Sparks Health System hires two neurological doctors

Drs. Mohammad Omar Owais and Vijayakumar Javalkar have been hired by Sparks Health System in Fort Smith.

Owais is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and is with Sparks Neurology Center located at 1504 Dodson Ave. Owais also treats patients who suffer from dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, headaches and strokes. He completed a residency and fellowship in clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy at Michigan State University.

Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder and can cause people of all ages to suffer from unpredictable seizures. A seizure is a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain and usually affects how a person appears or acts for a short time.

“Neurology is like a mystery box,” he said. “You have a lot of the clues when a patient comes to you, but you don’t know what’s going on inside until you take the time to put it all together. I like the challenge.”

Javalkar also works in neurological care. Javalkar is board certified in neurology and completed his residency at Louisiana State University and a fellowship in vascular neurology at Emory University in Atlanta. He practices vascular neurology, aka, the treatment of strokes. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel carrying oxygen to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. The affected part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs so cells begin to die.

In 2013, strokes were the fourth leading cause of death in Arkansas. So far this year, Sparks Regional Medical Center has provided care for 350 patients with stroke-related medical conditions. Physicians across the country are also seeing a steep rise in strokes among people in their 30s and 40s.

“A stroke can lead to a lot of disabilities if not treated in time,” Dr. Javalkar said. “As a vascular neurologist, I have the opportunity to identify the risk factors in patients and provide treatment as soon as possible.”

Warning signs of a stroke include sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden confusion or trouble speaking, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance or coordination, and sudden severe headache with no known cause.