Heart Health – Your Life Depends on it

[Essentia Health]

​Words by Tara Ekren, Essentia Health
Photos provided by Essentia Health

Your life depends on your heart. It’s important to do all you can to keep your heart in the best shape possible. But what exactly does this mean? There are a variety of ways to keep your heart healthy and it’s important for both men and women, young and old to do.

The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the body via the circulatory system. According to Dr. Lola Oluleye, a cardiologist at Essentia Health, “Heart health can be seen as safeguarding the heart muscle integrity, function and purpose. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States resulting in 1 in 4 deaths.” 

Promoting a healthy lifestyle each day throughout your life helps to foster heart health by preventing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which is the hardening and narrowing of your arteries, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular and often rapid heartbeat. “Practicing heart-healthy core behaviors and being aware of the risk factors helps to maintain adequate heart health,” explains Dr. Oluleye.

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How do I know if my heart is healthy?

The American Heart Association recommends focusing on prevention early in life. To start, assess your risk factors and work to keep them low. 

Major risk factors that can’t be changed:

• Increasing age: Most people who die of coronary heart disease are age 65 or older
• Male gender: Men have a greater risk of heart attacks than women
• Heredity, including race: Children whose parents have heart disease are more likely to develop heart disease themselves and African Americans have a higher risk of heart disease

Major risk factors you can modify, treat or control:

• Smoking: Smokers have a much higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than nonsmokers
• High blood cholesterol: As your cholesterol rises, so does your risk of coronary heart disease
• High blood pressure: High blood pressure increases the heart’s workload, causing the heart muscle to thicken and become stiffer
• Physical inactivity: Regular, moderate to vigorous physical activity helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
• Obesity and being overweight: Those with excess body fat, especially if a lot of it is at the waist, are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, even with no other risk factors
• Diabetes: Diabetes seriously increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease

​Other factors:

• Stress
• Alcohol
• Diet and nutrition

​A heart screening at Essentia Health can help assess heart disease risk factors, estimate your risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and identify signs of heart disease before symptoms develop. A heart screening includes a lipid profile, calcium scoring, EKG and a consult with a cardiology provider if you have elevated risk for heart disease. A heart screening is recommended for men over age 40 and women over age 50 who have a family history of early heart disease and/or risk factors for heart disease. ​

How can I keep my heart healthy?

Dr. Oluleye recommends following guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. 

• Assess risk factors with your provider on a routine basis
• Take a low-dose aspirin only if you are at high risk
• Keep your blood pressure less than 130/80 mmHg
• Take cholesterol-lowering medication 
• Stop smoking cigarettes
• Restrict your calories and begin a comprehensive lifestyle program if you are overweight or obese
• Eat a healthy diet with more vegetables, whole grains, fruit, nuts, legumes and lean animal protein while avoiding high sodium foods, processed meat, refined carbohydrate and trans-fats
• Control your diabetes through diet, exercise and medication
• Exercise with at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity

Women with a history of pregnancy-associated conditions such as preeclampsia and premature menopause before age 40 face an increased risk so they should discuss these factors with a cardiology provider.  

What is a heart attack?

A heart attack occurs when there is a blockage in blood flow to the heart muscle thus reducing oxygen supply and resulting in heart muscle damage, which can be fatal, Dr. Oluleye explains.

“Symptoms of a heart attack can be different for each person and symptoms can vary in the same person if they have multiple heart attacks,” warns Dr. Oluleye. “Some common symptoms include discomfort, heaviness, tightness or pain such as an elephant sitting on chest with occasional radiation to the jaw, neck, arm or back. Other symptoms include upset stomach, indigestion, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, excessive sweating and shortness of breath.”

However, Dr. Oluleye shares that 1 in 5 adults have silent heart attacks with no symptoms. This is more common among adults with diabetes.

Chest pain is the most common heart attack symptom in both men and women. “Women need to monitory for other subtle symptoms like indigestion, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, shortness of breath and neck, jaw or back pain,” shares Dr. Oluleye. 

Dr. Oluleye’s advice

“It’s important to start making daily heart-healthy lifestyle choices now since this ultimately reduces your risk of developing heart diseases,” Dr. Oluleye encourages. “If you have risk factors for heart disease or other concerns, talk with your primary care provider or call the Heart and Vascular Center directly.”

Dr. Lola Oluleye

Ready to assess your heart risk or learn more about keeping your heart healthy? 

Call the Essentia Health Heart and Vascular Center at 701-364-BEAT or visit with your primary care provider. You can learn more at EssentiaHealth.org.

Essentia Health’s Heart and Vascular Center in Fargo offers comprehensive care for your heart. Among these are: 

• Heart screening
• Watchman, an implanted device for treating atrial fibrillation
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure
• Fetal echocardiogram, which can detect hearth abnormalities before birth
• Pediatric Cardiology, a pediatrician who has extensive training in diagnosing and treating children’s cardiac problems

Award and Recognition

• Region’s only accredited Chest Pain Center with PCI & Resuscitation from the American College of Cardiology
• Platinum performance for heart attack care from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR)
• STEMI receiving center designation
• 2020 Gold Plus level for heart failure care from the American Heart Association
• Blue Distinction designation for quality and cost-effective cardiac care from Blue Cross Blue Shield

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