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GUEST COMMENTARY
Now is the time to reclaim your rhythm Dr. Nelly Kazzaz
A
s a cardiologist, I must far too often treat the consequences of the three leading causes of preventable deaths: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. My dream is to have patients taking part in their own healthcare, who actively work on those three things with me, and who regularly “check their numbers.” Patients who talk with their providers about things they can do to achieve recommended weight loss or target blood pressure or cholesterol level. Patients who confront their fear of facing their own risk factors, and patients who take charge of their lives, actively working to modify the genetic hand they were dealt with aggressive preventive measures. I am passionate about the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, but especially in women. This is so because, for the longest time, heart disease was misconceived and mischaracterized as an older man’s disease, even though women are more likely to die within the first year after a heart attack. Despite all efforts, most of us women live in fear of breast cancer even though 1 out of 3 women will die from cardiovascular disease. And since the majority of cardiovascular deaths may be preventable, it’s never too early to start the journey of prevention. Heart disease affects women of child-bearing age, too, not just middle-aged and post-menopausal women. Over the last half century, incredible advances in prenatal and obstetric care have significantly reduced maternal mortality but, unfortunately, pregnancy-related deaths due to cardiovascular diseases are on the rise. Preeclampsia, although resolving after delivery, increases a woman’s chances of eventually dying of cardiovascular disease by 75%. I plead with each woman that has ever suffered from preeclampsia to seek cardiac care to reduce her risk. Women (particularly younger women) have to juggle multiple obligations and family responsibilities, which leaves them with less time to prioritize their own health. As a physician, I have an ethical duty to motivate my patients to first acknowledge and then modify their own risk factors. I understand that prevention is not as tangible as treatment, but the unambiguous statistics and the lack of awareness about heart disease in women could be putting us all at risk. This is the very reason behind the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement: to advocate for more research and swifter action for women’s heart health. The movement harnesses the energy, passion and power so that we can rally together, draw from each other’s strengths and collectively wipe out heart disease with increased awareness and preventive actions to save more lives. For every woman out there needing an advocate for her health, find a support system to prioritize your own physical and mental health needs. Change the statistics around women’s cardiovascular disease by making changes in our own lives. Yes, it is challenging to establish healthy patterns but if we learned one thing about ourselves during this pandemic, it’s that we are strong, resilient and capable of changing and adapting. This February is American Heart Month. Now is the time to Reclaim Your Rhythm and take back control of your physical health and mental well-being. The American Heart Association is helping people create healthy habits that work best for their life, to give them the best chance at life. We just need to prioritize our own preventive health care and, with the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women’s educational efforts in our own community, we can start to change the statistics by checking and changing our own numbers.
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Jan Berte Alyssa Dearborn Dr. Nelly Kazzaz Jason Klaiber
Dr. Tanya Paul Chef Eric Rose Ken Sturtz
Cover photo by Alice G. Patterson
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Dr. Nelly Kazzaz is a cardiologist with SJH Cardiology Associates. FEBRUARY 2022
GO R ED EDITION
