Cardiovascular disease is killing us and it’s something we don’t think about very often. Someone sent the following video to me: Go Red For Women presents: ‘Just a Little Heart Attack’ I love how lunch packing just puts her over the edge. Sometimes I get panicky when I’m trying to pack my son’s lunch, too! Never thought it could land me in the ER!
I needed that semi-humorous video because I have been getting many more sobering reminders recently:
1) Four speech pathologists working for Chicago Public Schools have passed away since the end of November. It’s a large district so that accounts for roughly 1% of the speech paths employed by CPS, but it has left a big impression on all of the clinicians that I know (whenever I run into another speech path, a psychologist, a occupational therapist, or a social worker it comes up in conversation). I didn’t know any of the people personally who passed away and so I can’t be sure that heart conditions caused their deaths, but I do know that no one of them was older than 53. That is much too young.
2) My dad’s best friend is having a quintuple bypass today. Keep him in your thoughts.
3) It was three years ago this month that one of my coworkers passed away due to heart-related issues. He was an “old school” teacher (tough discipline) with a heart of gold — and just about to retire. I miss him.
So please:
- Eat healthy
- Exercise
- Stop smoking
- Control high blood pressure and diabetes
- Get regular check-ups with medical professionals
Having a heart attack is not the only result of cardiovascular disease. Strokes are also a possibility. Ever thought about losing the ability to speak? to walk? to write? I don’t know the statistics, but I bet that strokes are more common than heart attacks.
Further reading:
You’re gonna live! Or not. Risk factors really count. (Chicago Tribune)