Newsletter of the Cape Cod-Hyannis Chapter #315 - Mended Hearts, Inc.
"It's Great to be Alive and to Help Others"
Newsletter Mission: To Offer Current Ideas, Suggestions, Observations and Information on Heart Disease and to Inform members of Chapter #314 activities
If you elected not to, or neglected to put your birth date on the membership application your birthday will not appear in the newsletter. This can be corrected by contacting the editor.
...please don’t throw it away. Pass it along to a friend, a relative, a neighbor, or drop it off in your doctor’s waiting room. This way more people will get the Mended Hearts’ message.
To print this newsletter click on the Printer Icon on your browser; or click File --- Print on your browser
THE NATIONAL OFFICES OF MENDED HEARTS HAS INITIATED HIGH VISIBILITY PROGRAMS VISIBILITY PROGRAMS
MH VISIBILITY WITH AHA
Two high profile placements have recently garnered Mended Hearts Inc. some strong positioning with AHA. In late June the Mended Hearts logo was prominently placed on the cover of the Advocacy Pulse, the electronic newsletter of the AHA’s Advocacy department which is sent to an estimated 40,000 persons interested in fighting heart disease and stroke. The logo included a link to the national Mended Hearts Inc. Web site. In July Mended Hearts Inc. was included on the AHA’s home page to our Web Site.
PARTNERSHIP WITH VITALITY
Mended Hearts Inc. and Vitality Communications are pleased to announce a partnership that will significantly extend Mended Hearts’ outreach to patients. We are sharing this news because we felt the partnership would also be of interest to hospitals and cardiac centers. With this program, Vitality Communications will help Mended Hearts expand HEARTBEAT magazine as well as offer opportunities for cardiac centers to customize HEARTBEAT with their logos and message. (If additional information is desired on this program, please contact Yvonna Carter at (336)547-8970.
On Wednesday August 25 the chapter held it’s First Annual Pot Luck Picnic. The function was held at the beautiful home of Christy Stusse from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The ample food was delicious...right from the salads through the entrees and into the desserts.
Members were really able to get to know one another, making it much easier for social intercourse during the regular monthly meetings.
The Happening was so successful it was voted to make it an annual program.
Because Christy lives on Popple Bottom Rd. the activity will be called the Popple Bottom Pot Luck Picnic.
It may be a good idea to mark your calendars now for the third Wednesday in August 2005 so you’re sure not to schedule anything for that day.
We wish to thank Christy for volunteering the use of her home and for her willingness to open it to an annual party.
One other added benefit of Christy’s home is a swimming pool. It doesn’t get any better than this.
September 16th starts a new year for Cape Cod-Hyannis Chapter #315 of Mended Hearts, Inc. I’m certainly looking forward to a year of service and support...as well as a year of growth. All this can be achieved with the assistance of our membership. In order to accomplish this growth the more members available, at each meeting, to chat with perspective members the better the chances of an appropriate match.
I’d like the folks who are not yet members of Mended Hearts Inc. but who are receiving 3 months of HEART TO HEART to know you’re not alone. We extend our sincere wishes to you for a successful recovery and good health. Our members are survivors themselves and their goal is to help others see that life with heart disease can still be full and rewarding.
The program and time of our September 16th meeting is indicated elsewhere in the newsletter. I’d be
delighted to see a grand turnout in that some of the patients contacted throughout the summer showed an interest in coming to the meeting.
The senior centers in Barnstable, Dennis, and Yarmouth have generously offered the use of their vans to their seniors. Other towns may be doing the same. You may want to check.
The service is for folks who need a ride to medical appointments on the Cape.
It’s suggested you call the Senior Center to make your reservation as soon as you know the date and time you’ll need a ride.
Reservations will be taken on a first come, first served – space available basis. You must call at least 24 hours in advance to reserve your seat.
MIGRAINE DRUGS OK IN TERMS OF STROKE, HEART ATTACK
(from www.heartcenteronline.com)
There’s reassuring news for people who have migraines: the modern “triptan” drugs that are effective for many sufferers do not increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke a new study shows.
Triptans, and older ergot derivatives, work by constricting blood vessels, which in theory might reduce blood flow to the brain or heart enough to cause a problem. As Dr. Priscilla Velentgas and colleagues put it in an article in the journal, Headache, “it has been speculated that the use of triptans or ergot alkaloid drugs might increase risk of ischemic events through vasoconstriction.”
To investigate this possibility, the team matched 130,411 migraine sufferers with 130,411 non-migraine patients who were members of UnitedHealthCare between 1995 and 1999.
The rate of heart attacks in both groups was about 1.4 cases per 1000 persons per year.
Compared with non-migraine subjects, those with migraine were 67% more likely to have a stroke during the study period. Migraine sufferers also had higher rates of serious angina and “mini-strokes.”
However, the risk of having a heart attack or stroke did not increase with current or recent use of triptan drugs.
Current users of ergot products were more likely to have a stroke or serious heartbeat irregularity than other migraine patients, although the relationship was not significant from a statistical viewpoint, the researchers note.
Velentgas is with Ingenix Epidemiology in Auburndale, Massachusetts, and other authors are with Pfizer, Inc. The study was supported by a contract between Pfizer and Ingenix Epidemiology.
According to recent estimates, one in four U.S. adults has high blood pressure (HBP), but because there are no symptoms, nearly 1/3 of these people don’t know they have it. In fact, many people have HBP for years without knowing it. Uncontrolled HBP can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, or kidney failure. This is why HBP is often called the “silent killer.” The only way to tell if you have HBP is to have your BP checked often.
Marilyn was born in Boston and lived in Newton, MA for most of the years till graduation from Newton HS. Her father was a Harvard graduate and her mother from Wheelock College. (Her mother actually was in the same class with Margaret Hamilton, wicked witch of the West in the Wizard of OZ)
After graduation from HS Marilyn entered Endicott College and during the first year she was taken to the hospital with severe ear problems. While there a friend suggested she look into nursing. She applied for nurse’s training but had to take a chemistry course at Northeastern University
Her next three years were quite interesting as she affiliated at Mattapan Mental Hospital and the Children’s Hospital in Boston. She was also involved in the care of children with polio. Very difficult in those days.
After graduation from nursing school, Marilyn worked in Beverly for several years and then worked at Newton-Wellsley Hospital. Here she met Paul who was to become her husband. They were married shortly thereafter and had three wonderful children and three grandchildren.
They moved to The Cape in 1986 where they ran two small retail stores until they retired in 2001.
One morning in May of 2003 she awoke with chest pains. She had her husband drive her to the fire station. WRONG! She says she should have called 911. It would have saved time. Fortunately an ambulance was there and she was whisked to the hospital. After a removal of a large clot in the pulmonary artery and the insertion of two stents – a 12 day stay, she was sent home. Between then and January of 2004 she received 6 more stents...a total of 8.
At this time Marilyn wanted to mention the September 16th meeting of Mended Hearts Inc. offers a wonderful insight to what goes on in the ambulance before getting to the hospital. The paramedics can notify the hospital with the patient’s existing symptoms so that a cardiologist can be waiting with a plan of emergency treatment.
She recommends this is one meeting that should not be missed.
MENDED HEARTS WEARABLES ON SALE FROM NATIONAL OFFICE
You may order Mended Hearts wearables (page 6) through the national office. Should you wish to purchase any item, please send your order to Bart Kazin / 59 Shad Bush Cir. / S. Dennis, MA / 02660 along with your check in the correct amount. The check may be may out to THE MENDED HEARTS, INC. The item(s) will be mailed directly to where you designate.
These mementos will be available throughout the year.
A women’s risk of developing heart disease rises considerably when she reaches menopause, but a healthy lifestyle can do much to reduce the risk, researches report.
Follow-up of menopausal women taking part in a diet and exercise trial showed slowing of atherosclerosis – plaque build-up in the arteries – according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology .
The Women’s Healthy Lifestyle Study demonstrated that such measures “ could prevent the adverse cardiovascular risk factor changes that occur with menopause,” senior investigator Dr. Kim Sutton-Tyrrell of the University of Pittsburgh, explained.
Ultrasound measurements were made of the thickness of the carotid artery walls twice over the course of 4 years in 353 women, 44 to 50 years of age. The participants were assigned to a lifestyle-intervention group or to an assessment-only “control” group.
In controls, artery wall thickness accelerated from an increase of 0.003 millimeters per year before menopause to 0.008 mm during and after menopause.
However, this 0.008 mm per year progression in controls was reduced to 0.004 mm per year in the intervention group.
The data Sutton-Tyrrell concluded, “show that these lifestyle changes really do slow the progression of the disease – atherosclerosis – and we can measure it.”
Also, she added, “Women in the intervention group avoided weight gain over a 4.5 year period and their LDL cholesterol did not rise.”
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Nanette K. Wenger of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta notes that the findings suggests the time around menopause offers a “unique opportunity for coronary risk reduction.”
It is worth investigating whether such an intervention started “later after menopause would provide similar benefit,” she adds.
Heart disease and stroke are the number 1 and 3 killers of women. They are two of the many cardiovascular diseases that kill nearly 500,000 women each year. That’s more than the 7 causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer. Fortunately, you can do a lot to prevent these killers.
GO RED FOR WOMEN helps you discover unique lifesaving power by learning about heart disease and stroke and taking positive action to reduce your risk of both.
Red is the American Heart Association’s color for women and heart disease. Make it your color too.
Although research has shown that ACEIs (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors) reduce death in elderly patients, these drugs are still under-prescribed, according to the results of a new study.
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors lower blood pressure (BP) and are often prescribed to treat high blood pressure. By lowering BP angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors reduce the heart’s workload, and a number of large, randomized studies have shown that they improve survival rates of people with weak hearts or conditions such as heart failure.
Heart failure is a condition in which one or more of the heart’s chambers is not pumping efficiently enough to meet the body’s demand for oxygen. It can lead to fluid in the lungs, fatigue, and shortness of breath.
Results of the study found that just 68% of the almost 17,500 participants (aged 65 and older) had been prescribed an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor at hospital discharge. The patients were diagnosed with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). The left ventricle pumps oxygen-rich blood out to the body.
The study conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center appears in the August edition of Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association.
In the study, patients who were prescribed angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors had a significantly less risk of death after one year. The benefit cut across age, gender, race, and serum creatinine level (a waste product in the blood used to diagnose kidney disease).
Current guidelines call for the wide spread use of Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors for heart failure. The researchers note that their findings support these guidelines in patients with left ventricle systolic dysfunction.
1. Nine 2. Heartbreak Hill 3. Brookline Country Club 4. Hockey 5. Defenseman 6. The Los Angeles Lakers 7. Ted Williams 8. The Boston Celtics 9. Falmouth 10. Boston
1 pound boneless pork loin shops, all visible fat removed
Egg substitute equivalent to 1 egg or 1 egg
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/3 cup cornflake crumbs
2 tablespoons corn meal
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using vegetable oil spray, spray a shallow baking pan large enough to hold pork chops in a single layer. Set aside.
Cut pork chops into 4 portions, if necessary. Set aside.
In a small shallow bowl such as a soup bowl, combine egg substitute and milk.
In a shallow dish, such as a pie pan, combine crumbs, cornmeal, marjoram, pepper, mustard, ginger, and cayenne. Using tongs dip pork chops in milk mixture, letting excess liquid drip off. Coat both sides of pork chops with crumb mixture. Arrange pork chops in prepared pan.
Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Turn chops with a spatula and bake for 10 minutes, or until chops are tended and slightly pink in center.
