Dr. Soma Sen, director of women’s cardiovascular program at Park Nicollet Heart and Vascular Center, staff cardiologist at Park Nicollet Health Services:Q. What is your professional experience/background?
A.
I finished my cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota in 2004 and stayed as faculty at the cardiology Department of the University of Minnesota for nearly two years before joining Park Nicollet in April 2006.
Q. What’s new in cardiology in your hospital today?
A. From the diagnostics perspective, apart from the routine coronary angiogram and stress imaging, we are now doing:
- Calcium scoring for better risk stratification,
- 64 slice CT coronary angiography to evaluate the coronary arteries and also evaluating the soft and calcified plaques,
- Cardiac MRI scans for evaluate of tissue viability before subjecting them for bypass surgery. We do all of these tests at Park Nicollet’s Heart and Vascular center.
Q. What can be done to further increase awareness?
A.
We need to emphasize that healthier lifestyle choices should not be a matter of choice–they are an absolute necessity.
Q. What are some common misconceptions about cardiovascular disease? How do you address those concerns?
A. One of the common misconceptions: Heart disease is a man’s disease. For example, only about 45 percent of women know that heart disease is the No. 1 killer in women. The awareness that heart disease is the No. 1 killer is increasing, thanks to the American Heart Association Go Red For Women campaign. However, this awareness has to reach every woman. We started a women’s cardiovascular clinic at Park Nicollet, where we do risk stratification of women based on their age, family history, blood sugar, BMI and lipid panel, and provide one-on-one counseling with a heart professional for about one hour. This is a preventative care visit for women who want to make sure they know their risk profile, and an opportunity to ask questions and get answers.
Dr. Priscilla Hedberg, medical director of HealthEast Women’s HeartAdvantage Program
Q. What is your professional experience/background?
A.
I have been in practice at St. Paul Heart Clinic since 1989. The hospitals I primarily serve are St. John’s, St. Joseph’s, and Woodwinds (in the Healtheast System).
Q. How has the field of cardiology changed in the last 20 years?
A. The rate of acute heart attacks has gone down, likely because of advances in prevention of coronary artery disease. Patients are presenting earlier for both prevention and treatment of their heart disease. We have many more tools to prevent heart damage. Because of advances in prevention and treatment, we are seeing older patients with more chronic heart disease such as congestive heart failure.
Q. What’s new in cardiology in your hospital today?
A. The most obvious “new” project is the beautiful Heart Hospital expansion at HealthEast St. Joseph’s. There have also been
improvements in the way we measure the quality of the care we deliver. Cardiologists at HealthEast are actively involved in
co-management and quality initiatives to make certain our patients are getting the appropriate medications and outcomes of treatment for their cardiovascular disease.
Q. What advice would you give our readers on how to lead a more heart-healthy lifestyle?
A. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of tobacco use as a cause of heart disease. Even smoking under five cigarettes a day markedly diminishes an individual’s risk of heart disease.
Dr. Anne L. Taylor, professor of medicine/cardiology, associate dean for faculty affairs at the University of Minnesota Medical Center
Q. What is your professional experience/ background?
A.
I graduated from the University of Chicago School of Medicine and later chaired the first national clinical study on heart failure in African Americans. I am the director of the Women’s Heart Program at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
Q. How has the field of cardiology changed in the last 20 years?
A. We know a lot more about how to prevent the disease and give better quality care. In the last 10 years, the field has recognized cardiovascular disease in women and has worked to define the differences and similarities between men and women. Today there is much better inclusion of women in clinical trials.
Q. What’s new in cardiology in your hospital today?
A. The University of Minnesota Medical Center has been a long-time leader in the field of transplantation and devices for patients with heart failure. We also offer cutting edge care in prevention through the Rasmussen Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. The Rasmussen Center offers a unique array of the latest, non-invasive diagnostic screening tools in detecting cardiovascular disease, identifying conditions that often go undetected but which can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure.
Q. Do you think people–as a general population–seem to be shifting toward more healthy lifestyles? Do people seem to be aware of their basic heart health risk factors?
A. In some respects, people are more aware of the importance of exercise, yet the vast majority of people don’t exercise the recommended 30 minutes a day. Obesity and diabetes are increasing in prevalence, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Type II diabetes and hypertension is actually increasing among children.
Q. What can be done to further increase awareness?
A. We can never educate enough. We have to bring this message broadly, to diverse populations. It has to be tailored to reach populations of different languages and cultures. Prevention works whether you have the disease or not–there are many preventive strategies to reduce your risk. One of the most important strategies is getting 30 minutes a day of recommended daily exercise. Smoking cessation is also EXTREMELY important. More young women are beginning to smoke now than young men. If you smoke, stop. If you’re around smoke, try to find an environment where you aren’t exposed to the dangers of second-hand smoke.
Dr. Pam Paulsen, medical director of North Memorial Women’s Heart Clinic
Q. What is your professional experience/background?
A.
I have been practicing cardiology for the past 12 years. For the past six years, I have been in private practice with Cardiovascular
Consultants at North Memorial Medical Center. Prior to that I worked at Hennepin County Medical Center and taught at the University of Minnesota Medical School teaching medical students, residents, and cardiology fellows in training.
Q. What’s new in cardiology in your hospital today?
A. At North Memorial, we have a Heart Team STAT program to give the most rapid and life-saving treatment possible to patients having a heart attack. We are successful at opening closed arteries three times faster than the national average. Our Women’s Heart Clinic has treated and screened over 6,000 women since opening in 2004, providing early detection, screening, diagnostic testing, and invasive procedures. This fall, we launched the first Women’s Heart Rhythm Clinic in the U.S., spearheaded by Dr. Bobbi Hoppe, our electrophysiologist.
Q. What are some common misconceptions about cardiovascular disease? How do you address those concerns?
A. There are a lot of misconceptions about heart disease. For many years heart disease was thought to be a man’s disease, and yet more women die of heart disease in the U.S. than do men. Often people think that when I put a stent in their heart, they are fixed and don’t need to do anything else. Most heart disease is preventable, both through medical care (medicines and procedures) but also through personal action. Effectively treating heart disease requires a lifelong commitment to exercise, healthy diet choices, stress reduction, and medications. Another misconception is that a lot of people don’t want to take prescription medications and want to take natural supplements, believing that they are safer or more effective. I remind people that tobacco is “natural”–it grows in the ground–but that doesn’t make it safe. This is not to say that supplements may not be beneficial, just that patients and doctors need to know the scientific data of the safety and efficacy before taking certain medications. I see a lot of people taking a lot of pills they don’t need, and this can be risky. The misconception is that products marketed as “natural” are safe.
Dr. Elizabeth Z. Grey, cardiologist, co-director of the Women’s Heart Health Program at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern
Q. What is your professional experience/background?
A.
I am a noninvasive cardiologist and I focus on nuclear imaging and echocardiography. I also practice general cardiology and acute hospital care of patients with cardiac problems.
Q. What’s new in cardiology in your hospital today?
A. We are a national leader in cardiac imaging, including CT coronary angiography. This painless and safe test provides enormous amounts of information, allowing us to find problems early. Because we do so many CT coronary angiograms, we are highly sought-after for research studies, so our patients have access to the most recent research and treatment protocols available.
Q. What can be done to further increase awareness?
A. The biggest health crisis in our country today is lack of exercise, and it’s affecting our children. Childhood obesity and childhood diabetes are on the rise, so we need everyone–health care providers, families, communities–to work together and to encourage children to get active and stay healthy.
Q. How has cardiology changed in the last 20 years?
A. We’ve transitioned from treating patients after heart attacks to treating patients during or before heart attacks, which saves heart muscle and protects the quality of patients’ lives. We’re also more aggressive with prevention, which has led to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels in patients.
Q. What advice would you give our readers on how to lead a more heart-healthy lifestyle?
A. The most important advice I have is to stay physically active–even if it’s just walking the dog. And take the stairs when possible.
