Making Healthy Choices in 2010

Reducing your risk of heart disease cannot be done without considering what you are consuming on a daily basis. It is important to give your body balanced nutrition by eating a variety of nutrient dense foods. A healthy eating plan low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol can help to prevent the build up of cholesterol in your arteries decreasing your risk for heart attack, stroke and other health problems.

Carol Bragdon, PhD, RN, ARNP, Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center offers these 10 healthy eating tips, which helps your heart work better.

• Lighten up. Losing even a few extra pounds helps unburden your heart.
• Be fat-savvy. Trim saturated fat and cholesterol by choosing lean meats, skinless poultry and low-fat or fat-free milk products. Look for foods with little or no trans fat.
• Slash sodium. Look for reduced-salt and no-added-salt versions of canned soups, vegetables and prepared foods. Add less salt to foods.
• Load up on produce. Enjoy colorful fruits and vegetables - their fiber, vitamins and minerals are great for your heart and blood pressure.
• Go for whole grains. Eat at least three ounces daily of whole-grain foods such as whole-grain cereals, whole-wheat bread and pasta, and brown rice.
• Get hooked on fish. Eat omega-3-rich fish such as salmon, trout and herring at least twice a week.
• Go a little nuts. Choose modest portions of foods with unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.
• Focus on Fiber. The fiber in oatmeal, barley, fruits, vegetables - and yes, beans, is good for your heart.
• Be label conscious. The nutrition facts label can help you manage the calories, fiber, fat, cholesterol, sodium and other nutrients in the foods you eat.
• Move to the beat. Get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day. Time strapped? Exercise just 10-minutes at a time. Try brisk walking, jogging, dancing, biking, gardening-even vacuuming with vigor!
  

Here's a tasty recipe for a smoothie packed with berry flavors and other healthy ingredients. It's perfect for breakfast or after your favorite form of exercise.

Berry Delicious Smoothie
2 cups mixed berries, frozen
1 cup (8 oz.) fruit flavored low-fat yogurt (or 1 cup Soft Tofu)
1 medium banana, cut into pieces
1/2 to 1 cup ice cubes

Place ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Serve in room temperature or ice-cold glasses. Serves 4.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 101
Protein: 3 g
Carbohydrates: 23 g
Fiber: 3 g
Sugars: 16 g
Cholesterol: 4 mg
Total Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 38 mg

A Ticking Clock Means A Lot During a Heart Attack

Stormont-Vail HealthCare Emergency and Trauma Center opened in mid-June 2009. While offering the newest emergency facility in the community and a Level II Trauma Center, it also serves as the entry point for many experiencing the symptoms and effects of acute myocardial infarction–otherwise known as a heart attack.

When it comes to treating heart attacks, interventional cardiologists from Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center are ready in a heartbeat to respond to a patient's acute myocardial infarction. With one of the busiest interventional programs in northeast Kansas, Stormont-Vail HealthCare is at the forefront of taking heart attack treatment to the next level.

On average, the door-to-balloon time in any hospital should be 90 minutes or less. Recent studies prove that reopening clogged arteries, known as balloon angioplasty, can reduce a patient's risk of dying by 40 percent if done within 90 minutes of the patient's arrival in any hospital emergency room. This is known in the medical field as the 'door-to-balloon' time.

The interventional teams of cardiologists and clinicians at the Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center have been working continuously to streamline every aspect of their performance to reduce door-to-balloon times and shorten your heart attack experience. A recent audit of patients transported to the Stormont-Vail ED by AMR shows the team has whittled the intervention time to a very efficient median time of 33-minutes, which is significantly faster than the recommended treatment guidelines and very beneficial to the recovery of the any patient. The fastest response time recorded was 25 minutes.

As someone suddenly finding himself or herself in the midst of a heart attack, you want to be taken to a health care facility that regularly makes every effort to respond quickly and accurately to your personal cardiovascular emergency. You, as a prospective patient, should know that upon your arrival at the new Stormont-Vail Emergency Department, your personal interventional treatment will occur at speeds that rival the best cardiac care facilities in the United States.

To learn more about the interventional cardiologists, talk to your physician or contact the Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center at (785) 270-4000.