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>> Hi, I'm Jennifer Nickoles,
interim president at Johns Hopkins Baby Medical Center
and pass co-chair of go Red for Women in Baltimore.
Welcome to the red chair series.
I'm joined today by Dr. Joban,
by Vaishnav, Dr. Vaishnav, welcome.
>> Thank you for having me.
>> Tell us a little bit about yourself.
What is your role at Johns Hopkins?
What is your area of expertise?
>> I'm an advanced heart failure and
transplant cardiologist and my area of expertise is in
cardiac amyloidosis and I'm the Director of
the Johns Hopkins comprehensive amyloidosis center.
>> Tell us a little bit more about
cardiac amyloidosis. What is it?
>> Cardiac amyloidosis is a specific type of
heart failure that happens to be
extremely under-recognized and under-diagnosed.
It's caused by protein deposition
which misfold forms amyloid fibrils.
Then these five rules stick to different parts of
the body and in the case of cardiac amyloidosis,
it's sticking to the heart.
>> What are some of the symptoms a patient might experience?
>> Fatigue, having difficulty laying flat at night,
and then also developing swelling in
your legs related to fluid buildup as well.
Cardiac amyloidosis is often preceded by
carpal tunnel syndrome and
specifically bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
>> Are any of these symptoms different
for women than they are for men?
>> Amyloidosis and specifically TTR amyloidosis has
historically been thought to be
extremely male predominant disease.
We are screening for amyloidosis because now we have a way to
diagnose the condition with a non-invasive imaging modality,
women as compared to men
present at an older age with this disease,
and that's also true of
broadly speaking, congestive heart failure.
>> My grandmother passed from congestive heart failure.
>> I'm so sorry.
>> Thank you. What are some of the treatments for CHF?
>> We always start by assessing
what caused someone's congestive heart failure,
heart attack, perhaps a virus,
perhaps a cause related to a hereditary or familial condition.
>> So much about heart health is about prevention.
Patients with CHF, what advice do you have for them?
>> Common risk factors
include hypertension or high blood pressure,
obesity, diabetes, TTR amyloidosis is hereditary.
As a way to advocate for your own health,
learn about your family's health and if you would be
predisposed to any hereditary cardiac condition.
>> Certainly through the pandemic,
we heard a lot about health disparities.
Does this show up in
your practice in the patients that you see and treat?
>> We know that there are certain disparities that
women are subject to within congestive heart failure.
Women are uniquely prone to
developing certain types of
heart failure that men are otherwise not.
>> If I were experiencing symptoms of congestive heart failure,
how would I have that conversation with my doctor?
>> Once you've recognized that you're experiencing heart symptoms,
symptoms have congestive heart failure, of course,
see your Dr. promptly and
describe what you're feeling as well as how long you
may have been experiencing this congestive heart failure
should be promptly evaluated by a cardiologist.
Once you have been confirmed have congestive heart failure,
really quickly finding out if there is
a reversible causes is
another important aspect of treating the disease.
As I mentioned now we have a lot of ways to
allow patients with congestive heart failure to feel better.
>> For patients who are looking for
additional information about these diseases,
where do you recommend they go?
>> The Internet is at our fingertips
and the American Heart Association and organizations
such as this have very key information
for congestive heart failure and
important patient handbooks that I think we
are what I recommend to my patients specifically.
>> What excites you about the future of your field?
>> So much. I fell in love with
heart failure and specifically
cardiac amyloidosis because there have been
so many advancements just in my time in training
diagnosing this condition earlier with novel modalities.
I certainly think we're going to have
more effective treatment options soon.
I think now is the time to be in
heart failure cardiology and I'm so
fortunate to to be in this field.
>> Well, Dr. Vaishnav, thank you so much for being here today.
Thank you for everything you do for our patients,
for the community, and to advance the field of cardiology.
>> Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a pleasure and thank you for all that you do.
>> Thanks. We appreciate you being part of the red chair series.
>> Thank you.