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Speaker 2: Welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host, Melanie Young,
Speaker 2: and I'm so glad you're joining me. If you have
Speaker 2: followed the show for the eleven years I've hosted it,
Speaker 2: you'll know that heart disease is something close to my heart.
Speaker 2: I have heart disease in my family, and my beloved grandmother, Mimi,
Speaker 2: died of cardiac arrest. I monitor my heart health carefully
Speaker 2: and want to provide as much information as you, my
Speaker 2: women listeners, on how to take care of your heart.
Speaker 2: I have a special topic we're going to talk about
Speaker 2: at the top of this show. It's heart valve disease,
Speaker 2: which you may not be familiar with, but this is important.
Speaker 2: Heart valve disease affects more than five million people in
Speaker 2: the United States States and leads to twenty five thousand
Speaker 2: deaths each year. Aortic stenosis, the most common form of
Speaker 2: heart valve disease, affects five percent of people sixty five
Speaker 2: and oder. So listen up because my show is for
Speaker 2: women fifty and older. I am joined by doctor Janet Wright,
Speaker 2: who is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Speaker 2: who is based in Atlanta and an important source for
Speaker 2: all information. Doctor Wright directs programmic and scientific efforts for
Speaker 2: the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroking, as well
Speaker 2: as policy partnerships and communications strategies to promote cardiovascular health
Speaker 2: equity and fulfill the division's mission. She received her MD
Speaker 2: for the University of Tennessee. I'm a Tennessee girl from Chattanooga,
Speaker 2: and I'm really happy she's joining us briefly to talk
Speaker 2: about the CDC's efforts to raise awareness of heart valve disease. Welcome,
Speaker 2: doctor right.
Speaker 3: Melanie, Thank you so much. I'm so thrilled to join
Speaker 3: you today.
Speaker 2: So you know, we all know about cardiac arress a
Speaker 2: lot of people hear about cardiac arress and stroke and
Speaker 2: high blood pressure and cholesterol. What is heart valve disease
Speaker 2: and what does the heart volve.
Speaker 3: Do Melanie, let's take a tour of the heart, shall we.
Speaker 3: I know you have a good understanding of your heart.
Speaker 3: And by the way, I'm so sorry to hear about
Speaker 3: your your grandmother, loss of your grandmother in that way
Speaker 3: and from heart heart disease. But let's open up. Let's
Speaker 3: go into that beautiful heart. Every heart has four heart valves.
Speaker 3: They open and close with every beat of the heart.
Speaker 3: There are little leaflets on each of these heart valves
Speaker 3: imagine flags waving in the breeze. And the purpose of
Speaker 3: these valves is to regulate the flow of blood through
Speaker 3: the heart, out to the body and up to the lungs.
Speaker 3: Valve disease occurs when one or more of those heart
Speaker 3: valves is harmed by several causes that we can talk about.
Speaker 3: But the heart valve become oddly shapened or thickened or scarred,
Speaker 3: and that keeps the valve from opening fully, or it
Speaker 3: may not allow the valve to close well, and therefore
Speaker 3: the valve leaks. And bottom line is that heart valve
Speaker 3: disease can put a strain on the heart and result
Speaker 3: in health limitations and even complications, including death. So we
Speaker 3: at CDC are on the case to raise awareness about
Speaker 3: this and to help people get the care they need.
Speaker 2: Well, I know my listeners are wondering, am I who
Speaker 2: is most at risk? And what are some of the causes?
Speaker 2: I understand it could be congenital, but what else.
Speaker 3: Some people are born with a valve that might be
Speaker 3: mildly misshapened or be dissorted in some way. Pedutricians can
Speaker 3: pick that up at the time of birth and then
Speaker 3: follow that child carefully through the rest of their lives.
Speaker 3: But there are some heart valve problems that we acquire.
Speaker 3: So one cause is an infection of a heart valve.
Speaker 3: Sometimes that infection results from trouble with gum disease or
Speaker 3: an abscess, either in the mouth or in other body parts.
Speaker 3: So let me just make a pitch now that if
Speaker 3: you have stripped throat and a prescribed antibiotics, or if
Speaker 3: you have an abscess or infection somewhere in a given antibiotics,
Speaker 3: please take those antibiotics and complete the entire course. The
Speaker 3: germs that cause that infection can easily get into the
Speaker 3: blood stream, go through the bloodstream, and set up housekeeping
Speaker 3: on one of your heart belves. And so the way
Speaker 3: to prevent that, which is what we're always trying to do,
Speaker 3: is to make sure you complete that course.
Speaker 2: That's important because I know I haven't done that in
Speaker 2: the past, and I kind of cringe as you say that. So,
Speaker 2: doctor Ray, who is more at risk? You know? Historically
Speaker 2: women and Black, Hispanic, Latin, and Asian populations have a
Speaker 2: higher incidence of certain illnesses, often due to lack of
Speaker 2: access to proper healthcare or a reluctance to go to doctors.
Speaker 3: You bet, And let's start with women. It turns out
Speaker 3: that and the things that I'm going to say now
Speaker 3: are not about someone being at elevated risk, but people
Speaker 3: who belong to subgroups of our population that are less
Speaker 3: likely to get diagnosed and treated. So women more than men,
Speaker 3: And this is true for many different forms of heart disease,
Speaker 3: but it's true in heart valve disease, women more than
Speaker 3: men are less likely to be diagnosed. Also, people who
Speaker 3: are black, African American, Hispanic, and Latino or Asian are
Speaker 3: less likely to be diagnosed and treated. We don't know
Speaker 3: all the reasons, but we know that lack of access
Speaker 3: to care. Sometimes there are issues of the way symptoms
Speaker 3: are described. There may be some language impediments and other
Speaker 3: factors end up with an underdiagnosis. And so I want
Speaker 3: to make sure that your listeners, if they belong to
Speaker 3: one of those groups and they are women, that they
Speaker 3: need to make sure they ask about heart valve disease
Speaker 3: when they are in a clinical environment.
Speaker 2: So interesting, most women or patients don't know what to ask,
Speaker 2: which is what I try really hard to impart in
Speaker 2: my writing and my shows. So naturally, many people don't
Speaker 2: even like to go to the doctor. But what are
Speaker 2: some signs symptoms that you may need to seek medical
Speaker 2: help and how what is the testing involved.
Speaker 3: I have to confess I love the heart. I do
Speaker 3: believe it is a work of art. It is a
Speaker 3: thing of beauty. But I have to tell you when
Speaker 3: it comes to heart vol disease, I would call it sneaky.
Speaker 3: Heart volve disease can sneak up on a person, and
Speaker 3: because we are who we are and you mentioned it, Melanie,
Speaker 3: we tend to dismiss or diminish the symptoms we feel.
Speaker 3: I want to make sure that your listeners know what
Speaker 3: the symptoms of heart valve disease are. So first of all,
Speaker 3: shortness of breath that seems our proportion to what you're doing.
Speaker 3: You've climbed these steps, you know, once a day forever,
Speaker 3: or you've climbed that hill, but you're more short breath,
Speaker 3: a little more air hungry. That can be a symptom. Secondly,
Speaker 3: chest pressure or tightness. Maybe it's not pain, certainly not severe,
Speaker 3: but if it's if it recurs with the exertion, that
Speaker 3: is absolutely worthy of a discussion with your healthcare professional.
Speaker 3: Palpitations where your heart skips a beat or beats fast
Speaker 3: should register with you. And finally, the symptom that of
Speaker 3: advanced heart valve disease is a sensation that you're going
Speaker 3: to pass out, a feeling of dizziness or lightheadedness, or
Speaker 3: an actual blackout. Any and all of those are worthy
Speaker 3: of a conversation with the healthcare professional.
Speaker 2: And of course, if you're find you're experiencing a lot
Speaker 2: of those, it may be good to call nine to
Speaker 2: one one in case it could be you know, something
Speaker 2: that could be life threatening. You know what you describe,
Speaker 2: doctor Wright. Are many things that people have when they
Speaker 2: have panic or anxiety attacks, which I have had. Uh,
Speaker 2: so it is really important not to brush anything off
Speaker 2: and say, oh, it's nothing, because it could be. What
Speaker 2: are the risks if left well? How do you treat
Speaker 2: heart valve disease first of all, and then what are
Speaker 2: the real risks if left untreated?
Speaker 3: Yes, so I have very good news about the treatment,
Speaker 3: and I'll just say at the outset that many heart
Speaker 3: valve problems do not need specific long term treatment. If
Speaker 3: you do have a heart valve problem, you may be
Speaker 3: prescribed antibiotics before you have a procedure, and again you
Speaker 3: need to get that prescription filled and take those medications
Speaker 3: to prevent the transmission of germs to your heart valves.
Speaker 3: But before we get to that, well, and so let
Speaker 3: me just go with the treatment for now. Treatment can
Speaker 3: be medications to control a little fluid retention that occurs
Speaker 3: with increasing severity of the heart valve problem, or medications
Speaker 3: to regulate the heart rhythm if that appears to be problematic.
Speaker 3: If the heart valve disease is advanced, the treatment for
Speaker 3: years and years has been placement or repair through open
Speaker 3: heart surgery. Over recent years, several decade and a half
Speaker 3: or so, now a new procedure is now offered to
Speaker 3: people with valve disease. That's a catheter based treatment. The
Speaker 3: catheter goes in through the leg and the valve is
Speaker 3: actually replaced in that what non invasive way, does not
Speaker 3: require surgery. So those are things to keep in mind.
Speaker 3: But the most important thing is to raise the issue.
Speaker 3: If you're having symptoms of these sorts, even if they
Speaker 3: are subtle, to take those things very seriously and raise
Speaker 3: them at your regular checkup and make sure you know, Melanie,
Speaker 3: I want to make sure that when people go in
Speaker 3: for a checkup with their nurse or doctor that they
Speaker 3: if the physician does not listen to their hearts, that
Speaker 3: may be the case if you go in for an
Speaker 3: elbow problem or an earache, they may not listen to
Speaker 3: your heart. I'm asking all of your listeners just say, hey,
Speaker 3: could you take a listen to my heart. I'm curious
Speaker 3: whether I have any problem with my heart valve. It
Speaker 3: takes a couple of minutes to do. Clinicians are skilled
Speaker 3: at listening for heart murmurs, and we need to ask
Speaker 3: them to do so so that we make sure we
Speaker 3: capture heart valve disease and make sure people stay safe.
Speaker 2: Ah, you mentioned heart murmur, so I think you mentioned
Speaker 2: that for the first time heart murmurs tied to heart
Speaker 2: valve disease.
Speaker 3: That's right. The murmur. It's a word that doctors use
Speaker 3: and nurses use, but it describes the sound that can
Speaker 3: come from blood flowing through a damaged valve.
Speaker 2: Because that's what you know. So listeners, I was told
Speaker 2: I had a heart murmur and you had to take
Speaker 2: those antibiotics during dental exams. Is that still the case,
Speaker 2: because I've heard mixed stories on that.
Speaker 3: Yes, there are recommendations about that, and your healthcare professional
Speaker 3: can determine whether you need antibiotics or not. I've been
Speaker 3: some recent changes to those recommendations.
Speaker 2: Right, because I haven't done it in quite some time,
Speaker 2: so it's kind of interesting. So what can consumers do
Speaker 2: to reduce their risk other than discussing this and having
Speaker 2: their heart check with their medical practitioner and taking those
Speaker 2: antibiotics when they're prescribed in full, what else can they
Speaker 2: do it can reduce.
Speaker 3: Their risk, that's right. So daily oral hygiene is really important.
Speaker 3: This gets back to regular dental checkups, flossing, and making
Speaker 3: sure that if you do have an issue with your
Speaker 3: oral hygiene, that you seek help for that and then
Speaker 3: getting those regular checkups is just key.
Speaker 2: Well you know, who would have thought that oral hygiene
Speaker 2: is tied to heart health, but it is and other
Speaker 2: things as well. So where can my listeners go to
Speaker 2: learn more about heart velve disease? Because we all know
Speaker 2: you have to have trusted sources. Don't just go googling
Speaker 2: around internet. You've got to go to trusted sources like
Speaker 2: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So I think
Speaker 2: there's a toolkit you have now for I know, medical people,
Speaker 2: medical folks, but what about regular folks.
Speaker 3: Yes, and in fact, I'm so pleased that we produce
Speaker 3: these resources to be helpful to individuals, regular individuals like
Speaker 3: you and me, as well as healthcare teams. So those
Speaker 3: are all available, including videos and patient stories at CDC
Speaker 3: dot gov backslash Know your Heart.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that's so important, and as I said,
Speaker 2: listen to real doctors and credible sources, not just moving
Speaker 2: around on internet, you know, So it's really really important.
Speaker 2: I know time is limited with you, doctor Wright, You're
Speaker 2: very busy. So we've been speaking with doctor Janet Wright,
Speaker 2: who directs programmic and scientific efforts for the Center for
Speaker 2: Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, And as always, you
Speaker 2: have a great heart and you've got to take good
Speaker 2: care of it. So thank you for sharing this information
Speaker 2: with us today. I'm fearloss fabulous you.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for getting the word out.
Speaker 2: My pleasure. Thank you, doctor Wright, thank you so much,
Speaker 2: and for my listeners. I hope that was really really important.
Speaker 2: I just want to do a little follow up chatting
Speaker 2: with you about some things that you can do to
Speaker 2: improve your overall health because, as I said at the
Speaker 2: top of the hour, my grandmother, Mimi Rose Weiner, died
Speaker 2: of cardiac arrest. It actually changed my life and how
Speaker 2: I approach a lot of things in life, including doing
Speaker 2: this show. Is in living life on your terms. She
Speaker 2: was having what she called an anxiety attack, maybe a
Speaker 2: little indigestion, so she went in thinking she was having
Speaker 2: what she called an esophagus attack because she has gastro
Speaker 2: esophagal had gastroesophagal reflux disorder, as do my mother, as
Speaker 2: did I, and often the symptoms when they have a
Speaker 2: flare up of gird mimic a heart attack. Unfortunately, what
Speaker 2: my grandmother did have was cardiac arrest. And it's important
Speaker 2: to understand while we were talking about heart valve disease,
Speaker 2: which is also in late terms medical terms, a heart murmur,
Speaker 2: heart attack, and cardiac arrests can happen at any age.
Speaker 2: It's not an old person's it's really episodic. It's not
Speaker 2: even a disease. Our cardiac cardiovasco disease can happen at
Speaker 2: any age. I'm going to say that cardiac arrests is
Speaker 2: when your heart goes into your basic heart failure and
Speaker 2: can kill you. And sadly, I have too many people
Speaker 2: I know my age in the early sixties who have
Speaker 2: died of cardiac arrest. It is so important to know
Speaker 2: the symptoms. It is so important to seek help. And
Speaker 2: most importantly, if you think you were having a cardiac
Speaker 2: arrest or any kind of heart incident where you can breathe,
Speaker 2: you start to pass out, you have shortness of breath,
Speaker 2: the room is spinning. I have been there. You call
Speaker 2: nine to one one. You are not a hyperchondriac. Don't
Speaker 2: let people tell you it's nothing and just calm down,
Speaker 2: even if it's a panic attack, seek help. And I'm
Speaker 2: saying that firsthand because I've had to go to the
Speaker 2: er twice thinking I was having a heart attacks. Granted
Speaker 2: it was a panic attack, but you know, I feel
Speaker 2: all the better that I did, because the day I
Speaker 2: don't do that, the day I don't call nine one
Speaker 2: one because I think I'm having a heart attack and
Speaker 2: someone says, don't worry, it's nothing but a stress attack,
Speaker 2: that will be the day I have cardiac arrest. So
Speaker 2: what can you do? Well, First of all, as doctor
Speaker 2: Wright said, and what I want to echo, it is
Speaker 2: very important that you do not skip your annual medical exams,
Speaker 2: and that is so important. And when you go to
Speaker 2: your doctor, your primary care physician, you go with a checklist.
Speaker 2: You don't ask them to do the checklist. You go
Speaker 2: with the checklist head to toe. You want your blood check,
Speaker 2: Do you want your cholesterol check, do you want your
Speaker 2: heart check? Do you want you know? You ask if
Speaker 2: you can get an echo, cardiogram, an ectocardiogram, ask for
Speaker 2: a stress to say I want to have the following
Speaker 2: because I am over fifty, or I have had symptoms,
Speaker 2: I have family history, know your family history. Go in
Speaker 2: with a checklist and say is it time for me
Speaker 2: to have these exams? I just did this with my
Speaker 2: new primary care physician. I went in with my checklist
Speaker 2: and I now have a whole list.
Speaker 4: Of things that I'm going to be scheduled to do,
Speaker 4: including tattah, blood cholesterol, bone density scan, a comprehensive metabolic panel,
Speaker 4: antibiody panel, lipid panel, rheumatire factor.
Speaker 2: Because I have rheumatoid art writers in my family, I
Speaker 2: asked for everything and fortunately I had a doctor who
Speaker 2: took the time. Thank you doctor Wan vernalon Wan at
Speaker 2: Touro Clinic who sat down and listened. If your doctor
Speaker 2: is not giving you the time to sit down and
Speaker 2: listen and take the time to request these tests, and
Speaker 2: maybe it's time to get a new doctor. Just all
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say, Because a doctor's job is to make
Speaker 2: sure that you remain in optimal health. Now that's going
Speaker 2: to the doctor. What can you do every day to
Speaker 2: protect your heart? It's as simple as many other things
Speaker 2: to protect the other parts of your health. Okay, first
Speaker 2: of all, Number one, Number one, get moving. Sedentary living
Speaker 2: is harmful to your health. You must get at least
Speaker 2: forty five minutes of exercise a day, even if it's
Speaker 2: your ten thousand steps of walking. Move your body and
Speaker 2: try to make it cardiovascular movement, not just you know,
Speaker 2: a leg lift here. I love pilates, but let me
Speaker 2: tell you something. I love pilates for strengthening and time
Speaker 2: owning and stretching and making me feel ten feet taller
Speaker 2: than I am at my five foot foot three. But
Speaker 2: I swim, I do brisk walks. I try to join
Speaker 2: my husband biking. Do something to get your heart going.
Speaker 2: Number two, and I'm doing the dews before the do nots.
Speaker 2: Do embrace a healthy diet that means lean protein, greens,
Speaker 2: whole grains, minimize saturated fat, so healthy fats, monoym. They're
Speaker 2: saturated fats, minimal process food, ultra processed food. Excuse me,
Speaker 2: it's filled with sugar and salt and chemicals. Go green.
Speaker 2: It's also frankly less expensive. We all know how expensive
Speaker 2: food is these days, right, So I, you know, stop
Speaker 2: eating meat. It's my choice. I don't want to eat
Speaker 2: saturated fat. I don't even like the taste of meat.
Speaker 2: I have a greens focused I love vegetables, so eat
Speaker 2: a lot of vegetables. Probably two thirds of what I
Speaker 2: eat is vegetables. And then I do either whole grains
Speaker 2: and lean protein. What is lean protein fish. I do
Speaker 2: follow the Monterey Bay aquariumseafood watch dot org, which constantly
Speaker 2: is updated on what fish are good and safe to
Speaker 2: eat versus questionable versus do not. It's not necessarily do
Speaker 2: not because of health. It could be due not because
Speaker 2: of environmental issues or overfishing. But seafood watch dot org
Speaker 2: is a great source. Also the Dirty the Clean fifteen,
Speaker 2: and the Dirty dozen lists which you can find. You
Speaker 2: can find on the internet. It's a great source. But
Speaker 2: healthy eating, so embrace more exercise and movement. If you
Speaker 2: don't like the word exercise, let's call it movement and
Speaker 2: healthy eating. Free get enough sleep, turn off the TV,
Speaker 2: turn off the phones, put them phones in the other room,
Speaker 2: and get a good night's sleep. I've learned not to
Speaker 2: even you know, because I work for myself. I don't
Speaker 2: even set the alarm. I get enough sleep seven hours,
Speaker 2: as I doal eight hours is optimum. If you don't
Speaker 2: get enough sleep, try to have a little thirteen minute
Speaker 2: cat nap in the middle of the day. Thirteen minutes.
Speaker 2: It could be part of your lun shower, thirteen minutes
Speaker 2: just to catch up before watch your stress. Try to
Speaker 2: rechannel all that amazing stress energy that can be detrimental
Speaker 2: and make it positive energy. So if you feel stress,
Speaker 2: go take a walk. If you feel stressed, go bake
Speaker 2: a cake. If it feel stress, go call a friend.
Speaker 2: If you feel stressed, take out your kids or your
Speaker 2: dog for a walk. Channel that energy and try to
Speaker 2: reduce your stress. Take up yoga. It's great for heavy
Speaker 2: breathing exercises to moderate your stress. Identify what stresses you
Speaker 2: out and try to tailor it or edit it out
Speaker 2: of your life if you can. And more importantly, if
Speaker 2: you can't handle the stress and you're feeling overwhelmed, seek help.
Speaker 2: It's good to seek help. Everybody probably should have a
Speaker 2: therapist at some point in their life. Now let's talk
Speaker 2: about the no nos. No smoking, do not smoke, and
Speaker 2: do not start. It's a direct cause of many major illnesses,
Speaker 2: including heart disease. Okay, do not smoke. And again, why
Speaker 2: spend the money smoking when you can spend it on
Speaker 2: something else. Alcohol. There is a lot of information and
Speaker 2: misinformation and debate on how much beverage alcohol, as in
Speaker 2: a glass of wine, two glasses of your man, or
Speaker 2: a small one point five ounce glass of heart alcohol
Speaker 2: like whiskey or bourbon, or whatever or beer. There's a
Speaker 2: lot going on with that right now. The World Health
Speaker 2: Organization is saying no amount of alcohol is good for you.
Speaker 2: Then there's team reports and research studies. A moderate amount
Speaker 2: is okay for you. I follow the Mediterranean diet. The
Speaker 2: Mediterranean diet does say moderate amounts of alcohol, preferably with
Speaker 2: meals like a glass of wine. Know your risk, know
Speaker 2: your limits. If it's not making you feel good to
Speaker 2: consume alcohol, then don't. It's okay, but you should not.
Speaker 2: According to the current dietary guidelines, which are subject to
Speaker 2: change in twenty twenty five, it's one five or six
Speaker 2: ounce glass. I think it's five or six ounce glass
Speaker 2: of wine for women and two for men a day max. Okay.
Speaker 2: If you do drink alcohol, have days where you don't.
Speaker 2: David and I are wine writers, so we drink. You know,
Speaker 2: we have wine. We drink. We share a bottle of
Speaker 2: wine at dinner. Sometimes it's two glasses for him, two
Speaker 2: glasses for me, or maybe three glasses for him and
Speaker 2: one glass for me. But we also have nights where
Speaker 2: we just have water, you know, we dry out, and
Speaker 2: we just we try really hard not to overdo it. Finally,
Speaker 2: perhaps you time for yourself and enjoy family and friends,
Speaker 2: and realize that life is short. It is simply a
Speaker 2: passage in a journey, and enjoy every moment. And go
Speaker 2: and make sure you are seeing your doctors. Make sure
Speaker 2: that you understand your family history. Make sure you, as
Speaker 2: doctor Wright says, make sure you take those antibiotics when
Speaker 2: they're prescribed. Don't be half half about taking your pills.
Speaker 2: And as always, just understand that if there's something going
Speaker 2: on in your body or your brain that doesn't feel right,
Speaker 2: go get help. No one wants to be taken by
Speaker 2: surprise by being diagnosed with a major illness. And my
Speaker 2: heart breaks whenever I read about yet another person in
Speaker 2: my age group or younger or older. But really my
Speaker 2: age group are younger who is dropped out of a
Speaker 2: sudden health incident. When I see that in the paper,
Speaker 2: I freeze because I know it's probably a heart attack.
Speaker 2: We didn't talk about stroke. I had a terrible My
Speaker 2: husband had a terrible scare several years ago. He had
Speaker 2: a health episode that mimicked a stroke and it wasn't,
Speaker 2: but boy, oh boy, I knew the signs. And when
Speaker 2: I saw his face starting to droop and his speech
Speaker 2: starting to slur. I said, we are going straight to
Speaker 2: the emergency room at Vassar Hospital, which we did. We
Speaker 2: got off a train from New York and did it
Speaker 2: because I knew that it could be life threatening. It
Speaker 2: was not a stroke. It ended up being something called
Speaker 2: adam a cute, which is a whole other thing. But
Speaker 2: I am so glad that I knew the signs and
Speaker 2: said I am taking you to the doctor. Stroke can
Speaker 2: also be a sudden stroke. Sadly, a very famous chef,
Speaker 2: very famous chef, died of a stroke recently, and it
Speaker 2: just made me think long and hard about the symptoms.
Speaker 2: So what are the signs of a stroke? Signs and
Speaker 2: symptoms of a stroke? Again, if you have any questions,
Speaker 2: go to CDC dot gov. This is the signs of
Speaker 2: symptoms of stroke in men and women. One sudden numbness
Speaker 2: or weakness in the face, arm our, leg, especially on
Speaker 2: one side of the body. You may see a face drooping.
Speaker 2: That's a sign. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or difficulty understanding speech.
Speaker 2: Two three sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
Speaker 2: Four sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack
Speaker 2: of coordination. Five sudden severe headache with no no cause.
Speaker 2: If you have any of those symptoms, call nine to
Speaker 2: one one. They call it act fast fast. To act fast,
Speaker 2: look at the face, ask the person to smile. If
Speaker 2: if you think someone's having us broke, act fast fast
Speaker 2: do this f face. Ask the person to smile. Does
Speaker 2: one side of the face drew a arms? Ask the
Speaker 2: person to raise both arms? Does one arm drift downward?
Speaker 2: S speech? Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase.
Speaker 2: Is the speech slurred or strange t time? If you
Speaker 2: see any of these signs, call nine one one right away.
Speaker 2: Do not drive the person to the hospital or let
Speaker 2: someone else drive you. Call nine one one for an
Speaker 2: ambulance so that medical personnel can begin life saving treatment
Speaker 2: on the way to emergency room. That is the number
Speaker 2: one reason if you see that a loved one is
Speaker 2: having a medical a major medical incident, do not drive
Speaker 2: that person in the hospital. Called nine one one because
Speaker 2: they can start life saving treatment on the way to
Speaker 2: the emergency room. The last thing you want to be
Speaker 2: doing is carrying a loved one in your car in
Speaker 2: traffic when they could have been getting help. Okay, there
Speaker 2: are many other aspects tied to heart conditions, that you
Speaker 2: need to be aware of. We talked about heartfile disease,
Speaker 2: we talked about stroke, we talked about cardiac arrest. There's
Speaker 2: also high blood pressure. There is high cholesterol. My husband
Speaker 2: is on a high blood pressure medication. I am on
Speaker 2: a high cholesterol. You must watch your intake of salt
Speaker 2: and sodium, which is just everywhere in processed food. But
Speaker 2: it's also salt and sodium seems to be very high
Speaker 2: in restaurants and airline food. So if you're traveling, ask
Speaker 2: for the low and you were lucky enough to have
Speaker 2: a meal and ask for the low sodium, ask for
Speaker 2: a low sodium airplay meal, or bring your own snacks.
Speaker 2: Most ultra processed food has a lot of hidden sugar
Speaker 2: and sodium, Sodium meal salt is a preservative, so of
Speaker 2: course it's in there because most older processed foods have preserves. Right,
Speaker 2: Watch your cholesterol. That's saturated fat. This is another tricky
Speaker 2: one because it could be everywhere. It could be in
Speaker 2: your buttery foods, it can be in your creamy foods.
Speaker 2: There are hidden fats everywhere. If you have any concerns
Speaker 2: or questions about being able to be on top of
Speaker 2: your diet, consider working with a health coach or nutritionists
Speaker 2: who specializes a health coach who specializes and holistic nutrition.
Speaker 2: It is not peddling supplements. Did you hear me? Work
Speaker 2: with a health coach who is working on helping you
Speaker 2: implement healthy changes that you can manage in your diet, lifestyle, exercise,
Speaker 2: and habits without pushing you to purchase supplements. Supplements are
Speaker 2: not magic pills. If you are being prescribed supplements maybe
Speaker 2: a vitamin D three, your doctor should be doing it. Okay,
Speaker 2: save the money, make the changes naturally. A nutritionist, a
Speaker 2: registered dietitian, a nutritionists certify nutritionness is another way to go.
Speaker 2: They will help you create a weekly diet and budget
Speaker 2: to work within your financial situation and keep you. They
Speaker 2: will be your partner to make sure you stay on it.
Speaker 2: Because it's always great to start a diet and embrace
Speaker 2: a healthy diet, but it's really easy. It's a slippery slope.
Speaker 2: You can slip off it fairly quickly. How many times
Speaker 2: have my husband I said, oh, we're not going to
Speaker 2: drink any wine on this vacation. The first we do
Speaker 2: is go out by white. We're not going to have
Speaker 2: any snacks and nauss and the next thing you know,
Speaker 2: there come the chips. So it's really easy to slip
Speaker 2: into the habits that you're trying to break. So it's
Speaker 2: really good to have an accountability partner with a health
Speaker 2: coach or a nutritionist someone to help you. So again,
Speaker 2: heart disease, anyone can be at risk at any age. Obviously,
Speaker 2: your risk increases as you get older. If you have
Speaker 2: family history, if you were overweight, if you are smoking,
Speaker 2: if you have an unhealthy diet and not moving, it
Speaker 2: increases your risk. We talked about with doctor Wright the
Speaker 2: fact that many minorities, women, Black Americans, Asian Americans, Latinas
Speaker 2: have a higher risk of incident of many illnesses, including
Speaker 2: heart disease. A lot of that could be family history,
Speaker 2: a lot of it could be lifestal, but a lot
Speaker 2: of it is also that they don't make the time
Speaker 2: to go to the doctor. You may not trust the doctors.
Speaker 2: My mother hated going to a doctor. I had to
Speaker 2: drag her to them. You may not have time, but
Speaker 2: you only have a limited amount of time on this
Speaker 2: earth to live a healthy life on your terms. So
Speaker 2: why wouldn't you invest that hour, that half a day,
Speaker 2: whatever it takes to stay healthy for the rest of
Speaker 2: your life and at least know that if there's something
Speaker 2: going on, you can get on top of it and
Speaker 2: address it before you can't address it and it's too late. Okay.
Speaker 2: You take the time to do other things in life.
Speaker 2: You take the time to go to your pilates, glass,
Speaker 2: you take the time to you know, go to your
Speaker 2: kids junior league, whatever you're doing. Take the time for
Speaker 2: you and with that mind, I'm going to wrap up
Speaker 2: this show. It's another edition of Fearless Fabulous Shoe and
Speaker 2: my message is always you have one great life to
Speaker 2: live and one amazing person that's you. So choose to
Speaker 2: live your life in good health on your terms, be
Speaker 2: vigilant about it, stay who you are every day of
Speaker 2: your life, and always choose fearless and fabulous. I'm Melanie Young.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
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