What’s Up, Doc? With Dr. Shobashalini Chokkalingam

This week's episode is about heart disease in women. 

Come for the enlightened discussion on heart disease, stay for Riley absolutely nailing the pronunciation of Dr. Chokkalingam's name not once but twice.

There's a common misconception out there that women don't necessarily impact women. While it is true that heart conditions do affect men more than women, it is still one of the leading causes of death in women, especially here in America.

Dr. Chokkalingm was a delight to speak with. She told us that she wanted to become a heart doctor ever since she was 13 years old and saw how some medicine helped her grandmother with a heart condition live a normal life. After completing her undergraduate work in India, she came to the states to further her career in medicine and has become a top cardiologist in the Rockford area.

Dr. Chokkalingam let us know about the common signs of a heart condition and what to do to control it. Some of the signs surprised me, some you knew intuitively. What she did clear up for us is what you want to talk to your doctor about to make sure you're confident in your heart health. Dr. Chokkalingam also wanted to remind everyone of their free wellness checkup that's usually provided in insurance packages.

We also touched on how COVID-19 infections are impacting people's heart health. Dr. Chokkalingam says that it is too early to say for sure but early results are showing a possible long term weakness of the heart muscles in people that contracted COVID-19 and added that much research was still to be done.

Thanks so much to Dr. Chokkalingam for joining us. You were an absolute delight and informative guest on our show.