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TeresahRN
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Coronary Bypass
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (CABG) treats blocked heart arteries by creating new passages for blood to flow to your heart muscle. It works by taking arteries or veins from other parts of your body - called grafts - and using them to reroute the blood around the clogged artery.
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TeresahRN
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Tetralogy of Fallot Surgery: Blalock-Taussig Shunt
In children who are born with significant cyanosis, intervention is usually needed early on, often in the first week of life. Usually this takes the form of a Blalock Taussig shunt (BT shunt). Originally performed by Drs. Blalock and Taussig in Baltimore in 1944, a shunt is simply a connection between the systemic circulation and the pulmonary circulation (see illustration below). A shunt allows for blood to gain access to the lungs in order to obtain oxygen. Originally shunts were performed using a child's native blood vessels (classic BT shunt); in this day and age they are performed using artificial material (modified BT shunt).
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TeresahRN
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A myxoma is a benign tumor in the heart most commonly found in the left atrium. About 75% of myxomas are in the left atrium, usually beginning in the wall that divides the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles) and growing into the atrium. Treatment is necessary to avoid metastasis and the formation of clots. In addition, untreated growth of the tumor can obstruct blood flow through the heart. Myxomas are curable with surgical removal.
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TeresahRN
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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Be My Valentine: February is American Heart Month
Since 1963 The American Heart Association celebrates American Heart Month each February. Cardiovascular disease is the number 1 cause of death in the United States. This month take the Life’s Simple 7 test with your valentine to reduce your risk factors for a cardiac event.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) 631,636 people in the United States died of heart disease in 2006. Currently, someone has a heart attack every 34 seconds in this country. Each minute, someone dies from a heart disease related event. In 2010, heart disease will cost the United States $316.4 billion. This includes the cost of health care services, medications and lost productivity.
Heart Attack Symptoms:
Some heart attacks are sudden and intense and there is no doubt what is happening. This is the classic “movie version‚Äù of a heart attack. However, most heart attacks start slowly with mild pain or discomfort.
Chest discomfort – discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes. This can be pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
Discomfort in other areas of the upper body – these include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
Shortness of breath – with or without chest discomfort
Other signs of distress – which may include a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
Women are more likely to experience some of the less chest grabbing symptoms and more of the shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain symptoms. Don’t ignore these warning signs. Even if you are not sure seek medical care and have it checked out. See our blog: Killer Among Us- Heart Disease and Women.
When it comes to cardiac concerns MINUTES MATTER! Fast action can save lives, and it might be your own. Don’t wait more than 5 minutes to call your emergency response number or 911 if you are experiencing symptoms.
Certain medical conditions and lifestyle choices can put you at a higher risk for heart disease. 9 out of 10 heart disease patients have a least one of the following risk factors.
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Overweight or obesity
Poor diet
Physical inactivity
Alcohol use
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TeresahRN
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Who Do You Wear Red For?
When Katy Coffy, a 28-year old nurse in Salt Lake City, woke up at 4:30 a.m. in August of 2008 with severe chest pains, she knew she was having a heart attack. She woke her fiancé and said, “Oh, no! I think I have my dad’s heart.”
Coffy had known she was at risk for heart disease; when she was just six months old, her father had undergone triple bypass surgery for blocked arteries. Familiar with her family’s poor health history, she worked to maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle; she ran marathons and followed a healthy diet. Though she was a nurse and well aware of her risk, “I never thought that at the age of 28 I would have a massive heart attack. It was definitely something I thought would happen to me when I was older.”
Myths about Women and Heart Disease
Coffy’s assumption that she was too young to have a heart attack reflects just one of the many misperceptions people have of women and heart disease. Here are some common myths that surround women and heart disease:
1.Heart Disease Affects Men More Than Women: Wrong. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, responsible for more deaths than all forms of cancer combined, yet only 55% of women are aware of this fact, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). More women than men have died of cardiovascular disease than men since 1984 according to the AHA. Less than half of women know what are considered healthy levels for cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol. “It is critically important for women to understand that heart disease is not a ‘man’s’ disease,” says Mary Ann Bauman, MD, Medical Director for Women’s Health and Community Relations at INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City, and spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement. “Women need to know that it can happen to them.”
2.Women Don’t Have Heart Attacks: Wrong again. “The ‘elephant in the room’ is the misconception that women don’t have heart attacks,” says Dr. Bauman. “They may recognize that others are at risk, but don’t think it can happen to them. They also ignore symptoms—sometimes for weeks. Women are very quick to call 911 for someone else but won’t call for themselves thus delaying the time to treatment of an acute event.”
3.Women and Men Have the Same Heart Attack Symptoms: Women are more likely to die after their first heart attack, and many believe it’s because women aren’t familiar with female heart attack symptoms, which differ from men’s: “Women can have typical symptoms of chest pressure, shortness of breath, sweating, etc. but surveys show that less than one third of women have chest pain before a heart attack. Women may have jaw, back or arm pain and/or a decrease in exercise tolerance as signs of heart disease,” says Dr. Bauman.
4.Women’s and Men’s Hearts Are Identical: Men’s plaque distributes in clumps, whereas women’s distributes more evenly throughout artery walls, according to The Women’s Heart Foundation (WHF). “This difference results in women’s angiographic studies being misinterpreted as ‘normal.’” In addition, women’s hearts and arteries are smaller than men’s. Women comprise only 24% of participants in all heart-related studies, according to the WHF, which may also contribute to the higher death rate, since treatment that works for men may not necessarily work for women. 42% of women who have heart attacks die within one year, compared to 24% of men, according to WHF. Some attribute this disparity to the fact that women tend to be 10 years older than men when they have a heart attack, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and are therefore more likely to have other conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and congestive heart failure.
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TeresahRN
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What You Can Do
Lead a Healthy Lifestyle
Leading a healthy lifestyle can help prevent heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends following these guidelines to help you to lower your risk of heart disease:
Stop smoking: You know the drill. If you smoke, quit.
Maintain a healthy diet: You are what you eat! Your diet influences cholesterol, blood pressure and weight. Try to maintain a healthy diet by eating foods high in nutrients.
Reduce blood cholesterol: High cholesterol can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries. Get your blood cholesterol lowered
Be physically active every day: Or at least try. If “Chariots of Fire” doesn’t get you on the treadmill 7 days a week, then settle for a walk in the park.
Reduce Stress: Chill out, man. The AHA says, “Some scientists have noted a relationship between coronary heart disease risk and stress in a person’s life that may affect the risk factors for heart disease and stroke.”
Limit alcohol: According to the AHA, “drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure and lead to heart failure or stroke.” The good news is that people who drink a moderate amount of alcohol (a drink per day for women, two for men), have lower risk of heart disease than people who don’t drink at all (aha!). But before you bust out the Chianti, the AHA does not recommend that nondrinkers start using alcohol or that drinkers increase the amount they drink.
Know the Signs
If you experience some, any or all of the following signs of heart attack, provided by The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease, contact 911 immediately. A few minutes can mean the difference between life and death:
Discomfort, tightness, uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes, or comes and goes
Crushing chest pain
Pressure or pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck, upper back, jaw, or arms.
Dizziness or nausea
Clammy sweats, heart flutters, or paleness
Unexplained feelings of anxiety, fatigue or weakness – especially with exertion
Stomach or abdominal pain
Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing
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TeresahRN
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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Normal Heart (A) vs, Enlarged heart or Cardiomegaly (B)
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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Normal Heart (A) vs, Enlarged heart or Cardiomegaly (B)
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TeresahRN
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Heart Ready for Transplant
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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Open Heart Surgery
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TeresahRN
25437 posts
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