What is Cardiology?
Cardiology is branch of internal medicine and speciality practice to treat disorders of the heart. Broad categories of disorders in the field of cardiology include :
- Cardiac arrest
- Disorders of the myocardium, or the muscle of the heart, like cardiomyopathy
- Disorders of the pericardium, or the outer lining of the heart, like pericarditis
- Disorders of the heart valves
- Congenital heart defects
- Diseases of the blood vessels, or vascular diseases, like aneurysm, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins, vasculitis
The training required to become a cardiologist involves more than 10 years of studying internal medicine and specialized programs.
What is the role of a Cardiologist?
A cardiologist assess the patient’s symptoms and diagnoses cardiovascular disorders using blood tests, cardiac stress tests, echocardiography or electrocardiography or computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging techniques.
Some of the strategies used by cardiologists to combat cardiovascular diseases include coronary artery bypass surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting.
