OCA physicians believe no comprehensive treatment center for the heart and cardiovascular system can ignore treatment of the lungs. The heart and lungs are closely related in anatomy -- located in the chest cavity -- and in function -- providing the body with freshly oxygenated blood and removing the carbon dioxide that is released from the body as a waste product.

Problems affecting the heart also affect the lungs and problems of the lungs also affect the heart. Some examples include acute, or sudden, problems such as a blood clot traveling through the body’s circulation before lodging in a small vessel in the lung.

Many chronic problems have a more direct effect on the lungs and heart. For example, chronic lung disease will increase the stresses on the heart muscle and can lead to heart failure.