CUMBERLAND — Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, but it’s avoidable with proper prevention, said Kristen Kessell, a nurse practitioner at UPMC Western Maryland.
As American Heart Month, which is recognized each February to spotlight cardiovascular disease, comes to a close, UPMC health professionals recently offered prevention advice and explained services offered across the region.
UPMC Western Maryland has a cardiac catheterization laboratory, often referred to as the cath lab, which offers a variety of services across a vast region and serves over 200,000 people, Dr. Christopher Haas, medical director of cardiology, said.
“When you go sort of in a circle to find where these sorts of services would be available elsewhere, you’ve got to go pretty far away,” Haas said. “You know if you’re having a heart attack and with the particular one that I said, the STEMI, you need to have your artery opened up ideally under 60 minutes.”
The STEMI, a life-threatening heart attack that involves a blockage of a coronary artery, needs to be addressed within 90 minutes. Haas said UPMC Western Maryland has an average of opening the artery in less than an hour.
“We have an emergency protocol program where we get those patients immediately out of an emergency room, up to the cath lab and open up their arteries with a goal of less than 90 minutes to stop their heart attack,” Haas said.
Additionally, the cath lab offers coronary calcium scores through a CT scan to determine a patient’s risk of heart disease in the next 10 years.
Haas said the scan is not necessary for everybody, but is becoming more appropriate for patients once hitting 45 to 50 years old. He said most insurances do not cover the calcium score, but it’s been affordable in the past.
To prevent future risk of heart disease, Kessel suggested lowering blood pressure, improving cholesterol, moving regularly and eating a healthy balanced diet.
Additionally, she recommended that individuals “know their numbers” such as blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol.
“Heart disease isn’t inevitable. With simple, sustainable habits, people can dramatically improve their heart health and quality of life,” Kessel said. “Small steps truly add up.”