Stay Well Health Chat with Dr. Maria Duca and Patient Lynn Niblick

Beasley Digital

Transcript

00:00Hello, hello, I'm Nicole from 92.5 XTU and I'm Marissa from 93.3 WMMR and we are so excited

00:07to do another fantastic Virtua Health Chat. Please welcome Dr. Maria Duca, cardiologist

00:16and board certified cardiologist specializing in caring for women with cardiovascular disease.

00:23Co-founded Virtua's Women's Health Heart Program, offering support and information with women

00:31and heart disease. Patients praise her attentiveness, her thoroughness, welcoming demeanor and general

00:38commitment to their well-being. And we have proof of that. We have one of our patients with her.

00:44We would also like to welcome Lynn Niblick. Lynn is a Women's Heart Support Group facilitator

00:50and a cardiac patient of Dr. Duca's. Welcome, ladies. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having

00:56us. By the way, Lynn, I love that you're very much with a theme in your heart sweater. It looks gorgeous.

01:02Yeah, of course. So, Dr. Duca, let's jump right in. What is your approach to treating patients

01:08with cardiovascular disease? Well, I think it has to be a very individualized approach because

01:14cardiovascular disease is a whole spectrum of things, right? The most common, the most

01:20familiar is blocked arteries of the heart, heart attacks, people needing stents or having angina.

01:26So, that's what people hear the most. That's the chest discomfort. In women, it may not be chest

01:33discomfort, throat, jaw, arm, back, things like that. So, talking to them about any symptoms they're

01:39having, any risk factors. So, the traditional risk factors like blood pressure, diabetes,

01:45the less traditional ones that are female-specific, like things that happen during pregnancy,

01:52gestational diabetes, high blood pressure in pregnancy, babies being born early, autoimmune

01:58diseases, which affect women more than men, but do affect men as well, increase your risk. So,

02:04going through the risks, going through all kinds of symptoms. And then there's less typical things like

02:10arrhythmias, so funny heartbeats, palpitations, dizziness, fainting, just running through the

02:17gamut of what people might be experiencing and also what the risk factors are, making them comfortable

02:23and going from there. I mean, everything you just said, it pretty much describes everybody. Everybody

02:29needs to be concerned about their heart. So, on the flip side of that, how do we stay heart healthy?

02:34Yeah. Do the things we don't want to do. Now, the Heart Association has the, like, you know,

02:44healthy seven, eight, whatever, they keep changing the numbers, but it's exercising regularly,

02:50moderate intensity, so only walking 2.5 miles an hour and faster, 150 minutes a week, two days a week

02:57is strength training. Eating healthy. So, you know, watch your high fat stuff. Don't eat the simple

03:04sugary stuff. You know, try and make it whole grains. Life has to be worth living, but balance it.

03:12You know, sitting is the new smoking, so try and get up and move. Don't smoke. Don't, you know,

03:18things we all are aware of, but also know your numbers. You know, what's your blood pressure? You

03:24don't know your blood pressure unless you go get it checked. And, you know, in your 20s and 30s,

03:28you're not going to the doctor, but as you get older, you should. You should establish that primary

03:33care physician. Know your numbers. Get your cholesterol checked at least once or twice in

03:39your 30s, a little more often as you get older. Know what your blood pressure is. Know what your

03:43blood sugar is. And just have that conversation with your primary care doc. And then if there is a

03:50family history, if there's risk factors, then take the next step and see the specialist, see the

03:56cardiologist and go through the risks. And then there are screening tests we can do, things we can

04:00do that help put you into, you know, lower risk, higher risk categories. I'm making you my doctor

04:07right now. You are the type of personality that I need to keep me healthy and driven. It is so true

04:13though in regards to like knowing your family history and like not being afraid to go to the doctor and how

04:18there is such a difference with women and men, especially when it comes to heart disease.

04:22And, you know, that's why the fact that you specifically specialize in women's health is

04:28so important too, because it really is different, right? And we've also learned that there just

04:34hasn't been as many studies just in general for women's health compared to men's health. And so to

04:38have a doctor like you who's specializing with women and obviously you treat men, we want,

04:43obviously that's very important too, but this is so, so, so important because a lot of times women are just

04:47caring about other people and they're not caring about themselves. And we just had a, my sister-in-law's

04:53very good family friend. She was only 53 and passed away of a massive heart attack. And, you know, she

04:58was a heavy smoker and had it ran in her family. Her dad passed away in her fifties and she didn't go

05:02to a cardiologist and it was devastating, but like, this is a lesson in and of itself, why it's so

05:07important to stay on top of everything. So what advice would you give to patients who are living with heart

05:13disease? Well, just to touch on your point for a minute there and maybe bring in Lynn for a second,

05:19it's, it's, you also, you need to recognize your symptoms. You also need to make sure, especially

05:25as a woman, that your doctor is listening to you. And, and Lynn has a good story about, you know,

05:31her journey with heart disease and that, and we can get to it later if you want, but you know how,

05:36at least in the beginning, she wasn't listened to. And that's important. You know, you need to make sure

05:42you're being listened to. And I read so many articles about, you know, women being poo-pooed when they go

05:48to the emergency room or go to their doctor. It's just anxiety. It's just stress. And you need to be

05:53heard. And if your doctor's not listening to you, whether it's male or female, if they're not

05:58listening to you or you're not connecting, you need to find that, that correct person and, and go from

06:06there, you know, and then, you know, gel with that. All right, Lynn, please, how did you end up in the

06:12virtual health system? I wanted somebody that would listen to me. I had male doctors not saying that men

06:18doctors aren't good, but they just weren't paying attention to me. When I would tell them I had chest

06:23pain, they, they would do the testing, but then, you know, they said nothing's wrong. And I just got

06:31fed up with it. So I went on the internet and said, look for a female doctor. And I found Dr. Duca.

06:38And I went to her. And in the beginning, well, for a few years, I said, I want to do things my way.

06:46And she said, okay, we'll do it your way. And then I ended up with open heart surgery.

06:51Now we do it my way. Now it's her way. Now I'm listening. It's like, I don't want to take this

06:57medicine. You have to say, well, I'm going to come off of it for a little while. Yeah.

07:01But so the internet's always right. And your doctor's always right. Got it.

07:05Yeah. I just had so many bad issues at other hospitals that now I was like taking charge

07:12and it didn't work because I don't know what I'm doing. Well, it's also super important to know

07:18that you felt something wasn't right. And, you know, they always say like, be your own advocate.

07:23And it's like, you knew that you wanted better care. And I think that that's so important too,

07:28is that like, it sounds a little cheesy, but like, you have to love yourself and know yourself enough

07:33to want the best care for yourself. Like you deserve the best care. You know, a lot of people

07:38are like, oh, it's fine. It's fine. It's like, no, you are so important. And I say this all the time.

07:43There's only, there's over 7 billion people in the world. And there's only one of us with our own

07:47genetic makeup. Like that is really powerful. So it's like, you deserve the best care.

07:51And so obviously shout out to you for knowing and finding the right doctor. And the fact that we

07:57have doctors and health providers like Virtua is a game changer. And I think that's, that goes back

08:05to you need to find the person you click with. You know, I may not be for everybody, you know,

08:11male or female, you need to make sure you're being heard that you can connect in there, you know,

08:18and it was, you know, she said, she took charge and I listened, but it was a, it was a conversation.

08:22And it's like, okay, well, we can try this. And this is why I want this, but it should be,

08:27you should be partners in your own healthcare. And again, that's not a gender specific thing. That's

08:33everybody. You should feel like you're working with your physician.

08:37Well, speaking first hand, Lynn, what advice would you share with other heart patients?

08:55Take care of your body. Take care of yourself. I mean, I probably could lose 20 pounds, but I mean,

09:01I'm active. I do yoga. I play volleyball, exercise the other night. So when I don't work out or do

09:09something, I feel like a slug. Yeah. And I think all people need to do that with heart disease or

09:16without heart disease. And I mean, I was, uh, my dad died at 56 from heart disease and I had a heart

09:24attack at 55. So I was like, all right, this is, this is serious. Were you already seeing

09:32a cardiologist before you had the heart attack or no, it wasn't until after? No, I woke up in the

09:38middle of the night after playing about eight games of volleyball at the high school. I woke up that

09:43night with a really bad heartburn, really bad. And I took a couple of times and tried to make it go

09:49away and it wouldn't. So I drove myself to work, which I'm not supposed to do. I drove myself to

09:57work and I walked around the office to see who had the sense of mind to take me to the hospital,

10:02not freak out. Yeah. So I picked one of the managers in this credit union and I said, let's

10:09just get in the car and go around the corner. And she's driving. She was so afraid. And after I was

10:14there a little bit, then the whole office, I worked in a small office, the whole office came around.

10:17They're all in the emergency room. And they said, we're taking you to a couple of stents put in

10:24that day. That was back in 07. So I've been dealing with it a long time. Wow. And here you are now.

10:31And here I am. That is amazing. Thank you for sharing your story. I really appreciate that.

10:38You're welcome. And thank you, Dr. Duka, as well, too. If you had just a few key points that you wanted

10:43to share with your patients and everybody out there, what would those be? I think, first of all,

10:50you're worth it and you're the only one who can take care of you. So do it. You know, at least start

10:55with your primary care provider and know your numbers because that's, you know, those will help

11:01tell you what your risk is and your family history and all of that. And there's online things that go

11:08through the risks for heart disease and you can check those off. And if you're higher risk, you

11:12may want to jump and see a cardiologist. You know, make sure you connect with a provider that you can

11:19communicate with and feel connected to. And if you don't, hey, there's plenty of physicians around,

11:26whether it's primary care, cardiology, gastro, whatever. Make sure you connect because then

11:32you're going to get better care and then, you know, have a conversation with them, but try to

11:37listen to them because we do go through extra training and kind of know what we're talking

11:42about most of the time. Yeah. And I think that's, but bottom line is you've got to take your health

11:49serious. Nobody else can do it. And we always, especially women, but men do it too. You know,

11:54you need to put yourself first. We can't just take care of everybody else. You're no good to

12:00everybody else unless you take care of yourself. Yes, that's it. And it's such a good lesson for

12:04women too. Well, for more information about Virtua's Woman Heart Program, please visit

12:10virtua.org. Please visit. It'll help you out. Everybody. Thank you again so much. Thank you.

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