LIVING HEALTHY HEARTS
Patients of Dr. Michael Ring, a cardiologist with the Providence Spokane Heart Institute, may undergo diagnostic imaging to locate blockages in their hearts. JACOB JONES PHOTO
“GET TO KNOW YOUR HEART,” CONTINUED... “There’s the perception that if you have anything wrong with your arteries you need to get it cleaned out or fixed,” he says. “[Many patients] tend, if anything, to be inappropriately overly aggressive with taking care of their blockages.” Percutaneous Coronary Interventions, known as PCIs, have become the most common procedure for physically clearing arteries, pushing them open with a tiny balloon or propping them open with a metal mesh tube called a stent. More than a half-million
patients undergo stent-placement procedures each year, thousands in the Inland Northwest. Medical experts agree PCIs and stents can be lifesaving for patients with severe blockages, but some researchers, like Dr. Michael Rothberg of the Cleveland Clinic, suggest as many as half of such procedures may be unnecessary. In a recent study, he argues the plumbing analogy perpetuates a popular myth of the stent as a quick cure-all. “Although the image of coronary arteries
as kitchen pipes clogged with fat is simple, familiar, and evocative,” he writes, “it is also wrong.”
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tents come in a variety of sizes and designs, but most consist of a tiny metal mesh tube that collapses like compressed chain-link fencing. Implanting a stent involves snaking a balloon-tipped catheter up into an artery, usually entering through the wrist or groin area. A stent is threaded up the catheter wire to the blockage
MIND YOUR DIET
Y
ou heart what you eat. Registered dietitian and nutritionist Kerry Scott says a healthy diet serves as one of the best, surest ways to prevent heart disease. With so many fad diets and misconceptions, it can be easy to lose track of the essential basics of a well-balanced approach. Heart-healthy and responsible foods can take a little more thoughtfulness or preparation, but the extra time and effort pays off in the long run. “It’s not like there’s broccoli at the takeout window,” she says. “To eat well and to eat more whole foods takes more planning.” Eating whole foods, primarily fruits and vegetables, is one of the easiest steps. Everyone, even people in their 20s and 30s, should be aware of their cholesterol and lipid levels. Reduce saturated fats by cooking with olive oil or other plant-based oils instead of butter. Limit egg servings to less than one a day. Two specific diets come highly recommended: the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) plan. Both plans promote diets high in fresh produce and seafood as well as moderate alcohol intake of less than two drinks a day.
Scott recommends combining those ingredients with exercise or other activities. Even making your meals more social, such as having dinner with friends, can slow down your eating and help justify some of the investment in quality foods. — JACOB JONES
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