Many women mistakenly think that heart disease primarily affects men. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. According to the National Institutes of Health, one in four women in the United States dies of heart disease, while one in 30 dies of breast cancer, and an astonishing 80 percent of women ages 40 to 60 have one or more risk factors for heart disease.

“Early identification and management of risk factors for heart disease through a healthy diet, weight management, exercise and stress management, can greatly reduce a woman’s risk for heart disease,” said Paula Harwood, RN, BSN, and manager of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and heart failure at Memorial Medical Center.

 Harwood suggests women take these steps to reduce their chances of developing heart disease: Read the rest of this entry »

“Heart disease takes the lives of far too many people in this country, depriving their families and communities of someone they love and care for—a father, a mother, a wife, a friend, a neighbor, a spouse. With more than 2 million heart attacks and strokes a year, and 800,000 deaths, just about all of us have been touched by someone who has had heart disease, heart attack, or a stroke.”
- Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cardiovascular or heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. One in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, which equals 2,200 deaths per day. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of us worry what the endless stream of munching does to our waistlines during the holidays, but we often forget that we’re drinking calories, too. And sometimes, a lot of them.

“Every meal – and there are many! – is preceded by drinks, paired with cocktails and wrapped up with aperitifs,” said Christina Rollins, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC, a clinical dietitian at Memorial Medical Center. “It’s no wonder we’re bloating more than Saint Nick himself.”

While holidays are meant to be enjoyed, the key to smart holiday cocktail prep is having some good tricks in your back pocket to help minimize that post-holiday bulge, Rollins said. Read the rest of this entry »

Eating too many salty foods can create all sorts of health problems, including high blood pressure. What you may not know is that a lot of common foods are packed with excess sodium.

“Excess sodium in our diets has less to do with what we’re adding to our food and more to do with what’s already in the food,” said Emily Bailey, a registered dietitian with Memorial Medical Center. “The average individual is getting more than double the amount of sodium that they need, but there are ways to improve the sodium intake under their control.”

Here are six of the top sources for sodium in today’s diet, according to the American Heart Association. Read the rest of this entry »

The American Heart Association recommends adults participate in 30 minutes of moderate activity every day to help protect and maintain heart health. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is through walking.

Because of its simplicity, walking has the lowest drop-out rate of those who adopt the activity. Research shows that walking for at least 30 minutes a day can provide the following health benefits:

• Reduced risk of coronary heart disease
• Improved blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• Lowered risk for stroke
• Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes
• And much more! Read the rest of this entry »

While there’s no one magic food that will improve your health, several foods can help keep your heart in tip-top shape.

Two clinical dietitians with Memorial Medical Center suggested the following four foods that can help you maintain a heart-healthy diet. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to conditioning your heart muscle, practice makes perfect.

The cardiac muscle that makes up your heart is like any other muscle — the more you use it, the better it’s going to work.

Tasha Lancaster, an exercise physiologist with Memorial’s Cardiopulmonary Rehab, suggests the following tips to keep your heart in tip-top shape. Read the rest of this entry »

John Mammen had finished mowing, showered and sat down for dinner on a late spring evening last year when a strange pain began to creep into his chest.

“I had this feeling, a pain I never had before,” said the 38-year-old father of two from Lincoln. “I lay on the bed to stretch out. I couldn’t kick it. I told my wife, ‘Something just isn’t right.’”

The former volunteer firefighter knew that when the pain had moved into his left arm, it was time to get to the closest hospital. After a fast diagnosis of a blocked artery at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department, John was transferred to Memorial Medical Center. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the American Heart Association, less than 6 percent of people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest away from a hospital survive.

Kelly Corcoran, Memorial Medical Center’s AHA Training Center coordinator, wants to do something to increase that percentage.

“This is not a statistic,” she said. “This is a mother or father, a lifelong friend or the person standing in front of you at the grocery store.”  Read the rest of this entry »

We’re all familiar with the typical signs of heart disease – pain, tightness or pressure in the chest.

But there are other signs that may point to heart disease that are easy to overlook. If you experience any of them, you may want to talk to your family doctor. While it may be routine and unrelated to your heart, it doesn’t hurt to have it checked out. Read the rest of this entry »