Joyce M. Oen-hsiao, M.D.

You definitely should see your doctor about those symptoms. If the pain is so uncomfortable then you should get it checked out sooner than Monday. Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (Cardiology) Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation Services, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center Director of Cardiac Telemetry, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center, Verdi 3 East

Yes if your heart rate is not too low (meaning less than 50 bpm). Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (Cardiology) Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation Services, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center Director of Cardiac Telemetry, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center, Verdi 3 East

To fix blood pressure without medications, you need to change lifestyle: exercise at least 30 minutes five days a week, avoid salty foods and definitely dont add salt to your food. If high blood pressure runs in your family, just these lifestyle modifications might not be enough, and your doctor may still need to put you on medications. However, the number of medications you take will be affected by what you do, so keep up with the exercising and try not to eat any salt. Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (Cardiology) Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation Services, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center Director of Cardiac Telemetry, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center, Verdi 3 East

Im general when you have high blood pressure you want to avoid drinks with too much caffeine. Drinking 1-2 cups of coffee a day should be the limit. You should avoid energy drinks. Other drinks to limit are the mixed drinks with salt, as too much salt can raise the blood pressure. Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (Cardiology) Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation Services, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center Director of Cardiac Telemetry, Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center, Verdi 3 East

No, wearing a mask will not cause you to have an SVT.

Joyce M. Oen-Hsiao, MD, FACC

The typical discomfort from having a heart blockage is chest pressure in the center of the chest that may radiate to the left upper arm. In addition, you might feel short of breath and get sweaty.

Joyce M. Oen-Hsiao, MD, FACC

Not necessarily. There are some people who “die in their sleep” and some of these causes are from heart attacks.

Yes. He should be able to through his pediatrician.

The hypertension itself is not likely to cause a heart attack, but the stress (both from work and from the high blood pressure) is not good for your heart. You are at risk to have a heart attack from the elevated pressures in your heart. This is different than a heart attack where your artery closes down. So, bottom line, you want to get your blood pressure under control. If you can reduce the stress at work, that would be best, but we all know that is hard to do.

It depends on where your blockages are. If they are at spots that have not been bypassed (meaning before the place where the bypass graft was placed) you may need stents to open them up.