Living Jackson Magazine

Common killers threaten Jackson County women
by Terri Roberts, RN, CCRN

Every woman knows someone who has heart disease, and in Jackson County the three most common killers are diseases of the heart.

Fortunately, there are many ways to combat this vicious, sometimes silent opponent, and the trio of
education, identification and action is a woman’s best friend in the war against heart disease. Education means
learning the different maladies of the heart that make up the diagnosis of heart
disease. By identification, we mean that a woman must know and identify the individual risk factors that are specific to them. And by action, we mean that women must make the lifestyle changes that allow prevention or reduction of the risks from the devastating forces of diseases of the heart.

Most women recognize the term “heart attack.” But there are conditions that you should also begin to recognize: Ventricular arrhythmias; congestive heart failure, aortic aneurysms; pericarditis; endocarditis; myocarditis; cardiomyopathy; coronary artery spasm; diastolic dysfunction; atrial fibrillation; patent ductus arteriousum; congenital heart disease; valvular heart disease; mitral regurgitation; aortic stenosis; heart murmurs; rheumatic heart disease; heart blocks; bradycardia; tachycardia; sudden cardiac death; and nodal dysfunction.

What does your heart do?
Let’s think about your heart and what it does daily for you. The size of your fist, it is located in the middle of your chest just above the diaphragm. The heart is a miraculous muscle with four chambers separated by four valves: the aortic valve controls blood that is pushed into the aorta to be distributed throughout the body—and most important, to the brain. The pulmonic valve controls deoxygenated blood being pushed into the lungs that bring oxygenated blood back into the heart.

The heart muscle contracts under the direction of an electrical system that normally starts in the sinus node and travels through electrical pathways that terminate deep into the muscle in the ventricles. This life-sustaining ballet is the performance we recognize as the beat of our heart and is the performance that separates life from death.

Every day your heart beats more than 100,000 times and pumps more than 2,000 gallons of blood that provide life-sustaining nutrients to more than 60 trillion cells that make up your body. The blood needed by your heart to survive arrives to the heart muscle through the right and left coronary arteries. The blood drains from the heart muscle via the coronary sinuses back into the heart.

What causes heart trouble?
Blockages in the coronary arteries by clots made up of plaque and blood cell debris can cause heart attacks that can stop the heart from beating. Interruptions of the electric current flowing through the heart can stop the heartbeat in motion and cause direct damage to the heart muscle.

Electric flow through the heart can get out of synch and cause the chambers of the heart to pump against themselves, thereby halting the effective delivery of oxygen to the heart muscle and to the body. The heart muscle itself can become unable to pump effectively, allowing fluid to backup into and around the heart. The valves in the heart can become insufficient, allowing blood to remain stagnant and allowing clots to form on the inside tissue of the heart.

Watch for symptoms!
Women must be aware of the signals the heart sends telling us that it is beginning to have trouble doing its job. But you must keep in mind that sometimes the heart does not let us know it is having trouble until it suddenly cannot function.

Manfred Sandler, MD, cardiologist with Cardiovascular Group PC and director of cardiology for the
Gwinnett Hospital System, warns that unlike men, who often experience a heavy feeling on their chest and pain radiating down either arm, women are more likely to have less specific symptoms.

“I recommend that women be constantly vigilant for irregular symptoms that they might experience,” Dr. Sandler says. “For example, progressive fatigue and nausea of unclear origin.”

Do not attempt to drive yourself to the hospital—call 911 when you experience any combination of these symptoms. Many heart diseases show up in a more mysterious manner and may develop over a period of time. Listen to your heart and body, discuss your concerns with your physician—and then ask to be referred to a cardiologist.

Maybe frisky, but don’t be risky.
Listen to your heart! And listen to your doctor! Then modify your risks.

The good news is that today doctors in Jackson County, Gwinnett, Athens-Clarke, and Hall County have many tools to accurately diagnose heart disease. Your cardiologist may recommend and schedule you for an exercise stress test, drug induced stress test, echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, electrophysiology study, cardiac catheterization, transesophageal echo, CT Scan, MRI, or aortagram.

As more research is done on heart disease, more life-enhancing technology becomes available. Early diagnosis and prevention are the keys to keeping heart disease from claiming your health and your life. For those with end-stage heart disease, heart transplants may be the answer. Before 1996 heart transplants were only done in men. Since 1996, heart transplants have allowed many women to live productive lives and maintain high quality of life.

So, be heart smart. Enjoy and love every beat of your heart. Educate yourself on the risk factors and take control of your heart health. Don’t let a common killer take your life.

Terri Roberts, CCRN, is an RN in the ICU at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, GA. She has extensive experience in trauma and cardiac nursing. She has resided in the Barrow-Jackson area for many years.