Love your heart, save your life

09:30 PM PST on Wednesday, March 10, 2004

KREM 2 News

SPOKANE - Every 60 seconds, a woman dies of heart disease or stroke. It's the number-one killer of women today. But heart disease is preventable. By leading a healthy lifestyle, you can lower your risk by 82 percent. It’s a matter of being aware and taking action.

Doctors in the Inland Northwest said one of the reasons women become victims of heart disease is denial. Cardiologist and Sacred Heart Women’s Health Center Medical Director Dr. Jacquelyn Ryan often sees women delaying lifesaving treatment because they tend to take care of everyone else but themselves.

“As women we are so busy taking care of everyone else that we put ourselves last. I want every woman to consider this: if you think your loved ones can’t manage while you invest a few minutes each day taking care of your own health, just imagine what they are going to do without you," she said. "Heart disease kills.”

Cardiologist Dr. Susan Alexander says she’s seen older women refuse treatment because they say they have to be home to care for their elderly husbands.

“I just remind them of what you’re told on an airplane,” Alexander says, “in case of a sudden change in cabin pressure an oxygen mask will fall from the compartment. Put it on yourself before you put it on your child. The fact is you can’t take care of anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

“Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women,” adds Dr. Jacquelyn Ryan. "The difference is most men are aware of their risk and most women are not. And even when women are aware of their risk, they tend not to personalize that risk. They simply don’t think it’s going to happen to them. If a woman doesn’t believe she’s at risk, it’s very difficult to motivate her to make healthy choices.”

Warning symptoms of heart disease are:

- Pressure in the center of the chest. Instead of a piercing pain in the chest, a woman having a heart attack can experience uncomfortable pressure around the chest, like a bra that is too tight.

- Pain in the stomach, back, shoulders or jaw.

- Shortness of breath.

- Dizziness, nausea and fatigue.

All too often these symptoms are misinterpreted by physician and patients as coming from indigestion, stress or depression. So when visting your doctor be proactive and make sure you get the attention you need. Delaying treatment can put your life in jeopardy.

Prevention - where to start

Begin by evaluating your risk factors like family history, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Know your numbers - what are they and how do they add up?

KING The book club members all had healthy heart exams at Providence Everett Medical Center.

Recently a group of women from a book club met at Providence Everett Medical Center in northwest Washington for a healthy heart exam.

First they filled out a questionnaire about their age, weight, and family history. They then had their cholesterol and blood pressure checked, along with an EKG to record their heart rhythms. Seldom do women have this crucial test.

Women who smoke are two to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmoking women.

Another risk factor that you can do something about is high cholesterol. First, you need to know if yours is worrisome.

Getting your cholesterol checked is simple. All it takes is a few drops of blood to determine how much "good" and "bad" cholesterol is flowing through your arteries. A high-tech machine does all the math, like calculating levels of LDL, the lousy cholesterol. It's the stuff that sticks to the walls of your arteries and clogs them up. The lower the number the better.

KING The cholesterol test involves taking a few drops of blood.

HDL is the good cholesterol. A high amount is desirable because it removes bad cholesterol from your body.

Another number that counts is your triglyceride level. When elevated, it's particularly dangerous to women. It is more or less a short-term blood fat in your body.

One in five Americans has high blood pressure. When blood pressure gets too high, it drastically increases your chance of heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

Blood pressure

When nurses pump your arm, they pump it up to beyond what they expect your blood pressure to be.

When the heart beats, it pushes blood into the walls of your arteries. That's the "systolic" pressure - the higher number of your reading. The lower number, "diastolic," is when the heart relaxes between beats. So your blood pressure is how much pressure is pumping through your arteries.

Recently, the American Heart Association issued stricter guidelines for blood pressure. Now, the optimal level is less than 120 over 80.

Most often, high blood pressure can be controlled with medication prescribed by your doctor.

More advanced tests

When heart disease is suspected there are more advanced tests that can be conducted to pinpoint what is wrong.

The stress echocardiogram is said to be one of the best tests for diagnosing heart disease in women.

KING Debbie Hatfield walks on the stress echocardiogram.

The patients walks on the treadmill until she is exhausted. Then, with an ultrasound, technicians look for exercise-induced problems.

An angiogram is another way doctors can examine the condition of your heart. Dye, injected through a catheter, illuminates the arteries. Doctors can see if there are any blockages.

At Swedish Heart institute, a special high-speed CAT scan called electron-beam tomography captures images of the heart in seconds. This non-invasive exam looks for calcium deposits, early indicators that there's plaque building up in your arteries.

"This is a way of picking up coronary disease sometimes 10 to 20 years before a treadmill would ever be positive,” said Dr. Gary Oppenheim, a cardiologist at Swedish Heart Institute.

Reduce stress in your life

Studies prove learning how to relax can keep your blood pressure and heart rate from rising.There are a few simple things you can do to help keep yourself from getting tense.

- Start with a good laugh. Researchers in California recently found that watching a funny TV show or video for 30 minutes a day can lower your blood pressure.

A cat or a dog can also keep you calm. Research shows when there's a pet around people feel safer and their blood pressure goes down. And, doctors say take time out for yourself. Just visualizing your favorite vacation spot for a few minutes a day can relieve stress.

KING During an EKG, electrodes record the heart's electrical activity as it sends impulses throughout the body.

The last heart health test given to the book club women was an EKG. Electrodes attached to arms, legs and the chest record the heart's electrical activity as it sends impulses throughout the body. Wave forms printed on a piece of paper show whether or not the heart's beating as it should.

Luckily, none of the women in the book club fell into the high-risk category. Added up, the numbers paint a bright future for these women. And now then know how to adapt their lifestyles to protect their hearts.

You can watch a rerun of the Love Your Heart special on NorthWest Cable News on Saturday, March 13 at 2 p.m.