It’s February, the month of affairs of the heart. Bet you’re thinking Valentine’s Day and romance, aren’t you? 

How the heart got to be the symbol of those is unsure, especially when you consider that the shape of the actual heart is nothing like the version that’s come to mean love. This connection has been traced back to the fifth and sixth centuries BCE, when the Romans considered the plant silphium, which has heart shaped seeds, to be an aphrodisiac. 

The first known romantic use was in medieval times, with artwork showing a courtly lover kneeling to offer his heart to a fair damsel. The shape known today originated in the early 14th century, and became popular for Valentine’s Day use in the 1800s. The American Heart Association has used the symbol to approve heart-healthy food since 1995. Inserting a heart symbol to replace the wording ‘to love’ is attributed to the “I ‘Heart’ NY” campaign, which launched in 1977.

Matters of the actual heart

While those fun facts help explain how the heart shape gained its status as the symbol of love, what about the affairs of the heart’s real job? Your heart beats an average of 60 to 100 times a minute, or 86,400 to 144,000 times every day. That’s a lot to ask of one little muscle! No wonder you’re advised to keep its affairs in order, to keep it making those beats regularly for as long as you can.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In 1964, after having a heart attack himself, President Lyndon B. Johnson named February as American Heart Month, to raise awareness of heart disease nationwide. The first Friday is also National Wear Red Day, part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative. 

The heart’s job is to send oxygen-laden blood through your body, which keeps everything in working order. It started before you were born, knows its job, and does it automatically. So, what could go wrong? Unfortunately, a lot. 

There’s coronary artery disease, aneurysms, dysrhythmia, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and congestive heart failure. Any of these can lead to cardiac compromise, when the heart does not get enough oxygen. 

There are a host of indicators that there might be something that you need to have checked and get treatment for. Among those are any pain in or around the chest, tingling in the hands or feet, shortness of breath, or swelling around the ankles. Only a doctor or cardiologist can tell you exactly what your situation is.  

Don’t panic! Not all chest pain is a heart attack, not all heart attacks create chest pain, and not all heart attacks lead to cardiac arrest. That said, if someone is having chest or unusual pain in the back, arm, or shoulder, especially if it includes difficulty breathing, call 911. 

Many factors can lead to heart disease. One is heredity, and you can’t do anything about that. BUT – big but here – you absolutely do have control over many of the others.  

Dr. Hasan Atalay, with Capital Cardiology, emphasizes that diet, exercise, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol all affect heart health. Some of these tie in with each other. Regular exercise and a balanced diet will help keep weight down, which will help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. 

It should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway, smoking is a big factor. 

A doctor or cardiologist can help get you on track and continue to nag you to stay there. 

In addition to doctors and cardiologists, other options can steer you towards good heart health. One is the holistic Heart Health Accelerator Cardiac Wellness Program, run by former cardiac nurse Mary Yuter. She focuses on mindset, lowering stress, detoxing the body of toxins through eating strategies, and optimizing circulation to make the heart’s work easier while carrying nutrients to the cells. The program is a methodical, guided, step-by-step restructuring of supporting your body to wellness. Yuter shares, “My passion is teaching people about how their body works and helping them analyze what went wrong so they can correct the problems and imbalances and enjoy the life they have been craving.”

Vera and others making an impact

Don’t take a diagnosis of a heart condition to heart. My friend, Vera Whitman, was told 23 years ago that there was not much that could be done for her. In 2003, three months after her first surgery, she and husband Jerry did their first American Heart Association Heart Walk. He pushed her in a wheelchair, and they raised $265. She took up the walks, he says, “to further the cause of research, because the funds she was able to raise gave more people a chance to survive.” 

After 21 years, those funds total over $82,400. In a recent appeal, she wrote, “I Walk to Save Lives! Through medical advances and determination, I am still here, almost as strong as ever.” In 2023 she gained special recognition as the third-highest fund-raiser, with $11,143.  

She finally succumbed to her condition in the fall. Her husband and family all wore red to her wake. 

Scores of people doing the Walk, and many other methods of fund-raising, further the cause of research to find more ways to fight and cure heart disease. 

Last year, Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin made headlines when he collapsed on the field with cardiac arrest and was successfully revived thanks to immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Now a huge advocate of heart health, he was a primary force towards congressional passage of the HEARTS Act, which will have automated external defibrillators installed in schools nationwide

CPR and cardiac arrest

CPR works. I will attest to that, from experience. Courses are available through the Red Cross, or often your area rescue squad. AEDs are now available in many public places. These are very simple to use; they lead the untrained through the steps to administer what can be a life-saving shock. They will also tell you when shock is not advised. 

Chatham Rescue Squad Advanced Life Support Coordinator Dylan Garbarini says that almost any call they respond to has the potential of being a heart attack, since there are so many symptoms that might indicate one. Besides the obvious “Feels like an elephant standing on my chest,” those include what may seem minor things such as pain in the jaw, back, arms or stomach, nausea, fatigue, lightheadedness, anxiety, and clammy skin. Men and women may have different symptoms.

What to do if you, or someone you are with, might be having a heart attack? Call 911 immediately! While waiting for help, as long as the patient is not allergic, give them 324 mg of aspirin. Keep them calm and still. Follow any instructions the dispatchers give, and make sure there is easy access to the patient. Dispatchers are trained to give CPR instructions, should cardiac arrest make that necessary. The sooner this is started, the better chance of a positive outcome.    

Oh, and, please, please, if that tired old meme about how to save your life with cough CPR shows up in your feed, don’t even read it, and especially do not forward it to continue spreading this false information. Trust me when I tell you that if you have a heart attack while driving, as this bogus post tells, we can start actual CPR on you a lot quicker if we don’t have to pull you out of your wrecked car first. Seriously, check this out with an online search. Fake news!

Much more heart health information is available from the American Heart Association. Knowledge is power, it’s worth a little time to find out more about what your heart is doing. And, make sure to tell your doctor about anything that feels out of the ordinary. After all, we want you around for many more heartbeats! •

*Disclaimer: All medical claims made in this article are information provided by the subject. The information is general in nature and not specifically meant for any particular individual. You should always seek out medical assistance from a medical professional based on your individual needs and circumstances.