We’re just days away from “American Heart Month”, and Blake Medical Center is proud to take part in the nationwide effort to draw attention to preventing America’s No. 1 killer, cardiovascular disease.

The American Heart Association has come up with 7 simple steps you can take to live better and keep your heart healthier.

Get active:  By exercising for as little as 30 minutes each day you can reduce your risk of heart disease.  So start walking now.  The American Heart Association set up a social media soul-mate to get your started.  Click here to sign up!

Control your cholesterol:  It’s important to know your cholesterol level. A cholesterol level of 200 or higher puts you in a high-risk category and is cause to take action. 

Eat better:  A healthy diet is one of your best defenses against the disease. The American Heart Association recommends eating a wide variety of nutritious foods daily from each of the basic food groups including: vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods, fish and lean meats and poultry and low-fat dairy products. 

Manage your blood pressure:  Hypertension is the most significant risk factor for heart disease. Statistics show 1 in 3 adults had high blood pressure, but about 21 percent don’t even know they have it.

Lose weight:  145 million Americans 20 or older are obese, according to research.  That’s nearly 77 million men and more than 68 million women.  If you’re overweight, you can reduce your risk for heart disease by safely losing weight and keeping it off.

Reduce blood sugar:  Diabetes is considered one of the six major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease by the American Heart Association. Studies show adults with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke than adults without diabetes.

Stop smoking:  Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease.  When it acts with the other factors experts say it increases your risk from those factors, too. Smoking decreases your tolerance for physical activity and increases the tendency for blood to clot.  It also decreases HDL (good) cholesterol. Your risks increase greatly if you smoke and have a family history of heart disease.

To learn more about the Simple 7 plan, log onto mylifecheck.heart.org.

Blake Medical Center is also offering a free Heart Smart Screening Thursday, Feb. 11 from 7-9 a.m. in the Dolphin/Pelican Room.  The screening includes glucose, cholesterol & lipid panel and blood pressure check.  Fasting is required.  To RSVP, call 1-888-359-3552.

Blake is proud to have an award-winning Heart Institute with a superior cardiac program combining a highly-skilled team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart disease along with advanced technology to increase a patient’s chance of surviving a heart attack with fewer complications.

For heart month, we are also offering two free Dinner with a Doctor seminars with renowned cardiac surgeon and Mitral Valve Specialist Dr. Alessandro Golino on January 29 and February 26 at 5:30 p.m.  A healthy dinner with be served. 

Reservations are required.  Call 1-888-359-3552, or visit us online at www.blakemedicalcenter.com.

Heart disease is leading cause of death in the United States, and this year alone 500,000 American women will die from cardiovascular disease.

At Blake Medical Center’s Heart Institute, we have award-winning programs and advanced technology to increase a patient’s chance of surviving a heart attack with fewer complications.

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is interrupted. This deprives the heart muscle of oxygen, causing tissue damage or tissue death.  A STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) is a deadly type of heart attack.

Time is critical to saving a STEMI patient’s life.  The American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Joint Commission have determined that a patient’s blood flow should be reestablished in 90 minutes or less from the time he or she arrives in the hospital’s emergency room.  Blake is proud to meet and very often beat that goal.

Blake is also home to the West Florida Mitral Valve Repair Center, where our highly-skilled cardiac team is able to give patients a better quality of life by often repairing rather than replacing the mitral valve.

“Here at Blake we have repair rates that are way above the national average,” said cardiothoracic surgeon and Mitral Valve Specialist Dr. Alessandro Golino.  “Currently we have a 96 percent repair rate.”

If the surgery is performed quickly enough, the patient can be returned to a normal life expectancy often without the need for anti-coagulation medication (blood thinners) or additional surgeries.

We also provide a cardiac rehabilitation and exercise program to help return patients to a healthy lifestyle after a heart attack through continued monitoring, exercise and  risk-factor modification

Blake has also received the following awards and recognitions for cardiac care:

• 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospital by Thomson Reuters
• Accredited Chest Pain Center with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) by the Society of Chest Pain Centers
• Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) Designation from the Joint Commission

• Blue Distinction for Cardiac Care by Blue Cross Blue Shield

For more information about the Heart Institute, visit our website at www.blakemedicalcenter.com or call 1-877-4-HCA-DOCS (1-877-442-2362).

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