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Challenges of caring for Alaskans: Fewer people, across more miles, often in cold, dark
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – When it comes to health care in rural America, every state faces major challenges. Then there's Alaska, where everything is more extreme. Bigger. Colder. Less accessible. Fewer people, farther apart, often several hours from the care they need. Whether it's an emergency, day-in-day-out treatment or prevention,...
Health care, housing still a challenge after flooding devastated eastern Kentucky community
HAZARD, Kentucky – Dr. Frances Feltner's grandson was asleep in his eastern Kentucky home when his landlord banged on the door. By the time he reached the door, the water had reached his ankles. Thirty minutes later, it was chest deep. He headed to higher ground. "The floodwaters came...
He went from a stroke to a heart transplant to an Ironman finish line
Two months before his wedding, Vang Her had a cough he couldn't shake. For weeks he'd hacked incessantly. How could he walk down the aisle or enjoy his honeymoon in New Zealand that way?. But his doctor couldn't find anything wrong. With rest, Vang improved. His wedding went off without...
State and local efforts aim to ease access to heart care in rural Kentucky
SUMMIT, Kentucky – When he felt chest pain a few summers ago, Eddie Smith went straight to the hospital near his northeastern Kentucky home. His father had died of a heart attack, and Smith had been previously diagnosed with a leaky heart valve. Smith's doctor told him that while...
People whose bodies age faster may benefit most from good heart health
Maintaining good cardiovascular health may affect a key process in how cells age, allowing people who are genetically predisposed to faster aging to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease and death, new research suggests. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, confirmed the benefits of...
This police detective sergeant saves lives. His wife saved his.
After another emotional day investigating domestic violence and child abuse cases in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Rafaelito Cruz sat down to dinner with his wife and two of his three children. After the meal, the 51-year-old special victims unit detective sergeant lingered by the family piano. His son Julian, 18,...
Lupus can pose hidden risks to the heart
Up until it nearly killed her, Dr. Chantrise Holliman was not worried about the harm lupus could do to her heart. The educator had been diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder in 2006, when she was in her early 30s, after a doctor realized it was what had been causing the excruciating pain in her joints. But despite occasional flare-ups – a rash on her upper arm, swelling in her hands – Holliman figured she was in pretty good shape.
After a pre-gig heart attack, New Jersey musician embraces exercise
For nearly a decade, trombonist and singer Tommy Meares shared the stage with Jon Bon Jovi, playing in the Kings of Suburbia, the rock legend's 11-piece band for private shows. Now, Meares plays with a mix of local and national bands. Two years ago, he had a gig at a...
They're not doctors. But they're on the front lines against West Virginia's health struggles.
WILLIAMSON, West Virginia — Lyle Marcum can't drive to the doctor when he's feeling ill. He couldn't go to a downtown grocery store if there was one, which there isn't. But when he has a hankering for fresh watermelon, he takes his wheelchair across the railroad tracks to where the Williamson Health and Wellness Center operates a farmers market.
7 things to know about how stroke is different for women
Stroke can be devastating for anyone. But the risks and symptoms of a stroke are not always the same in women and men. American Heart Association News asked experts to explain a few of the most significant differences – and what women can do to protect themselves. Women have...
A family affair: Breaking the generational cycle of heart disease in West Virginia
RAINELLE, West Virginia — Like many people in rural West Virginia, Sabrina Ford grew up on beans cooked with lard and cornbread loaded with sugar, often with a side of fried potatoes cooked in bacon grease. This was the food her mother grew up on, and when Ford became...
Gaps remain between what's known about obesity and how it's being treated
Obesity rates in the U.S. continue to rise, thwarting progress in reducing the rate of heart disease and stroke. But scientific advances in how to treat obesity often don't make it into clinical practice, according to a new report. The scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published Monday in...
Son's heart diagnosis may have saved dad's life
After Cecilia Galeana gave birth to her second child, Elias Soto, a pediatrician performed standard newborn tests. Listening to his heart, the doctor heard a whooshing and swishing sound. Elias had a heart murmur. It could be hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, the doctor said. It's a condition in which abnormally...
How are asthma and heart health linked?
Although the heart and lungs are neighbors in your chest, people may think of them as separate entities with unrelated problems. But a growing body of evidence suggests that asthma – one of the most common lung disorders – is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Asthma is...
At 6, she was a pioneering heart patient. Nearly 7 decades later, she fully appreciates it.
From the time his daughter Cindy was diagnosed with a heart defect in the 1950s until the day he died more than half a century later, Kenneth Winn carried in his wallet a special piece of paper. As the years passed, the paper grew tattered; the sketch on it, more...
To save their soil, Kansas tribe shifts to regenerative agriculture – and transforms their farms
IOWA TRIBE OF KANSAS AND NEBRASKA RESERVATION, Kansas — When one of the elders in the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska asked if he could keep bees on the reservation, Tim Rhodd's answer was straightforward: "Absolutely." Soon, the bees started buzzing in the alfalfa fields. Then they started...
Her father's death fuels a lifelong push to understand South Asian heart health
Dr. Latha Palaniappan, an internal medicine doctor and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University in California, has won accolades for her work, much of which has involved using huge databases to uncover and explain differences in heart disease among underrepresented groups, particularly Asian Americans. Those professional interests stem from...
Dancer had fainting spells for 18 years. Going into cardiac arrest finally led to a diagnosis.
The morning of Terrianne Zonca's grandfather's funeral in Honolulu, she was so busy getting ready that she forgot to eat breakfast. Before going to the mortuary, Zonca's family gathered at her parents' house. They shared a glass of sake in honor of her beloved grandfather. When the service started, Zonca's...
New roadmap to lower the risk of amputation in peripheral artery disease
Early diagnosis and treatment of peripheral artery disease is key to preventing amputations and other cardiovascular complications, according to new guidelines that also emphasize the importance of coordinated care from a multispecialty team. "Because of the complexities of PAD, to improve outcomes and reduce the risk of limb loss for...
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Heart and Stroke News: Stories about people, science and health, from American Heart Association News.
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