Cardiology is the treatment of diseases of the heart and blood vessels. A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in treating heart conditions such as abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects, and disease of the heart valves. A cardiologist can inform your doctor about new drugs or tests that may be beneficial to you.

Some heart conditions can cause permanent damage to the heart muscle, and can be fatal. Methods that cardiologists use to study heart conditions include stress tests, a monitor to record your heart rate and rhythm, a biopsy, which studies a tiny piece of heart tissue, and an echocardiogram, which uses sound waves to show a picture of how your heart works.

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are blood clot, peripheral vascular disease, angioplasty, hypertension, heart attack, congestive heart failure, angina, atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathy, coronary heart disease, pericarditis, ventricular tachycardia, acute coronary syndrome, cardiac arrest, bigeminy, heart block, myxoma, cardiac arrhythmias, tricuspid valve disorders, and aortic valve disorders.

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including gastric bypass surgery, open heart surgery, valve replacement, valve repair, bypass surgery, carotid artery surgery, catheter ablation, cardiac surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, cardiac bypass surgery, cardiovascular surgery, laser angioplasty, valvuloplasty, balloon angioplasty, atherectomy, coronary artery bypass surgery, coronary artery bypass graft, coronary angioplasty, heart transplantation, and carotid surgery.

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including electrocardiogram (ecg or ekg), cardiac stress test, holter monitor, echocardiogram, blood test, sphygmomanometer, cardiac enzymes, ivus, electrophysiologic study, and coronary catheterization.

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. Alabama has 352 practicing cardiologists. Broken out by city, cardiology doctor density in Alabaster is 12, in Albertville is 2, in Alexander City is 4, in Alma is 1, in Anniston is 11, in Ashland is 1, in Athens is 9, in Atmore is 10, in Auburn is 9, in Bay Minette is 5, in Bessemer is 7, in Bham is 1, in Birmingham is 140, in Boaz is 2, in Booth is 1, in Brewton is 1, in Centre is 4, in Clanton is 2, in Cullman is 6, in Dadeville is 3, in Daphne is 1, in Decatur is 29, in Dothan is 15, in Elba is 1, in Enterprise is 4, in Evergreen is 1, in Fairfield is 4, in Fairhope is 25, in Florence is 11, in Foley is 13, in Fort Payne is 2, in Gadsden is 12, in Gadsen is 1, in Gardendale is 3, in Girby is 1, in Greenville is 1, in Grove Hill is 1, in Guntersville is 5, in Hartselle is 2, in Hoover is 5, in Hueytown is 1, in Huntsville is 37, in Jackson is 19, in Jasper is 1, in Lafayette is 1, in Madison is 2, in Millbrook is 1, in Mobile is 54, in Montgomery is 29, in Muscle Shoals is 5, in Northport is 4, in Oneonta is 2, in Opelika is 6, in Opp is 3, in Ozark is 2, in Pelham is 1, in Pell City is 1, in Phenix City is 1, in Prattville is 1, in Red Bay is 1, in Roanoke is 2, in Robertsdale is 1, in Russellville is 3, in Scottsboro is 3, in Selma is 2, in Sheffield is 8, in Sylacauga is 6, in Talladega is 2, in Tuscaloosa is 7, in Tuskegee is 1, in Union Springs is 1, in Valley is 4, in Vestavia is 1, and in Winfield is 3.

Montgomery is the capital city of this southern state, though Birmingham is its largest city. Population in 2005 was 4,557,808. Alabama is the birthplace of historical figures Hank Aaron, Helen Keller, and George Washington Carver. Take an airboat tour on the Mobile river delta, see the Alabama Civil Rights museum in Mantua, or tour the Jazz Hall of Fame in Birmingham. Visit the Shakespeare Festival Theater Complex in Montgomery, or play a round of golf at one of Alabama’s many acclaimed courses. From the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in the state’s north to the Gulf coast beaches in the south, Alabama’s scenery includes a varied and diverse landscape.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Alabama has a population of 4,557,808. Of this population, 1,074,627 are under the age of 18 and 600,258 are at or above the age of 65.