Heart and Vascular Care
As a woman it is important for you to put your health needs first – heart disease doesn’t only affect men. In fact, According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, heart disease kills 1 out of 4 women in the United States.
Heart attacks and their aftermath tend to be more deadly in women. More women than men die within a year of having a heart attack. This may happen because women are generally older than men when they suffer heart attacks. Also, women don't respond as well as men to the treatments usually prescribed during or after a heart attack.
However, women often overlook the symptoms or attribute them to less life-threatening conditions like acid reflux, the flu, or normal aging. For many women, a heart attack may feel like a strange discomfort in the back or some other easily ignored sign, instead of crushing chest pain.
Know the Signs:
- Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest lasting more than a few minutes, or if goes away and comes back
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
- Other signs such as cold sweats, nausea/vomiting, or lightheadedness
If you have any of these signs, call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.
Lakeland’s Emergency Departments in Niles and St. Joseph are two of only 13 accredited Chest Pain Centers [link to cardiac page] in Michigan. As an accredited Chest Pain Center, we ensure the highest level of specialized care you need quickly – because time lost is heart muscle lost.
Get on the path to a heart healthy life:
- Reach and keep a healthy weight. You'll reduce your blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes risk, hitting three key risk factors at once. For apple-shaped women, losing spare-tire fat is vital. Belly fat is linked to higher levels of triglycerides, a blood fat that raises your risk for heart disease.
- Trim saturated fat and salt from your menu. When you can, trade butter for heart-healthy canola or olive oil. Swap red meat for seafood, a good source of omega-3 fats that help reduce triglycerides, clotting, and blood pressure.
- Move more. Exercising at a moderate to high intensity for 40 minutes on average, 3 to 4 days a week, can lower your blood pressure, strengthen your heart, decrease stress, and result in weight loss.
- Quit smoking. Smoking is the most common risk factor for women, and triples your heart attack risk. It may take a few tries to quit. You'll need to address your addiction by using a patch or chewing gum, for instance. You'll also need to modify your behavior, by munching a carrot when cravings strike, for example.
- De-stress daily. Visit a friend. Light candles and listen to mood music. Take a yoga class. Putting yourself on your "to do" list and finding ways to defuse stress will help slow your breathing and heart rate, as you lower your blood pressure.
Jan 29, 2015 Reporting from Niles, MI
Heart to Heart - Elaine Bokhart
https://www.spectrumhealthlakeland.org/medical-services/womens-health-services/heart-and-vascular-care/Detail/Heart-to-Heart/519443ad-c230-6723-add8-ff0000ca780f/
Jan 29, 2015
Jan 29, 2015
SpectrumHealth Lakeland
Her symptoms were subtle. But her husband knew something wasn't quite right.
After losing her 56-year-old mother to a heart attack, Elaine Bokhart of Mishawaka was all too aware that she could also be at risk for the same fate.
“I spent the next
Heart to Heart - Elaine Bokhart
SpectrumHealth Lakeland
https://www.spectrumhealthlakeland.org/ResourcePackages/SpectrumHealth/assets/img/sh_white_logo.png
Heart to Heart - Elaine Bokhart
Jan, 2015
Physicians: Dilip Arora, MD; Leanne Mancini, DO
Her symptoms were subtle. But her husband knew something wasn't quite right.
After losing her 56-year-old mother to a heart attack, Elaine Bokhart of Mishawaka was all too aware that she could also be at risk for the same fate.
“I spent the next 18 years always a little afraid of my mother’s history and a little worried that I would have a heart attack just as she had,” Elaine, 54, explained.
But when she experienced odd sensations in her left arm and a tingling sensation at the top of her head one morning while she drove to work last December, she didn't think much of it at all. She and her husband of just nine weeks, Rick, were halfway to their jobs at Medic 1 Ambulance in Benton Harbor where she works as an administrative assistant and he works as a mechanic.
Once at work, Elaine sat down in the lounge, which was unusual for her. She told one of the supervisors that she was fine, but “just felt a little funny.” Trying to ease her husband’s worry, she had her blood pressure checked (it was slightly elevated) and eventually called her doctor’s office.
“I really wouldn't have gone to the doctor if my husband hadn’t been hovering around me,” Elaine said. “We're newlyweds – he didn't want something to happen to me!”
Leanne Mancini, DO, of Family Physicians of St. Joseph, examined her and performed an electrocardiogram (EKG) on Elaine. Knowing that heart issues ran in her family, Elaine had already had a baseline electrocardiogram at age 50 through Dr. Mancini.
“She didn't really see anything that concerned her on the EKG, but just to be safe because of the history of my mother, she wanted me to go to the Emergency Department and have blood work done to check my cardiac enzymes,” Elaine said. When heart muscle is damaged, as with a heart attack, levels of certain enzymes and proteins rise in the bloodstream.
Once at
Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph, tests confirmed that Elaine was indeed having a heart attack. Interventional cardiologist,
Dilip Arora, MD, admitted her to the hospital and began treating her with nitroglycerin and a blood thinning medication. He performed an angiogram on her the next morning.
“Lucky for me I had no major blockage and I could be treated with medication alone,” said Elaine.
Elaine’s advice to anyone – and especially to women who often put their own health needs last – is to “Know yourself, know your body, and know if something just isn't right for you.”