A cardiologist is a doctor who specializes in the heart and blood vessels. When someone has chest pain, an irregular heartbeat, or high blood pressure that won't go down, their regular doctor might send them to a cardiologist for expert help.

Cardiologists spend years learning how the heart works: how it pumps blood through your body, what can go wrong with it, and how to fix those problems. They use special tools like electrocardiograms (ECGs, which record the heart's electrical signals) and echocardiograms (ultrasound machines that create moving pictures of the beating heart). Some cardiologists perform procedures like inserting tiny tubes called stents to open blocked arteries, while others focus on managing heart conditions with medication and lifestyle changes.

The heart is one of your body's most important organs, beating about 100,000 times every day to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout your body. When something goes wrong with it, a cardiologist is the expert who figures out what's happening and how to treat it.