Physicians and students emphasize importance of heart health

Abby Doriot | Staff Writer

When you think of the month of February, you think of Valentine’s Day and images of love and candy appear. When you look around the stores, there seem to be hearts everywhere. Of course, they are meant for Valentine’s Day; however, February is about more than just silly little valentines.

February is designated as Heart Health month, which helps raise awareness about heart disease. Raising awareness about heart disease is extremely important because it could potentially save a life.

“Generally speaking, heart health does not happen overnight. The more knowledge people have, the better equipped they will be to make and maintain the lifestyle changes needed to live long, happy lives,” said John Doriot, director of cardiovascular services at Schneck Medical Center.

Maintaining regular heart health is a crucial part of staying heart healthy. Some things that can help keep one’s heart health in check are maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy foods, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of exercise. It is also very important to know your family history.

“Knowing your risk helps to establish the importance of making healthy choices,” said Dr. Jennifer Craig.

Heart health can look different for everyone. Kalyn Sebastian (10), for example, was born with Tetralogy of Fallot. This means that her pulmonary heart valve does not close completely when pumping, which causes the right side of her heart to be larger. To make sure her heart stays healthy, she tries to eat healthy and avoid high caffeine drinks. She also tries to be as active as possible without overdoing it. “Heart health is very important to me because I want to be able to live as long as possible. My heart condition won’t go away, but by doing certain things I can avoid complications,” said Sebastian.

Lauren Jeffries (12) is also very conscious of her heart health, especially as an athlete. If she feels like she has pushed herself too hard, she sits out of practice. After running a race, she puts her hands over her head and walks around to calm her heart back down. “Heart health is important as an athlete because every athlete needs to know their limits of how hard they can work themselves. If an athlete pushes themselves too hard, they could pass out or even have permanent heart damage,” Jeffries said.

Heart health pertains to everyone, and doctors say it should be a priority for everyone.

“Heart health is important because the heart is such a vital organ, and its function impacts other systems within our bodies. Poor heart health can significantly limit one’s quality of life and prevent one from living a fuller, longer life,” Doriot said.

Stories from the heart

Personal experiences from SHS staff and student

I had to stop playing sports that I had played my whole life. I also had to change my diet so it would be more heart healthy, which has had a positive effect so far.”

Jeffery Drury (11)

...I can’t do some of the things that I used to do yet, hopefully. I can’t run. I have to walk short distances...I’m a lot more aware than I was before.”

Jason Clancy, Teacher