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Finding Strength in Numbers

Mary Gruber is a woman’s best friend. For hundreds of women in the St. Paul community, Mary has given them a powerful weapon to help fight their No. 1 enemy — heart disease. The weapon? She empowers them with knowledge.

As the cardiovascular education and research coordinator for HealthEast’s Heart Care program, Mary has seen more than 8,000 people in the past four years at free heart screenings. A registered nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul since 1978, Mary cared for patients in coronary care and cardiovascular intensive care before she began teaching other nurses how to care for heart patients.

“When I first began caring for patients in coronary care, there was nothing we could do for patients who were having a heart attack,” Mary recalls. “We made them comfortable with pain meds, and we prayed.” In the 29 years she’s been at St. Joseph’s, she’s seen remarkable advances through technology and interventions. It’s a perspective she shares with the nurses she trains. “Now we can stop heart attacks. We can open a blocked coronary artery. There’s so much more that can be done.”

Today, Mary is teaching women about heart disease. Often called a “man’s disease,” heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. Cardiovascular disease (which includes heart attacks and strokes) claims the lives of 504,000 women in our country every year.

Until recently, treatment and diagnosis of heart disease in women was based on what doctors knew about men. As a result, women were diagnosed on average later than men, limiting their treatment options. Now armed with specific information about women’s heart disease, the hospitals and clinics of the HealthEast Care System are actively educating at-risk women with information that will empower them to make changes.

That’s where Mary comes in. Through HealthEast’s Women’s HeartAdvantage program, she provides women with information and free heart-health screenings. Knowing certain numbers is key. The screenings measure blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass index — which all factor into heart health. Other important risk factors include family history, smoking, and diabetes. Women with diabetes are three to seven times more at risk of having a heart attack than men with diabetes, who are two to three times at risk.

In the years she’s been providing the screenings, Mary says some women have learned that their cholesterol is dangerously high, or that they may be diabetic. In any case, the screenings are meant to open the door. Everyone is directed to follow up results with their physician.

The hardest part of Mary’s job is when someone at the clinic has numbers that indicate a serious risk and that person has no health insurance. “The first time that happened, I immediately felt like I had to find resources to help them,” Mary says. She continues to look for a solution. “I’m working with staff to find grants and a way to manage the disease for individuals in need.”

Knowing that she’s providing women with steps they can take to keep their hearts healthy and strong makes it all worthwhile. “On two occasions, women have sought me out a year after their screenings,” Mary comments. “One woman told me that it inspired her to lose 30 pounds. The other came back just to say thank you.” n


Heart Attack Warning Signs Women Need To Know:

• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
• Pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck, jaw or arms.
• Chest discomfort experienced in the upper back between the shoulder blades.
• Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.
• Chest pain, stomach or abdominal pain.
• Unexplained weakness, fatigue or anxiety.
• Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.
• Shortness of breath (often associated with the signs listed above).

If you experience symptoms of a possible heart attack, call 911 immediately.

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