Dr. Jason Schott is an interventional and structural cardiologist at Memorial Health System. He started working for Memorial in the summer of 2022. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

February is National Heart Month and Mid-Ohio Valley residents have a range of cardiovascular services they can receive in the area.

Memorial Health System offers minimally invasive procedures to treat a range of cardiovascular issues in patients in the Mid-Ohio Valley at its Marietta and Belpre locations. One of the doctors offering cardiovascular services at Memorial is Dr. Jason P. Schott.

Schott, 36, grew up in Noble County. In junior high school he and his classmates were studying the cardiovascular system and dissecting hearts. He always knew he wanted to help people. He started following surgeons after learning about the cardiovascular system, with Dr. Michael Sarap being the one he shadowed the most. Sarap was someone that Schott wanted to emulate.

Schott decided in high school he wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon based on his time with Sarap. Then he went to cardiothoracic perfusion school when he was in undergrad and then started shadowing Dr. Joe Mayo, an interventional cardiologist. This got him interested in interventional cardiology, Schott said about his journey becoming an interventional and structural cardiologist.

Schott went to medical school at Ohio State and worked in Columbus, Michigan and other locations. He left his home 18 years ago to get his training and start his career, but he always knew he wanted to come back, Schott said.

Dr. Jason Schott, an interventional and structural cardiologist at Memorial Health System, shows off a device used to perform a transaortic valve replacement. Memorial offers many minimally invasive procedures to treat cardiovascular issues using devices like it and others. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

Schott has worked in cardiology for seven years and started working for Memorial as an interventional and structural cardiologist approximately a year and a half ago in the summer of 2022.

Its good to be home, Schott said.

According to Schott, an interventional cardiologist diagnoses and treats mostly coronary artery disease, while a structural cardiologist diagnoses and treats mainly valvular heart disease and structural issues of the heart.

People in the area need to know that they do have access to care locally and that the cardiology department at Memorial can be liaisons to get the care they need, Schott said.

Schott and other cardiologists at Memorial perform procedures to fix cardiovascular issues. Many of these procedures are minimally invasive.

Schott said when babies are in the uterus there is a hole in the heart. This hole is called the foramen ovale and is a small flaplike opening between the upper chambers of the heart, the atria. As a baby grows the hole closes in 80% of people. In the other 20%, the hole does not close; this is called a patent foramen ovale. This does not cause an issue for most people, but it can allow blood clots to migrate, which can cause a stroke or other issues, Shcott said.

Cardiologists at Memorial, like Schott, can perform a minimally invasive procedure to fix this issue. The cardiologist puts a small camera in a patients vein, then uses a wire to get a device up to the patent foramen ovale. The device to fix the issue is deployed. It has disks that open on each side of the flap and they sandwich it. It takes six months for the hole to then seal off. Closing the patent foramen ovale lowers a patients risk of stroke, he said.

Cardiovascular disease in the Mid-Ohio Valley is very prevalent, Schott said.

Schott said this is due to tobacco use and genetic components. The cancer risk in the area is quite high also and probably from tobacco, genetics and environmental factors. People who receive radiation for cancer are at risk of cardiovascular disease.

Many cardiovascular issues are inherited but there are things people can do to lower their risk of cardiovascular issues. Schott stresses primary prevention, like smoking cessation, monitoring blood pressure, watching cholesterol and monitoring glucose.

Schott also said getting regular exercise is important for lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Baby steps, Schott said about how much exercise a person should perform. Whatever gets you moving.

According to Schott, people can also modify their diet to help lower their risk of cardiovascular disease too. People should fill up on vegetables, increase their fiber intake, eat fruit in moderation, limit carbs and eat whole grains as their carb source, and eat leaner meats like fish, chicken and turkey, and eat low fat dairy.

Schott is very proud of the cardiology team he works with at Memorial, he said.

I cant say this enough about our team, we treat people like our neighbor or our family. You cant care any more than our team does, Schott said.

Schott likes providing cardiovascular care and thinks that it is really rewarding.

Its a labor of love, he said.

To learn more about the cardiovascular services MHS offers, visit https://www.mhsystem.org/services/heart-cardiology-vascular-services/.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com

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