I talked to Hailey Nielson, a
Food and Nutrition Security Coordinator in Cardiology department at the
University of Utah hospital, and she said that the biggest health trends for
the people at risk for heart attack are diabetes, sodium intake, carbohydrate
intake, heart failure, and fat intake/obesity.
Before Hailey sees the patients,
the charge nurse and the doctor have both already seen them and she knows all
the stats about that person and whether or not they have already had a heart
attack. Hailey starts out with a 30 minute session in which she fills out a
standardized food frequency question that has a score at the end. The scores
are 1-50 is a low risk, 50-70 is a medium risk, 100+ is high risk for heart
attack. This allows her to know where their diet stands then she can know how
to help the patient.
1.
Diabetes – Diabetes combined with other factors
prospects a severe risk for heart disease if not controlled. Hailey already
knows if they have diabetes, and if the person has it then he/she is at an even
higher risk. The NIH said, “People who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes can
develop [Diabetic Heart Disease (DHD)]. The higher a person's blood sugar level
is, the higher his or her risk of DHD.” High blood glucose makes the blood more
viscous and hard to move through the circulatory system (Dr. Allen Judd,
Pathophysiology professor at BYU). Teaching them and making sure they implement
a healthy diet is vital for someone with diabetes. A diet used could include
controlling their sugar calories they consume. Hailey reminds them to follow the
doctor’s orders with insulin injections and to exercise.
2.
Sodium intake –The RDA (recommended daily
amount) of sodium for the average person is 2300 mg. What Hailey tries to do is make them aware of
how much sodium is being added to their diet. “If you are in the population
groups [at risk for heart disease due to high blood pressure], you should
consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day” (CDC). High blood pressure is
caused by many things including an excess of sodium in the body. Hailey said that a lot of the people she
works with eat a lot of deli sandwiches thinking that they are healthy because
of the bread grain and vegetables, but they don't realize it has 8,100 mg of
sodium because of the processed meat. Since they are on a 1500 mg restriction
they really need to pay attention to what they eat.
3.
Carbohydrate intake – “A lot of the cardiac
patients have a hard time watching their calorie intake because they get sick
of trying to pay attention. They don't like being told how much they are allowed
to eat of a certain food” (Hailey). Sometime it takes them awhile to get into
the swing of keeping track of carbohydrates because it’s so tasty and they
don't want to restrict it. “While people need to watch their calorie intake to
prevent overweight and obesity, they should consume a diet rich in vegetables,
fruits, and whole grains/high-fiber foods daily” (AHA) Hailey said she
has a daily intake questionnaire that figures out how many calories the patient
is intaking in one day. This is helpful in showing them where they need to cut down
on certain foods and increase others.
4.
Congestive Heart failure (CHF) – CHF is caused
by many things and one of those causes is a heart attack. The charge nurse on the
cardiovascular floor tells Hailey which patients have CHF. Hailey then goes to
them and offers the services they have – cardiac rehab. In the cardiac rehab is
where an exercise gym is located. Hailey will go with them and help them
exercise as well as talking with them about the barriers that are keeping them
at a high risk for another heart attack. If a person with CHF changes their
lifestyle, future heart attacks can be prevented (PubMed Heatlh).
5.
Obesity and fats – Hailey said a person who is
at risk for heart attack needs to weigh themselves daily to help prevent. Based
on weight you can know whether a Heart attack is coming. If a person gains 3 pounds
in 48 hours, 6 pounds in 7 days, then you know they are not excreting water. “If
the heart becomes less efficient as a pump, the body will try to compensate for
it. One way it attempts to do this is by using hormones and nerve signals to increase
blood volume (by water retention in the kidneys). A drop in blood flow to the
kidneys will also lead to fluid retention” (heartfailure.org). The weight loss guidelines
for males is if he is over 40 inches in waist size then he needs to lose weight
and for females it is a waist size over 37 inches. There are those who don’t
have a waist and are super skinny. However, this doesn’t mean that they can
still eat a lot of fatty foods. Hailey lets them know that even if they a have
a stent to keep their valve open, it can still clog due to fat collected around
the stent and in the arteries still.
No comments:
Post a Comment