Tips For Your Family's Health

PHOENIX – The pain of a broken heart is not just something written about in poems and songs. It’s very real and it can become deadly. In the moments leading up to her surgery, 68-year-old Sharon Acton displayed vital signs of a woman a third of her age. “When they did the test they said I had the arteries of a 20-year-old.” But each day for Acton is like a roll of the dice. She says, “I could literally walk down the street and die of a broken heart.” She’s right. She could die of what’s known as broken heart syndrome. It’s a condition that mimics a heart attack or a heart condition brought on by acute stress. Dr. Hina Saddiqui, a cardiologist, says, “It can be emotional stress. It can be physica

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To paraphrase from the old public-service ad: We’re halfway through American Heart Month – do you know where your coronary health is?

Actually, it’s a serious question, considering how prevalent heart disease is in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one.”

In 2010, this meant an estimated 785,000 Americans suffered some form of heart disease.

Staggering numbers, to be sure.

Controllable risk factors

Of course, we all know the risk factors that are within our control to avoid becoming a statistic:

• Eat a healthful diet that’s low in sodium, cholesterol, sugar and fat.
• Exercise regularly – “At least 60 to 90 minutes a day, five times a week, if you really want to make a difference in your health,” advises Palm Beach Gardens cardiologist Dr.

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A study of triathletes has revealed that the heart adapts to triathlon training by working more efficiently.

Triathlons are multi-sport events consisting of swimming, cycling and running various distances in succession.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study using MRI to investigate effects of triathlon training on cardiac adaptations,” said lead researcher Michael M. Lell, M.D., associate professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany.

Dr. Lel

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