As part of National Heart Month, Maria Parham Health is offering several different opportunities during February for folks to check their heart health and learn ways to prevent or reduce their risk of heart disease.

Vance County incidence of cardiovascular disease exceeds both the state and national averages, and it’s important to be informed about risk factors to heart health. Cardiovascular disease includes heart disease and stroke.

Want to know your risk for heart disease? With a few clicks on the hospital’s webpage, you’ll find a short assessment that rates your risk. Visit www.mariaparham.com, click the Services tab and then on Cardiology and you’ll find the link.

National Wear Red Day is Friday, Feb. 2, – that’s tomorrow! – and hospital employees are going to be “turning it red” to promote heart health awareness, especially among women, said Lisa McGhee, a registered nurse who also is director of cardiovascular services at Maria Parham.

Then, on Thursday, Feb. 8, the community is invited to take part in Healthy Heart Day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the hospital lobby.

McGhee said there will be blood pressure and pulse ox screenings offered as part of the Feb. 8 event; exercise physiologists and dietitians will be available to discuss healthy lifestyle choices and EMS professionals who will demonstrate hands-only CPR techniques.

“We’ve had a good turnout over the past years,” McGhee said. “We’ve had people who returned and said they had some sort of health issue, and they knew what to do and knew what the next steps should be because they’d been to one of these events.”

This community event is a good time to come out and ask questions, McGhee said. “That’s always our goal – to help guide (people) in the right direction to services,” she added. “It’s easier to do before it becomes an emergency.”

Some of the symptoms to look for include physical pain – chest pain or pain that radiates to the arm, jaw, back. Other symptoms, however, include extreme fatigue, dizziness, nausea or vomiting.

Sometimes, McGhee said, women may experience more subtle symptoms that are vague and harder to define, including fatigue, lack of energy and pain not necessarily associated with chest pain.

High blood pressure can have an adverse effect on heart health, too, McGhee said.

“High blood pressure that’s not controlled is a risk factor…blood pressure is one of those silent killers – sometimes there’s no other indications there’s a problem until it’s too late,” she said.

Sometimes, medication will do the trick, but if patients need more involved treatment, Maria Parham has a state-of-the-art heart catherization lab that opened in 2020.

Cardiologists complete a variety of procedures, including catheterizations to angioplasty and stent placement.

McGhee said the hospital’s chest pain program is an accredited program that helps health care professionals provide a variety of diagnostic tests like echocardiograms, wearable heart monitors and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring to help patients experiencing possible cardiac problems.

Visit www.mariaparham.com to find a complete list of programs and services.

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