Category Archives: Health

What Is an Echocardiogram? | Fullerton, CA

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As we continue to age, we will find that health problems will begin to arise and need to be addressed by a doctor. If these issues are mainly in the chest area, additional tests may be conducted. One of these tests is an Echocardiogram. An Echocardiogram (ECHO) is a special non-invasive office ultrasound examination that determines the health of the heart by evaluating both its anatomy and function.

Before you get nervous, please understand not everyone will need a test like this. Who should have an Echocardiogram? Individuals of any age who have any of the following should expect to have one of these tests done in their lifetime:

  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • Heart murmur or other abnormal heart examination finding
  • Mitral valve prolapse (MVP)
  • Irregular heart rhythm or palpitations
  • Chest pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Ankle swelling
  • Dizziness or fainting
  • History of diet pill use
  • History of congenital heart defects

Like we’ve stated before, this is a non-invasive test, but it will be a test that could possibly save your life. As for what results you can expect, an Echocardiogram of your heart will measure the following:

  • The four heart chambers that receive circulating blood (atriums) and then pump the blood (ventricles) to the lungs and body. Both the size of the chambers and the thickness of the chamber walls are measured. (Note: High blood pressure can cause wall thickening and subsequent weakening of the heart muscle.)
  • Pumping function of the heart muscle, while in motion.
  • Heart valve structure including prolapse (MVP) or leaking.
  • Pressure within the heart and lungs in patients with a history of diet pill use.
  • Detects blood clots, masses or infections of the heart.
  • Detects inflammation or fluid accumulation around the heart.

If you would like more information about echocardiograms, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Breast Cancer Awareness: Checking Your Breasts | Fullerton, CA

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Breast cancer awareness isn’t something that should only be once a year because it is something that affects us year-round. And while we love to wear our pink stuff, making sure you are healthy is the best kind of support you can give. We can do this by regularly checking our breasts in between yearly mammogram appointments. Here is a quick breakdown:

Step 1. Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips, looking for unusual size, shape, and color, visible distortion or swelling. Make sure to schedule a doctor’s appointment if you notice anything odd.

Step 2. Raise your arms and look for the same changes.

Step 3. While you’re at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples (this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood).

Step 4. Feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with using your finger pads, keeping them flat and together. Use a circular motion, about the size of a quarter.

Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side — from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

Step 5. Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower.

If you find that you may be feeling something strange in any of these areas, make an appointment for a medical exam.

If you would like more information about self breast exams, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Celebrating World Menopause Day | Fullerton, CA

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Menopause is a fact of life that we all have to face at some point in our lives, but if we are honest with ourselves, how much do we really know about it? Because we aren’t exactly knowledgeable about this stage of life we will all experience, we celebrate World Menopause Day.

World Menopause Day is held every year on the 18th October. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing. The theme for World Menopause Day 2021 is bone health.

Osteoporosis and associated fractures present a major challenge in improving global health outcomes. Key clinical aspects are the definition of osteoporosis and associated fractures, fracture risk prediction, stratification of risk of fracture, intervention thresholds and the most appropriate intervention based on integration of aforementioned. Correct understanding and application of these concepts are essential to stem the increasing tide of fragility fractures associated with an aging population. The role of muscle strength and function, sarcopenia, and the newly emerging concept of osteosarcopenia in maintaining bone health are discussed in detail.

The Board of the International Menopause Society (IMS) has decided to focus on bone health for World Menopause Day 2021. Osteoporosis and associated fractures are the most common chronic metabolic bone disease and represent a major global health problem, contributing to 8.9 million fractures worldwide on an annual basis. Worldwide, there are marked variations in the rates of hip fracture and major osteoporotic fractures. Fractures associated with osteoporosis cause not only increased morbidity but also an increased mortality.

If you would like more information about menopause, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Change of Seasons, Change of Self | Fullerton, CA

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We all want to live our lives in the best way possible. Unfortunately, there are things we could always improve in order to enrich our lives even more. We are our own worst critics. We are all guilty of having many areas of our lives that we would like to improve upon, and all improvement requires hard work and motivation. And for many of us, the changing seasons inspire us to try out a few changes for the better. One can never tell why – perhaps it’s the cooler weather.

September marks National Self-Improvement Month, a month to take the time to improve aspects that may be holding you back from being a happier and healthy version of yourself. Try these tips:

Get physical. Physical activity is very important to your overall health. Focus on whether you want to lose weight, boost your energy level, or just cut your salt intake, and set a goal to do so. If you have a certain fitness goal, create a realistic plan that you’ll be able to stick to for the long haul.

Eat better. When you eat healthy food, you’re getting the nutrition your body requires. Evaluate your diet and see if there are any eating habits that need improvement. A few small changes in your diet can affect your health and the way you feel about yourself.

Take time to de-stress. Stress can take a major toll on your health and mentality. Be sure that you take some time to yourself by scheduling a designated day each month to take time to do something that you enjoy.

If you would like more information about self-improvement tips, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Do You Experience Panic or Anxiety Attacks? | Fullerton, CA

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A panic attack (often called an anxiety attack) is a sudden surge of overwhelming fear that comes without warning and without any obvious reason. And for many of us, it can be a very scary thing if you aren’t aware of how your body will handle panic. It is far more intense than the feeling of being ‘stressed out’ that most people experience. Symptoms of a panic attack include:

  • Racing heartbeat
  • Difficulty breathing, feeling as though you ‘can’t get enough air’
  • Terror that is almost paralyzing
  • Dizziness, lightheadedness or nausea
  • Trembling, sweating, shaking
  • Choking, chest pains
  • Hot flashes, or sudden chills
  • Tingling in fingers or toes (‘pins and needles’)
  • Fear that you’re going to go crazy or are about to die

During a panic attack, these symptoms seem to rise from out of nowhere. They occur in seemingly harmless situations – they can even happen while you are asleep. In addition to the above symptoms, a panic attack is marked by the following conditions:

  • Attack occurs suddenly, without warning and without any way to stop it.
  • Level of fear is way out of proportion to the actual situation; often, in fact, it’s completely unrelated.
  • Attack passes in a few minutes; the body cannot sustain the ‘fight or flight’ response for longer than that. However, repeated attacks can continue to recur for hours.

Panic disorder is frightening because of the panic attacks associated with it, and also because it often leads to other complications such as phobias, depression, substance abuse, medical complications, even suicide. Its effects can range from mild work or social impairment to a total inability to face the outside world. Anxiety and panic attacks can be treated with therapy and medication.

If you would like more information about panic attacks, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Five Best Exercise Programs for Your Health* | Fullerton, CA

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If you’re not an athlete or serious exerciser — and you just want to work out for your health or to fit in your clothes better — the gym scene can be intimidating. Just having to walk by treadmills, stationary bikes, and weight machines can be enough to make you head straight back home to the couch.

Yet some of the best physical activities for your body don’t require the gym or ask you to get fit enough to run a marathon. These “workouts” can do wonders for your health. They’ll help keep your weight under control, improve your balance and range of motion, strengthen your bones, protect your joints, prevent bladder control problems, and even ward off memory loss. No matter your age or fitness level, these activities can help you get in shape and lower your risk for disease:

Swimming. You might call swimming the perfect workout. The buoyancy of the water supports your body and takes the strain off painful joints so you can move them more fluidly. Swimming is good for individuals with arthritis because it’s less weight-bearing. Research has found that swimming can also improve your mental state and put you in a better mood.

Water aerobics is another option. These classes help you burn calories and tone up. Most YMCA’s have water aerobics programs.

Tai chi. This Chinese martial art that combines movement and relaxation is good for both body and mind. In fact, it’s been called “meditation in motion.” Tai chi is made up of a series of graceful movements, one transitioning smoothly into the next. Because the classes are offered at various levels, tai chi is accessible — and valuable — for people of all ages and fitness levels. It’s particularly good for older people because balance is an important component of fitness, and balance is something we lose as we get older.

Take a class to help you get started and learn the proper form. You can find tai chi programs at your local YMCA, health club, community center, or senior center.

Strength training. If you believe that strength training is a macho, brawny activity, think again. Lifting light weights won’t bulk up your muscles, but it will keep them strong. If you don’t use muscles, they will lose their strength over time –a condition called sarcopenia. Muscle also helps burn calories. The more muscle volume you have, the more calories you burn, so it’s easier to maintain your weight. Similar to other exercise, strength training may also help preserve brain function in later years.

Before starting a weight training program, be sure to learn the proper form. Start light, with just one or two pounds. You should be able to lift the weights 10 times with ease. After a couple of weeks, increase that by a pound or two. If you can easily lift the weights through the entire range of motion more than 12 times, move up to slightly heavier weight.

Walking. Walking is simple, yet powerful. It can help you stay trim, improve cholesterol levels, strengthen bones, keep blood pressure in check, lift your mood, and lower your risk for a number of diseases (diabetes and heart disease, for example). A number of studies have shown that walking and other physical activities can even improve memory and resist age-related memory loss.

All you need is a well-fitting and supportive pair of shoes. Start with walking for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Over time, you can start to walk farther and faster, until you’re walking for 30 to 60 minutes on most days of the week.

Kegel exercises. These exercises won’t help you look better, but they do something just as important — strengthen the pelvic floor muscles that support the bladder. Strong pelvic floor muscles can go a long way toward preventing incontinence. While many women are familiar with Kegels, these exercises can benefit men too.

To do a Kegel exercise correctly, squeeze the muscles you would use to prevent yourself from passing urine or gas. Hold the contraction for two or three seconds, then release. Make sure to completely relax your pelvic floor muscles after the contraction. Repeat 10 times. Try to do four to five sets a day.

Many of the things we do for fun (and work) count as exercise. Raking the yard counts as physical activity. So does ballroom dancing and playing with your kids or grandkids. As long as you’re doing some form of aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, and you include two days of strength training a week, you can consider yourself an “active” person.

*For additional information on this and other questions about getting started on a healthy exercise program, buy Starting to Exercise, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

If you would like more information about reducing healthy exercise programs, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Maintaining Your Blood Pressure During Hot Summer Months | Fullerton, CA

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As the weather gets warmer, there is a bigger need to take care of our health. Drink plenty of water, eat light healthy meals and lots of summer fun in the sun are definitely in order and necessary if we are going to keep our systems in working order enduring these extremely dangerous heatwaves. Because heart disease is such a common disease for Americans, it is important that we all try to do our best to maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep our blood pumping. Here are just a few of the ways you can keep your heart healthy:

Watch your weight. Blood pressure typically increases as weight increases. Losing just 10 pounds can reduce your blood pressure immensely.

Exercise regularly. Regular physical activity can help you lower your blood pressure. Consistency is key, as your blood pressure can increase again. The best kind of exercise to lower blood pressure include, walking, jogging, swimming, cycling and dancing.

Maintain a healthy diet. Consuming a diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy can help lower your blood pressure. Be sure to avoid foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol, as these foods can increase blood pressure.

Careful with the salt. Even just a small reduction in your sodium intake can reduce blood pressure. To decrease your sodium intake, you can read food labels, eat fewer processed foods and not add salt to meals.

Reduce your stress. To reduce your stress levels, you should take some time to think about what is causing your stress in the first place. Once you figure out what is causing your stress, think about how you can eliminate or reduce it.

If you would like more information about reducing heart issues during the summer, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

Celebrating American Stroke Month | Fullerton, CA

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Heart Health

May is the month we celebrate American Stroke Month, a time to raise stroke awareness. Strokes do not discriminate; they can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. According to the American Stroke Association, someone has a stroke every 40 seconds, and that’s in the United States alone.

We shouldn’t stand idly by while this disease ruins and takes the lives of our loved ones, especially when it is preventable, treatable and beatable. The following list is a few things that everyone should know about stroke prevention:

Not just an age thing. Stroke risk does, in fact, increase with age. However, young adults, children and even unborn babies can suffer from a stroke.

Keep calm. High blood pressure is a stroke’s first target. Keeping your blood pressure under control reduces your risk and prevent stroke.

It’s treatable. There are blood clot-busting drugs and medical devices have made stroke largely treatable. However, every second counts, nearly 2 million brain cells die each minute a stroke goes untreated.

Know the signs. By learning the signs and symptoms, you too can save someone from suffering from a stroke. F.A.S.T. is an acronym used to detect the strokes: Face dropping, Arm Weakness, Speech difficulties and Time to call 9-1-1. When you can spot the signs, you’ll know that you need to call for help right away.

American Stroke Month wants to help others by increasing their knowledge of strokes, so that they may be able to save a friend, family member or their own life one day. Make it a mission to help build a healthier life for you and the ones you love to prevent against stroke and cardiovascular diseases.

If you would like more information on stroke signs and symptoms, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

On the Road to Recovery After a Heart Attack | Fullerton, CA

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After having a heart attack, you may feel overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, like your world has be flipped upside down. After all, you’ve just survived a life and death situation – thanks a pretty sobering experience. It takes time to fully recover from a heart attack but don’t let that stop you from pushing forward. But you are going to need to make a change or two. Lifestyle change is the best way to recovery, and listed below are a few common lifestyle changes you may want to take into consideration going forward:

Stop smoking. Smoking cigarettes is one of the primary risk factors in heart disease. One of the most important things you can do is quit smoking cigarettes. In just one year after quitting your risk for heart attack drops severely.

Healthy diet. Eating a well-balanced diet keeps blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and body weight within healthy rages, which can greatly reduce risk of heart attack.

Stress and anger. When stress or anger are uncontrolled it can lead to increased risk of heart disease. Skills Such as yoga, relaxation and time management can lower risks.

Body weight. Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight to lower your risk of heart attack. Being overweight makes the heart pump harder due to having to support the extra weight.

Exercise. Physical activity is a key factor in maintaining long-term heart health after suffering from a heart attack. Enrolling in cardiac rehabilitation is a recommended step towards resuming normal physical activity.

Medication. Taking medication is considered a lifestyle change because taking your medication at the right times can be vital and takes some time to adjust to a new schedule.

If you would like more information on recovery after a heart attack, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.

The PDA Your Heart Doesn’t Want | Fullerton, CA

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Some people love a bit of PDA with someone they love. But there is one form of PDA that no one wants to experience. Patent Ductus Arteriosus, more commonly referred to as PDA, is a condition where the heart’s ductus arteriosus doesn’t close, leaving an unclosed hole in the aorta. The ductus arteriosus is a vessel that’s an essential part of fetal blood circulation and is connected to the major arteries – the aorta and pulmonary artery.

When a baby is born, their blood must get oxygen from their lungs and the patent arteriosus is supposed to close within the first few hours or days. If the patent arteriosus remains open, the blood can skip a necessary step of circulation and allow oxygen-rich blood from aorta to mix with the oxygen-poor blood from the pulmonary artery, causing strain to your heart and increased blood pressure in the lung arteries.

If the PDA is small, it won’t cause many symptoms or problems beyond a distinctive type of heart murmur. If the PDA is large or moderate, you may become breathless more easily due to reduced heart function and high pressures in your lungs. High pressure can occur in your lung vessels because more blood is being pumped there than normal. Over time PDA can cause permanent damage to your lung blood vessels.

Normally the heart’s right side only pumps blood into the lungs and the left side pumps blood to the body. If you have PDA, extra blood is circulated and extra blood get pumped from the body (aorta) artery into the lung (pulmonary) arteries. This extra blood being pumped into the pulmonary arteries makes the lungs and heart work harder, eventually becoming congested.

If you would like more information on PDA, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.