Take heart

We hear about it so much that many of us tune it out, but try, if you can, to think about this serious statistic.

Heart disease accounts for a quarter of the deaths in the United States. That makes it the leading cause of death in the nation.

Besides being deadly, the disease is expensive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate this year's cost at $316 billion.

February is national Heart Month and is the perfect time to take stock of your heart.

You, and only you, can reduce your chances for developing heart disease and having a heart attack or stroke by eating a healthy diet, exercising every day and not smoking.

Heart disease can creep up at anytime, as the three people profiled today demonstrate. So don't wait until there is a problem to care about your heart and cardiovascular system.

Ben Decastro

Ben Decastro is a miracle patient.

The 69-year-old retiree awoke one morning with sudden severe back pain, sweating, dry mouth and nausea.

When his family called EMS, emergency workers first thought he was having a problem with his kidneys. But after being admitted to Trident Medical Center, doctors quickly discovered Decastro needed emergency surgery for a ruptured aortic aneurysm in his abdomen.

After the surgery, Decastro had to be sedated for several days while he healed. But this was only the beginning of his medical concerns. Experiencing breathing problems and chest pain, his cardiologist determined Decastro also needed heart surgery.

Because he had just undergone an extensive surgery to repair his abdominal aneurysm, they waited a few weeks before performing triple-bypass surgery.

Patients are fortunate to survive just one of these procedures when they are performed as an emergency, let alone both an abdominal aortic aneurysm dissection and triple-bypass surgery within three weeks of each other.

Today, Decastro is going to Summerville Medical Center for his cardiac rehabilitation and his recovery has been smooth -- and fast.

Francisco Tuttle

Francisco Tuttle, 47, is not your stereotypical heart patient.

The radiology tech at Charleston Imaging, who commutes from Beaufort to Mount Pleasant, is in fair physical condition, exercises moderately and is a nonsmoker, and he exhibited no signs of a heart attack. He adds, "I'm far from being a couch potato. I like to get up and go."

Last fall, Tuttle was considering having elective surgery on his right shoulder and went in for routine tests, including bloodwork and an EKG. The latter came back abnormal, which befuddled physicians.

Just to be safe, he underwent a nuclear stress test to see if his heart showed any signs of damage. It didn't.

Then at noon Dec. 14, he had a heart attack at work.

Luck and the speed of care saved his life.

A radiologist at his office, Dr. David Goltra, usually leaves for lunch, but stayed that particular day. Also a board-certified emergency physician, Goltra started CPR within one minute of Tuttle's collapse. EMS workers were on the scene within eight minutes, and an EKG was done within 12 minutes. They packed Tuttle in ice to induce hypothermia (shown to reduce memory loss and neurological and organ damage) and delivered him to Roper Hospital's emergency room within 43 minutes of his arrest.

The entire episode from collapse to treatment was 79 minutes. (The national average is 90 minutes). Doctors found a blockage in the major circumflex artery, performed angioplasty and put in two stents. Tuttle remained in the hospital for eight days and returned to work three weeks later. Besides having a new lease on life, Tuttle's not taking anything for granted anymore.

"I could be dead or have major damage, so I've changed a lot of things," says Tuttle. "I'm more conscious about my lifestyle and what I eat. I'm a fruit freak now. I've cut back on red meat, anything greasy and fried foods. I'm working out more."

As a result, his office and several other medical offices near his are offering CPR classes to employees, and some are even buying defibrillators.

Tara St. Clair

Tara St. Clair has had her fair share of health problems, but heart disease wasn't one of them.

The 44-year-old, who has Type I diabetes and was a lifelong smoker until the middle of 2009, recalls a day in October when she suffered from a headache and numbness on her left side.

After being driven to the hospital, an intensive-care unit doctor thought she had spinal meningitis. After staying in the hospital for two weeks without getting better, a heart catheterization discovered she had five blockages. She was given the option of surgery before

Thanksgiving or Christmas. She chose to have it right away.

After open-heart surgery at Trident Medical Center, she was ready to go home within five days and approaches life differently these days.

"The cardiac diet is the way everyone should eat regardless of whether they have heart disease," she said. "Instead of fried food, go for baked or grilled. Use salt in moderation. I used to put salt on everything."

And by all means, she adds, never start smoking. But if you do, stop.

"It's a bad habit, and it's hard to quit," she says, adding that she's grateful to have a second chance.

"I'm glad they caught my problem before I had a massive heart attack. People should go to their doctor and listen to what they say."

Clinton a high-profile patient

Perhaps the highest profile of a man living with heart disease is former President Bill Clinton, who underscores the fact that once you have heart disease, you always have it and that you must manage it very carefully.

Last week, Clinton made headlines with news of undergoing a procedure to place two stents in one of the coronary arteries involved in his quadruple-bypass surgery in 2004.

Clinton's cardiologist, Dr. Allan Schwartz, was quick to tell the media that the president "really toed the line in terms of both diet and exercise." Prior to his first surgery, Clinton's love of fatty foods, even junk food, was well-publicized.

Natural herbs & heart meds

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published a report in its Feb. 9 edition listing more than 25 herbal products that people with cardiovascular diseases should avoid.

Common herbal products touted as remedies, including ginseng, ginkgo, garlic, black cohosh, St. John's wort, hawthorn, saw palmetto and echinacea, may dilute, intensify, or worsen the side effects of prescription heart drugs, such as blood thinner and cholesterol-lowering drugs. Others may even increase heart rate and blood pressure.

Don't hesitate to speak to your health care provider about all of your medications, including those "natural" supplements.

For more free information, contact the Palmetto Poison Center at 800-222-1222 or go to http://poison.sc.edu.

By the numbers

--Every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event.

--In 2009, 785,000 Americans had their first heart attack and 470,000 had a recurrent attack.

--80,700,000 American adults have one or more types of cardiovascular disease, defined as stroke, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, birth heart defects, hardening of the blood vessels, and other diseases of the circulatory system.

--In 2006, heart disease was the cause of death in 315,706 American men. The average age of a first heart attack for men is 66. Almost half of men who have a heart attack under age 65 die within eight years.

--Ten times more women die from cardiovascular disease in the U.S. than from breast cancer. One in three female adults have some form of cardiovascular disease. In 2004, 460,000 female lives were lost due to cardiovascular disease.

--Minority groups are particularly affected by cardiovascular disease, with 49 percent of African-American women and 34 percent of Hispanic women with some form of it.

Heart attack: Common signs

--Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

--Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

--Shortness of breath. May occur with or without chest discomfort.

--Other signs. These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or light-headedness.

Daily prevention

A healthy diet and lifestyle are the best weapons you have to fight heart disease. Many people make it harder than it is. It is important to remember that it is the overall pattern of the choices you make that counts. As you make daily food choices, base your eating pattern on these recommendations:

--Choose lean meats and poultry without skin and prepare them without added saturated and trans fat.

--Select fat-free, 1 percent fat, and low-fat dairy products.

--Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.

--Cut back on foods high in dietary cholesterol. Aim to eat less than 300 mg of cholesterol each day.

--Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.

--Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt. Aim to eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. People with hypertension, all middle-age and older adults, and all blacks should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.

--If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means no more than one drink per day if you're a woman and two drinks per day if you're a man.