter monitoring, stress tests, and cardiac catheterization besides blood tests and chest X-rays. In addition to the tests, heart specialists in Singapore will inquire about your personal and family medical history.
- Management of Heart related conditions: Heart specialists prescribe medicine to manage conditions like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and other heart-related conditions
- Perform interventional procedures: Heart Specialist treat conditions such as coronary artery blockages using minimally invasive techniques such as angioplasty and stenting.
- Surgical Procedures: Heart specialists can perform surgical procedures to treat certain complex cases of heart conditions such as the build-up of plaque that affects blood flow in the coronary artery and abnormal rhythms of the heart. Among the surgical procedures performed are coronary artery bypass grafting and valve replacement.
- Heart rehabilitation: Heart specialists can offer rehabilitation programs to help patients rehabilitate from heart surgeries and procedures, enhance heart health, and lower their chance of experiencing complications or events in the future.
It is imperative that you see a cardiologist if you have a pre-existing cardiac problem or are exhibiting any heart-related symptoms. The following are a few typical signs that you should see a heart specialist in Singapore:
- palpitations in the heart
- losing consciousness or fainting
- breathlessness
- continuous pain in the chest
- leg swelling
- significant increase in weight
- a history of heart disease in the family
- additional risk factors include diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol
There a lot heart specialist in Singapore and here are some points to consider in selecting one:
- Verify that the heart specialist you select has the appropriate credentials and is certified by the Ministry of Health of Singapore
- Seek heart specialists with vast experience in managing both general and/or specialized cardiovascular diseases.
- Take into account the medical facility where the heart specialist practices and seek out respectable establishments with cutting-edge facilities, cutting-edge technologies, and a vast network of health professionals.
- To reduce out-of-pocket costs and promote seamless care coordination, select a heart specialist with partnerships to insurance providers.
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Dr Devinder Singh – Medical Director and Senior Consultant
Cadence Heart Centre
Mt. Elizabeth Hospital, 3 Mount Elizabeth #14-13
Mt Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore 228510
Mobile: (65) 8318 9884
Phone: (65) 6369 8789
