• Attending Physician (Cardiology), Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital.

• Internal Medicine
• Cardiology, valvular heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, echocardiography
• Language: English, Mandarin, Taiwanese

• Doctor of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

• Assistant professor, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
• Attending Physician/consultant (Cardiologist), National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
• Research fellow, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan
• Cardiology Fellow, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.

The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and valvular heart disease is increasing in the aging society. Patients delay the timing to seek medical advice because the disease is latent initially and the heart adapts to abnormal volume or pressure load while the patients remain asymptomatic. However, when symptoms occur, it is usually late because cardiac damage already occurs, especially in women whose cardiac chamber is smaller and dilatation of the heart may not be readily evident. If you have cardiac risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia, please maintain healthy lifestyle and regular exercise and avoid salty and greasy food. Of course, medication compliance is also important in having optimal control of cardiac risk factors. If you have valvular heart disease, regular clinic follow-up is recommended; once the symptoms occurs, however trivial, please discuss with your caring cardiologist for further management plans.