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Changing the awareness, perception, and outcomes of CVD in Rural American patient populations.
ABOUT US
Heart to Heart Arrhythmia and Medical Consultants, LLC is a practice focusing on CVD but with limited other services in McRae, Georgia and the immediate rural surrounding areas. Our focus is Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) prevention with risk factor identification and treatment, including but not only limited to abnormal heart rhythms (Arrhythmia and Cardiac Electrophysiology).
we diagnose + treat
cardiovascular (cv) risks
(i.e. HTN, DM, Renal Disease (RVD), Obesity, High Cholesterol, etc.)
cardiovascular disease (cvd)
(CAD/MI, CHF, Vascular Disease, Dilated Cardiomyopathies)
Arrhythmias
(Abnormal Heart Rhythms)
Other Service Provided
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CVD Risk Management
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Weight Loss Management (TH)
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Device Management
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TeleHealth
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Limited IM
Insurance Plans Accepted
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Aetna
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Medicaid/Medicare
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Humana Medicare
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Medicare Advantage
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United Healthcare
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CareSource
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HAP
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And More...
CVD is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels, and constitute a class of diseases that include Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). CAD is a build-up of plaque (atherosclerosis) in the blood vessels that supply the heart or that can cause a Myocardial Infarction, commonly called a MI or Heart Attack. Other CVD diseases include stroke (atherosclerosis/CVA in the brain), congestive heart failure (CHF), Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), congenital heart disease (heart disease from birth), carditis, inflammation in the lining in the heart, valvular heart (disease), a build-up of plaque in blood vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs), renal artery stenosis, and aortic aneurysms, thromboembolic disease involving blood clots in the arteries and venous thrombosis (involving clots in veins).
CVD is the leading cause of death in the world (except Africa) and in the U.S. CVD directly caused 12.4 million deaths in 1990, 17.9 million deaths in 2015, and 20 million deaths in 2019. CAD and stroke cause 80% of CVD deaths in males. Most CVD affects older adults but is commonly seen in younger patients with unhealthy or at-risk lifestyles (i.e., early tabacco use, substance abuse) in the U.S. 11% of adult 20-40 have CVD, 37% of adults 40-60 years old, 71% 60-80 yo, and 85% adults 40-60 yo, 71% 60-80 yo, and 85% of patients over 80 yo have CVD. The average age of death from CVD is 80 yo in the U.S. and 68 yo in underdeveloped countries. CVD is characteristically diagnosed 7-10 years earlier in men than in women.
Over 60 million women (44%) in the U.S. have some form of heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and kills more women in the US. than breast cancer. Heart disease symptoms are often different in women than in men. Men often present with chest pain, pressure, heaviness, or discomfort (typical). Contrarily, women often present without pain (atypical). This often causes heart attacks and heart disease to be missed and/or misdiagnosed in women.
Unlike men, they most commonly present with the following:
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Feeling dizzy or faint
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Shortness of breath
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Unusually rapid heartbeat
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Indigestion
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Nausea or Vomiting
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Pain or discomfort in the chest, one or both arms, neck, or back
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Sometimes there are no symptoms.
In the U.S., Black women comprise those who are U.S. born (African American), African born (African), and Caribbean born (Afro-Caribbean). Black women are disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease with an excess burden of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
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Younger Black women are 2 to 3 times more likely to experience premature death from CV causes than White women.
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Black women living in rural areas experience the highest CV mortality rates in the U.S.
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Nationally Historically Black Women have the highest adjusted prevalence of Hypertension, nearly 1.5 times greater than Hispanic Women and Nationally Historic White women.
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The lifetime risk of HTN is 85.7% in Black women vs. 69.3% in White women.
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Although NHB women have higher rates of HTN awareness and treatment compared to NHW women (70.1% vs. 64.8% and 60.9% vs. 57.7%. HTN control is paradoxically lower (22.8% vs. 25.4%) in African American women and is higher than among African American men. NHB women have a 1.13=fold increased prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes compared to NHW women (3.3% vs. 2.9%, respectively).
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NHB women have a 2-fold higher age adjusted death rate attributable to diabetes than NHW women (32.1 vs. 14.2 per 100,000 population, respectively).
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Older black women with diabetes are the least likely group to have risk factors treated and controlled.
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Higher stressful life events in Black women, in the Women's Health Initiative, were associated with incident CVD in Black women (55 years-65 years old).
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Compared with NHW women, NHB women are significantly more likely to experience preterm birth, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and small-for-gestational-age birth (12.2% vs. 8.0%, 16.7% vs. 13.4%, and 17.2% vs. 8.6%, respectively).
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Stroke risk among women with pregnancy induced HTN is higher in Black women vs. NHW women.
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Socioeconomic status vs. race: Black women with lower social economic status have almost 3-fold odds of having worse cardiovascular health than White women in both rural and urban areas.
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Black women are overrepresented in health care professions (13.7%) twice as often as NHW women in the U.S labor force (6.9%) compared to any other population group but are employed mostly in the lowest wage and most hazardous jobs.
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Urban Black women >=70 years of age have a higher risk of stroke compared with White women, controlling for age, sex, education, and insurance status.
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The prevalence of stroke among women aged >-20 years old is twice as high for NHB compared to NHW women (4.9% vs. 2.5).
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Elderly Black women are at higher risk of hospitalization for first ischemic stroke than White women.
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Heart Failure (HF) hospitalization rates for Black women are nearly 2.5-fold higher compared to those for White women.
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Black women have higher age-adjusted HF mortality rates (per 100.000) than women from other racial and ethnic groups ((88.9 for NHB 82.7 for NHW 34.2 for NH Asian or Pacific Islander, 70.0 for NH American Indian or Alaska Native, and 50.6 for Hispanic women).
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NHB women have a higher prevalence of coronary heart disease (7.2%) compared to NHW women (6.0%).
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Age adjusted death rates per 100,000 for coronary heart disease were higher in NHB women compared to NHW women (77.2 vs. 62.7).
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Postmenopausal NHB women in the World's Health Initiative were less likely to receive revascularization for acute myocardial infarction (MI) compared to NHW women.
Statistics as derived from the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
MAJOR RISK FACTORS
FOR CVD (CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE) INCLUDE:
HYPERTENSION (HTN)
HTN is called the "silent killer" because many people have no symptoms and may not take it seriously until something bad happens).
Normal BP: Systolic BP (top number) :<120 mm Hg. Diastolic BP (bottom number) :<=80 mm Hg.
Stage 1: Systolic 130-139 or Diastolic 80-89.
Stage 2; Systolic >=140/Diastolic>=90.
Hypertensive Crisis: Systolic BP:>=180 and/or Diastolic BP:>120.
Dietary and Lifestyle Factors that contribute to HTN:
* Diet (High Salt) and/or (Low Potassium)
* Alcohol
* Stress
* Weight (Obesity)
* Smoking
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