34 Years Old Who Had A Heart Attack And Has 3 Stents, Can He Still Snowboard?

I received a question from Jon and he was kind enough to let me post it here. Please feel free to add anything to our conversation through the comments link. 

“Hey Eric,

I had a heart attack 3 weeks ago at age 34 and had 3 stents put in. I’m on all the meds now and watching my diet. I just want to know if I will be ok to go snowboarding again next winter.

Jon.”

 

 

Cardiac Surgery Repairs Rescue Swimmer’s Mitral Valve

May 4, 2009
Robotic surgery gets patient back to his active lifestyle

San Diego – As a military rescue swimmer, 36-year-old Ronny German was in the best shape of his life and had no previous health problems. However, shortly after a routine dental cleaning, Ronny began to experience significant swelling in his joints, which his doctors initially diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis — a condition that runs in his family. As his symptoms worsened, further examinations and testing revealed a heavily leaking mitral valve in Ronny’s heart.

Ronny was told that he would need an operation to repair his mitral valve and chose to have the procedure using minimally invasive robotic surgery. During the robot-assisted surgery, his surgeon discovered that Ronny’s mitral valve was extensively infected.

After surgery Ronny was informed that the infection was the cause of his leaking mitral valve, and it was likely the result of the dental cleaning he received before the onset of his symptoms.

“I was shocked to learn that a routine dental cleaning could have such a serious complication,” said German. “When I was diagnosed with a heart murmur, I was never told that I should be taking antibiotics when I was having even simple dental work done.”

A recent study from the University at Buffalo in New York linked bacteria commonly found in the mouth to an increased risk of coronary heart disease and other cardiac complications.

After a successful robot-assisted mitral valve repair, Ronny recuperated at home, and within two weeks was back at his job with the U.S. Coast Guard. He received medical clearance three months after returning to work and quickly passed his rigorous monthly fitness test. Since his surgery Ronny has taken up paddle surfing and currently participates in five- to nine-mile races, with hopes to complete the Catalina Crossing in the future.

Minimally-invasive surgery offers quicker recovery
“A leaking mitral valve is more common in older adults, but we do see patients with the condition as a result of infection,” said James Hemp, M.D., cardiothoracic surgeon with the Scripps Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery Program. “Open cardiac surgery requires a significant amount of recovery time, but we were fortunate to be able to offer Ronny an option that would allow him to continue his very active career and lifestyle.”

Minimally invasive robot-assisted surgery provides access to the heart through five small incisions, eliminating the need for surgeons to split the breastbone and spread open the ribcage in order to gain access to the heart. During robot-assisted surgery, tiny instruments and a three-dimensional camera are inserted through the incisions, and the surgeon controls the instruments from a console that provides a magnified view of the surgical field.

This system enhances surgical capabilities by offering even greater precision during surgery. A patient typically stays in the hospital for three to five days after minimally invasive cardiac surgery, compared to five days or more after traditional heart surgery. While the average recovery time after open-heart surgery is six to eight weeks, recovery time with robot-assisted cardiac surgery is between two and four weeks.

About Scripps Health
Founded in 1924 by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, Scripps Health is a $2 billion nonprofit community health system based in San Diego, Calif. Scripps treats a half-million patients annually through the dedication of 2,600 affiliated physicians and 12,300 employees among its five acute-care hospital campuses, home health care services, and an ambulatory care network of clinics, physician offices and outpatient centers.

Recognized as a leader in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, Scripps is also at the forefront of clinical research and graduate medical education.

Contact: Kristin Reinhardt
Phone: 619-686-3787
E-mail: reinhardt.kristin@scrippshealth.org

Scripps Mercy Hospital, Scripps Clinic, Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery, Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery

More Exercise May Provide Greater Gains in Heart Disease

Taken from http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/news/Article.aspx?AID=626959&visitfrom=twitter

Overweight patients with heart disease saw better gains compared to standard cardiac rehab.

THURSDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) — A program featuring greater amounts of exercise and energy expenditure may be preferable to standard cardiac rehabilitation exercise in overweight patients with coronary heart disease, according to research published online May 11 in Circulation.

Philip A. Ades, M.D., of the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, and colleagues analyzed data from 74 overweight individuals — mean age of 64 years and mean body mass index of 32 — with coronary heart disease. Patients were randomized to high-calorie-expenditure exercise (3,000 to 3,500 calories weekly) or standard cardiac rehabilitation exercise (700 to 800 calories weekly).

At five months, the researchers found that those in the high-expenditure group had twice the weight loss (8.2 versus 3.7 kilograms) and fat mass loss (5.9 versus 2.8 kilograms). This group also had larger decreases in insulin resistance, total to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and elements of the metabolic syndrome. No exercise-related cardiac events were noted, and adherence to the interventions was good, the authors write.

“Considering the negative consequences and increasing prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome, high-calorie-expenditure exercise training, combined with a hypocaloric diet, should be considered the exercise approach of choice for overweight patients with coronary heart disease,” the authors conclude. “Some individuals with no exercise experience whatsoever may initially benefit from a standard cardiac rehabilitation exercise protocol and then gradually evolve to four to six sessions per week as they improve their fitness.”

Last Updated: May 14, 2009

Abstract

Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Good Twitter Feeds Regarding Cardiac and Heart Attack Information.

If your on Twitter and are looking for tweets on heart disease here are the ones I follow and found to be worth keeping an eye on. Not all are specific only to heart related material, some are general medical info. I have done my best to categorize them to make it a little easier to find what you are looking or. If you have others please let me know or post a comment for others to see.

Heart Associations and Government Education

https://twitter.com/AHAScience. American Heart Association/American Stroke Association annual scientific meetings and science news.

https://twitter.com/foundersheart.Founders Affiliate of AHA represents: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI

Web Based & Non-Web Based News Services, Medical News Services

https://twitter.com/StDavidsHC. St. David’s HealthCare is one of the largest hospital systems in Texas.

https://twitter.com/CCardiology . Congenital Cardiology Today.

https://twitter.com/WebMD_Blogs. WebMD.com

https://twitter.com/theheartorg. Managing editor for heartwire on theheart.org–the most authoritative, balanced, and insightful cardiovascular disease news online.

https://twitter.com/DiscHealthPR. Discover Health TV Channel 

https://twitter.com/msnbc_health.Health, diet and nutrition news from msnbc.com 

https://twitter.com/nytimeshealth.Health News from NYTimes.com/Health

https://twitter.com/bbchealth.BBC Health 

https://twitter.com/LATimeshealth.Current health + medical news from the Los Angeles Times + latimes.com.

https://twitter.com/stopafib. StopAfib.org – For Atrial Fibrillation Patients By Afib Patients.

Hospitals, Medical Centers

https://twitter.com/ScrippsHealth.Scripps Health is a nonprofit, community-based health care delivery network in San Diego, California.

https://twitter.com/heartR.Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute nurse; patient educator, website manager, helping people find heart, vascular and thoracic information

https://twitter.com/mayoclinic. Mayo Clinic

https://twitter.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Protecting Health, Saving Lives Millions at a Time

https://twitter.com/CardioCareLive. ClinicCardioCareLive is an online-only medical conference for healthcare professionals focused on cardiometabolic care, offering 20 hours of FREE on demand presentations from world-renowned medical experts!

https://twitter.com/cleveclinic_cme.  Cleveland Medical Clinic Twitter.

 

Riding Ave of The Oaks Century after Heart Attack

This Saturday is the Ave of the Oaks metric century ride. I choose this one because while riding 63 miles is not that hard for me at this point, doing it and 6000′ plus of climbing is. I’d say that’s a pretty decent climb for someone without a heart attack so it would be a good goal for me. I try just to be happy that I can ride at all but it’s hard not to compare myself with someone who has no heart problems and I love riding up hills, always have, even though I’m not good at it I’m just persistent that way. Below is the elevation chart.

Ave of the Oaks Century elevation chart.

I’ll be riding it with my PT from my old cardiac rehab program and one of my cardiologist. Which makes my wife extremely happy, even though she wishes I didn’t do it at all. I think I’m ready. While I haven’t ridden that distance in a while I have been riding lots of hills and doing 3,000′ climbs in 28-30 miles rides and some hill repeats so I feel ready and the best riding shape since my heart attack.

I’ll do my best to keep track of my ride and bring you a crank by crank report.

Eric

Please Tell Your Cardiac Story.

I’d (and I assume many others) would love to hear how you have dealt with, conquered or beaten heart disease. Do you still ride a bike, surf, mountain bike, bmx, skateboard, ski or snowboard since your heart attack or heart disease started? Any little story you have can go a long way in providing motivation for others who struggle with wanting to ride.

After you write your story here I’ll make a special page for it so other can communicate about it.

Thanks,

Eric

Prevention: Gains From Exercise After Heart Attack Are Lost if Exercise Stops

I found this on the New York Times website via their twitter page.

Prevention: Gains From Exercise After Heart Attack Are Lost if Exercise Stops

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Published: March 20, 2009

Some important benefits of exercising after a heart attack can vanish in weeks if the exercise is stopped, a new study has found.

The researchers tested F.M.D. — flow-mediated dilation, a measure of the flexibility of an artery as blood flows through it — in 228 heart attack survivors. Their arteries averaged about 4.2 percent expansion, compared with the 10 percent considered normal in healthy people.

Then the scientists divided patients into four groups to undergo resistance training, aerobic exercise, both together, or no exercise program at all.

Finally, the exercisers “detrained,” remaining idle for four weeks.

The study, published in the March 16 issue of the journal Circulation, found that the dilation had increased to 5.3 percent in the people who had not exercised, but to an average of more than 10 percent in the training groups. After four weeks of detraining, dilation returned to almost exactly the initial levels in all three exercise groups.

“Cardiac rehabilitation is cheap,” said Dr. Margherita Vona, the lead author and director of cardiac rehabilitation at a clinic in Glion-sur-Montreux, Switzerland, “but the price of losing its benefits is high. It’s important to educate patients about exercise, and essential that they continue for the long term.”

A version of this article appeared in print on March 24, 2009, on page D6 of the New York edition.

Article Link

Robin Williams Recovering After Heart Surgery

Most of you know what a huge cyclist Robin Williams is….Glad to hear he’s doing well! NY Times.

heartATTACKrider is now on twitter

But they limit the number of characters in your name so my twitter is heartattackride NOT heartattackrider…..oh well close enough and still kinda makes sense. Why twitter? I come across little things that I want to post and instead of having a zillion little bits and pieces here a thought it would be easier just to do it there and I can hopefully reach more people that way.