Steven H. Kunkes M.D.

What does an irregular heartbeat mean?An irregular heartbeat is also medically termed as arrhythmia or dysrhythmia. An irregular heartbeat happens when the heart’s electrical signals that coordinate with your heartbeat are not properly functioning. When you have an arrhythmia, your heart may:...

What is High Blood Pressure?High blood pressure is a condition whereby an individual’s blood vessels become strained due to high pressure by the blood flowing in them. It’s a dangerous condition not because it has any negative side-effects on its own but because of the potential health problems...

What is a persistent cough?It can be annoying to have a cough that lasts for more than a couple of weeks. A cough is considered chronic or persistent if it does not go away after four weeks in children and eight weeks in adults. However, most persistent coughs are due to colds, flu, infection, or...

Surgical treatment is the most appropriate option for inborn heart defects, which is not something you can put off.What is a congenital heart defect (CHD)?It is combined damage of the heart muscle in which there are structural deformations and anomalies in the inner chamber partitions, as well as...

Can My Lifestyle Influence the Risk for Congestive Heart Failure?Heart Failure means that due to some reasons, the heart is unable to pump blood to the body in the normal range. In most of the cases, heart failure is caused by reasons like high blood pressure, impaired heart muscles, heart attack,...

A recent CDC report shows that many of the foods used in restaurants and foods sold in grocery stores have the potential to increase sodium levels in the body when consumed. Breads and rolls were noted to be the most important culprits among the variety of foods that do this. Some foods that...