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Mountain Top resident benefits from procedure that implants tiny pacemaker

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It&#8217;s been an odd week for me.Passing a kidney stone while recuperating from a successful back operation has forced me to ratchet the normally crazy pace of life back a bit. Fortunately, with a great team at work, spectacular medical advisors and wonderful friends, I&#8217;ve been able to rest up a bit yet still get all the important things done, at work and home.One of the side effects of the forced relaxation is more time to watch the Winter Olympics than I expected to have. These athletes are really remarkable: fit, passionate and so dedicated!The stories of what some have overcome to get to the Olympics are startling. Orthopedic injuries of every conceivable type obviously predominate, but I was amazed by gold-medalist snowboarder Shaun White&#8217;s story.Shaun was born with the same congenital heart defect that Jimmy Kimmel&#8217;s son was, Tetralogy of Fallot. White has undergone three operations to repair the complex heart abnormalities of this syndrome, including two as an infant.This got me to check online and find that many successful athletes and celebrities have either been born with or acquired cardiac conditions that they&#8217;ve overcome.Howie Mandel, Joe Biden, Elton John, Tony Blair, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dana Vollmer (100-meter butterfly record holder in 2012 Olympics), and several current and ex-NFL and NBA players are only some. They each provide encouraging examples of what I&#8217;ve told many of my patients over the years: that their cardiac condition is &#8220;a diagnosis to manage, not a sentence to accept.&#8221;As our population ages, more of us are being diagnosed with heart ailments. Yet, the death rate from heart disease is dropping. This means that more people are learning to live with heart disease.If you&#8217;ve been diagnosed with heart disease, your doctor might recommend lifestyle changes, medication or a combination of both. Here are some changes you can make to help manage your heart disease:Get activeFrequent exercise can help you lower your LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, and help you maintain a healthy weight. A properly supervised exercise plan can help strengthen the heart muscle tissue.If you&#8217;ve been diagnosed with heart disease and want to start an exercise regimen, talk to your doctor first. It&#8217;s recommended that everyone get at least two hours and 30 minutes of exercise each week; however, you may need to work up to this exercise goal.With your doctor&#8217;s permission, set small goals to keep you motivated, and work toward them.As you get used to exercising, it&#8217;ll get easier, and you can increase the distance you walk or run, for example, or build on the weights you&#8217;ve been lifting.Maintain a healthy dietAnother way to manage heart disease is through your diet. A heart-healthy diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, fish and lean protein that can help fight heart disease.You should also limit saturated fat that can come from butter, sweets, salad dressing and fried foods to 10 percent of your diet and avoid trans fats that are often seen in processed foods.If you enjoy an alcoholic drink, try to cut back to one drink a day. One glass of wine, beer or liquor may help prevent heart disease, but excessive amounts can make you gain weight and raise your blood pressure.Limiting salt intake can also help you manage heart disease.Cutting back on salt in your diet can lower your blood pressure, which is a risk of heart disease.Lower your stress levelsOngoing stress, or habitually getting angry or upset has been known to predispose to heart attacks. Learn to manage your stress levels to help treat your heart disease. Light exercise can reduce stress, as can yoga, meditation or other breathing and relaxation techniques. If these aren&#8217;t doing it, talk to your medical team. &#8230;Maybe counseling is in order.Stop smokingUsing tobacco products, whether smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco, increases your risk for a heart attack as well as heart disease. It also increases your risk of cancer.However, the health benefits of quitting smoking start almost as soon as you stop. Try quitting on your own; if you find it difficult, you can also talk to your doctor about smoking cessation programs.Making lifestyle changes can help you manage heart disease, but your doctor may still recommend a medication regimen along with a heart-healthy lifestyle.Your doctor may recommend medication that targets your heart or drug regimens that help you lower your cholesterol or high blood pressure, since those are risk factors for heart disease.Facing several lifestyle changes at once can feel daunting. It&#8217;s important to take these changes one at time and set small goals &#8212; but it is motivating to see how many high-profile citizens have achieved so much despite their own cardiac challenges.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Alfred CasaleTo Your Health</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Dr. Alfred Casale, a cardiothoracic surgeon, is Associate Chief Medical Officer for Geisinger Health and Chair of the Geisinger Cardiac Institute. Readers may write to him via ae@www.timesleader.com.</shirttailMeta></div>

To Your Health: Heart disease diagnosis to manage, not sentence to accept