Alberto Chavira, MD

Cardiologist | Interventional Cardiology

4/5(10)

334 Via Vera Cruz Suite 257 San Marcos CA, 92078 Show map

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4/5

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About

Alberto Chavira, MD, FACC, is a cardiologist who diagnoses and treats patients at his private practice in San Marcos, California. He has practiced interventional cardiology for over two decades. He is currently focusing his practice on helping patients improve their heart health, boost overall wellness, and prevent heart complications. Dr. Chavira provides a range of effective and personalized treatment methods, such as nutritional counseling, exercise guidance, medications, and neurohormonal therapy. As a cardiologist, he specializes in diagnosing, monitoring, and treating diseases or conditions of the heart and blood vessels and the cardiovascular system. Conditions he treats include hyperlipidemia, hypertension, palpitations, chest pain, congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, echocardiogram, shortness of breath, and angioplasty. Dr. Chavira has an impressive professional journey that spans forty years. Prior to his current endeavors, Dr. Chavira served as medical director of a large network of community clinics in Albuquerque, NM, and El Paso, TX.

Education and Training

Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine 1972

Board Certification

cardiovascular disease

American Board of Internal Medicine

Internal MedicineAmerican Board of Internal MedicineABIM

Provider Details

MaleEnglish

Alberto Chavira, MD

Alberto Chavira, MD's Expert Contributions

My Answers

Heart attack?
This could certainly be a heart attack. 50% of middle-age males have some degree of athero seclerosis (cholesterol plaque in the coronary arteries, hardening of the arteries, cholesterol deposits in the coronary arteries, are some of the lay terms that are used to describe this condition). The symptoms you described are compatible with a heart attack. If I had you on the phone in my office I will tell you to call 911 and get yourself to an emergency room immediately. Of course, it could be a number of other things, fairly numerous to enumerate, so I will not do that. Basically you need a thorough and complete evaluation immediately. And the emergency room life-threatening conditions will be ruled out included in a heart attack, but there are other serious conditions that could cause you about symptoms. And no life or any conditions are discovered, a tentative diagnosis would be made, perhaps tentative treatments would be started, and a more deliberate and complete evaluation would be carried out, either I've been admitted overnight to an oxidation unit, being admitted to the hospital for more prone stay, or just as likely, be sent home. READ MORE
Rapid heart rate
A rapid heart rate may represent an arrhythmia which in a 23-year-old with no known form of heart disease is unlikely to be life-threatening or serious. However there are exceptions. The only way to answer your question is for you to have an evaluation by a cardiologist which would include monitoring of your heart rhythm, and echocardiogram to assess for structural heart disease, and possibly a stress test to try to provoke an arrhythmia. Of course prior to all of this you would have a history and physical examination, as well as basic labs. Sorry I cannot provide you with a more definitive answer. Alberto Chavira, MD Cardiologist READ MORE
Chest pain?
I am an adult cardiologist and cannot speak to your complaints expertly. My advice to you is to call 911 and be transported to an emergency room immediately. Alberto Chavira, MD READ MORE
Can arrhythmia be diagnosed with an ECG?
Some arrhythmiashy may be diagnosed with an EKG. This is possible when the arrhythmia is present continuously. However, many arrhythmias are sporadic. This type of arrhythmia occurs and then resolve spontaneously not to recur for again for days, weeks, or months. These types of arrhythmia are very hard to document with an EKG because the vast majority the time patients with paroxysmal arrhythmias are in a normal rhythm. Dr. Chavira READ MORE
Could increased triglycerides cause a risk of heart attack for me?
Elevated triglycerides can contribute to a person experiencing a heart attack. Other risk factors are high blood pressure, diabetes, high bad cholesterol, low good cholesterol, obesity, unhealthy diet, and sedentary lifestyle, to name the most common risk factors. READ MORE
Is drug therapy for arrhythmia safe?
It depends where the arrhythmia is originating, from the top of the heart chambers (atria) or from the lower chambers (ventricles). Arrhythmias arising from the atria are usually much more benign and treatable than arrhythmias arising from the ventricles. It also depends on the underlying condition of the heart. The more severe the underlying heart condition is, the more dangerous the arrhythmias are. There are several medications that are safe and effective in treating atrial arrhythmias. Ventricular arrhythmias are more serious and harder to treat. Drug therapy in this setting is not as safe. Medications particularly in ventricular arrhythmias may make the arrhythmias worse. It is the responsibility of the prescribing doctor to prescribe those medications that are safe and carry little risk of harm. READ MORE
Can angioplasty cause breathlessness?
The most common cause of breathlessness after an angioplasty is the medications that are given to keep a clot from forming inside the recently deployed stent. A successful angioplasty usually does not cause breathlessness. READ MORE
What is the normal resting heart rate for a 78 year old elderly person?
60 to 100 beats per minute READ MORE
Can a heart murmur be fatal?
There are many, many heart murmurs that can occur. Some murmurs are quite benign and will never affect the patient's health. Other murmurs are quite malignant and have a high incidence of mortality. To answer the question regarding your friend, you would have to know what is causing the murmur. Alberto Chavira, M.D. READ MORE
What is a Holter monitor used for?
A holter monitor monitor is an EKG which is attached to the patient and can record 24 to 48 hours EKG of the patient's heart rhythm. The most common use of a holter monitor is to detect episodic arrhythmias. An arrhythmias is an abnormal heart rhythm, some of which are life-threatening. An EKG records 12 seconds of the heart's rhythm. To diagnose an episodic arrhythmia requires that it be captured on an EKG. This can be very difficult to do as so many arrhythmias are episodic in nature. That is, they may occur once a day, once a week, once a month, once every 3 months, etc. The odds of capturing one of these episodic arrhythmias on a routine 12 second EKG is extremely small. Longer monitoring is required. A 24 to 48 holter monitor provides longer monitoring of the heart rhythm. The following is a short tutorial of what an EKG is. Every time the heart beats, it generates an electrical signal. An EKG is a record of those signals. A normal heart generates a variety of patterns seen on EKG. An abnormal heart generates different electrical patterns, which can be differentiated from a normal pattern. One of the most important findings on the EKG is the recording of the rhythm of the heart. Again, a normal rhythm generates a recognizable pattern. An abnormal heart rhythm generates a different kind of pattern. READ MORE
Does a diabetic patient need to visit a cardiologist for carrying out a complete check-up?
This short answer is yes. Patients who have had diabetes for a number of years with experience the same frequency of cardiovascular complications (heart attacks, heart failure) as patients who have had a heart attack but who do not have diabetes. Diabetes is sometimes referred to as a Coronary Artery Disease equivalent. In my practice, if someone has said diabetes for any number of years, I assume that they have coronary artery disease and I treat them as such. READ MORE
How can my dad prevent another heart attack?
Preventing another heart attack is multi-factorial. The first step is to control what are called risk factors for having a heart attack. The most common risk factors are diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and smoking. Obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and an unhealthy diet are 3 common risk factors that are referred to as lifestyle risk factors. Addressing these risk factors requires the patient to begin to live a healthier lifestyle. Other risk factors are obstructive sleep apnea, depression, and inadequate sleep. And then there are the unknown risk factors.This is when a patient has a heart attack and has no known risk factors and lives a healthy lifestyle. READ MORE
What are the symptoms of a weak heart?
A weak heart can lead to what is called heart failure. This means that the heart is not able to circulate enough blood for the body's needs. One of the effects of heart failure is the body starts to retain water The lung are very sensitive to the excessive amount of water . build-up in the lung tissues. The symptoms that can develop from this are many such uh as. 1.Shortness of breath at rest 2 Shortness of breath when you are exerting yourself. 3. Waking up at night very short of breath 4.Unable to sleep without multiple pillows to keep your head elevated. Trying to sleep without those pillows causes shortness of breath 5. Dry cough 6. Swelling of your lower extremities 7.unexplained fatigue Hope this helps. Dr. Alberto Chavira READ MORE

Areas of expertise and specialization

Cardiologyinterventional cardiology angioplastiespacemakersnutritional counselingexercise guidancemedicationsneurohormonal therapyblood workcardiomyopathyspirometrypacemaker checkupsleg venous Doppler

Faculty Titles & Positions

Radio -
Teaching Nurse Practitioners -

Treatments

Obesity
Sleep Apnea
Angina
Heart Disease
Sleep Disorders
Coronary Artery Disease (cad)
Pain
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (osa)
Vascular Disease

Professional Memberships

American College of Cardiology
San Diego County Medical Society

Fellowships

Kaiser Foundation Hospital Cardiovascular Diseases

Internships

University of New Mexico Hospital

Fellowships

Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Cardiovascular Diseases

Professional Society Memberships

American College of Cardiology, San Diego County Medical Society

Articles and Publications

Published

What do you attribute your success to?

Reading everyday and working hard to provide the best care he can for his patients.

Hobbies / Sports

Establishing Clinics for the Under Served Population

Alberto Chavira, MD's Practice location

Dr. Alberto Chavira, MD

334 Via Vera Cruz Suite 257 -
San Marcos, CA 92078

Get Direction

New patients: 760-510-1808

Fax: 760-510-1811

https://www.albertochaviramd.com/provider/alberto-chavira-md

Mon:09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Tue:09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Wed:09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Thu:09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Fri:09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Sat:Closed
Sun:Closed

Alberto Chavira, MD's reviews

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Patient Experience with Dr. Chavira

4.0

Based on 10 reviews

Alberto Chavira, MD has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars based on the reviews from 10 patients. FindaTopDoc has aggregated the experiences from real patients to help give you more insights and information on how to choose the best Cardiologist in your area. These reviews do not reflect a providers level of clinical care, but are a compilation of quality indicators such as bedside manner, wait time, staff friendliness, ease of appointment, and knowledge of conditions and treatments.

Media Releases

Get to know Cardiologist Dr. Alberto Chavira, who serves patients in San Marcos, California.

Dr. Chavira is a board-certified, accomplished cardiologist with more than 40 years of medical experience. 20 of those years he practiced interventional cardiology (treating patients in shock, performing angioplasties, inserting pacemakers, etc.). He now helps men and women improve their heart health, boost overall wellness, and prevent heart complications at his private practice in San Marcos, California.

Fluent in both Spanish and English, Dr. Chavira is known for his friendly bedside manner, caring nature, and prompt service. He is strongly committed to providing exhaustive and comprehensive medical treatments of heart disease before advising the patient to undergo a variety of invasive procedures (angioplasties, ICD’s, ablations, etc.). He offers a range of effective and personalized treatment methods, such as nutritional counseling, exercise guidance, medications, and neurohormonal therapy.

A demonstrator of recognizable success, the doctor is highly experienced in performing blood work, cardiomyopathy, spirometry, pacemaker checkups, leg venous Doppler, and more. He treats an array of heart conditions from arrhythmia to congestive heart failure.

A 1972 graduate of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Chavira initially trained as a primary care physician in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After 8 years of being a primary care physician, he returned to complete his residency in internal medicine at the Texas Tech University Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. He then went on to complete his fellowship in cardiology at Kaiser Sunset Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

Attributing his success to reading everyday and working hard to provide the best care he can for his patients, Dr. Chavira was the medical director of a large network of community clinics, first in Albuquerque, New Mexico, then in El Paso, Texas. It was in this setting that he developed his strong commitment to not only treat diseases, but also to provide preventive care and to help improve patients’ overall health. With this in mind, he established a “Médicos del Pueblo,” a medical corporation to recruit and employ physicians to work in the clinics he supervised.

Among his noteworthy accomplishments, he is board-certified in both internal medicine and cardiovascular disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine, which is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and a member of the San Diego County Medical Society.

Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart, as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and electrophysiology. Cardiologists are doctors who diagnose, assess, and treat patients with diseases and defects of the heart and blood vessels (the cardiovascular system).

When not practicing medicine, Dr. Chavira spends much of his spare time recruiting volunteers and offering his medical expertise to underserved populations. He established MDP Medical Services Inc. to help him accomplish his humanitarian efforts and assist those in need.

Most of all, he enjoys spending time with his grown children and his grandchildren. His principal hobby is reading on many subjects not related to medicine. He also bikes, swims, and works out in the gym as often as possible.