Category: Atherosclerosis
February is Heart Month: Wear RED Friday Feb 3, 2012
February is Heart month: to increase awareness and prevention of this Number 1 killer of Americans. Women are a special category in Heart Disease, and we celebrate to increase awareness that women get heart disease too! Feb 3rd, is National Go Red Day.
How healthy is Wisconsin?
The UnitedHealth Foundation, the American Public Health Association (APHA), and the Partnership for Prevention have put out the 20th annual report of "America's Health Rankings." Vermont is the healthiest state overall and Mississippi in the unhealthiest. Guess where WI is.......
Anatomy of the heart
The AmeriHeart is an extreme example of the heart anatomy. But it is such a useful tool. How better to see the heart, learn what each part of the heart does and remember the importance of taking good care of your heart, than to walk through a GIANT anatomically correct heart? It has a lasting impression. Let me walk you through it.
Lowest death rate after heart attack at Bellin Hospital
Just featured in the Green Bay Press Gazette, an article about Bellin Hospital having one of the lowest death rates after heart attack in the Nation! Way to go Heart Care Team at Bellin and EMS!
Introducing you to MerckEngage for a Healthier You
Check out this great resource at Merckengage.com
MerckEngage is a free resource that supports your choices for healthier living. MerckEngage has a range of offerings to help you take steps toward better health, including:
• Help with managing health conditions
• Ideas for healthier eating
• Suggestions to help you become more active
• Ways to better communicate with your health care professionals
BellinHeart's AmeriHeart
The AmeriHeart is coming! The AmeriHeart is coming! You saw pictures of this enormous heart back in January of this year, when Bellin Heart and Vascular brought it to the Super Bowl of Safety. Now we have one of our own!!
Prevent, halt and reverse heart disease
A book by Jospeh C. Piscatella and Barry A. Franklin, Ph.D.
The first thoughts that came into my mind when I began reading this book on the 109 things you can do to prevent, halt and reverse heart disease, was "that's exactly what I say to people when I am giving heart healthy talks!" My first impressions of the authors, is then credible, because I know the sources of where I get my information to increase awareness and educate the general public. As I read through this book, I noted it was very well referenced with many reliable sources and credits found through out the book as well as listed at the end. Ok good. The information I am going to find in this book, is valuable, evidenced-based, and the recommendations are based on the most current literature.
Managing your cholesterol
Why is cholesterol important when we talk about heart disease?
Cholesterol is found in the blockages that causes heart attacks. Less cholesterol in the body means less cholesterol to form blockages. Take a look at this picture.
Heart Calcium Scoring: What is it?
Don't wait for symptoms! Find out fast if you already have heart disease!
We learned so much walking through that heart!
Look at the size of that HEART! The AmeriHeart was presented by Bellin Heart and Vascular Center at the Superbowl of Safety on Saturday Jan 29th, 2011. If you didn't get a chance to see it, take a look at these pictures.
Stress women at increased risk
Are you in a high strain job? Defined as a demanding job, with time pressures and little opportunity for decision making or person growth.
Do you consider your job to have active job strain? This means high-demand work with with a high sense of control.
MD consult reports that job-stress women are faced with increased cardiovascular risk.
Could calcium supplements increase heart attack?
A recent review of 15 different trials, suggests that treating 1000 people with calcium for 5 years would prevent 26 fractures but cause an additional 14 heart attacks. This information comes from the article: "Rethinking Calcium: Bone Health or Heartache?" by Sandra A. Fryhofer, MD in Medscape Internal Medicine 10-25-10.
New blood test to detect heart disease
ABC world news just reported a new blood test that can find microscopic injury to heart muscle cells. This blood test is a protein known as cardiac troponin T (cTnT). The less sensitive cardiac marker Troponin, is what is used in the Emergency Department to see if a person is having a heart attack.
Heart risk identified at age of 9
Screening can begin as early as 9 years old, to find those people who could develop heart disease when they are older. This information comes from a newly published report in Circulation 2010.
The formula for good health
Follow this formula to achieve healthy life-style goals. You can do it, I know you can.
0-5-10-30-150
A blockage in your arteries: See how it forms
I would like to show you a great video that will help you to understand how build-up occurs in your arteries. Plaque, build-up or blockages can happen in any artery in your body and can lead to heart attack, stroke or the need for amputation of a toe or foot. Watch and see how this happens inside you!
Who wants a heart attack?
Who's next in line for a heart attack? Step right up, don't be shy, you've worked so hard on the risk factors.....nows the time to cash them in! Right? Well I sure hope not. We need to be working harder on preventing our risk factors, but it seems so easy to smoke, be overweight, not watch what we eat and have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I don't really have to worry, do I?
What's resveratrol?
So if you have ever heard me give a presentation on being heart healthy, you may remember a slide talking about wine. Or maybe you heard through some other source, that drinking wine is healthy for you. Did you ever wonder why?
How your heart gets oxygen
Your heart gets oxygen from the blood brought to it through three major arteries. These arteries are called teh right coronary artery (RCA), the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and the circumflex artery.
High triglycerides and low HDL
If you are over the age of 20, you should have your cholesterol checked at least every 5 years. This test should be done after you have been fasting (nothing to eat) for 12 hours, to get accurate results.
If you have had elevated cholesterol and are making changes to your diet or with medications, it is important to know, that you should not have your cholesterol repeated sooner than 3-4 months after a change. It takes this long to see the changes happen in your values.
Smokeless tobacco is not safe
Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes! Says the American Heart Association
The importance of Blood Pressure
What should my blood pressure be? Why does it matter how high my blood pressure is? Is this something that I should monitor?
Lots of questions about blood pressure measurement. Let's talk about why it is important.
Go Red for Women - Green Bay Luncheon
The 2010 Green Bay Go Red for Women Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, May 5th at Oneida Gold and Country Club. Call 920-205-8717 for tickets!
Heart Stents more commonplace
Former President Bill Clinton's heart condition and recent hospitalization highlights the use of stents in treating blocked arteries around the heart.–
This story was published this morning on WBAY Channel 2 News
320 slice CT scanner
It's arrived! The new Toshiba Aquilion One 320 slice CT scanner has been installed this week in the new Bellin Emergency Department!
This is the FIRST and the ONLY 320 slice CT scanner in Wisconsin. Read about the great advantages this advanced technology will bring to patients in the community.
Why is smoking bad for you?
Overall, about 47 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. It makes me wonder if everyone really knows why they are bad for us. It makes me wonder, what the barriers are to get them to quit smoking. Read on for some facts and some tips.
Taking Aspirin to prevent heart attack or stroke
Taking aspirin (ASA) to prevent heart attack and stroke. Should I do it? Here is an "Ask Kelly" question. The answer refers to the most recent guidelines, specific to women, to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Mummy's CT scan shows Heart Disease
A recent article by Steve Sternberg from USA Today entitled: Mummy's CT scans show heart disease came before fast food. Very interesting!
Cardiac CT
“Recent advances in CT technology have transformed Cardiac CT from an interesting new technology into a “game-changing” technology that will revolutionize the care of patients with chest pain and change the way we practice medicine.” – Christopher Wolfram, MD, FACC - Cardiology Associates of Green Bay
Cardiobesity
Cardiobesity: a new epidemic in the United States?
Obesity is the central problem contributing to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, altered lipoproteins, prediabetes, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
Ask Kelly question about back pain and aortic dissection
Ask Kelly question:
Hi, 14 years ago I had a spontaneous dissection of the LAD descending. August 23rd of this year I had horrible building pain in my upper back. Shortness of breath, nausea and sweating. I thought it was just my back. Before I got upstairs to lie down my chest started hurting. So, I took an aspirin, because that happens often. However, in several minutes ALL pain was gone. I was shocked because the back pain had me in tears, I had taken a T3 two hours earlier to no effect. I have pain in my back daily now and an aspirin usually takes care of it.
My cardiologist wants me to get a CT scan, but I am not insurable because of my first attack. I am, female and 55 years old. It seems my symptoms indicate a dissection of the aorta, is this possible?
What exactly does it mean?
My doctor was too busy berating me for not quitting smoking and not having insurance to explain. Also, I am under stress because my husband has a few mental illnesses with BIG control issues. Thank you.
Video: The Artery Explorer
Watch this great educational video from AstraZeneca to increase awareness and knowledge about cardiovascular disease.
How a low vitamin D level leads to clogged arteries, heart disease
Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why.
Follow this link to read the full article on ihealthbulletin.com:
http://bit.ly/12Zqd4
If I lower my cholesterol....
Question:
If someone starts with high cholesterol and they work on it and bring it down drastically, what happens to the cholesterol that was there? Does it dissolve, does it pass through normal waste system, what happens to it??
Question about plaque build-up
Question:
If I have had plaque build up in the past is there a way to reduce the amount of it in my vascular system?
PAD
A disease called by many names:
PAD: Peripheral Arterial Disease
PVD: Peripheral Vascular Disease
Leg Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
Claudication: pain in legs while walking
Poor Circulation
Artery plaque
Well if you had a chance to look at the pictures that were posted, were you able to guess what they were of?
This is an example of what a normal artery, inside your body may look like. Healthy, pink, nice open hole (lumen) in the center for blood to flow through. This is what we all start with in life.
Tell me what this is:
Maybe this will help:
This is normal,
something has started to happen here,
Mystery Picture
Tell me what this is:
Can you figure it out? I will give you hint, it is something that I am passionate about preventing.
