Forum explores heart health

As I researched for this column, I looked up “heart health” on the internet. The first thing I found was this straight-forward, yet incomplete, statement:

“Heart health problems include coronary heart disease, an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), heart valve disease, as well as cardiomyopathy and aorta problems, such as aortic aneurysm, and aortic valve problems.”

So, what about other heart-related conditions, like atrial fibrillation? Does “a-fib” have any impact on people getting dementia? Or is there any link between heart disease and sleep apnea? Or...? I think you get my point. There are a great many moving parts to this incredible organ we call the heart. Our hearts determine not only whether we live or die, but also how we live, and how we might die. Most all of us can tell family stories, maybe even very personal stories, about how heart disease impacts us.

Those stories certainly must involve the food we eat, or don’t eat. Everywhere we turn, heart-healthy food and the promotion of heart-healthy food and diets add to our increased awareness of how taking care of our hearts will increase our possibilities of healthy living.

But healthy eating is only one of the challenges people face when considering matters of the heart. For instance, high and low cholesterol levels are significant markers when cardiologists and family doctors evaluate our hearts. Cholesterol-conscious eating is a big deal.

But family genetics also play a big part in how significant cholesterol to our particular heart health. So many factors work with, or against, each other when assessing the health of anyone’s heart.

Those factors are why we are so fortunate to have men and women who practice the medical specialty called cardiology.

We have very good cardiac care in north Idaho and eastern Washing-ton. Some of us depend on that care for life itself. Others of us haven’t needed specific cardiac care, but we undoubtedly have friends and family members who need that care.

So next Tuesday, October 23, the Geezer Forum will focus on Heart Health.

Our resource person for our gathering will be Dr. Brad Huhta. Brad is a retired cardiologist who moved to our county from Colorado a little over two years ago. He no longer practices medicine, but spends his time as a “gentleman farmer” on a 10-acre farm east of Sandpoint.

His titled topic is “Getting the Most From your Heart and Your Heart Doctor”. But I know he will welcome questions of all kinds about heart health from participants at the forum. Heart-healthy food will surely be on the menu also. I have visited his farm, so I’ve seen his commitment to healthy eating.

Brad also understands how attitude about living impacts the health of our hearts. So I am expecting a stimulating, wide-ranging conversation between Brad and those of us at the Geezer Forum.

Paul Graves, M.Div., is lead geezer-in-training of Elder Advocates, a consulting ministry on aging issues. Contact Paul at 208-610-4971 or elderadvocates.