ADVANCES NOTWITHSTANDING,
STILL THE NO. 1 KILLER OF MEN AND WOMEN
610 thousand Americans die of heart disease every year, 17 million worldwide
This image, already iconic, now sadly serves as a devastating reminder of the number of deaths that 2016 will be remembered for. The actors who played Princess Leia and R2D2 – Carrie Fisher and Kenny Baker, respectively – were two of the many, many others who lost their lives last year: famous faces, as well as family members and friends from our own lives.
Bowie. Rickman. Frey. Scalia. Boutros-Ghali. Shandling. Prince. Ali. Wiesel. Wilder. Palmer. By Autumn, 2016 had become so notable for the number of deaths, memes were popping up on Facebook, Instagram and all social media, imploring the year to cease and desist.
And that was before December.
December 2016 served as an even more profound reminder that heart disease still claims the lives of one in every four Americans. The very month itself is considered a risk factor for cardiac death. A December 12, 2016 article in the AHA/ASA Newsroom states:
Although researchers don’t know exactly why heart attacks are more common around (the winter) holidays, they note a number of possible reasons, including changes in diet and alcohol consumption during the holidays; stress from family interactions, strained finances, travel and entertaining; respiratory problems from burning wood; and not paying attention to the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
December 2016 was no exception. On December 13th, actor Alan Thicke, age 68, died of a ruptured aorta while playing hockey with his son. Four days later, Dr. Henry Heimlich, 95, the surgeon who invented the technique to save choking victims, died of a heart attack. On December 18th, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor died of heart failure.
And on December 27th, actress, Princess Leia portrayer and author Carrie Fisher, 60, died after suffering a heart attack days before. The next day, her 84-year old mother, Debbie Reynolds, died, her last words being “I want to be with Carrie.” Her death was attributed to a stroke, although many wondered whether she might have died of a broken heart.
It’s not that far-fetched. According to the American Heart Association,
Broken heart syndrome, also called stress-induced cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy, can strike even if you’re healthy… Women are more likely than men to experience the sudden, intense chest pain – the reaction to a surge of stress hormones — that can be caused by an emotionally stressful event. It could be the death of a loved one or even a divorce, breakup or physical separation, betrayal or romantic rejection. It could even happen after a good shock.
Whether caused by stress-induced cardiomyopathy, family genetics or otherwise, heart disease statistics are increasingly grim. In 2010, the American Heart Association set a strategic goal of reducing death and disability from cardiovascular disease and strokes by 20 percent while improving the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent by the year 2020. Yet on the January 4, 2017 edition of Dr. Fred Feit’s radio program, Heart to Heart, AHA CEO Nancy Brown revealed that 2016 was the first year in which death rates from heart disease have not gone down, but in fact have ticked up slightly, according to the CDC. “As we sit here today, fewer than 1% of all Americans are in ideal cardiovascular health,” Brown told listeners. She acknowledged the challenge, saying, “We have a lot of work to do to encourage people to live their best life by controlling their risk factors and focusing on health behaviors.”
Whatever the etiology, women are especially at risk. In 2004, the American Heart Association saw that as a challenge, and responded with its Go Red For Women campaign. That year, cardiovascular disease was claiming the lives of nearly half a million American women each year, but, the AHA says, “women were not paying attention,” even dismissing it as a disease of older men. To dispel the myths and raise awareness of heart disease and stroke as the number one killer of women, the AHA created a passionate, emotional, social initiative designed to empower women to take charge of their heart health – Go Red For Women.
In her December 30th message on the AHA website, Nancy Brown encouraged those saddened by the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and all those who lost their lives to heart disease in 2016, “to make our national conversation a personal one, to spark important, difficult interactions that help more people understand the threat these diseases pose. In our mourning, let’s embrace some teachable moments.”
The statistics are especially frustrating for specialists like the three heart specialists who are featured in this issue of Hampton Roads Physician, because they know that cardiovascular diseases are largely preventable. Simple common sense tenets like managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, reducing blood sugar, getting and staying active, eating better, losing excess weight and not smoking could significantly reduce the rate of heart disease in the US, and lessen the number of deaths.
As Nancy Brown noted, that day may be a long time coming. Until it does, the good news for the people of Hampton Roads is that the level of cardiac care in this community is second to none. Fellowship trained Dr. John Brush, Dr. William DeLacey and Dr. Deepak Talreja represent distinct areas of specialty care for heart patients – cardiac research, interventional cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology – and were chosen to be featured from among a number of highly skilled and well-respected practitioners.
We may well have been overwhelmed at the end of 2016 at the number of lives lost, but as AHA CEO Nancy Brown reminds us, “the dawning of a new year offers the hope of better days ahead.”
To which we say, hopefully, healthier days, as well.
