Mayo Clinic is now recruiting patients for both a “virtual registry” with retrospective and prospective components and development of a DNA biobank of SCAD patients and first degree relatives. If you are a woman who survived a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) and are interested in applying to be accepted to a study being conducted at Mayo Clinic by Dr. Sharonne Hayes,access the preliminary information here.
Protocol entails diagnosis confirmation and angiographic review to determine eligibility prior to enrollment in either of the studies. Women with SCAD can access the documents from this link or can request them to be emailed or mailed via the MayoSCAD@mayo.eduemail address.
1 in every 3 young children are overweight or obese.
Hispanic youths are more likely to be obese and are more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease as they get older. Hispanic kids of low-socioeconomic status consume too much total and saturated fat, cholesterol, added sugar and sodium.
White children and teens watch 2 hours and 45 minutes of TV per day while Hispanic children watch 3 hours and 23 minutes per day.
Hispanic children are less likely to exercise on a regular basis.
Take a couple of minutes to watch this well done, informative video about the childhood Hispanic obesity epidemic.
We are nurse practitioners who are also trying to educate hispanics to develop healthier lifestyles. We have an adult book ready to be published “TOME CONTROL DE SU SALUD Usted Puede Prevenir la Diabetes, un Ataque al Corazon o un Derrame Cerebral” which discusses (in Spanish) risk factors and prevention tips for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Hispanic/Latino parent can help themselves and their children prevent heart disease, stroke and diabetes by developing healthy habits and lifestyles – this book will show you how! Please visit our website www.heart-strong.com for more info.
One of the most important parts of your journey to a healthier heart is deciding who will be your regular heart doctor. Heart doctors (cardiologists) can vary greatly. Even though most adhere to the standard of care, their interpretations can lead to a wide range of treatment styles. Some may be more conservative by suggesting very minimal medicines and follow-up. Others tend to be more aggressive in their treatment of heart disease by recommending more medicines and frequent follow-up. Both conservative and aggressive styles are perfectly fine but you need to find a cardiologist with the style you prefer. It should ideally be someone you trust undoubtedly. When it comes to your heart care, you do not have time to second-guess every move your doctor makes!
If you prefer a cardiologist who is proactive when it comes to national guidelines and standard of care, I would recommend you search several websites. First, go to http://www.ncqa.org which is the website for The National Committee for Quality Assurance. NCQA is a not-for-profit organization that promotes quality care for patients. You can search their physician database to obtain a list of doctors who have passed the Heart/Stroke Recognition Program requirements. The list contains both primary care physicians and cardiologists.
If you cannot find a cardiologist in the NCQA list for your area, then look up cardiologists through a search engine on the internet (Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc). You will have to type in key words like “cardiologist” and the name of your city. You can also use your local phone directory or ask a friend.
Once you have a list of possible cardiologists for your area, I recommend you check out their credentials. By internet, you can view all types of information about any licensed provider through your state’s medical board website. To find your specific medical board website you can visit the American Medical Association’s webpage (link http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/becoming-physician/medical-licensure/state-medical-boards.shtml) and click on your state in their list. Physicians who have passed the cardiology board exam will generally have this listed on the Medical Board website under Specialty Board Certifications. The Medical Board website can also tell you if the doctor has had any lawsuits settled against them. If you prefer not to use the internet, you can call the American Board of Medical Specialties (1-866-ASK-ABMS) with questions about a doctor’s certification.
After checking out their credentials, the next step would be to call the cardiologist’s office for an appointment. You will have to ask if they accept your insurance and if they are taking new patients. Many offices have more than one doctor in their group. If you really want to find the perfect match, consider asking a nurse, physician assistant or nurse practitioner about the doctors. You might say to them, “I’m looking for a doctor who will see me often and treat my heart disease aggressively.” Or you could say, “I’d like to see a doctor who is personable and open to alternative treatments.” Chances are they can guide you to the right person!
During this show we will discuss heart problems women may start to experience around menopause. “The Menopause Triple Threat” – weight gain, high blood pressure & cholesterol problems. Heart attack & stroke risk factors, “Broken Heart Syndrome”
Just got back from a community blood pressure screening and was surprised how many people were unaware that their blood pressure was elevated. When asked if they wanted their blood pressure checked numerous people said “I don’t have any blood pressure problems” but admitted they had not had their blood pressure checked for several years.
They were surprised with the elevated readings and said they thought their blood pressure was okay because they felt fine. We even found numerous teenagers with higher than normal blood pressures. The kids especially were shocked when we told them their blood pressure was high and wanted to know what they could do to help control their blood pressure.
High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because most people do not have any symptoms when their blood pressure is elevated. Remember the only way to know if your blood pressure is elevated is to get it checked on a regular basis.
Salt or sodium has been receiving a lot of attention lately in the media – excess salt or sodium in the diet has been proven to elevate blood pressure readings. Salt is in everything especially processed foods. Salt intake recommendations are less than 2,400 mg per day of sodium for people with normal blood pressures and less than 2,000 mg per day of sodium for people with elevated blood pressure readings. Cutting back on salt intake can have a dramatic impact on lowering blood pressure especially in African Americans and postmenopausal women.
Other things that can help control blood pressure include:
Weight loss, if overweight
Routine exercise (remember walking counts and is one of the best exercises)
Increasing fruit and vegetable intake (current recommendations are 5 to 7 servings of fruits/vegetables every day)
Increasing fiber in your diet
Home blood pressure machines are a good way to help you keep track of your blood pressure readings – do not just rely on getting your blood pressure checked when you go to your doctor/healthcare provider. If you are going to purchase a home blood pressure machine select one for the upper arm. Blood pressure readings from the wrist and finger are not as accurate, the further the blood pressure cuff is from the heart level the less accurate it is. Also take your home blood pressure machine to your doctor/healthcare provider at least once a year to make sure it is giving you accurate readings.
Goal blood pressure readings are less than 120/80 – that is for men, women and children. If you haven’t had your blood pressure checked recently – what are you waiting for?? What about your family members and friends – remind them how important it is to get regular blood pressure monitoring.
Heartstrong wants to try and help you control your blood pressure and other risk factors for heart attacks and strokes. Visit our website www.heart-strong.com for more information and to find out how to obtain our books “Take Charge: A Woman’s Guide to a Healthier Heart” and “Take Charge: A Man’s Roadmap to a Healthy Heart”.
This is the first of a three part series titled “Women and Heart Disease across the Lifespan.” On this show we will concentrate on heart conditions that are more likely to affect young women. We will discuss the following conditions: palpitations, tachycardia, pericarditis, conditions that may occur during pregnancy, and premature heart disease.
Have you ever investigated your roots and your family tree? Several years ago I was able to trace several of my great-grandparents back to the ship they traveled on when they arrived at Ellis Island. While you are working on your family tree, why not piece together your family health history as well?
The best place to start is with your immediate family. Your parents, brothers and sisters have the closest genetic link to you and the greatest likelihood of sharing similar conditions or diseases. Next, move on to your grandparents, aunts, uncles and as much extended family as possible. You may uncover a lot of information about your family’s health that you were never aware of.
Are there certain diseases that run in your family? Be sure to ask about the “BIG 4”- cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. You should also inquire about some other common cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other unhealthy risk factors they may have had. If a family member has had or died from a heart attack or stroke, were the overweight/obese, did they smoke or drink alcohol heavily, were they sedentary? If your grandfather died form a heart attack but was obese, never exercised, smoked 2 packs per day for 30 years and drank excessive alcohol, these factors may have contributed more to his heart attack than genetics. However, you cannot rule out a genetic influence as well. Also, if anyone in your family has died from heart disease at an early age, you may be at increased risk for premature heart disease as well. Finally, if a family member has died due to an aneurysm, either in the brain or the chest/abdomen, you should also be screened. Increased risk for aneurysms can also be inherited.
Try to find out the age at which your relatives developed certain conditions. If your grandmother developed diabetes in her 70’s, it may not be a very strong genetic risk factor. If she developed diabetes in her 20’s or 30’s, you may be at a higher risk of inheriting the gene. The general rule is that the younger a person is when they develop a disease; the more likely it is to have a genetic or hereditary component.
For women, at what age did your mother or grandmother go through menopause? Most women will become menopausal around the same age as her mother. Remember, menopause is one of our strongest risk factors for heart disease. If you have an idea as to when you may go through menopause, you can try to get all of your controllable risk factors at goal levels before this occurs.
Make sure you investigate all diseases….from A to Z….Addison’s disease, Alzheimer’s, thyroid disease, etc. (not too many diseases start with Z, but you get the point). Be thorough and put the information in a computer program or make a chart. Share this information with your healthcare provider, your children and your family. There is a lot you can learn by investigating your family’s health history and many diseases are preventable by making healthy lifestyle choices. So what are you waiting for? Get moving, learn about your family’s history and make some lifesaving changes.
When you’ve been diagnosed with heart disease, you may instantly feel completely alone. The feeling is, of course, totally illogical when you consider that heart disease is the most common health ailment among women. So while you’re hardly alone, sometimes it is hard to be completely logical when you are going through a major life change. In August 2009, a study published by the American Psychosomatic Society found that there was a direct correlation between loneliness and coronary heart disease, which can mean that women with existing heart disease could be at increased risk of future heart-related complications, along with depression and anxiety. Your world has been completely turned upside-down and you are suddenly juggling multiple prescription medications, dietary restrictions and extreme fatigue, and it may feel like there is no one out there who truly understands you anymore.
Luckily, in our networked society, there are many ways that you can connect with other women who are dealing with the same heart health issues. They may be around the corner or halfway around the world, but are really only as far away as the click of a mouse. Check out WomenHeart’s online community and support networkInspire <http://www.womenheart.org/supportForWomen/community.cfm> to connect with other women living with heart disease. Community members can share stories, post journal entries and participate in discussions with other women with similar heart conditions or who have had similar treatments.
A 2007 study in Great Britain showed that heart patients who were given access to information and communication via the Internet were more likely to participate in healthy behaviors.
Poverty, smoking and long-term bullying during childhood have previously been reported to adversely impact health. In this study The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed over 17,000 men and women to evaluate the impact of childhood stress on future health problems. People who reported verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, having a battered mother, having a family member incarcerated, living with a family member who abuses drugs or alcohol, living with mentally ill person, or having parents separated or divorced during childhood were more likely to die prematurely. Those who reported 6 or more of the negative childhood experiences were 1 ½ times more likely to die prematurely than those who reported none. People with bad childhood experiences died at about age 61 compared to 79 years of age for people who didn’t have negative experiences as children.
It is important for adult guardians to recognize and try to alleviate these childhood stressors. Further research is also needed in this area.
Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. The prevalence of heart disease varies among ethnic groups. Immigrants from India (South Asia) have a four times greater risk of developing heart disease than other Americans. Indians are also more likely to develop premature heart disease, have heart attacks at an earlier age and develop diffuse disease due to a genetic predisposition and a multitude of lifestyle risk factors. This includes both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Genetic risk factors include: high lipoprotein (a) levels, elevated triglyceride levels and lower levels of less protective HDL (healthy) cholesterol. Indians are also more prone to have abdominal obesity, diabetes, sedentary lifestyles and diets high in fat and starches which can increase the risk of developing heart disease. The traditional Indian diet includes deep-fried foods (re-use of vegetable oil when cooking), coconut milk, roti, naan and other white breads, white rice, paneer (cheese), whole milk and high fat yogurt.
Even though Indians have a strong genetic risk for heart disease they can lower their risk by making healthy lifestyle changes.
Below are some tips that may help reduce the risk of heart disease:
Avoid deep frying, try to broil, bake, steam instead
Use low fat milk and dairy products
Increase fruit and vegetable and fiber intake
Use olive oil or canola oil, do not re-use cooking oil
Avoid ghee (clarified butter)
Increase intake of fish, nuts
Decrease intake of starches like white rice, roti, white potatoes and naan
Avoid eating all or majority of carbohydrates at one meal, do not skip meals
Increase activity level (walking 30 minutes a day counts as exercise)
Weight loss (lose abdominal fat, waist circumference goal men <36 inches, women <32 inches)
Lipoprotein (a) is a sub-class of LDL (Bad) cholesterol, when levels are elevated in the blood the risk for heart disease and stroke are increased. Elevated lipoprotein (a) levels are associated with premature heart disease and have little to do with diet or lifestyle, they are usually hereditary. All Indians/South Asians should have a lipoprotein (a) level checked at least once in their lifetime, preferably when they are younger since it is a marker of premature heart disease.
“Take Charge: A Woman’s Guide to a Healthier Heart” discusses how women can help control their cholesterol and other risk factors to prevent a heart attack, stroke and diabetes. “Take Charge: A Man’s Roadmap to a Healthier Heart” is due to be released Fall 2009. For more info visit www.heart-strong.com
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