A cardiologist is a medical professional who is specialized in evaluating, diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases, disorders, and medical conditions related to the heart. They treat diseases like atrial fibrillation, atherosclerosis, arrhythmias, and coronary heart disease, etc.
A 5-year medical degree [MBBS] that is recognized by the General Medical Council and a 2-year foundation course of general training are the basic requirements for an individual to be a doctor. However, following are the specialties or extra qualifications required to be a Cardiologist:
No, Cardiologists cannot perform surgeries. They mainly deal with diagnosing heart-related conditions and treat them through therapeutic ways and lifestyle modifications. Cardiovascular surgeons or Cardiothoracic surgeons can perform cardiac related surgeries. However, Cardiologists can perform tests such as cardiac catheterization that requires small skin incisions.
Cardiac diseases include both heart and blood vessel disorders. Following are few of the risk factors for cardiac diseases:
If an individual is experiencing any of the following, then he/she should consult a Cardiologist.
The swelling of feet indicates many organ systems failures like liver failure, kidney failure, heart failure. But the time of onset indicates particular organ failure. The initial onset of swelling from legs then progressing to the body and face with difficulty in breathing most frequently indicates heart failure.
Following are tests performed by cardiologists:
One should consult a Cardiologist twice in a year if he/she is suffering from any of the heart diseases like irregular heartbeats, myocardial fibrillation, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and hypertension, etc. However, a healthy individual should consult a Cardiologist once in a year to check for any underlying heart conditions.