News Summary

The "Walk with the Doc" sign in Delsie Hollon's cardiologists' office lit up her eyes. "Rather than calling the office when I have a question, I can get it all straight from the doctors," she said.

The Healthy Heart Women's Center in Centerville began the free monthly walks shortly after opening in December 2006. The third Saturday of every month, anyone who shows up can join the one-mile walk with a doctor from Dayton Cardiology & Vascular Consultants and nurse practitioner Eileen Hart. Most are at the Cox Arboretum, moving in to the Dayton Mall from December through March.

Besides promoting a heart-healthy exercise, Hollon said the walks provide extraordinary access to ask doctors about symptoms, medications, nutrition — anything about heart problems. Hollon, 79 with mitral valve prolapse, walks every day anyway, but after a lifetime of hurried doctor's appointments, she considers the access priceless.

"You can learn good things whether you have a heart problem or not," she said, baffled that the walks don't draw double-figures attendance.

Teaching women about heart disease before they have problems is one of the center's primary goals, Hart said. They've talked to businesses, church groups, service organizations, people at festivals and even physicians groups about women's risk factors and how to reduce them.

"The problem is, women don't even recognize they're at risk," Hart said. But 42.7 million U.S. women have cardiovascular disease and 459,096 died of it in 2004, the last year for data. They outnumber men in both measures of the disease that costs $448.5 billion a year — $296.4 billion for medical care and $152.1 billion in lost productivity.

"Almost enough to bail out Wall Street," Hart said.

"Unfortunately, many of them don't see a cardiologist until they're in the hospital," she said. "But if they see one earlier, most heart disease is preventable. It's like AIDS."

The stakes are higher for women because heart disease is more likely to be fatal for them, said center codirector Dr. John Duchak III. One reason is they typically develop it at an older age. Another is their smaller size makes surgery and angioplasty riskier.

It's easy to test for the basic risk factors of weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, Duchak said, and smoking requires no test. Besides helping people reduce them, he said the center has diagnostic imaging equipment that's more stringently testing than at hospitals.

Walking with the docs is a good place to start a preventive regimen, Hollon said. "It's one of the easiest things you can do, and it can be fun if you have people to walk with. The nice thing about these walks is we learn from the others about their symptoms and questions, and of course we have the doctors at our disposal."

That access is part of the vow Duchak and his cofounders made for the women's center to be "less intimidating than a full cardiologists' office," he said. It's less sterile, and Hart gives a female ear to women who might "think it's silly to come in complaining about unusual symptoms if it turns out to be nothing."

Cindy Stafford felt that way the after her first heart attack symptoms four years. "I was actually embarrassed to call my doctor, that he'd think I'm crazy," she said. The doctor didn't say that, but he said it was probably a panic attack.

Too many doctors do that with women, Duchak said. Older ones, especially, "basically blow off women because coronary artery disease was a men's problem."

Compounding the problem, he said, "Women often don't get the typical, crushing chest pain," They might have pain in the arms, jaw, neck or back, or "tingling or numbness in their left arm." They might feel nauseous or fatigued. And as with Stafford, a heart attack isn't the first thing they think of.

"We women don't like to get sick," Stafford. "We're supposed to take care of everybody else, so when we do, we get embarrassed. We want an office where we'll feel comfortable, and Dr. Duchak's great. It's a place where you can go ask questions, and somebody's actually going to listen."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2129 or klamb@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Women's heart attack warning signs

Unexplained weakness or fatigue

Nausea

Pain in the upper abdominal area instead of the mid-chest

Pain in arms, jaw, neck or back

Tingling or numbness in left arm

Dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting

Pain in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. The pain can be felt as squeezing, pressure or fullness

Pain spreading from the chest to the shoulders, neck, jaws or arms

Shortness of breath

Cold or excessive sweating

Source: American Heart Association