Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States, and now’s the time to improve your heart health to live a longer life.

One in every three female deaths in America is due to cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association.

Some attacks can be sudden.  Often people aren’t sure what’s wrong and therefore wait too long to get help.

Here are some of the warning signs of a heart attack:

• Chest discomfort: Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.   
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body: Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. 
• Shortness of breath: with or without chest discomfort.  
• Other signs: breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.    

Knowing the signs is important.  But even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, call 911 immediately.

Central Florida Regional Hospital is proud to have shorter ER weight times with a certified chest pain center and an award-winning Heart Institute with the most modern cardiac technology.   We offer the only full-service cardiac program in Seminole and West Volusia counties, including open heart surgery, catheterization, electrophysiology and cardiac rehabilitation. 

We’re planning several free Heart Month events in February including:

• Dinner With A Doctor: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m.  Jorge O. Diaz, M.D., Electrophysiologist, will discuss treatment options for Atrial Fibrillation.  A healthy dinner will be served.  Call 1-800-445-3392 for reservations.
• Heart Healthy High Tea: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 3:30-4:30 p.m.  Jacob Agamasu, M.D., Cardiologist, will discuss the latest advances in heart treatment as well as how to keep your heart healthy.
• The Iron Heart Cooking Contest: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 6:30-8 p.m.  Watch our cardiologists create a meal with secret heart healthy ingredients and find out who is the better chef.  A heart healthy dinner will be served.
• Cardiac Screening: Saturday, Feb. 27, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, glucose and blood pressure.  Call 1-800-445-3392 for an appointment.

We’re less than three weeks away from Wear Red Day, the American Heart Association’s movement to raise awareness in the fight against heart disease.

On Friday, Feb. 5 we hope you’ll join the women— and men— who are wearing red to work in an effort to save lives.

And don’t stop with just what you wear.  If your workplace hasn’t planned an event, it’s not too late for you to start spreading the word.  You can log onto www.goredforwomen.org for a free, downloadable toolkit which includes a how-to guide, posters and more.

Plus, you’ll want to check out the official Go Red For Women Facebook fan page where more than 70,000 women are already talking about ways to fight this silent killer.

For more information about Central Florida Regional’s Heart Institute, log onto our website at www.centralfloridaregional.com.  And don’t forget to Go Red on Feb. 5.

Approximately 2.2 Americans suffer from Atrial Fibrillation or A-Fib.  The abnormal heart rhythm can lead to life-threatening complications in some patients, including heart attacks and strokes.

Long-term A-Fib causes the atria, the two upper chambers of the heart, to quiver rather than beat normally.  This quivering can cause the heart muscles to weaken, and over time it can result in heart failure. 

Because blood does not empty out of the heart chambers, clots can form.  If these blood clots break away and travel to the brain, a stroke can occur. 

Symptoms include:

• Irregular or rapid pulse or heart beat
• Racing feeling in the chest
• Palpitations, or a pounding feeling in the chest
• Dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting
• Sweating
• Pain or pressure in the chest
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue or weakness
• Exercise intolerance

A-Fib patients are sometimes given blood-thinning medication to prevent complications, but with the newest technology that’s not the only option.

Central Florida Regional Hospital offers an effective treatment called a cardiac ablation, also known as radiofrequency ablation.  This nonsurgical procedure, which is performed in the hospital’s electrophysiology lab, regulates the heart rhythms by eliminating the tissue that causes the irregular heartbeats.

A 3D mapping system helps guide an electrode-tipped catheter to the abnormal tissue in the heart.  Then radiofrequency energy is sent through the catheter into the abnormal tissue to regulate the heart rhythm.

“The ideal candidates for this procedure are people with Atrial Fibrilation who have failed drug treatment and are significantly symptomatic from the arrhythmia,” Jorge O. Diaz, M.D. said.

Recovery times are minimal and patients generally go home within six to eight hours after the procedure.  Patients can return to normal activities the next day, and many patients no longer require medication.

“I was not able to complete a round of golf in the months prior to my ablation because I would get so fatigued.  Now I can play a full 18 and some days 36 holes without a problem,” patient Ed Crain said.

As part of Central Florida Regional Hospital’s heart month events, Dr. Diaz will discuss safe and simple options for the treatment of A-Fib during a Dinner with a Doctor lecture on Wednesday, February 3 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  A healthy dinner will be served.

To make reservations for the free event, call 1-800-445-3392.