Diseases of the heart and blood vessels lead to more deaths for Americans than all other diseases combined. That goes for women as well as men, but public awareness of that fact and medical treatment for women lags behind that for men.
A lot can go wrong with your heart. Two cardiologists were on hand last Thursday night to tell a live television studio audience all about it.
“Heart disease and stress” was the topic of the regular monthly broadcast of 21st Century Conversations, a normally hour-long show on Citizens Television that began several years before the 21st century dawned, hosted by N’Zinga Shani (pictured on the right in photo above). Her goal is to provide “health care literacy” to her studio guests and at-home audience, especially African Americans who tend to have worse health statistics than the general population.
This special show ran 90 minutes, with 20 people in the audience, every one of whom seemed to have questions for the two guests, cardiologists and Yale School of Medicine faculty members Forrester (“Woody”) Lee and Rachel Lampert (on left in photo). So it was a real conversation, and the time flew by.
Before and after the show, Shani made available all kinds of written materials on heart disease and heart health, including an “African American Health Passport” for patients to keep track of their personal and family health information, names and contact info for their primary care physician and specialists, their surgeries and other procedures, and exams and screenings. A good idea.
It also contains this sentence: “Diseases of the heart and blood vessels cause more death than all other diseases combined.” Is this common knowledge? It sounded almost unbelievable, but Dr. Lee confirmed it.
The show could have been called “Heart Health 101.” The doctors described the four-chambered heart and blood vessels in detail, how the heart pumps blood throughout the body, and the role of adrenaline in survival (by tripping the “fight or flight” response). But too much adrenaline pumping through a body — in response to anger or fright — can be bad for your health, the docs said. Lampert told the sad story of how police in another city broke down an innocent woman’s door and arrested her by mistake. Though it was cleared up, the shock she suffered was believed to be the cause of her death from a heart attack shortly afterward.
Audience members asked questions about congestive heart failure, arithmias, arterial blockage, the connection to diabetes, and more. Tracy Smith (pictured on left, with Dr. Lee), who had a heart transplant in 2001, wondered why her new heart seemed to race.
Dr. Lambert noted the risk factors — high blood pressure, diabetes, family history, high cholesterol, smoking, inactivity, and being overweight. Click here for suggestions for improvement.
Someone asked about women and heart disease. Dr. Lee answered that the medical establishment has served women — who constitute 52 percent of the population, Shani pointed out — badly. Click here for more.
For more information, visit the website of OneWorld Progressive Institute, Inc., the producer of 21st Century Conversations.
OneWorld, Inc. is delighted with the feedback we have been getting about the health forum and about the NH Independent article.
When the program re-aired on May 22, several people called the OneWorld line requesting to speak with the doctors. We had 27 people in the studio and they all had questions; due to time constraints we were not able to get to all of the questions; it does point out the need for what we are doing. We encourage the community to get involved with our work and help us to do more. The next forum will be on Breast Cancer and will start at 7PM on May 31 at CTV.
We are extremely grateful to the physicians who have been generous with their time, knowledge and expertise. We also thank the NH Independent OnLine Health Project for helping us to get the word out. This is what being a community is really about. Thank you all.