02/18/2026
Protecting Your Heart Valve Health: Heart valves act like one-way, hinge-like doors that keep blood moving in the right direction through the heart’s four chambers. When a valve narrows, a condition known as aortic stenosis, the heart must work harder to push blood through the smaller opening, causing the heart muscle to thicken and weaken.
Aortic stenosis affects more than five million people in the U.S. each year, per the CDC, with rates rising to 12.4% in adults over 75.
The disease is chronic, progressive and potentially fatal, often leading to chest pain, severe fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath that greatly impact daily life.
So, to help educate Rio Grande Valley residents about this common heart valve disease, South Texas Health System is dedicating the latest episode of its monthly “South Texas Healthy Living” TV program to aortic stenosis.
The program will feature a sit-down interview with Dr. Federico E. Azpurua, a board-certified interventional cardiologist with STHS Clinics, on the causes, risk factors and symptoms associated with aortic stenosis, as well as the treatment options available locally for the life-threatening condition.
Catch the latest episode of “South Texas Healthy Living” this Sunday, February 22, on CBS 4 News Rio Grande Valley KGBT 4.1 at 10:00 am.
