Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. This post is going to provide you with an important, basic lesson: heart disease 101. It will touch on how the heart works, what heart disease is, the risk factors associated with it and tips on what we can all do to keep our hearts healthy.

In order to understand heart disease, it’s important to know how the heart works. The Mayo Clinic explains a heart muscle very simply: your heart is a pump. The heart is divided into the right and left side and has four chambers that are connected by valves. The two upper chambers are called the atria (right atrium and left atrium) and the lower chambers are the ventricles (right ventricle and left ventricle). See the diagram for clarification. The division between right and left protects oxygen-rich blood from mixing with oxygen-poor blood. The right side of your heart collects and pumps blood to the lungs. The lungs then supply new oxygen to the blood, turning it red. Next, that oxygen-rich, red blood enters the left side of the heart and is pumped through the aorta (your largest artery) to supply the rest of the body with oxygen and nutrients. If you need visuals (like me), click here to watch a video to help you follow along.  

When your heart beats, it contracts (systole) and relaxes (diastole). (Generally, I am all about simple terms but you’ll need “systole” and “diastole” when we talk about blood pressure. Bear with me). Moving on – the ventricles contract during systole, which forces blood into the vessels going to your lungs and body. When the ventricles relax (diastole, remember), blood enters the ventricles and this whole cycle starts all over. The constant exchange of oxygen-rich with oxygen-poor blood keeps us alive.

Heart disease and cardiovascular disease are often used interchangeably to basically describe the same thing: diseases of the heart and/or blood vessels. I could go on for days talking about the different types of heart disease so we’re going to stick to learning about the most common one, Coronary Heart Disease.

Your coronary arteries bring blood to your heart; they are supposed to be smooth and elastic so blood is able to flow freely through them. Coronary heart disease (also called coronary artery disease) is a narrowing of those small blood vessels. This narrowing occurs because of a buildup of plaque inside of them. Eventually, blood flow to your heart starts to slow down and can ultimately stop all together. The lack of blood flow can cause chest pain, shortness of breath or cause a heart attack. Coronary heart disease usually develops over a long period of time, which is why many people don’t realize they have it until something more serious, like a heart attack, occurs.

There are different risk factors associated with heart disease: lifestyle, health conditions and heredity. People make choices every day that put them at higher risk for heart disease – things like smoking, bad eating habits, lack of exercise and excessive alcohol use. Often times, these poor lifestyle choices lead to health conditions such as high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.

When you have high levels of “bad” cholesterol in your body, it is deposited into your arteries making you more prone to coronary heart disease (makes sense, right?). By the way, cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance. When you have high blood pressure (hypertension), the force of blood pushing against the artery walls is higher than it should be. High blood pressure may not only cause a heart attack but it can also block arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain – the result of this is a stroke. A “normal” blood pressure reading is 120/80 or below (you would say “120 over 80”). The top number (systolic) measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats and the bottom number (diastolic) measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats. Generally speaking, people don’t have any symptoms of high blood pressure until they need emergency care. Hopefully the next time you have your blood pressure checked you will have a better understading of what your numbers mean.

Some people are pre-disposed to heart disease due to genetic factors but even so, there are many, many things we can do to help prevent heart disease.

1. Quit smoking and/or chewing tobacco

2. Lose extra pounds

3. Exercise regularly

4. Eat a healthy diet

5. Reduce salt (sodium) in your diet

6. Limit alcohol intake

7. Cut back on caffeine

8. Reduce your stress

9. Monitor blood pressure regularly at home and with your doctor

10. Get support from your family and friends

 Do not put your health on the back burner – start by incorporating some of the tips listed above and take charge of your heart today!

Caring for a client who wants to remain at home takes a team of people working together to help make that happen. This post highlights the role of Home Health Aide (HHA) and the importance he/she has at Divine Home Care.

The job of a HHA is not easy; they work very hard to take care of our clients. Their work can by both physically and emotionally demanding. Because every individual has different needs, it is a bit difficult to describe a “typical day” for an aide, but I am going to try and give you a general idea. It is not uncommon that our clients need help out of bed in the morning so that is often how a HHA starts their day – awake early so they are able to help someone else prepare for their day. HHAs assist with hands-on personal cares such as bathing, nail and skin care, oral hygiene, toileting, shaving and dressing, which helps make daily living a little easier. They also use safe transfer techniques to help a client move around his or her home. A Home Health Aide’s responsibilities often times go further when they need to perform simple dressing changes on a wound, assist with changing a catheter bag or help with colostomy care. Some aides may visit four or five clients on the same day and others may only work with one client. The Divine Home Care Office Managers (who do the scheduling) work very hard to create a consistent schedule so the clients and aides are able to build a trusting relationship.

All of the HHAs at Divine Home Care work under the supervision of a nurse (more specifically, a RN Case Manager). The nurse goes over an individual’s care plan before the aide visits a new client at their home. The care plan gives background information on the client and what cares the aide is responsible for providing. The Case Managers are in regular contact with their client’s doctors so they are always updating the HHAs when there are any changes to that care plan. Our nurses and aides have good communication with each other in order to provide each individual with the best care possible. Ultimately, everyone is working together to keep that client as healthy as possible and happy at home.

There are qualifications that must be met in order for someone to become a Home Health Aide. The individual must be 18 years or older, have a current drivers license and reliable transportation, pass a background study and successfully complete a written HHA test and competency evaluation. Besides meeting these basic qualifications, Divine Home Care is always looking to employ aides who are caring and compassionate. If you are interested in becoming a Home Health Aide and would like to be a part of Divine Home Care, click on “Careers” at the top of the page to learn more!

The author of this blog post is Divine Home Care Office Manager, Colleen Burns-Klang.

February is American Heart Month, which is why Divine Home Care would like to remind everyone that heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. What’s more alarming is that according to The American Heart Association, more women die of heart disease than from the next four causes of death combined, including cancer. This very scary statistic is what prompted The American Heart Association to create an initiative to empower women to take charge of their heart health. That initiative is called Go Red for Women. 

Heart disease has often been thought of as a “man’s disease”.  The goal of Go Red for Women is to raise awareness of how heart disease affects women.  It’s important to know that heart disease can affect women of any age. Gaining knowledge about ways to start living an active, healthy life right now while being aware of potential risk factors, is the best way to prevent heart disease. Some risk factors of can be controlled and others cannot.  Risk factors that can be controlled or treated are: cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking, physical activity, obesity, Diabetes, stress, birth control pills and alcohol/illegal drugs.  Risk factors that are out of your control are:  age, gender, heredity/race and stroke. It is so important to discuss these risk factors with your doctor in order to be pro-active and prevent heart disease all together.

The good news is that simple changes to your lifestyle such as eating a healthy diet and adding exercise into your regular routine can greatly reduce your risk for heart disease.  The Go Red for Women campaign offers so many great tools and resources for women to learn about making these changes and really making your health a priority. Take advantage of American Heart Month and begin your journey to a healthy heart today!

Click on the links below for more helpful information about heart disease:  

• The American Heart Institute
• Go Red for Women
• National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
• Centers for Disease Control

One last note – this Friday, February 3rd, is National Wear Red Day. Encourage friends, family and co-workers to wear red to help spread awareness about the dangers of heart disease among women.

The author of this blog post is Amanda Redepenning, Divine Home Care Registered Nurse.