Heart Matters: An Interview w/ Dr Gary H Gibbons of NHLBI
“We understand the risk factors of high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and those are things that women can do something about; (a) by having those conversations with their doctors to be sure they know their numbers, their blood pressure, their cholesterol, and (b) that they are being controlled.” Dr. Gary H. Gibbons, Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Heart Matters: An Interview w/ Dr Gary H Gibbons of NHLBI
VIDEO: Celebrating American Heart Month: NIH Advancing Heart Research
“An estimated 43 million women in the U.S. are affected by heart disease. Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease. Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease. The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women and men, and are often misunderstood. While 1 in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, 1 in 3 dies of heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for African American women. Of African American women ages 20 and older, 46.9 percent have cardiovascular disease. Hispanic women are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than Caucasian women.” NHLBI/NIH
February was American Heart Health Month, and there was tremendous focus on Women and Heart disease. On February 5th, many of us joined Go Red for Women, the American Heart Association (AHA), National Institutes for Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Office on Women’s Health (OWH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and many other groups to promote and celebrate National Wear Red Day 2016 in our communities. As we know by now, 1 in 3 women die of heart disease, and that is a frightening statistic. Some of us dismiss the signs we receive because we are busy tending to others’ needs. By the time some women stop to respond, they are in full cardiac distress, and 1 in 3 never recover. Fighting this insidious disease requires sustained effort through funded research, early intervention, and education. When the organizers of #HeartChat!, which took place on Twitter in February, invited me to continue the conversations we shared at that event with the distinguished cardiologist/medical researcher, Dr. Gary H. Gibbons, Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), I was stoked.
Dr. Gibbons graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Medical School with high honors. Before joining NHLBI, he completed his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, taught at Stanford and Harvard University, and served as the founding director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute, chairperson of the Department of Physiology, and professor of physiology and medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr Gibbons work at the Cardiovascular Research Institute led the way “to discoveries related to the cardiovascular health of minority populations and he received several patents for innovations derived from his research in the fields of vascular biology and the pathogenesis of vascular diseases.”
Over a lifetime of research dedicated to finding answers to our heart health questions, he has received numerous awards. It was with great pleasure that I sat with Dr. Gibbons at the Hilton Hotel Midtown for the interview below. Please take the requisite time to read it and share it with the women and men in your lives. The information could save YOUR life. If each one tells one, we can save many lives.
QUESTION: As a survivor of heart failure, I’ve made it part of my life’s work to be an advocate, to speak up, and to encourage women to take care of their health and make sure that they ask lots of questions and get 2-3rd opinions. This opportunity to speak with you is really a blessing. What led you down this path? Were there any personal or family experiences that helped you develop this passion for cardiology and women’s health as well?
ANSWER: Dr Gibbons – Well, I guess there are many layers to that question. It’s a great question. Certainly, from an early age, I was drawn to both science and medicine as a way to help people. And when I went to medical school, I asked my professor, in my first year, this question about high blood pressure; I’d been reading and saw the statistics about African Americans having more high blood pressure than other populations. Long story short, this Harvard professor, renowned for his understanding of blood pressure, couldn’t give me an answer, so, as a professor, he turned the question back on me. He challenged me to ask and answer that question myself as to why this is more prevalent (among African Americans) and that’s a part of why I do medical research. I want to understand disorders that disproportionately affect people like me, my neighbors, and the family I grew up with.
Indeed, my mother died of a stroke, and it was common among mothers; they take care of us more than they take care of themselves. So this reinforces our passion as to why it is important to raise awareness, to have the courage as women to take care of themselves first as the best way to help their family, and that once we have that awareness, it’s the number one killer of men and of women as well, to make a call to action because these are preventable in many ways. We understand the risk factors of blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and those are things that women can do something about;( a) by having those conversations with their doctors to be sure they know their numbers, their blood pressure, their cholesterol and (b) that they are being controlled.
We recently did a study called the Sprint Trial – Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT); that looked at how/asked the question: How long should we treat (high blood pressure) and what are the goals of treating high blood pressure? How low should it go? Again, this is a landmark study published in the last few months that we think will change the practice of medicine, suggesting that the lower, the better. Again, these are conversations that women should be having with their doctors: “Is my blood pressure at the right level? Is it as low as it should be?” Because, again, the lower the blood pressure and the lower the cholesterol, as increasing evidence suggests, the better you can prevent heart attacks and strokes and live longer. So that’s why we keep pushing for awareness.
QUESTION: Are there genetic markers that make this prevalent in our group vis-à-vis people of color? I’m just curious about that. Why is it so much higher for us than it is for Caucasians?
ANSWER: It’s a great question. Some of it relates to the factors that predispose us, for example, to high blood pressure. So we know that the bigger the body weight, or the more overweight and obese people are, the more likely they are to develop high blood pressure. And so it’s not always a 100% correlation, but it increases your risk, and, of course, as you’re aware, more than 75% of African American women are either overweight or obese. So when you see more obesity and then more high blood pressure, some of it relates to those risk factors. Certainly, we know that your diet is a determinant of your blood pressure, and so a high-salt diet is more likely to predispose. Again, often, either via culture or by socioeconomic status, people tend to eat higher-salt, higher-fat diets, and both of those things will tend to predispose…
One of the areas that we are studying is to see if there are genetic factors, things related to our African ancestry, that also contribute because we know that, particularly African Americans, had their origins in predominantly West African, Sub-Saharan Africa. At least one hypothesis is that, in a salt-poor, hot environment, there may have been a predisposition to retain more salt to gain a survival advantage. Unfortunately, in this situation where we have all these processed foods with high salt content, that same ability to hold onto salt is not as much of an advantage. So that’s being actively studied, and we’re funding research in that area.
“As a result, of studying populations over time, we’ve understood what the risk factors are for heart disease or what predisposes people to have a heart attack … There are things that women can empower themselves to do just by more knowledge and information. “ Dr. Gary H Gibbons
Heart Matters: An Interview w/ Dr Gary H Gibbons of NHLBI
VIDEO: NHLBI Invites Community to Participate in Strategic Visioning Process
QUESTION: How has research led to the improvement and management of heart disease; perhaps, research that you have participated in or you are aware of?
ANSWER: We give a lot of credit to our population studies, like the Framingham Heart Study, which you might be aware of, that started in 1948, when heart disease was first emerging as the #1 killer of Americans. As a result of studying populations over time, we’ve understood what the risk factors are for heart disease or what predisposes people to have a heart attack. Once we understood that high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cigarette smoking all contribute to high blood pressure, that provided the evidence base to say, “Okay, if we can control blood pressure, if we can control cholesterol, can we reduce the amount of heart attacks?” That’s where the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NHLBI funded studies actually tested that. We now know from those studies that if you lower cholesterol, you can prevent heart attacks; if you lower high blood pressure, you can prevent heart attacks.
We know from a study we did called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension – The DASH Diet that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, unprocessed whole grains, low-fat dairy, low salt, low sugar, and low fat can reduce blood pressure. That diet can reduce blood pressure as much as pills can.
QUESTION: People can go off the pills?
ANSWER: Some people can come off the pills if they have mild high blood pressure and if they can respond to lifestyle modification alone, such as taking that diet. So, restoring that dietary balance can help control blood pressure. So those studies show that if you can control those factors, you can have a healthier heart.
QUESTION: How much of this information is available to a general practitioner or an average cardiologist? Some folks on high blood pressure medications visit their GP, and the doctors don’t talk to them about the DASH diet. They might suggest a new drug… I’m curious.
ANSWER: It’s part of the reason we do this. We want to increase awareness and empower women to have those conversations, and that’s why, hopefully, in your blog and other messages coming through our website, they can have those conversations to ask their doctors that certainly medications are important to take and adhere to, “What can I do, doctor, that could help control my blood pressure?” We have a lot of information in what’s called Clinical Guidelines, where we try to inform care providers about some of it and review the evidence I just recounted to you. So that is guiding that, indeed, by potentially losing weight or adopting a DASH diet, your blood pressure can go down. It may not mean you come off medication. Still, it could reduce the number of medications you need or optimize your ability to control your blood pressure more effectively in concert with your medications. There are things that women can empower themselves to do just by more knowledge and information.
NHLBI Resources On Women And Heart Disease:
MORE BELOW!
“So that’s very important; an important thing for your listeners/audience to be aware of is that a part of empowerment is participation in the understanding of diseases and what can benefit our community.” Dr. Gary Gibbons
Heart Matters: An Interview w/ Dr Gary H Gibbons of NHLBI
VIDEO: Gary Gibbons — Setting a New Agenda for the NHLBI
NHLBI Video Description: NHLBI’s new director, Dr. Gary H. Gibbons, will address the Institute staff for the first time at this NHLBI town hall. Dr. Gibbons will provide an introduction to himself and his vision for the Institute.
QUESTION: They say knowledge is power. Another question is about clinical studies/trials giving women access; I’m thinking of women of color/minority women and how to give them access to these studies and trials. What are some of the progress and challenges to it becoming more available to us?
ANSWER: It’s a great question. So, one platform is clinical trials that they can find on our website, which describes many kinds of trials out there, both those funded by the NIH and those that are pharmaceutical-sponsored. Similarly, you raise a very good point that in order for us to understand how best to treat you, to appreciate the differences based on your own family history, population history, where you’re coming from, and your own culture, it’s important to study YOU. And so that will enable us to treat you better. It goes hand in hand that if we want to take the best care of you, it’s important that we also study how you respond to these drugs, to different interventions, and to what works best for you. So, participation in clinical research is critically important for all individuals, particularly for women, particularly for African American women, and also for lower-income women.
The NIH, particularly the NHLBI, has a pretty good track record of including women; in an analysis of our clinical trials, we do hit about 50/50 in that regard, and we are often very good at including both African American and Hispanic populations. In fact, the study I described to you, the Sprint Trial, our most recent high blood pressure trial, included a very large proportion of African Americans and women in that study because we know this is a problem that affects those communities. We want to be sure that we oversample; there’s greater prevalence in that sample than in the population, so we can be sure the results apply to those other groups. So that’s very important; for your listeners/audience to be aware of, a part of empowerment is participation in understanding diseases and what can benefit our community.
QUESTION: I (still) participate in a study done out of Boston University; The Black Women’s Health Study. I’m one of the original participants (it’s been going on for many years, and they really follow up with everyone to make sure the surveys are completed and returned). I got involved when I was teaching at Hunter College. They are very focused on following up. There’s one at Harvard too: The Women’s Health Study. I remember talking to a few female friends who said, “I would have loved to participate in those studies. How did you get into it?” I told them I was in an academic setting, and I guess it became easy for me to join… I had access. But how (can) other women who are not in that kind of environment get access to research studies and clinical trials? Because I want to promote that part of it… Do I tell women to go to the NHLBI website and search for what’s available? If I recall, some of them offer pay to do it?
ANSWER: Often, it’s more that there’s recognition of an inconvenience in logistics and travel, so compensation reflects the inconvenience, if you will, of participating. I wouldn’t necessarily characterize it as being paid for the study, but certainly as making it so that you are compensated for your participation. Again, I think its terrific that you do that (The Black Women’s Health Study) and what I appreciate with your story is that, potentially, some of the treatments that you may be on, are reflected with other people who came before who just because they were are social beneficiaries wanting to be a blessing, and pay it forward and were able to participate in the studies so we had therapies. When your doctor writes a prescription, someone undoubtedly participated in a clinical trial that showed that prescription would work for someone like you. In that sense, if we’re all contributing through this route, we are helping each other.
QUESTION: How would you recommend we disseminate this information in language that women can understand? A lot of it is medical lingo, and sometimes people’s eyes glaze over, and they are not even sure; some people don’t even know where their heart is. How do we disseminate this in language that people across the board will understand? Are there any sources you’ve come across that you thought would help people successfully?
ANSWER: Well, I guess someone who blogs probably has a good way of translating my medicalese. 🙂 I agree with you it can be a challenge. I think one of the things that comes across is that you have experience with how important the heart really is and how you feel. Because its ability to squeeze and pump blood throughout your body is so vital. I think most people experience what it means to say, walk, or run briskly after a bus and feel short of breath and fatigued. They may experience that for a fleeting moment, but when you have heart failure, you feel that way all the time. I think most people have a sense of how stress affects their heart because when they are excited, their heart will also beat fast. The heart is so responsive to how we feel and to what our bodies need to do that it’s important to keep it healthy. So I guess, just giving them that awareness of that beat, which, in essence, is probably one of the organs of the body you can be most aware of, and recognize how critical it is to how you feel and how important it is to take care of it…
QUESTION: I like that you said that how you feel is important because that is where it all starts. Are there any other heart health or women’s health trends, new research, or things you’ve come across that I need to include?
ANSWER: I guess, maybe one other thing to be aware of is the growing appreciation of the difference between men and women; some of it is recognizing that women are affected by heart disease. It can manifest itself a bit differently in men and women. One of the areas that NHLBI has funded research on is determining whether heart attacks are caused by blockages in the blood vessels that feed the heart. Cholesterol accumulates by clogging the pipes, if you will, so blood doesn’t flow to the heart. The heart needs that blood flow to work as a pump. In men, those blockages occur in the large arteries, but in women, they appear to occur in the smaller blood vessels. It’s almost like a tree with a trunk, which is the big vessel, but the limbs and the small branches those are the vessels that are most affected in women. So, it looks like even the pattern of heart disease among women might be somewhat different than in men in many cases. Understanding those differences between the sexes and how they manifest is also one of the areas we are actively pursuing.
QUESTION: Do they show up on MRIs?
ANSWER: That’s a great question. As you astutely noted, many tests are very good at detecting disease in the large vessels, but they are not as good at detecting it in the smaller, more delicate vessels. So indeed, it could look like you came in, you had classical chest pain, consistent with having a heart issue, and then the typical test was done, and it looked pretty good. So, the heart doctor might say, “It looks like this is not a problem.” We are still learning to detect better those kinds of problems that appear to be more problematic and prevalent in women.
QUESTION: Is there something more?
ANSWER: We are working on better diagnostic tests for women because there are ways to understand those small vessels; how blood flows through them to the heart. That’s where research is going. Thank you so much, Dr. Gibbons!
END OF INTERVIEW
What more can we do about it? We must make sure to reduce stress in our lives and get checkups regularly. We can donate or volunteer our time, participate in local events that raise awareness about heart disease, and share the invaluable toolkit/resources that NHLBI provides. We can participate in the #HeartChat initiative and spread the word. We can be proactive by reaching out to our elected officials to demand equitable resources for all. The Go Red for Women Campaign wants us all to remember the following lifesaving tips:
What are you waiting for? Get your heart health in order and share your thoughts with the world.
NHLBI Resources On Women And Heart Disease:
For More: Women’s Lives & Issues
Positive Motivation Tip: Your heart is a precious life force. Take care of your heart and make sure your family does too.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: Photos of Dr. Gary H. Gibbons @ Research Festival Event, @ PhillyPharma Interview, @ Nature.com Interview, @ Vanderbilt U, and/or via NIH Record.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Wow, this was a really great interview. I learned a lot from reading this.
Thank you Robin! I am very grateful that the organizers gave me this wonderful gift. Dr Gibbons is a brilliant, dedicated and humble physician. It was a joy to interview him. <3
I think it is great that they are raising awareness because without the heart we would cease to exist.
I know Dr. Gibbons! Wonderful interview and I am all about heart health!!
I’m glad he’s researching and spreading awareness about this. It’s hard not to worry about heart disease when it’s so common.
I lost my maternal grandfather to a heart attach when I was just 4 years old. This is why I always try to eat healthy and be stay active. Thanks for such a great interview 🙂
Heart Month is something near and dear to my heart. My best friend died a little more than a year ago from a heart issue that we knew nothing about.
This is very very powerful post, I think it will make a huge help to remember our heart is important to take care.
What an impressive man. Thank you for posting this interview. I am going right now to pass it on.
This is a great post, Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing this valuable information with your readers. I will try to forward it to my friends!
Informative read and comes at just the right time. My mother had triple bypass surgery recently and this helped me stay informed.
So glad that you shared heart matters, it is important to take care of our heart and also our health.
Thank you for brining awareness to this issue! My grandmother died from heart disease, and it is something that is always in the back of my mind.
A very dear friend of mine had a heart attack. I appreciate you spreading information on prevention and care.
Great interview Eliz, I didn’t know you’d had that kind of ill health.
Yes, dear one. My condition was a congenital defect which often goes undetected in people with a healthy lifestyle. I was in great shape, vegetarian and a yoga/meditation practitioner; but for the grace of God, I wouldn’t be alive today. When I researched my condition, it showed that most people born that way don’t live beyond the age of 13-15 before their hearts give up. My life is a miracle … and an amazing team of cardiologists and surgeons gave me the gift of their expertise.
This hits close to home. I’m also a vegetarian, and fitness has been a daily part of my life for more years than it hasn’t, and I’ve always hoped that heart disease would pass me by, but it really can happen to anyone 🙁
I one worked with a young man with a similar condition, he was unlucky and died at 23 leaving a wife and baby girl. You are indeed blessed my dear, and it explains the wonderful person that you are.
I think one of the main problems of people is the fear of asking. When they don’t understand something, instead of asking, they just nod their heads. People need to know its okay to ask and get information, esp from their doctors.
Very very useful post Elizabeth. I went for a med check up recently and found that both me n my husband had high bp. I was almost devastated. Bought a bp machine and did reading again and again everyday at home in a relaxed environment. Turns out the bp measure at the med check up was wrong and both of us have normal reading. I’ve almost stopped adding salt in food for the last few days much to the dismay of my husband.
That’s wonderful that he’s gotten well deserved recognition (and awards). I enjoyed the Q&A.
I heard a lot of news lately of people dying because of heart disease in a very young age. It actually worries me. I should start living healthy and take care of my heart.
This post is so timely. I have a friend who’s currently undergoing treatment for her heart.
He is a great man! Glad you shared about it. Thank you for sharing.
What a great interview and important information for every woman and man! Thank you so much for bringing awareness and answers <3
we need someone who can be an inspiration for doing a greater deed to many
This is an informative post and we need to learn more about taking care of our heart and our well-being. We have to be conscious of our health at all times.
I agree. Knowledge is power and can change the course of our lives. Most of the time if you know the warning signs, you can pay attention to those different health changes in either you or the people around you.
A health heart is so important and yet it is one of the things that we can never really know for sure. I suffer with low blood pressure and whilst people often say to me that it must be great to know that I won’t necessarily suffer with high blood pressure, I don’t think people realise how dangerous it is. Also to have a person at the gym tell you that once they have taken your blood pressure that they are worried because a normal person wouldn’t be able to survive at that level is not really that much fun!
What a great speaker. I worked for years as a Cardiac Surgery Scheduler
Education is a key factor for heart disease. The more people know the better.
Heart conditions are scary. My heart has a shadow and I try not to let it get to me.
I learned a LOT of new things from this interview. I guess I wasn’t very educated on the subject of heart disease, high blood pressure or other circulatory related problems. Thanks for doing such a comprehensive interview to give us so much information!
We paid extra attention to our meals during February. And Im so glad we did, because the kids fell in love with some of the heart healthy meals I tried out – so we are continuing heart health month !!
These awareness do help so many people to be reminded of how to take care of their health and starting during the time when they still can.
Very informative article.
Amazing interview! Lots of important information and very educactional writing on a must know topic
This was a great read.My wife has heart disease and had a pretty big scare this past year.Thank you for sharing I think many do not realize the huge number of women affected by heart disease.
Your heart is what keeps you alive, so neglecting it means you are neglecting your life. You have to keep up with your health.
Love your video and post! Very important to know these things. I will be showing this post to my loved ones. Thank you very much for sharing.
Interesting post. It’s really sad to hear that heart conditions are so common these days.
heart issues are very serious I try to learn all I can as my mother has heart trouble and it runs in the family
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This is another one of the most important posts you’ve done. We don’t normally think of women and heart attacks or heart disease. The warning signs aren’t as well known. Thanks for doing this post.
i need to be better about getting regular check ups so that i can make sure my heart is around as long as i intend to
“Your heart is a precious life force. Take care of your heart and make sure your family does too.” – very well said. This interview is very insightful.
Very interesting article.Lots of very informative points.
The Dash Diet sounds amazing. I need to start this. I think Americans eat so much salt!!
Oh-oh…All his answers are true. I agree that most women suffered a lot with Heart Failure. Just recently, I get my Diagnostic Result from my Doctor. Need to take many kinds of medicines, I stop working full time and need to have a rest. But, now I am doing fine. Going back to blogging one-step at a time.
This is such an important cause for women to be more aware of what’s going on with their bodies. It’s great to get the word out and make people more aware.
We all need to make sure we take care of our bodies. I think it’s easy to not do anything because you can’t see the heart and its clogged arteries, so people tend to ignore the signs of heart disease.
I know Dr. Gibbons! Excellent interview for a very urgent cause!
Matters of the heart, in the truest sense of the word, should never really be taken for granted because heart disease can be present without us even knowing about it.
Exactly. Even with the known markers and predispositions the good doctor shared with me, we must all be vigilant and get our regular check ups. It is a life and death matter. TY!
We need to follow strict health regime by eating less cholesterol food and doing physical activities to burn our calories. Thanks for sharing this informative post with us.
I love this motivation tip, I have a grandmother was suffering from heart attack
Wow, 1 in 3 women die of heart disease. That’s a very scary statistic that I really didn’t know. It’s so important to take care of our hearts and do what’s right for our bodies.
I love the increased attempts for awareness of heart issues. As a dietitian I love the simplicity of teaching the dash diet.
Very interesting topic. It is alarming now that more and more people are having these problems. Aside from hereditary issues, it still goes back to whatever we eat and do,our lifestyle and our diet. Prevention is better than cure. 😉
Heart health is crucial. Thank you for these life-saving tips.
The heart is so important to take care of. This interview is so great and enlightening. He has some wonderful tips and brings up great points. Thank you for sharing
This is such a thorough and helpful interview! It is so important to know the facts in order to prevent health issues.
This is a great interview and a wonderful Dr. indeed. It is so important for women to understand that they need to care for there self before they car for anyone else Thanks so much for a great interview with amazing questions and answers.
Good interview! …enjoyed reading it!..feel it’s so relavant in today’s world!
Very informative and some great questions were asked. Getting people to understand their actions better and help improve their health to prevent heart problems is so important!
wow, really interesting and helpful points. Thanks for sharing!
Very motivating and inspiring. Great post.
A healthy heart is really very important matter we sometimes only think of if someone we know suffers a heart attack. Sometimes there is a bad event that has to happen in order to trigger us to have our own heart checkup. It should really be a regular thing, especially for people with a family history.
Great job raising awareness on heart disease. My father has CHF and it’s such a scary process to sift through information and the unknown about the myriad heart conditions and treatments out there.
Rochelle, thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate your comment on the Heart Matters post as it is a critical topic that has great impact on women’s lives. <3
Great interview! I have learned a lot from your post, thank you!
I love this interview. It’s so important to raise awareness about heart disease. These questions are great!
Amazing interview love all this valuable content. I didn’t knew all this information about heart diseases but it’s always important to keep it in mind as a reminder of the consecuences of not living a healthy life
Heart disease is one of those hidden killers that is so easy to forget about. It is so important to remain mindful of the things we can’t see.
My husband had a health scare when he had a minor heart attack when we were still overseas. Thanks for this.
This was really interesting. I learnt loads!
You know, you always here or males with heart disease but you don’t hear how women are effected too. It’s scary to think of that’s for sure but so important to raise awareness for.
Oh, I was always under the impression that women are less affected than men as far heart diseases are concerned. This was an enlightening interview. We all should follow healthy lifestyle.
Great information and tips for living a healthier life.
This is absolutely a great interview
For every effort in sensitizing the world about heart diseases is a welcome development. Thank you for the fight in trying to eradicate such disease.
This is a really great interview that gives a lot of important information! So many people suffer from heart problems!
Great interview and great job on raising awareness on heart disease. Thank you for sharing!
This was a really great interview, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about heart health from a reliable source. Heart disease is prevalent among the women in my family, so I have always known how important it is to be proactive in my own heart health.
This was a really great interview, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about heart health from a reliable source. Heart disease is prevalent among the women in my family, so I have always known how important it is to be proactive in my own heart health.
Great interview! Thank you so much for giving us insight into your life and the information about heart disease.
Great read and interview. That is great you discovered that. I do agree with regular check ups because you never know what may be wrong. I did learn a lot from reading this post. Thank you!
This is a great interview. I love reading interviews especially the ones with intelligent people because there’s always something to learn. Not only that, but it’s such a great way to get inspired.
February 5 is my birthday! will check out the Go Red for women for me to support as well!
Very informative post. Cardiac complications must not be ever taken for granted. And must be taken seriously.
This post is a timely reminder tobpeople to be more conscious with their health. We should really monitor key metrics to avoid fatal diseases.
So much great information in this interview. Heart disease and high blood pressure continue to be problems, but much of it can be fixed with lifestyle changes
What a lovely interview Elizabeth, felt like I learnt something about you through this interview and what a great opportunity and as a survivor yourself you’re the great advocate.
Heart disease runs in my family. I have lost loved ones from heart attacks and it was really devastating for our family. I have my heart checked quarterly by submitting myself to an echo-cardiogram exam. I also watch what I eat. I love my family so much I would want to enjoy being with them for a long, long, long time.
Great interview! On my next doctors appointment im going to talk about this with my doctor!
Heart matters, health matters, and wellbeing matters. Everything needs a balance and many people fail to see this and always focus on one aspect too much!
I learned a lot from your interview. I, myself, have heart disease in my genetics as well as a current diagnose of polycystic ovary syndrome which leads to heart disease if not attended to. Thanks for reminding me of what lies ahead if I’m not attentive to my own health.
I think having heart problems has always something to do with genetics. My dad is a vegetarian and he does not have high cholesterol, diabetes and any of the diseases which can lead to a cardiovascular problem but he has a weak heart and that goes for the rest of his family.
Such a thoughtful post – Great information of such an important topic. Just a little sidenote – I would probably just post his collage image once – why 3 times? Was a tad confusing, but I am a bit simple-minded and tired. Hope this helps!
My mom has high blood pressure, and heart disease runs in my family, so it’s important for me to live a healthy lifestyle. Thanks for sharing.
This was quite an insightful post to read! The heart is important and keeping it healthy is number one
Sounds like a wonderful interview with lots of information to note. I never know that we have just crossed the American Heart Health month & this is such a wonderful way to create awareness about heart disease.
Omg fantastic interview!!! Thank you for raising awareness!!! The more people that know the better 🙂
What a great detailed interview! We all need to be educated on heart disease awareness!
I’m trying to make my mom more aware of heart disease because she is getting up in age. I’m going to send her over to your post to read this information.
This is a new face in my little world. Thanks for the spotlight.
Thank you for this. I am at that age where my wife and I have to know as much as possible as it relates to our continued good health. Awesome informative interview!