As Sadiq Mohammed approached his 60th birthday, he felt confident about his health. He worked out at the gym three times a week, combining cardio and weight training. He stretched regularly to stay flexible. He managed the daily stress that comes with running his own business and leading a team. On the surface, everything seemed fine.
But there was one thing he couldn’t ignore: a strong family history of heart disease.
Many of Sadiq’s relatives had experienced serious cardiac issues. Several cousins underwent quadruple bypass surgery at young ages. His wife gently suggested that as he neared 60, it might be time to see a cardiologist for a thorough evaluation, just to be safe.
They scheduled an appointment with Dr. Jaffar Raza, a cardiologist with Holy Name and a physician they had heard great things about in the community.
Dr. Raza began with standard testing, including an EKG and a stress test. The results were reassuring. Everything appeared normal. Given Sadiq’s active lifestyle, he wasn’t surprised and he hoped that would be the end of it.
But since Sadiq had mentioned his extensive family history of heart disease, Dr. Raza ordered one additional test: a coronary CT angiography scan (CCTA) to look more closely at the coronary arteries.
Sadiq drove the short distance from his home in Cresskill to Holy Name Medical Center for the scan.
The results were shocking: One of his arteries was nearly 85% blocked.
“I had no chest pain. No symptoms. Nothing,” Sadiq recalls. “I was working out regularly. I felt completely fine. I never would have known.”
The discovery was life-changing. Without the CT angiogram, the blockage may not have been detected until it was too late.
“It was frightening to realize how close I could have been to something catastrophic,” he says.
Since that day, Sadiq has made important changes. He adjusted his diet, takes additional precautions to protect his heart, and sees Dr. Raza regularly to monitor his cardiac health.
Today, he shares his story with everyone he knows.
“If you have a family history of heart disease, don’t wait,” Sadiq says. “There are underlying genetics that can be affecting your heart even if you feel perfectly healthy. The damage doesn’t happen overnight. It builds over time. Get checked. It could save your life.”
