Blog Archive

If you recognize the signs of atrial fibrillation, you’ll know to seek prompt heart care rather than waiting to see if the symptoms go away. Early treatment makes the difference between enjoying a long, healthy life and facing the risk of a sudden, unexpected stroke. Cardiology specialist Dr. Laura Fernandes...

An upcoming echocardiogram may have you on edge and feeling anxious. While it’s natural to worry about what the result might reveal about your heart, you don’t need to fret about how to prepare for the procedure. Echocardiograms require minimal to no preparation, depending on the type of echocardiogram. Laura...

Have you ever wished your varicose veins could just disappear? Or have you considered seeking treatment but were worried about the downtime? At Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute, we can make them vanish with little to no downtime (depending on the demands of your daily life). How? With safe radiofrequency...

Your chest pain may not be a heart attack, but postponing a checkup is gambling with your health, and possibly your life.  Chest pain is the most common sign of a heart attack, the primary symptom of heart disease, and a sign of other serious health conditions. For all these...

Throbbing varicose veins and leg pain are warning signs that long-distance travel may be dangerous. At a bare minimum, leg pain makes travel extremely uncomfortable. In the worst scenario, you can develop life-threatening vascular complications. Whether or not it’s safe to travel depends on your health, how long you’re traveling,...

It’s estimated that nearly half of adults with hypertension (high blood pressure) are unaware they have the disease. Of those who know, only one in four have it under control. Uncontrolled hypertension puts all of them at risk of developing life-threatening complications. At Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute, we teach...

Varicose veins are a common problem affecting one in three adults, but that doesn’t make them any less embarrassing. Unfortunately, people notice the bluish-purple, twisty, bulging veins, making them a distressing cosmetic concern that motivates many to seek treatment. Your appearance is important, but it’s only one of several reasons...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a significant threat, not only to your daily health and well-being, but also to your life. How serious is it? CAD, the most common type of heart disease, is responsible for one in four deaths and is the top cause of death in the United...

Heart attacks take people by surprise, but they seldom happen out of the blue because the heart problems that cause heart attacks develop slowly over many years. The gradual progression of heart disease gives you the chance to prevent a heart attack.  At Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute, Dr. Laura...

Did you know that high blood pressure (hypertension) causes clogged, hardened arteries (atherosclerosis), coronary artery disease, heart attacks, kidney disease, and strokes? And that’s not a comprehensive list of the serious health problems related to high blood pressure. Lowering your blood pressure is one of the most crucial steps you...

Myocarditis occurs when your heart muscles (myocardium) become inflamed. Your symptoms may appear rapidly or gradually, and they could be mild or severe. Without treatment, myocarditis may cause permanent heart damage. If you need help with myocarditis symptoms, you can depend on receiving compassionate and expert care from Laura Fernandes,...

Chest pain appears in many ways. You may experience a sharp pain, dull ache, or pain spreading into your neck, arms, and upper back. The pain can come on suddenly or gradually, disappear quickly or persist. So how can you tell if chest pain is serious? Sometimes you can’t. But...

You may never need a stress test, but if you do, chances are you won’t need to worry about how often to schedule future stress tests. While some people may need a follow-up stress test, this test is most often done to diagnose the cause of heart-related symptoms. Laura Fernandes,...

Gnarled, bulging varicose veins do much more than ruin the appearance of your legs. Sure, you may experience leg pain and cramping. But even if you don’t have leg discomfort, varicose veins are always the visible sign of an underlying vein disease that can lead to serious health complications. Dr. Laura Fernandes at Woodlands...

Chest pain during exertion is a red flag alerting you to a potentially serious heart condition. While exercise-induced chest pain could be related to your chest muscles or lungs, it’s a classic symptom of a problem with your heart. Seeking an evaluation from Laura Fernandes, MD, FACC, at Woodlands Heart...

If you experience symptoms suggesting a heart problem, you need diagnostic tests that are fast and reliable. Most people expect to have an electrocardiogram (EKG), which shows your heart’s electrical activity. But you may not be familiar with the second crucial diagnostic test: an echocardiogram. At Woodlands Heart and Vascular...

Have you noticed that health care professionals seem a bit, well, obsessed over risk factors? There’s a good reason for their fixation. Risk factors are the key to preventing chronic diseases like coronary artery disease (CAD), a leading cause of death in both women and men. The way to prevent CAD is...

When searching online, you may find articles touting the signs of high blood pressure (hypertension). But don’t let that fool you into thinking you will have symptoms alerting you to this dangerous disease, because you won’t. In honor of May being High Blood Pressure Education Month, we want to be...

If you’re ready (or desperate) to get rid of varicose veins forever, you may wonder about the many possible treatments — and if they really work. So let’s get straight to the bottom line: Yes! Radiofrequency ablation makes your varicose veins disappear. In fact, the treated veins permanently go away,...

Stress tests are one of the most important procedures for evaluating the health of your heart because they show how well your heart works when you exercise.  You may not look forward to walking on a treadmill, (and if you can’t exercise, we can use medications to increase your heart rate),...

Since hypertension (high blood pressure) doesn’t cause symptoms, the only way to know you have the disease is with routine blood pressure screening. Without screening, you can go about your daily life for years, feeling fine, and never knowing you face the dangers of hypertension. Ongoing hypertension leads to serious, life-threatening health...

Considering atrial fibrillation disrupts your heartbeat, you may be surprised to learn that the condition alone isn’t usually life-threatening. But atrial fibrillation causes potentially deadly complications like a stroke. If you have atrial fibrillation, your chances of suffering a stroke are five times higher compared to people who don’t have...

At least one-third of adults don’t get the sleep they need to stay energized and healthy. Though they’re all familiar with sleep-loss symptoms such as irritability, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating, most don’t realize that too little sleep increases their risk for heart disease. If you don’t get enough sleep and you’re worried...

A heart-healthy diet isn’t a short-term plan with limited food options. It’s an eating plan you can follow throughout your lifetime because it includes a wide variety of satisfying, healthy foods. Most importantly, this type of diet prevents heart disease and is an essential part of your treatment plan should...

An echocardiogram is a simple and painless procedure, yet it’s one of the most valuable and essential tests for identifying problems with your heart. At Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute, Dr. Laura Fernandes and Dr. Emmanuel Achu perform in-office echocardiograms, giving them the ability to rapidly diagnose the cause of...

Atrial fibrillation affects 1 in every 3-5 adults, making their heart beat irregularly and significantly increasing their risk of having a stroke. Our experienced cardiologists at Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute prefer to help you prevent atrial fibrillation. But after the condition develops, they provide treatments tailored to meet your unique cardiovascular needs. About atrial fibrillation...

There’s nothing you can do about some risk factors for varicose veins. Three unchangeable factors — being over 40, female, and having a family history of varicose veins — significantly raise your risk. But varicose veins aren’t inevitable. You can still prevent these twisted, bulging veins by learning about and changing...

After surviving a heart attack, most people feel gratitude that they survived. But heart attacks take a major toll on your mental health. As much as you want to hold on to a positive outlook, it’s common to struggle with psychological issues like depression. Our team at Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute has...

The foods you eat directly affect your blood pressure. Some foods can help lower it; others cause high blood pressure (hypertension). Your diet is so critical that it has the power to prevent and treat high blood pressure. In some cases, changing your diet can help you avoid medications. The...

Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease, but there's more to worry about than your overall weight. Where you carry the weight makes a dramatic difference. People with excess belly fat have a much higher risk of developing heart disease compared to those who carry the weight in their...

Recovering from a heart attack does more than restore your health and help you return to the activities you enjoy. A successful recovery also goes a long way toward preventing another heart attack. That's an important goal because one in five people will have a second heart attack within five years of their first...

The worst thing you can do is to accept your family history and genetics as your destiny. You can change the course of your life and prevent heart disease no matter what your family history says.  The team at Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute has helped many patients reclaim their...

Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack and at least two-thirds of them experience chest pain. In addition to being the top sign of a heart attack, chest pain is the primary symptom of cardiovascular conditions. When you have chest pain, the challenge is deciding...

Not long ago, women didn't have as many heart attacks as men. But those days are gone. Women now do have as many heart attacks as men. Compared to men, women are more likely to die in the years after a heart attack. Overall, one in five women die from...

Stress testing provides unique information about the health of your heart. This type of test is currently the only way to learn how well your heart works when it's forced to pump more blood than normal. You may need a stress test when you have symptoms such as chest pain,...

Most people don't seek treatment for varicose veins until they're tired of being embarrassed by the ugly, bulging veins or they start having symptoms like leg pain. But with or without symptoms, varicose veins are always a red flag warning that you could be headed for serious health concerns. Unfortunately,...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease. It also accounts for 42% of heart-related deaths in the United States. Most people can prevent CAD with lifestyle changes. But if you already have the disease, recognizing the symptoms gives you the chance to seek treatment, a...

Most people need to make life adjustments after they develop hypertension (high blood pressure). The reason is simple: Lifestyle changes and medications are the only treatments. Your daily habits have such an impact that lifestyle changes alone may get your blood pressure back to normal. Whether you face big changes...

Chest pain is a frightening experience that sends many people to the emergency room. Nearly half of them learn they don’t have a heart problem. Of those, 30-40% discover that anxiety was the culprit. In short, anxiety and chest pain share a close relationship, but that doesn’t mean you can...

When you experience symptoms that signal a potential heart problem, we need a quick-and-easy way to look at the structures in your heart and see how they’re working. That’s when we turn to an echocardiogram. An echocardiogram provides the invaluable information that Dr. Laura Fernandes at Woodlands Heart and Vascular...

Following five lifestyle habits can lower your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 82%. They can also make you 65% less likely to die from cancer. And choosing to embrace these five healthy habits may extend your life by 12-14 years. Dr. Laura Fernandes at Woodlands Heart and Vascular...

If you have an irregular heartbeat, you’d feel it, right? Not always, and especially not if you have atrial fibrillation, also called AFib. Learning about AFib is the key to preventing the problem or catching it at an early stage, before you end up in the hospital with a stroke....

Relief that you survived your heart attack is followed by waves of thoughts and emotions. You may have questions about your recovery and worry about how to prevent a second heart attack. Sometimes you’ll feel ready to get back to your life, and other times you’ll feel weak, exhausted, and...

Stress tests are one of the most important tools for diagnosing the cause of symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath. Why? Because stress tests allow us to see how well your heart works when it must pump more blood than normal. Then that information gives us the...

Chest pain is the top symptom of a heart attack. If you’re having a heart attack, every minute you wait to seek help increases your risk of permanent heart muscle damage and death. Yet half of all people with chest pain delay going to the hospital for at least four...

Making a lifestyle change is never easy, but it’s worth the effort. For most people with hypertension, diet and exercise have the power to tame their high blood pressure without medication. And even if you need medication, your lifestyle choices are a key part of maintaining normal blood pressure for...

Angina, or chest pain, is often the first symptom of heart disease. It serves as a precursor to a future heart attack and it’s also a sign that you’re currently having a heart attack. Would it surprise you to learn that many people initially ignore angina? That’s because chest pain...

When you have symptoms that suggest a heart problem, an echocardiogram is one of the first diagnostic tests that’s performed. Echocardiograms are safe, they produce immediate images of your heart, and they can be done right in our office at the same time as your exam at Woodlands Heart and...

There’s no doubt that atrial fibrillation increases your risk for stroke, and its impact is substantial. When you have atrial fibrillation, your chances of having a stroke are as much as five times higher compared to people with a healthy heart. At Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute, Dr. Laura Fernandes...

If you’re one of the 35% of adults with varicose veins, chances are you’re embarrassed by the appearance of these bulgy, ugly veins. But you may not expect to face challenges beyond cosmetic issues. Many patients who come to Woodlands Heart and Vascular Institute didn’t anticipate the pain and discomfort...