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Cardiology

Whether you're looking for help managing an ongoing heart condition or advice about how to address risk factors for heart disease, you don't have to travel far from home to get expert care.

The cardiologists at the CMH-OHSU Health Cardiology Clinic have the skill and experience to treat a wide range of heart issues, including coronary artery disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and abnormal heart rhythms.

Our collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) ensures that you have access to some of the latest and most advanced heart care, right here in Astoria.

Reasons to choose the CMH-OHSU Health Cardiology Clinic

Here are a few things that make our cardiology services stand out:

An experienced cardiology team. Our team includes board-certified cardiologists who are supported by skilled nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Education and support. Along with treating heart disease, we focus on education and lifestyle changes to help protect your heart health and keep any problems from getting worse.

We also have a WomenHeart of North Oregon Coast support group that meets monthly to offer support and education to women living with or at risk of heart disease.

Extensive cardiology services, including:

  • Cardiology consultations and heart disease risk assessments.
  • Medication management.
  • Pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device monitoring.
  • Cardioversion to restore a normal heartbeat if you have atrial fibrillation or another type of arrhythmia.
  • An anticoagulation clinic. The clinic offers routine testing if you've been prescribed medicine to prevent blood clots.
  • Heart failure treatment. The team at our heart failure clinic will help you understand the disease and help you live your best life.
  • Cardiac rehabilitation. Our cardiac rehab specialists help people with heart failure or those who've had a cardiac event recover strength and learn ways to help prevent future heart problems.
  • State-of-the-art heart tests. We perform many diagnostic tests to evaluate heart disease symptoms.
Could you have an abnormal heart rhythm without knowing it?

Arrhythmias: true or false?

At some point in life, many adults have an abnormal heart rhythm, also called an arrhythmia. Their hearts may beat too slowly—fewer than 60 beats per minute. Or they may beat too quickly—more than 100 beats per minute. Do you know how an arrhythmia might affect you?

True or false: If you had an arrhythmia, you'd feel it.

False. Not necessarily. When it's very brief, an arrhythmia may have almost no symptoms. You may never know it happened. On the other hand, it can make you feel as though your heart is skipping a beat or racing. You could also faint or feel light-headed.

True or false: Many arrhythmias are harmless and don't need treatment.

True. Arrhythmias can be harmless. But some are serious—even life-threatening. Fortunately, they can often be successfully treated.

Treatments include:

  • Lifestyle changes.
  • Medications.
  • A pacemaker or implanted defibrillator.
  • A catheter-based procedure called cardiac ablation.
  • Surgery.

True or false: An abnormal heart rhythm can cause a stroke.

True. Atrial fibrillation (AF)—the most common kind of arrhythmia—dramatically raises stroke risk. People who have AF are up to five times more likely to have a stroke than those who don't have it. Signs of AF include a racing, fluttering or pounding feeling in the heart. Tell your doctor right away if you experience any of these symptoms.

True or false: An arrhythmia is a structural problem, so a heart-healthy diet won't prevent it.

False. Heart disease causes many arrhythmias. So it's important to care for your heart with a healthy diet. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Also include fat-free or low-fat dairy products and lean meats, poultry without skin, fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, nuts, seeds, beans and peas. Go easy on salt, added sugars and solid fats.

True or false: Caffeine might make your heart beat irregularly.

True. Some people have heart palpitations when they drink coffee or eat chocolate. Some over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements can also make your heart beat irregularly. So always check with your doctor before taking a new medicine or supplement.

How's your heart health? It matters at any age. You can take stock of your heart disease risk and make healthy changes to reduce it.

Learn how to protect your heart

Sources: American Heart Association; Heart Rhythm Society

Reviewed 2/1/2023

Sources

A connection with the experts at OHSU. Should you need a procedure or other service not provided at CMH, our long-standing partnership with OHSU allows you to seamlessly get that higher level of heart care. After your procedure, your CMH cardiologist can continue to see you for your regular heart care here in Astoria. Some of the services we can help connect you with at OHSU include angiograms; treatment for arrhythmias, heart attacks and advanced heart failure; mechanical heart pumps; open-heart surgery; and heart transplants.

Respiratory therapy and lung function tests

Lung function tests (also known as pulmonary function tests) can help show if you have a lung disease, how advanced the disease is, and how well treatments are working.

This testing is provided by our highly trained respiratory therapy team in the CMH-OHSU Health Cardiology Clinic.

CMH's respiratory therapists work on an outpatient basis, as well as provide care to those patients in the Emergency Department and all hospital units 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All therapists are certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Neonatal Resuscitation.

In addition to lung function tests, the respiratory therapy team also provides cardiac testing services.

Fax a referral to respiratory therapy at 503.338.7539. Call 503.338.7513 to schedule a pulmonary function test.

Make an appointment with a heart doctor

Most people are referred to our cardiology clinic by their primary care providers. But you do not need a referral to see one of our cardiologists. If you are looking for a cardiologist to help you care for your heart, give us a call at 503.338.4087.