Selected Podcast
Carotid Stenosis
Dr. Sara Honari discusses vascular stenosis.
Featured Speaker:
Sara Honari, MD
Sara Honari, MD completed her undergraduate education at the University of Southern California. She then graduated with high honors from the Ross University School of Medicine. Her education continued at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, where she was awarded Best Intern of the Year during her General Surgery internship. After completing her general surgery residency, she continued on to her vascular surgery fellowship program at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Upon completion, Dr. Honari made the decision to relocate to Bakersfield, CA helping to meet the needs of our local community. Transcription:
Carotid Stenosis
This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth
Bill Klaproth: Carotid artery disease develops slowly and increases your risk of stroke. So can you prevent it? How is it treated and who is at risk? Let's find out with Dr. Sara Honari a vascular surgeon at Dignity Health. Dr. Honari thank you so much for your time. So first off, what exactly is carotid stenosis,
Dr. Sara Honari: Carotid stenosis, credit artery disease, based on the carotid arteries, which are two main arteries that carry the blood from your heart. Up through your neck, to your brain, who typically with age, these arteries can build up. Plaque, mostly made up of fat and cholesterol, and this plot can narrow the inside of the arteries and the plaque can further travel to the brain. If it breaks off causing a stroke.
Host: Are there any symptoms associated with this?
Dr. Sara Honari: So symptoms of carotid artery disease. There are actually no symptoms in the early stages of stroke could be the first sign of this condition. And stroke can typically have warning signs referred to as mini strokes or Tia transient ischemic attacks. So many strokes are symptoms that are usually temporary. These can include weakness or numbness tingling on the side of your body. Also the inability to move part of your body problems with speech or vision or, problems trying to comprehend what others are trying to say.
Host: Wow. So the first symptom may actually be a stroke. So if you do catch this in time, how do you diagnose this?
Dr. Sara Honari: Diagnosis is actually simply done with an ultrasound. We can take a probe with some ultrasound jelly, place it on the neck and be able to evaluate the blood flow through these two arteries, depending on how fast the blood is going. We can kind of decipher if there is some narrowing or stenosis. And if it's significant, then we would follow that up with a CT scan and the CT scan would be able to Determined specifically how much narrowing there is.
Host: And then if someone is diagnosed with carotid stenosis, how do you treat this?
Dr. Sara Honari: Well, depending on the severity of the narrowing, we decide whether the patient would be benefited by having surgery and the surgery consists of actually going into the artery and cleaning it out and then patching it up. If the stenosis or narrowing isn't severe, then we closely follow the patient. Make sure it's not becoming severe.
Host: And then, are there any ways to help prevent this?
Dr. Sara Honari: Yes. Some risk factors You can't change, you can't change your age, your gender, or your family history. However, obesity is a risk factor. So exercise can help. in addition, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol or risk factors. And so controlling your blood pressure, making sure that your diabetes is well controlled and your cholesterol is low. It's very beneficial. And one of the risk factors that's pretty severe is smoking, which can completely be controlled by a patient.
Host: And you mentioned that this may be hereditary. So knowing that can alert you to potentially being at risk for this.
Dr. Sara Honari: Yes. Family history of arthrosclerosis or hardening of the arteries can make you potential for not only carotid stenosis, but stenosis and other arteries of the body as well.
Host: And then lastly, Dr. Honari, is there anything else we should know about carotid stenosis?
Dr. Sara Honari: I think it's beneficial to be screened or be evaluated by your physician. And if there is any family history or high-risk factors to have an ultrasound and see a vascular surgeon.
Host: And that's good advice, Dr. Honari, thank you so much for your time. This has really been informative.
Dr. Sara Honari: Thank you.
Host: That's Dr. Sara Honari. And for more information about this, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
Carotid Stenosis
This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth
Bill Klaproth: Carotid artery disease develops slowly and increases your risk of stroke. So can you prevent it? How is it treated and who is at risk? Let's find out with Dr. Sara Honari a vascular surgeon at Dignity Health. Dr. Honari thank you so much for your time. So first off, what exactly is carotid stenosis,
Dr. Sara Honari: Carotid stenosis, credit artery disease, based on the carotid arteries, which are two main arteries that carry the blood from your heart. Up through your neck, to your brain, who typically with age, these arteries can build up. Plaque, mostly made up of fat and cholesterol, and this plot can narrow the inside of the arteries and the plaque can further travel to the brain. If it breaks off causing a stroke.
Host: Are there any symptoms associated with this?
Dr. Sara Honari: So symptoms of carotid artery disease. There are actually no symptoms in the early stages of stroke could be the first sign of this condition. And stroke can typically have warning signs referred to as mini strokes or Tia transient ischemic attacks. So many strokes are symptoms that are usually temporary. These can include weakness or numbness tingling on the side of your body. Also the inability to move part of your body problems with speech or vision or, problems trying to comprehend what others are trying to say.
Host: Wow. So the first symptom may actually be a stroke. So if you do catch this in time, how do you diagnose this?
Dr. Sara Honari: Diagnosis is actually simply done with an ultrasound. We can take a probe with some ultrasound jelly, place it on the neck and be able to evaluate the blood flow through these two arteries, depending on how fast the blood is going. We can kind of decipher if there is some narrowing or stenosis. And if it's significant, then we would follow that up with a CT scan and the CT scan would be able to Determined specifically how much narrowing there is.
Host: And then if someone is diagnosed with carotid stenosis, how do you treat this?
Dr. Sara Honari: Well, depending on the severity of the narrowing, we decide whether the patient would be benefited by having surgery and the surgery consists of actually going into the artery and cleaning it out and then patching it up. If the stenosis or narrowing isn't severe, then we closely follow the patient. Make sure it's not becoming severe.
Host: And then, are there any ways to help prevent this?
Dr. Sara Honari: Yes. Some risk factors You can't change, you can't change your age, your gender, or your family history. However, obesity is a risk factor. So exercise can help. in addition, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol or risk factors. And so controlling your blood pressure, making sure that your diabetes is well controlled and your cholesterol is low. It's very beneficial. And one of the risk factors that's pretty severe is smoking, which can completely be controlled by a patient.
Host: And you mentioned that this may be hereditary. So knowing that can alert you to potentially being at risk for this.
Dr. Sara Honari: Yes. Family history of arthrosclerosis or hardening of the arteries can make you potential for not only carotid stenosis, but stenosis and other arteries of the body as well.
Host: And then lastly, Dr. Honari, is there anything else we should know about carotid stenosis?
Dr. Sara Honari: I think it's beneficial to be screened or be evaluated by your physician. And if there is any family history or high-risk factors to have an ultrasound and see a vascular surgeon.
Host: And that's good advice, Dr. Honari, thank you so much for your time. This has really been informative.
Dr. Sara Honari: Thank you.
Host: That's Dr. Sara Honari. And for more information about this, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.