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Episode 2027 Transcript:

00;00;01;14 - 00;00;05;26

Announcer

And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall.

00;00;05;28 - 00;00;27;14

Cary Hall

Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocate show, broadcasting Coast to coast across the USA. Here on the HIA Radio Network. My producers in studio with me today, Dave Thiessen, the man behind all of the cameras that post all the shows on our YouTube and podcast platforms. By the way, there are 15 podcast platforms and we've got over half a million YouTube views.

00;00;27;14 - 00;00;55;08

Cary Hall

Thanks to all of you in the listening audience. The man behind the microphone is Mr. Darren Wilhite here at the Odyssey Studios. We're on 238 affiliates around the country. The reason for that is all of you that listen to this show. So we want to say thank you. We hope you enjoy it and continue to listen. If you listen to this show and you hear it on the air or whatever the case may be, and you want to tell someone about it, you can always go to the website, AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com.

00;00;55;08 - 00;01;17;18

Cary Hall

All the shows are posted up there. You can go on the YouTube platform or the podcast platform, SoundCloud, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Odyssey Radio. We're on all of the platforms and all the shows are posted up there. Also, if you are chronologically challenged and you are looking for Medicare, that's right. Just like me and you're looking for Medicare coverage, you want to give Carolee Steele a call.

00;01;17;26 - 00;01;41;22

Cary Hall

She is at 877-385-2224. It’s RPS Benefits by Design anywhere in the country. They're happy to help you. And if you're an employer struggling with the cost of health insurance, Maria Ahlers is the person you want to call. She's also at RPS Benefits by Design 877-385-2224. In studio with me. Happy to have her back. Doctor Tracy Stevens.

00;01;41;25 - 00;01;42;14

Dr Tracy Stevens

Good morning.

00;01;42;16 - 00;01;43;21

Cary Hall

Great to have you here.

00;01;43;22 - 00;01;44;21

Dr Tracy Stevens

Glad to be here.

00;01;44;21 - 00;01;48;02

Cary Hall

And joining us today, Doctor Anna Grodzinsky, Welcome, doctor.

00;01;48;08 - 00;01;49;05

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Thank you. Cary.

00;01;49;06 - 00;02;07;15

Cary Hall

So this is a very special show for me today. It's always great to get Doctor Stevens in studio. She brought Doctor Grodzinsky with her today. And our topic today is women's heart health. That's what we're going to talk about. This is personal to me. Okay. My wife Lauren suffers from heart failure. It has not been an easy road.

00;02;07;17 - 00;02;27;12

Cary Hall

She is a patient of doctor Lawhorn’s at the Saint Luke's Women's Heart Health Center. It is remarkable what they do there. I think it's important for people across the country to understand this and understand the difference between men and women, and there are significant differences. And that's what we're going to talk about today. We're also going to talk about what's going on in treatment.

00;02;27;16 - 00;02;56;11

Cary Hall

We're going to talk about who's at risk, why and how does all that play into the total picture of women's heart health. So let's just start a little bit with Doctor Stevens bio. Doctor Stevens is a board certified cardiologist for Saint Louis Cardiovascular Consultants and is on staff at Saint Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri. She is the Julie Irene Kaufman Endowed Chair for Women's Cardiovascular Health, the Ben D McAllister, M.D., Community Ambassador Advisor, and a professor of medicine.

00;02;56;12 - 00;03;20;10

Cary Hall

She is a recipient of the UMKC Take Wing Award and the Alumni Spotlight Award. She completed her cardiology fellowship at Mayo Clinic, where she is also a National Institute of Health Cardiovascular Research Fellow. And so we're very happy to have her in studio with us today, obviously very busy. And to get them in here. Doctor Grodzinsky was born in Ukraine, immigrated to Columbia, Missouri, with her parents at the age of six.

00;03;20;11 - 00;03;47;21

Cary Hall

She and her parents moved to Kansas City to be closer to family in 1997. Doctor says she attended medical school at the University of Kansas City's six year combined Bachelor MD program. She completed her residency in internal medicine, and chief residency and clinical fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Kansas City. She also completed her NIH T32 Research Fellowship in Cardiovascular Outcomes at Saint Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute.

00;03;47;25 - 00;04;11;01

Cary Hall

She practices clinical cardiology, and we are very happy to have her in studio with us today. Thank you, doctor, for coming in. So Doctor Stevens let's just start with this, because I remember way back when you and I first started doing these, and it's been a minute, as they say. There is a I remember the like one of the very first shows we did and when we started talking, this is long before my wife had this condition.

00;04;11;04 - 00;04;24;24

Cary Hall

You know, the difference between men and women is significant. The symptoms are different. The way it affects them is different. Let's just go through the differences between men and women and how they manifest themselves in symptoms. And the rest of it. Doctor.

00;04;24;25 - 00;04;41;23

Dr Tracy Stevens

Well, you're so right. We've come a long way in this journey in recognizing this, and we give a little historical perspective. In the 60s, the American Heart Association had a conference, and the audience invited were women to attend the topic of: “how to protect your man with heart disease”.

00;04;41;25 - 00;04;44;27

Cary Hall

Keep them off the golf course on the 19th hole. There you go.

00;04;45;00 - 00;05;22;14

Dr Tracy Stevens

And there was a nutritional course. And the pamphlet said, how to cook for your man with Heart disease. Then in the 80s, the billboard said: “learn CPR, save your husband's life”. At that time, the percentage of women represented in cardiovascular research was only about 10 to 20%, so it wasn't recognized as a heart threat for women. We thought it was a disease for men, so we didn't recognize this was our number one health threat until a very wise cardiovascular ICU nurse at Saint Luke's recognized women were coming in with heart attacks, and they were given antacids for chest pain versus men taken to the cath lab because that was the protocols then.

00;05;22;14 - 00;05;41;13

Dr Tracy Stevens

Then. And so we've come a long way. And at that time, Marsha McCoy, our colleague, created the first women's heart center in America. And it took one woman at a time and a virtual program to educate. And we learned along this one woman at a time of journey. And you're right, symptoms can be different. We do a bad job.

00;05;41;13 - 00;06;10;15

Dr Tracy Stevens

We say, do you have chest pain in women and in men, but commonly in women it could be any symptom from the waist on up as well as overwhelming fatigue. That's the one that bothers me the most. Symptoms may be different. Women still to this day don't recognize this as their number one health threat. We've gone from one out of three deaths every year, one out of two deaths every year, being in women, being due to heart attack and stroke, to now just 1 in 3 compared to 1 in 39 from breast cancer.

00;06;10;15 - 00;06;32;11

Dr Tracy Stevens

So the research part for breast cancer has advanced that. But we're way behind still. And more women than men or more women die from heart attack and stroke than all forms of cancer combined. So the symptoms we don't recognize health care providers, we don't really ask a lot about their detail of their symptoms and the risk factors.

00;06;32;11 - 00;06;55;03

Dr Tracy Stevens

While we may share traditional risk factors like men, there are unique conditions in women that are unique only to women and as respect to cardiovascular disease or much more prevalent in women, we think, where are we missing this all along? Or is this becoming more prevalent? Far more questions than we have answers in this long journey where we've got a long way yet to go?

00;06;55;05 - 00;07;15;23

Cary Hall

You know, that's shocking, Doctor Grodzinski. When I hear Doctor Stevens say that more women die from heart attack and cardiovascular disease in this country than all forms of cancer, and I recall doing a speech one time in front of a large about 350 women, actually. And I asked that question because I knew the answer at that point.

00;07;15;23 - 00;07;35;24

Cary Hall

This was some years ago after working at Doctor Stevens. And what's the number one killer of women? And the answer across the board was breast cancer. And it's completely the opposite of that. So how how do you see that changing in terms of recognition? And then talk a little bit about those symptoms that Doctor Stevens alluded to in terms of the difference between men and women?

00;07;35;24 - 00;08;20;04

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Doctor you're right, Cary, I think there's been an evolution and as Doctor Stevens mentioned, it's been a decades long effort to help, to educate and to advocate for this understanding and growing understanding. And alongside our governing bodies that American Heart Association, the NIH, the American College of Cardiology, and others, there's been an increasing awareness and education effort to educate physicians, clinicians and our colleagues non cardiologists across the country around this risk and in parallel to educating our community, in which, Chris, Marsha and Doctor Stevens have have worked over these past several decades to do consistently.

00;08;20;04 - 00;08;40;07

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And and it's taken that iterative effort to get the information out there in our training, there's been an increasing recognition around the nontraditional symptoms that affect women versus men. And we're working to enhance the research now around conditions that affect women in cardiology more often.

00;08;40;08 - 00;08;54;26

Cary Hall

But we come back to the break. We're going to continue with this topic, and I'm going to ask doctors to tell us what those symptoms are. How do you know if you're listening to this. taht. maybe this is your wife, maybe it's your sister, maybe it's your mother, but we're going to find that out when we come back after the break.

00;08;55;02 - 00;09;08;02

Cary Hall

You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. We'll be right back with more. Stay tuned. The doctors are in the house.

00;09;08;04 - 00;09;38;05

Steve Kuker

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00;09;38;09 - 00;10;09;18

Steve Kuker

Serving them in their greatest time of need. If you're looking for someone who can provide, you experienced an objective guidance when searching for a senior care community. Reach out today and discover the services of Senior Care consulting at 913-945-2800. Know your options and choose with care at SeniorCareConsulting.com.

00;10;09;21 - 00;10;13;25

Cary Hall

You.

00;10;13;28 - 00;10;32;24

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. I want to take a moment to say thank you to all the folks over at camp at 1490 Am and 98.1 FM in Santa Maria, California. Got some inquiries out of Santa Maria last week and just wanted to say thank you to all the folks out there.

00;10;32;29 - 00;10;52;14

Cary Hall

We're happy to be on that radio station. Thank you for being part of the America's Healthcare Advocate family in studio with me, Doctor Tracy Stevens, and Doctor Anna Grodzinski from Saint Luke's Health System. We are talking about women's heart health and the Mariel Kaufmann Women's Heart Health Center, which is the first women's heart health center in the entire United States.

00;10;52;19 - 00;11;10;10

Cary Hall

It was a pioneering program here. Doctor Stevens was instrumental in bringing all that together and making it happen. In fact, I remember when that building was dedicated and I came and Joyce Thompson and I came to the dedication in the brand new building, and it was, that was quite something. How many years ago was that.

00;11;10;12 - 00;11;17;06

Dr Tracy Stevens

That was 2010. We had the ribbon cutting with, at that time, the first lady of the United States, Laura Bush, joined us. She did?

00;11;17;07 - 00;11;44;26

Cary Hall

Yes, I remember that. Yeah. That was that was quite an affair. Yes. That was really amazing. Let's let's get back Doctor Stevens to this topic, and let's talk about one of the first things I remember when we first started doing these shows way back was the difference between men and women. And it is dramatically different the way men, you know, project symptoms, the symptoms men experience for for heart health when they're, when they're having a heart attack or about to have a heart attack.

00;11;45;00 - 00;11;48;08

Cary Hall

And the difference with women. So let's talk about that.

00;11;48;10 - 00;12;13;06

Dr Tracy Stevens

Well, I think the symptoms we worry about in women and it are those that in addition to the Hollywood heart attack, where they have that clenching fists on their chest, the elephant discomfort on the chest, so it can be chest pain. But we need to also is it they may not interpret as pain, chest pressure. In that if you say chest pain, they may say no, but chest pressure?

00;12;13;06 - 00;12;18;23

Dr Tracy Stevens

Yes. Pain between their shoulder blades. Not uncommon a toothache.

00;12;18;24 - 00;12;20;05

Cary Hall

That's amazing. A toothache.

00;12;20;05 - 00;12;48;05

Dr Tracy Stevens

Yes. Toothache. And we educate the dental college where, if it's not their tooth, do we think. Could this be an angina equivalent? Shortness of breath? Indigestion is a big one. Elbow pain. I mean, just an isolated left elbow pain. It doesn't have to just be the left arm. It can be the right arm. So chest discomfort, chest pressure, shortness of breath, indigestion, discomfort between the shoulder blades, arm discomfort, palpitations.

00;12;48;07 - 00;13;09;23

Dr Tracy Stevens

You know, the nausea lightheadedness and again overwhelming fatigue. And you think well how many of us have to have those symptoms. Probably all of us. But how do we differentiate when I need to be concerned? Any new symptom I say from the waist on up or overwhelming fatigue think could this be my heart? And especially if what you can do with exertion now you can't do.

00;13;09;23 - 00;13;30;16

Dr Tracy Stevens

Because when you exert yourself now, you're limited by those symptoms because those coronary arteries fuel our heart. And when we step on the gas, just like our cars, those arteries give us the gas. If there's obstructive plaque developing, they can't give us the gas and we halt. So exertional shortness of breath that didn't occur before, exertional chest tightness.

00;13;30;18 - 00;13;33;22

Dr Tracy Stevens

Those are the symptoms that we predominantly look for.

00;13;33;24 - 00;14;00;03

Cary Hall

You know, it's funny Doctor Grodzinski, I remember that when my wife was first diagnosed with this by Doctor Stevens, actually, the one thing that manifested itself with her still to this day was fatigue. And it was the fatigue. And my wife's very athletic. She was a championship horseback rider. She was a tennis player, a basketball player. I mean, she was the last person you would, you know, she's 5’ 11”, you know, slender.

00;14;00;03 - 00;14;19;09

Cary Hall

You would never think, okay, it was fatigue, fatigue, fatigue. And we went in and had an echo and cardiogram done and came out. And her ejection fracture rate was horribly low and immediately knew we had a problem. So talk a little bit about that fatigue and those issues. And you know, so you're the husband out there listening to this.

00;14;19;09 - 00;14;40;18

Cary Hall

It's your it's your mother. Maybe, you know, maybe it's your mom. Whatever the case and you're hearing this, what should people do? You know, you know, what happens. Women are so busy taking care of the family. They're not taking care of themselves, oftentimes. Okay, so you know what? What what should people be aware of when they when something like this is occurring?

00;14;40;20 - 00;15;09;04

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Cary, what you’re sharing is so common in practice. We see it every day. And it's true that not only having health care advocates like our family members is important. But self-advocacy is also important, and fatigue can be a challenging symptom. We talk about that often, but certainly because we're cardiologists, we always incorporate a potential cardiovascular issue as a driver of fatigue.

00;15;09;07 - 00;15;52;07

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Doctor Stevens mentioned the chest discomfort or pressure, that bra line pressure, those would be sometimes more common to women. And in addition to cardiovascular plaque, that buildup of cholesterol and inflammation in the arteries, we're increasingly more often recognizing that women can have chest discomfort, pressure or some of the other symptoms Doctor Stevens outlined related to arteries that are clean or arteries that can spasm, or tiny blood vessels in the heart that can be a little hypersensitive or not functioning as we would expect.

00;15;52;07 - 00;16;18;15

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And those can all contribute to the same symptoms in women who have had some cardiac evaluation and that are not found to have plaques responsible for their symptoms. We ought not to necessarily stop there. We ought to recognize that additional causes in the Coronaries, not necessarily related to big plaques, can also drive the symptoms. So we're just changing the way we communicate about the possibilities driving these symptoms to our patients.

00;16;18;15 - 00;16;37;04

Cary Hall

You know, that reminds me of a story, doctor. I had a client of mine give me a call there. And he said, my wife was taken. We went to the E.R. in a rural hospital. And they told her that she had indigestion because we had gone out to eat Mexican food that night. And he said she's been really sick for the last two days.

00;16;37;04 - 00;16;56;19

Cary Hall

And it's not a stomach issue. And I remember saying to him, you need to get her in the city to Saint Luke's and have somebody take a look at her. And I've sent a number of people to you over the years, where they do not recognize that what they're dealing with is a potential heart issue. It's always like, no, that's not me.

00;16;56;22 - 00;16;59;07

Cary Hall

That's not the approach you should take. Am I right or wrong?

00;16;59;11 - 00;17;26;18

Dr Tracy Stevens

You're absolutely right. And like Anna had said, we have to not only include good old America heart attack because of plaque, but recognize it's not always about heart attack from a good old plaque problem in women and something called microvascular angina of these tiny vessels. By the time a woman reports these symptoms to someone understanding, listening, doing the proper testing can be two years to get the diagnosis

00;17;26;18 - 00;17;27;05

Cary Hall

You’re serious?

00;17;27;06 - 00;17;36;01

Dr Tracy Stevens

And that's part of our fierce mission now with transformational research to address that. And like Lauren, very healthy. It's not heart attack. It's not plaque.

00;17;36;02 - 00;17;36;25

Cary Hall

She doesn't have plaque.

00;17;37;02 - 00;17;58;10

Dr Tracy Stevens

There are conditions within the heart muscle that can impact, that the strength of the heart and create those symptoms as well. We know that there's a unique types of heart attack. The most common cause of heart attack in women under 50. It's not due to plaque. So we have to recognize this is not for old women. This affects young women.

00;17;58;12 - 00;18;19;28

Dr Tracy Stevens

It's the most common cause of heart attack in pregnancy is something called scad, where it's a spontaneous separation or tear in the lining of the artery that narrows the flow and creates a heart attack like presentation. But we don't want to manage these women like we do. Plaque. We try to avoid stents. They don't necessarily need to be on aspirin or cholesterol medicine.

00;18;20;00 - 00;18;23;24

Dr Tracy Stevens

And that's another part of our mission for research in that arena.

00;18;23;26 - 00;18;38;15

Cary Hall

When we come back from the break, we're going to we're going to move to a different topic. Now. We're going to talk about women who are pregnant and what happens as a result of heart attack in pregnancy. We're going to talk about that. And the fatalities that are occurring right here in the Kansas City metro as a result of that.

00;18;38;16 - 00;18;56;17

Cary Hall

Stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. We've got more. Don't go anywhere.

00;18;56;20 - 00;19;18;00

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show, broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. My producer behind the microphones, Mr. Darren Wilhite behind the cameras. Mr. Dave Thiessen in studio with me. Doctor Tracy Stevens and Doctor Anna Grodsinsky. They are from Saint Luke's health care system, most importantly from the Muriel Kauffman Women's Heart Health Center, which is what we are talking about today.

00;19;18;06 - 00;19;41;15

Cary Hall

Women's heart health issues. And they are different and they are important and they are under the radar. A lot of times. The last thing I ever expected was for my wife to be someone who suffers from heart failure. But that day came up, and we're very fortunate that we're here in this city and this treatment center. The Muriel Kauffman Women's Heart Health Center is here and has made a big difference for her.

00;19;41;15 - 00;20;02;10

Cary Hall

So yeah, it's just important, I think that we understand how what is going on in this area and why it's important to understand. It could be your wife, it could be your mother. And you heard Doctor Stevens say, you don't have to be old. Okay? I'm 75, okay. But you don't have to be old, all right. To have this issue, we're going to segue to that in a minute here.

00;20;02;15 - 00;20;09;12

Cary Hall

And we're going to talk about the highest maternal fetal death rate is from what Doctor Grodsinski.

00;20;09;15 - 00;20;13;00

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Is attributable to cardiovascular disease in our country.

00;20;13;04 - 00;20;18;01

Cary Hall

Okay. And can you explain that and what does that mean and why it let's talk about that.

00;20;18;06 - 00;21;00;10

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Sure. Cary, there are several layers of that. The statistics are also highlighting that the US has the highest maternal mortality rate of all developed countries, which is a wild statistic. And the rate of bad outcomes around pregnancy is relatively low. However, cardiovascular conditions explain adverse outcomes most often in our country, so there's an increased focus and collaboration, and particularly within the clinical and research spaces around better understanding why this is happening.

00;21;00;12 - 00;21;40;07

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And the Muriel Kaufman Women's Heart Center has been an advocate for the first cardio obstetric clinic in our country. My colleagues started a unique collaboration where a high risk obstetrician physician called a maternal fetal doctor and a cardiologist meet with our patients who are afflicted by a cardiac issue during their pregnancies and follow them more often during their pregnancy and as they deliver, because they're just unique conversations and planning that has to occur for many patients who have a cardiovascular issue during their pregnancy.

00;21;40;09 - 00;22;05;07

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And so what we have seen is that as a result of that clinic going live, that moms are less apt to undergo C-section, that their babies are born at a better gestational weight when they deliver, that, the babies are able to be delivered a little later in their pregnancy, and that that collaboration is a huge, patient satisfier.

00;22;05;09 - 00;22;21;03

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And so that has really allowed us to segue into the research world to where we are leading some, research initiative studying. Okay. Well, what are the drivers and what are the barriers around care for moms with cardiac issues during pregnancy?

00;22;21;06 - 00;22;45;22

Cary Hall

So what if people are listening to this and like, well, how do I know if I don't know? I told , off-air I told doctors Stevens about my daughter Elizabeth in Washington state, who had twins three years ago. They watched her like a hawk, and I'd be willing to bet it was probably a specialized obstetrician that she was that she was seeing because she was constantly going through checkups.

00;22;45;24 - 00;23;08;06

Cary Hall

What what should mothers and what should fathers husbands be looking for? Your wife's pregnant. How do you screen? How do you know how how how how does that issue come to the forefront so they know they may be at risk for one of these? I mean, that's stunning that we have the highest rate of mortality in the world.

00;23;08;08 - 00;23;13;21

Cary Hall

And I'm going to ask some question about that in a minute. But to that point, what is it they should be looking for, doctor, as.

00;23;13;21 - 00;23;39;27

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

You mentioned, the highest rate amongst developed nations. And that advocacy piece is really important. As a health care community, were increasingly recognizing the risk factors that that drive these outcomes in our country. And some of those being for some of the traditional cardiac risk factors, are more common to moms in the US who are having babies at a little older age.

00;23;40;00 - 00;24;09;14

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

More pregnancies are surprises in our country. The health care system and insurance access obviously is is a layer is a factor contributing to outcomes. But also, how often are we seeing moms with cardiovascular conditions during pregnancy? How can we better optimize their delivery plan and location, and to make sure that the right people are in the room for their deliveries and their follow up care?

00;24;09;16 - 00;24;41;17

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

All of these things are still under investigation and there are increasing, there's better access for us to use tools to screen moms without known cardiovascular disease during pregnancy. So that's definitely a component. And then but also to follow moms who have known conditions during pregnancy. So we're trying to address the different stages. And, the symptoms can be tough because the symptoms of pregnancy and the symptoms of cardiac conditions can overlap one another.

00;24;41;19 - 00;25;07;06

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

But moms who experience symptoms that they may have not experienced during a prior pregnancy, or moms who are struggling more earlier in pregnancy, or who have symptoms of notable swelling or difficulty breathing when they're laying down flat or chest discomfort, that's a new sign or symptom for them. Those moms should always present to medical attention for for evaluation.

00;25;07;08 - 00;25;34;13

Cary Hall

You know. So, Doctor Stevens, you know, you we've talked about this before in previous shows how much of this is a result of the way our diet in this country, our exercise in this country, the way we consume alcohol, the smoking, I mean, granted, you know, most women now when they get pregnant, know, no alcohol, okay. And certainly you don't smoke.

00;25;34;13 - 00;25;58;09

Cary Hall

Okay. But you still have a significant issue in this country. 70% of the people are obese, 80% of the, you know, 70% are obese. You've got another 20% or so that are morbidly obese. And, you know, we eat a lot of crap. I mean, there's no other way to put this. All right. So how much that plays a role in younger women who are significantly overweight, are they more at risk?

00;25;58;14 - 00;26;00;13

Cary Hall

How does all that fit into this doctor?

00;26;00;17 - 00;26;07;05

Dr Tracy Stevens

It plays a significant role in that. As Anna said, the traditional risk factors blood pressure is a big one.

00;26;07;05 - 00;26;11;29

Cary Hall

Okay. So there's one you can give that high blood pressure and you're pregnant. You're at risk.

00;26;11;29 - 00;26;37;25

Dr Tracy Stevens

Absolutely. Or do you develop high blood pressure during pregnancy? A big focus is the pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and that is something Anna and the team are investigating fiercely, because we know women who have pre-eclampsia, eclampsia a hypertension associated with pregnancy, they're much greater risk of cardiovascular conditions down the road. Our concern is after they have their baby, is the education there that they're aware of that?

00;26;38;01 - 00;27;01;00

Dr Tracy Stevens

Do they continue to check their blood pressure? You know, with the obesity that that compounds all risk factors? Another and Anna can comment more to on part of her research is that there's we're now having more adults living with congenital heart conditions than there are kids living with. Because because of the success of surgeries as a baby, these babies are living to adulthood.

00;27;01;00 - 00;27;22;24

Dr Tracy Stevens

And with many of them being women, can they get pregnant? We know that there's certain congenital heart conditions that really raises the risk of pregnancy. But again, who's at risk? What is the risk? Where do they deliver? How do they deliver? The Cardio OB clinic that we have formed has really made a difference, so that together we can communicate with the patient and understand the plan.

00;27;22;26 - 00;27;37;17

Dr Tracy Stevens

The number of patients we've delivered in Saint Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute is not insignificant. But if you think of it, this lovely emotional birthing room and everyone's happy many times it's in our heart Institute, in our ICU, in our OR’s

00;27;37;19 - 00;27;46;21

Cary Hall

This seems to me that this has been an unrecognized issue out there Doctor Grodsinski for a very long time, and it's just now coming to the forefront.

00;27;46;24 - 00;28;17;24

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Yes, I think again, nationally, because of the recognition of our maternal fetal statistics and especially the states that are, lower performing, there has been an increased focus on forming perinatal maternal mortality review committees that can better understand the drivers of these adverse outcomes in our states, and to focus the care, especially to address those factors. Also, just to recognize the cardiovascular conditions across the lifespan.

00;28;17;24 - 00;28;44;17

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

As Doctor Stevens has mentioned, not just our older demographic, but from our teens, from, the hormonal influencers and, and, and contraception factors to assisted reproductive therapy. And how can that interplay with moms who may be at higher risk to carry a child, different pathways to parenthood all the way through pregnancy, postpartum, and then our perimenopausal years.

00;28;44;17 - 00;28;53;05

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And how can we be as, as, good at recognizing cardiovascular conditions or those risks?

00;28;53;05 - 00;29;15;15

Cary Hall

So basically, I think what we're saying to folks out there from both of you is, and I think, you know, one, a message that I want, especially in rural communities where they may not have access to this level of care. If you see something, if you if you think there's an issue, if there's if you have blood pressure issues, if you have issues when you're lying down, if you start to recognize some of these symptoms, you immediately need to do something.

00;29;15;15 - 00;29;26;04

Cary Hall

And if your local rural facility can't provide that, then you need to get some place where they're specialized care and have the tests done to find out. Are you at risk before it's too late, am I right?

00;29;26;06 - 00;29;31;09

Dr Tracy Stevens

That's absolutely correct. Our goal is to have a blood pressure cuff in every home of a pregnant lady.

00;29;31;11 - 00;29;46;06

Cary Hall

There it is. We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate Broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network. Doctors are still in the house. Stay tuned. We've got more.

00;29;46;09 - 00;30;06;05

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show, broadcasting coast to coast across USA here on the HIA Radio Network. You can find out more about us by going to the website America's Healthcare Advocate. And you can send me an email. I will answer it. I get a lot of them. Don't answer every one of them the same day, but I do promise to answer each and every one of them.

00;30;06;07 - 00;30;24;05

Cary Hall

So if you got a question comment, go to the website, send me an email in studio with me again, doctor Tracy Stevens and Anna Grodzinsky from Saint Luke's Health System, and we are talking about women's heart health. That is the topic today. The idea is obviously to get as much information out to you as we can about this topic, because it is significant.

00;30;24;08 - 00;30;43;07

Cary Hall

You heard doctors say earlier in the show, more women die of this heart issue than die of all the cancers combined. That's why we're doing this show, is to make you aware that it's there. And I don't care how old you are. You can be young, you can be old, or whatever the case may be, you may well be at risk.

00;30;43;07 - 00;31;01;00

Cary Hall

This issue, if you're a woman, certainly if you're pregnant. You just heard Doctor Grodsinski talk about this. This is an issue you should pay attention to. And that's why we're doing this show today. So it is the 30th anniversary of the Muriel Kauffman Center. You celebrated with the fairly significant milestone. You want to talk a little bit about that?

00;31;01;02 - 00;31;03;19

Dr Tracy Stevens

Yes. It's been a 30 year journey and.

00;31;03;21 - 00;31;05;17

Cary Hall

Amazing to think it's been that long.

00;31;05;18 - 00;31;49;23

Dr Tracy Stevens

It is. And it's been a hard journey, but a very rewarding one that where we've raised awareness, advocated on Capitol Hill for the heart, for women Act, which embraced the need for more research, and to where our journey includes transformational research addressed to the cardiovascular health of women. And with that, we are so honored that we were able to announce at the Saint Luke's Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation, awarded as a $10 million endowment and to name the the first institute in our community, in our city, our community, our country, in the world.

00;31;49;25 - 00;32;16;12

Dr Tracy Stevens

And it's the Saint Luke's Muriel I. Kaufman Institute for Women's Cardiovascular Research, the first of its kind. And the money's the endowment, plus all the many gifts that have come from our community. And national grants are to embrace this fierce mission to address these questions we have. And and like Anna was talking with the maternal fetal mortality, the Hope registry.

00;32;16;14 - 00;32;30;00

Dr Tracy Stevens

We know we can't do this alone. And we have about 40 other major campuses across our country who want to join us in this Hope registry that addresses the maternal fetal mortality crisis.

00;32;30;03 - 00;32;44;19

Cary Hall

And so, doctor, you were just in Abu Dhabi, which I was a little amazed to hear that you're actually in a conference and talk a little bit about that and why why were you there? And this is obviously on the world stage now. So a little bit about that before we go to close.

00;32;44;21 - 00;33;09;12

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

So, you know, we're fortunate to get to lead the Hope study. This is now in the application process to the an NIH to to include a thousand patients from about 35 hospitals across our country to learn how to better understand care delivery and optimal care delivery. For moms who have heart conditions during pregnancy. But also we're fortunate to get to contribute to research networks led by others.

00;33;09;12 - 00;33;31;13

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

And as I mentioned, it really is a village. And so every year we get to contribute to the Cardiac Problems and Pregnancy conference, which is a, a conference hosting about 3 to 500 people from across the country focused on the care of cardiovascular topics during pregnancy and postpartum. And so Abu Dhabi hosted the conference for us last year.

00;33;31;20 - 00;33;41;29

Cary Hall

Amazing achievement to have this conference. So it's really quite remarkable. So it's becoming an international issues that is that a fair way to to to frame that?

00;33;42;00 - 00;33;44;08

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

Undoubtedly. And more and more often.

00;33;44;10 - 00;33;53;28

Cary Hall

But the leading research and the leading content that's coming out of this research is that is in this country. Am I correct in that.

00;33;54;00 - 00;34;25;01

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

For which we have applied for NIH support, to lead a thousand patient, study looking at best care of moms with cardiovascular conditions that that will be housed here in Kansas City at Saint Luke's. And that will include 35 hospitals across our country. And we contribute to other research networks of of 26 to 50 hospitals that look at other topics focused on cardiovascular conditions affecting women more often, really across the lifespan as well.

00;34;25;03 - 00;34;37;00

Cary Hall

So, doctor, it's been quite a journey. Your thoughts as we close out the show today on you know what people should be aware of and, and, and and you know why this is an important topic.

00;34;37;03 - 00;35;05;12

Dr Tracy Stevens

I it's so important I think first be aware this is our number one health threat. Educate yourself. What are your risk factors. Educate your family. Participate in research. We want to reduce the barriers that have been present in women participating in research and identify symptoms. Advocate for yourself and if something doesn't feel right, get it checked out. Don't delay and and know that embrace.

00;35;05;12 - 00;35;16;29

Dr Tracy Stevens

This is our number one health threat and that we can do something about it. We just have to be an advocate and we say participate and donate, be part of this lifesaving journey.

00;35;17;01 - 00;35;42;11

Cary Hall

And that is exactly what you're doing. And thank you both for coming in today. It really, this is the kind of thing that we like to do on this broadcast where we're taking cutting edge information, getting it. And, you know, before we did the show today, you and I have done I don't know how many shows we've done, you know, this whole issue of fetal pregnancy, heart attack issue, heart condition issue that this is this is another new area that we're talking about today.

00;35;42;11 - 00;35;54;12

Cary Hall

And and thank you both for being here and being able to address the issue. And it's a wonderful opportunity that we have that the Muriel Kauffman Center is now able to move toward this kind of research. Doctor.

00;35;54;14 - 00;36;00;15

Dr Anna Grodzinsky

It is it's creative work. It's a wonderful complement to to it's a privilege to get to do what we do.

00;36;00;17 - 00;36;16;04

Cary Hall

So once again, I want to thank both the doctors for being here. They're extremely busy, as you might guess, and for them to take time out to come up here and do this, show, it is pretty important. You know, we hear a lot of negativity about health care in this country. We hear a lot of nonsense about our health care system, this country.

00;36;16;08 - 00;36;36;18

Cary Hall

Keep one thing in mind. This is why we have the health care system that we have. This is why we have cutting edge technology. This is why we have the ability to confront disease like this, discover disease like this, and deal with disease like this. Because we have doctors and hospitals that are dedicated to this kind of thing in this country.

00;36;36;24 - 00;37;01;19

Cary Hall

So take some solace. Take some pride in what we have that we have this kind of research. We have this kind of care available to us in this country because of these doctors and these kinds of hospitals, this kind of research that makes a difference in people's lives. Thank you for listening. And now I leave you with this thought and, Doctor Martin Luther King, Americans must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will surely perish together as fools.

00;37;01;21 - 00;37;18;21

Cary Hall

Truer words were never spoken, especially today. Thank you for listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network. Coast to coast across the USA. Goodbye America.

00;37;18;23 - 00;37;24;02

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