Mission Hospital McDowell is here to provide the best in cardiac care

As we move into February and celebrate romantic love on Valentine’s Day, it’s also American Heart Month, so we should be equally attentive to doing all we can to support our heart health.

Unfortunately, coronary artery disease is the most common form of heart disease — and the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Sadly, it kills 1 in 4 people, according to the National Institutes for Health.

I can attest to the fact that heart disease is the #1 reason people end up in the Mission Hospital McDowell (MHM) Emergency Department, but I want to assure our community that we are confident and fully equipped to care for heart patients, and we provide a wide range of diagnostic services for people wanting to assess their heart health and work with their physicians to lower their risk for heart disease or a cardiac event, like a heart attack.

Coronary artery disease develops because a sticky, fatty substance that’s cholesterol-rich — called plaque — builds up in the arteries. The accumulation causes a dangerous narrowing of the arteries, so blood flow is obstructed, and this leads to heart attack and stroke as well.

Although there are nonmodifiable risk factors, like genetics, that you cannot change in relation to your risk for heart disease, there are many modifiable ones you can control to improve your heart health. The following are keys for healthy lifestyle and prevention: The best diet is the Mediterranean diet, one’s blood pressure goal should average less that 130/80, the recommended amount of exercise is 30 minutes, five days per week (150 minutes/week) include eating a healthy diet, managing stress well, getting enough rest, and refraining from engaging in habits we know hurt our hearts, like smoking.

It’s also important to avoid developing diabetes or making sure to aggressively treat it and discussing with your primary care physician whether or not statin cholesterol reduction therapy is right for you. Coronary calcium scoring can determine the strength of the indication for stain therapy if a patient is on the fence about whether or not to take statins for prevention.

We offer our community state-of-the art testing to determine how well the heart is functioning, and to help your doctor create a treatment plan to address any heart issues you may be living with. These include:

• We provide and perform stress testing, like echocardiogram testing, where your heart’s function is evaluated while you’re exerting yourself on a treadmill or stationary bicycle.
• Echocardiogram (ECHO), an ultrasound test that examines how your heart functions and its structure. It’s used to diagnose and monitor conditions like valve disease.
• A chemical stress test is one where you take a medication that simulates exertion and makes your heart behave as it would if you were exercising. This test is good for patients who cannot exert themselves on a treadmill or bike, and it tells your doctor how efficiently your heart pumps blood and can reveal conditions like a blocked artery.
• A transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) test is another ultrasound exam, but your provider inserts a thin, bendable tube down your esophagus to diagnose conditions like valve disease, clots, and infections.
• Cardiac nuclear medicine is a specialized area of medical imaging that uses radioactive tracers to assess heart function, blood flow, and myocardial viability, helping diagnose and manage heart disease.
• A Cardioversion procedure is a medical procedure used to restore a normal heart rhythm in people with abnormal heart rhythms.

In addition to testing, we also offer an excellent cardiac rehabilitation program for people who have experienced a heart attack or live with heart disease. Our rehab providers create personalized exercise plans for patients, monitor them carefully in our gym, offer heart health education, and patients get the opportunity to connect with others who have had similar experiences so they can support each other.

I’ve talked in past columns about the importance of building a good relationship with your primary care physician, and this is certainly applicable when it comes to having someone in your corner to help you monitor your heart health, order testing, and refer you to a specialist if necessary.

You can even visit our MHM website and take a heart health risk assessment to get you on the road to having a conversation with your physician about your heart health.

At MHM, we’re invested in helping you keep your heart in great working order, offering an array of sophisticated diagnostic tests, and providing a patient-centered rehabilitations program for our community members.

We feel fortunate to be able to provide the best in cardiac care and are here to meet the community’s needs.

Lee Higginbotham is Chief Executive Officer of Mission Hospital McDowell in Marion. He is an accomplished healthcare leader with nearly three decades of diverse experience in healthcare. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia, Higginbotham earned his Master of Health Care Administration (MHA) from The Medical College of Virginia and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He resides in Marion. Lee is most proud to be a husband to his best friend and father of three remarkable children.