By Ashlyn Brothers
ROGERS, Ark. (UATV)—Forty-five high school sophomores spent the past several months raising awareness for the nation’s deadliest disease & encouraged community members to open their hearts to the mission of many. February marks national American Heart Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, heart disease remains a “leading cause of death for men, women, & people of most racial & ethnic groups in the United States.”
To try & combat this statistic, the American Heart Association continues to raise awareness & keep the cause alive. The 20th Annual NWA Heart Ball takes place Friday, February 21 at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers, Ark. This event will include music, live & silent auctions, dinner & stories from survivors who share just how precious life can be. In fact, this years theme is “The Gift of Time.” Cyd King, communications director for the NWA American Heart Association, said nobody wants to go early so people should take care of themselves.
“When you think about the people that we’ve lost & the people we will lose early, we want people to be able to think about that gift of time,” said King. “By taking care of yourself, you’re not only giving yourself time. You’re giving your family & your friends, your siblings, your parents, your kids, you’re giving everybody the gift of your time.”
The Heart Ball was made possible through fundraising by 45 Sweethearts. King said the formal event is a way to give back to the community & get a younger demographic involved. This years’ Sweethearts were all to raise $1,000 each but ended up raising nearly $60,000. NWA Sweetheart Ashley Cook said she is super proud of everyone’s hard work & success.
“We’ve done really good, our program has,” said Cook. “We’ve gotten the highest that Sweethearts have ever gotten, & that’s really cool that we’re able to, a bunch of 16-year-old girls, were able to raise that much money. That’s been really fun & really humbling.”
Cook said much of the credit goes out to this supportive community.
“I’ve really enjoyed seeing people come out & wanting to help this cause, wanting to help something so good,” Cook said.
King said the non-profit is expecting to raise $800,000 with a crowd of 1,000 at the event.
“We’re learning more about how America’s youth & how school children, young ladies like Sweethearts, can be our ambassadors for our message out in the world,” said King. “We count on our Sweethearts to learn as much as they can about heart health & heart care where they’re comfortable talking about it to other people & their message multiplies.”
King said there is a common misconception that “stroke is an old man’s or woman’s disease,” when it actually impacts individuals of all ages. Two of the association’s dedicated volunteers experienced this first-hand. One was a sophomore in high school who was playing football when it happened unexpectedly. The other played basketball for Bentonville High School & had a stroke after playing back-to-back tournaments in Tulsa. Then there was Kennedy Allison, a high school cheerleader, who fell out of her chair while in class & went into cardiac arrest. King said luckily a school coach, nurse & AED were readily available to tend to her care. The lesson here, King told UATV, is that the youth of today should be educated on the matter.
“These things could probably, should start being on the minds of young people early which helps that the Sweethearts get a lot of training & they get to go through a cath lab & see how all that works. I think it drives a lot of them to think about professions in their future,” King said.
Cook tells UATV she couldn’t agree more.
“I’ve always like had an interest in medicine & different stuff like that,” said Cook. “I can definitely see myself wanting to continue this because it is such an important thing, & I have seen it so prevalent in my own life & the people around me. I can definitely see myself continuing to raise awareness for such a great cause.”
She teamed up with local girls throughout the region to raise awareness & funds for the cause. Cook said one of the most rewarding parts of the process was getting to know people in her community & form friendships with passionate young women like herself.
“It’s just really fun to have those new relationships, but the main thing about Sweethearts is the Heart Ball & that’s Friday, & we get to dress up in big gowns,” said Cook. “It’s really exciting & really fun to get all dressed up & all pretty, walking on the stage to represent the American Heart Association.”
The Sweethearts also started off the year with a retreat to meet everyone, learn more about heart health & the implications of bad habits like the vaping epidemic. Ashley said the lessons learned will stick with her for the rest of her life.
“[Vaping] is such a major issue in our schools & probably in our friend groups,” said Cook. “Even though you hear all these heart problems happening to people older than you & it’s like something that you don’t have to worry about, it is. We really need to watch out & make good choices.”
Cook said the information she learned from being a Sweetheart far exceeds the knowledge she originally had about heart health.
“A lot of this information I wasn’t being given in school & we’re kind of just given cover information in school,” said Cook. “I feel like these sorts of things that are more prevalent towards our age are super important for us to learn.”
Along with getting your blood pressure & cholesterol checked, Dr. Joel Carver, staff cardiologist for the Walker Heart Institute, said it’s important to avoid tobacco products & eat a heart healthy diet. That includes a more plant-based plate with fruits, vegetables, olive oil & less meat.
“Well you know, life’s about choices & we hope that everyone will make healthy choices,” Dr. Carver said.
He also emphasized the importance of exercising regularly.
“We recommend 2.5 hours a week,” said Dr. Carver. “A 30-minute walk five times a week is more than adequate.”
Cardiologists have detected risk factors but not specific causes of heart disease including genetics, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, stress & inactivity.
“The world is changing. We’re trying to build a world of overachievers, & they’ll be successful & they’ll have all they want in life,” said King. “At the same time, at what cost; your health or other parts of your life?”
Signs & symptoms of a heart attack may include discomfort in your chest, arm or shoulders, as well as lightheadedness or shortness of breath.
“There have been over 40 genes that have been identified to predispose you to the buildup of plaque that blocks the arteries that leads to the heart attacks & strokes,” Dr. Carver said.
Through the years, doctors have developed less invasive strategies for heart surgeries, such as the ability to replace valves without conducting open heart surgery.
“The most important trial of the decade was probably called the ISCHEMIA trial that showed that medical treatment was as good as invasive revascularization using stents as bypass surgery,” said Dr. Carver. “The outcomes were the same. People that have stable symptoms.”
Dr. Carver told UATV that Americans are very fortunate to have state of the art treatments. Only, he thinks the biggest barrier is access to good health care. Dr. Carver said the procedures are also incredibly expensive.
“You have the hospital charges which are outrageous, but most hospitals collect only about a 3rd of their charges,” said Dr. Carver. “[…] But what is the real charge? Is it the bill they give you or what they collect from the insurance companies?”
For more information about the American Heart Association, click here.