February is national heart month.

Symbolically hearts are used to celebrate Valentine's Day and honor loved ones. What better month to celebrate national Heart Month and begin making heart healthy decisions to love your heart enough to take care of it for a lifetime.

The good news of 2009 is that recent statistics released by the American Heart Association in the January 2009 edition of Circulation, show the death rates from cardiovascular disease have declined. However, there is still much we need to do for ourselves as Heart Disease continues to be the No. 1 cause of death among Americans. The report goes on to rank the death rates by state to include the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico from the lowest to the highest. South Carolina ranked 37 with Georgia ranking at number 40.

KEYS TO A HEALTHIER HEART

The key to a healthier heart is to develop healthy habits while in childhood and continue them into adult hood. It is never too late to begin heart healthy habits. Identifying our risk factors and controlling them with the help of health care providers is vital.

There are some risk factors we cannot change such as our age, gender, heredity and race. But there are quite a few we can manage and change to lower our risks. Controlling high blood pressure below 120/80 mmHg; keeping diabetes under control /hemoglobin A1C levels within range; managing cholesterol levels; weight control; elimination of tobacco products and illegal drugs; and avoid excessive amounts of alcohol will make a difference.

LOCAL BENEFITS FOUND AT DDEAMC CENTER The Cardiology Service of Eisenhower Army Medical Center

is a full service cardiology center staffed by four board certified cardiologists and one certified physician's assistant, an advanced registered nurse practitioner along with a professional support staff. The clinic is proud to serve the active duty and retired members of the armed services and their dependents.

The list of services provided by the Cardiology Clinic are as follows:

1. 12 Lead EKG: Tracing of the heart's rhythm (electrical conduction system) with interpretation by a board certified Cardiologist.

2. 24 hour Holter monitoring: Continuous monitoring of the heart's rhythm for 24 hours and read by a board certified Cardiologist.

3. Pacemaker Clinic: Full service pacemaker clinic which includes scheduled routine interrogation/analysis of pacemakers as well as education of patients/Family members with pacemakers. Report of evaluation provided to patient and documentation maintained in the patient record.

4. Event Monitoring: Continuous EKG monitoring for up to 30 days to assess heart rhythm. Results read by board certified Cardiologist.

5. Stress Testing: Several types of stress testing are available in the cardiology clinic under the direct supervision of a physician:

· Traditional exercise stress test: Walking on a treadmill for prescribed amount of time to increase the heart rate and to assess the response of the heart to the stress of exercise.

· Diprydimole (persantine) stress test: The use of a medication to increase the heart rate to "chemically" stress the heart and to assess the response of the heart.

· Nuclear stress test: The use of a nuclear radioisotope during a stress test that can be seen on an X-ray to assess the heart muscle's flow of blood and oxygen use.

· Echo stress test: An image of the heart through the use of ultrasound waves on the outside of the chest before, during and after exercise. This allows the physician to evaluate the hearts ability to squeeze blood, the movement of the valves, and the blood flow through the four chambers of the heart during exercise.

6. Echocardiography (Echo): A non-invasive study of the heart using ultrasound waves on the outside of the chest to produce an image of the heart and its structure—the valves, chamber sizes and heart function.

· TEE (Trans-esophageal Echocardiogram): The use of echocardiography (ultrasound pictures) through the esophagus in patients that do not produce a clear image from outside the chest.

· Bubble Study: A study using echocardiography (ultrasound image) and the injection of one milliter bubble of air in normal saline into a vein to evaluate the presence of a hole in the wall of the heart chambers.

7. Tilt Table testing: The use of a special table used to place patients in a standing position from a lying position to assess changes in the heart rate or blood pressure with positional changes.

8. Coumadin Clinic: The coumadin clinic offers patients, on short term and long term anticoagulation therapy (blood thinners), point of care testing of their clotting status, dosage instruction, and education.

9. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory: DDEAMC has a state of the art cardiac catheterization suite for diagnostic (coronary artery evaluation) and interventional cardiac procedures (balloon angioplasty and stenting of blockages).

10. Clinic/Office visits: Appointments are available with a cardiologist to evaluate cardiac risk factors and the medical management of existing heart conditions e.g. congestive heart failure.

For patients within DDEAMC, appointments to see a cardiologist can be arranged through your primary care manager's referral. For those whose primary care manager is outside of Eisenhower, send a faxed request/referral to: DDEAMC Cardiology Clinic, Attention: Nurse Case Manager, (706) 787-7767. Include your name, sponsor's social security number, the nature of the consult and the primary care manager's contact information. Or call (706) 787-8092 for additional information.