Doctors always say that you should get checked out before you embark on a new or a rigorous exercise regime. There's a good reason why they say these things. Case in point: Loreen Page.
The 52-year-old Edmonton woman has many of the risk factors for heart disease and stroke. She has diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a family history of heart disease and stroke, and she is also overweight.
Despite all that's going against her, she also has a lot going for her. She has taken many steps to control her risks including quitting smoking more than 20 years ago. She sees her doctor regularly to monitor and manage her multiple medical conditions and she has been exercising for 10 years at her local Curves. The women's fitness centres advertise themselves for providing a total body workout through both aerobic exercise and strength training.
Last year, she started taking a Zumba class, a combination of dance and aerobics that she describes as more intense than her usual workout routine. Even though she was already active, the change in the activity level soon brought more than health benefits. Despite her health concerns, she thought she was doing okay.
"I never had any issues when I was doing my workouts. I never had any symptoms of heart disease. I assumed I was okay."
A tiny problem arose and Page was aware enough to take notice and take heed.
Within the first few months, she noticed occasional feeling of pressure in her left forearm. She described it as "a very subtle squeeze" that would sometimes shift to a slight stinging or pinching sensation. When she slowed down, the sensation went away.
"I wondered, 'That's kind of different. I wonder what that is.' That's not a normal feeling that I get."
It's a good thing that she talked to her doctor about it right away. Tests revealed that the flow of blood to her heart was less than optimal, so she was sent for a PET (positron emission tomography) scan. This allows medical practitioners a three-dimensional insight into how her heart actually functioned. This was followed up with an angiogram.
It turned out that her right coronary artery was 90 per cent blocked, and her cardiologist installed a stent to open the artery and help restore the proper flow of blood. There were also minor blockages in other arteries, but she was able to control them with medications.
Page was a prime candidate for a heart attack, but because she knew her body so well, she caught the warning sign at just the right time.
"My life lesson from this experience is to listen to those little whispers that our bodies constantly give us," she concluded. "They can easily be ignored or passed off as something else. But I can tell you firsthand, it's worth it to act on them. I did, and I was able to avoid a heart attack."
The larger problem
Kate Chidester, the vice president of health and research with the Alberta chapter of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, said that people need to pay attention to the following symptoms:
• chest discomfort (including pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain) or discomfort that occurs in the neck, jaw, shoulders, arms or back;
• shortness of breath;
• sweating;
• nausea; or
• light-headedness.
"Heart disease is the number one killer of women in Canada," she indicated. "Most people don't know that. There's a perception that it's a man's disease but women are more likely than men to die of a heart attack or stroke."
She added that heart disease and strokes kill more women than all cancers combined.
Chidester praised Page for being aware of changes within her body and vigilant enough to take immediate and appropriate action.
"She was really smart to take that seriously. Often when people are exercising and [experience discomfort] and then it goes away really quickly, sometimes they just think, 'Oh, that was nothing.' She had enough insight into warning signs of heart disease that she was smart to go and talk to her doctor like that."
"We do want people to be physically active. If you're first starting out on an exercise program, it is always a good idea to talk to your family physician, but you also want to listen to your body as you're exercising. She did that very well."
