Ask the Cardiologist: All About Exercise

Dr. Maciej Malinski is on the medical staff at Sherman Hospital. He has been kind enough to answer some frequently asked questions related to maintaining a healthy heart. Look for additional heart information from Dr. Malinski in the coming weeks.

Q: I know exercise is good for me, but exactly how long and how often should I exercise to stay healthy?

A: Because of technological advances and economic incentives (technology reduces the energy needed for daily activities and economics pays more for sedentary than active work), physical inactivity is a pressing public health issue.

Ask the Cardiologist: Can Wine Help Your Heart?

Dr. Maciej Malinski is on the medical staff at Sherman Hospital. He has been kind enough to answer some frequently asked questions related to maintaining a healthy heart. Look for additional heart information from Dr. Malinski in the coming weeks.

Q: I’ve heard wine can be good for your heart. Is there a recommended quantity/type of wine?

A: Abraham Lincoln said “It has long been recognized that the problems with alcohol relate not to the use of a bad thing, but to the abuse of a good thing.” President Lincoln was likely not thinking about the human heart when he said these words, but in hindsight, this quote absolutely pertains to heart health.

Heart Disease in Women

Many recent statistics show that cardiovascular disease in no longer just a “man’s disease.” As a result, there are a lot of new programs geared towards the goal of reducing the prevalence of that preventable disease. They involve the idea of uniting women together to fight off the heart disease and live longer, healthy lives.

American Heart Association has a special goredforwomen.org website designated to this nationwide movement which encourages everyone to get involved, learn and take action.

Our own Sherman Hospital cardiologist, Dr. Silbert and Dr. Zamani, are especially interested in the prevention of women’s heart disease. They are targeting our community awareness that cardiovascular disease is #1 killer among women and that symptoms may be quite subtle or even much different from the classic angina. Dr. Zamani states “they can present as chest discomfort or fatigue, dizziness, shoulder pain, back pain or indigestion. These symptoms may lead to misdiagnosing female patients and overseeing some important heart problems.”

According to Dr. Silbert, having women understand they are at risk and encouraging them to schedule an appointment for initial evaluation, is the most important step. Follow up can include teaching about healthy diet, blood pressure and cholesterol control, blood sugar checks as well as exercise programs.

Sherman Health’s Heart Failure Recovery Center

The Heart Failure Recovery Center offers comprehensive disease monitoring for patients with heart failure in an out-patient clinic setting. The clinic assists in carrying out the treatment plan as prescribed by the patient’s physicians.

The primary objectives of the Heart Failure Recovery Center are:

• reduce the number of unnecessary emergency room visits,
• to prevent hospitalizations,
• assist patients in living a full and productive life.

All patient visits to the Heart Failure Recovery Center will be communicated to the patient’s primary care physician and cardiologist via a report sent to those physicians’ offices. All Urgent patient needs or orders will be addressed in collaboration with the patient’s physician.