Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Northside Hospital - 13

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inflammation of the membrane surrounding
the heart that typically resolves on its own, and
he shouldn't worry. He scheduled Wolverton
for a heart catheterization, a diagnostic exam
that involves inserting a thin tube through
a blood vessel to internally examine the heart.
Finally, during the heart catheterization,
the cardiologist discovered the scary truth:
Wolverton had experienced a massive heart
attack in his left anterior descending artery,
a blockage so often deadly that physicians
refer to it as the "widowmaker."
"All of a sudden, [the cardiologist] just goes,
'Oh, my God! Your widowmaker's 99.9 percent
blocked,'" Wolverton says. "He said he'd only
seen that one other time in a patient so young."

WHAT'S CAUSING
EARLY HEART ATTACKS?

ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID MILAN

A third of heart attack
survivors say chest
pain wasn't one of their
symptoms, according
to the American College
of Cardiology

Heart attacks are declining overall, including
in adults 65 and older, but they're on the rise
in younger people.
The annual number of first-time heart
attacks in adults ages 65 and older has been
declining since the 1960s.
But the number of heart attacks that
occur in people younger than 40 is
increasing. Of the people who have
a heart attack before age 50, 1 in
5 are age 40 or younger, and the
proportion has increased each
year for the past 10 years, according to a study co-authored by Ron
Blankstein, MD, a member of the
American College of Cardiology's
Prevention of Cardiovascular
Disease Section.
"When you look at why there are
fewer heart attacks in general, some
of it we attribute to wider use of medications like blood thinners and statins
that lower cholesterol. And some of it has
to do with the fact that there's less smoking than there used to be," Blankstein says.
(Smoking is a contributor to heart disease.)
"But then we ask, 'With the advances we've
made in the field of cardiology, why do they
seem to be less applicable to individuals who
are younger than 50?' "
In reality, it's not that the advances are less
applicable. It's that people are doing more
damage to their hearts earlier in life by eating

Don't Stress
About Heart
Health

So you're on your way to
work, and all of a sudden
you get a flat tire. What's
your reaction to this
unfortunate event? Maybe
you're someone who
manages to stay cool, calm
and collected-after all, it
could always be worse. Or
maybe you're someone who
spirals into a ball of stress-
and who could blame you?
"When you encounter
stress, this causes a chain
reaction within your body,
starting with the release
of two key hormones:
cortisol and adrenaline,"
says Mary Ellen Bergh, MD,
a cardiologist at Northside
Hospital Cardiovascular
Care. These hormones are
what prepare your body to
take on whatever stressor
is in front of you. "They
cause your heart to beat
more rapidly and your
blood vessels to narrow
to help push blood to the
center of the body, which
increases your blood
pressure," Dr. Bergh says.
Once the stressful
situation-like said flat
tire-subsides, your blood
pressure and heart rate
should return to normal.
"However, if you're
continually stressed, your
body doesn't have a chance
to actually recover," Dr.
Bergh says. "Over time, this
can have a damaging effect
on your artery walls."

Stressed?

Although completely
avoiding stress may be
impossible, improving your
reaction to it is possible.
With helpful tips and effective
stress-relief tactics, you can
minimize the impact stress
has on your daily life while
supporting heart health in
the process. Learn more at
everydaywellness.org/stress.

VIM & VIGOR SPRING 2020
http://www.everydaywellness.org/stress
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Northside Hospital

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