• Keep the Beat: When Faced with Heart Disease, “I Planned and God Laughed”
Good Question: What is Your Idea of the Perfect Day?
• Stress Less: Book Review
• Got Health?: More Than an Apple A Day and Baked Blueberry French Toast
• Upcoming Events

Kathy Kastan,
president emeritus of WomenHeart,
author and heart disease survivor

For a while, it was easy for Kathy Kastan to ignore the vague symptoms – occasional shortness of breath, pain in her left arm and fatigue.

That was in 2001, when Kastan was 41.

Even her doctors were not overly concerned about her symptoms. It wasn’t until she collapsed -- not once, but twice -- that she received a full cardiac work-up.

Kastan learned firsthand that heart disease in women was poorly understood and often ignored or misdiagnosed. At that point, her life underwent a dramatic change. As she describes it, “I planned and God laughed.”

In fact, Kastan’s life focus, including her work as a psychotherapist, has been transformed by her experience with heart disease.

Despite seeing several cardiologists, Kastan’s heart condition wasn’t fully explained until months after she had emergency bypass surgery at age 42 and still couldn’t walk from one room to another in her house without taking a nitroglycerin tablet.

Health care system unprepared

By then, it had became clear to her that the health care system was not prepared to adequately treat women with heart disease. “I would go to cardiac rehab and be surrounded by men in their 80s,” she recalls.

Even well-meaning friends and family members seemed unable to understand her struggle. “If you have breast cancer, everyone is supportive and understanding. If you have heart disease, people wonder what you did to get yourself into this.”

She considers the day she contacted WomenHeart a turning point. WomenHeart is a national coalition for women with heart disease. “That’s when I realized I was not alone.” She learned then about the alarming statistics showing that more women than men died from heart disease.

A cardiologist specializing in women’s heart disease found that she has a condition called coronary artery vasospasm. It constricts the arteries supplying blood to the heart and can lead to chest pain, heart attack, arrhythmia and sudden death. Medications were prescribed, and within a few months Kastan felt like she was getting her life back.

Before long, she was attending symposiums and reading all she could about women and heart disease. She began speaking at community forums and served on the board of her local American Heart Association chapter. By 2003, she was named president of WomenHeart and later wrote a book describing what she and many other women had learned about living with heart disease.

Passionate to do more

Now president emeritus of WomenHeart, Kastan says that progress has been made in raising awareness about heart disease in women. But she remains passionate about and engaged in the effort to do more.

Kastan has co-authored a second book. This one focuses on heart healthy eating. She recently spearheaded a national conference for health care providers and continues to speak to women across the country. The Minneapolis Heart Institute®’s Women-Only Cardiac Support Group has read Kastan’s books, and she has been a repeat guest speaker with the group, sharing her experiences and thoughts.

Kastan is concerned that many hospitals and doctors have not implemented the latest American Heart Association guidelines on diagnosing and treating women with heart disease. In addition, studies have shown that significant numbers of both men and women who have had a heart attack suffer from untreated depression. “People who are depressed or anxious will have a harder time making the lifestyle changes that are required, and that can make outcomes worse,” says Kastan.

“Statistics show that women are recognizing that heart disease is the number one killer, but they still don’t think it will happen to them. They don’t understand that to prevent heart disease, you have to start today,” she says.

Summer is the heyday for fruit and vegetable availability. Sweet, juicy, crunchy, crisp – it is the season to embrace this powerhouse of nutrition. Fruits and vegetables add fiber, vitamins, minerals and potentially valuable plant compounds like antioxidants to the diet. Yet, despite knowing that fruits and vegetables are a key to good health, we keep coming up short in our consumption.

According to the Center for Disease Control, fewer than one in 10 Americans consume enough fruits and vegetables. The truth is fruits and vegetables may be one of the most important things in our diet. They have long been associated with a decreased risk of chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some cancers. So how much fruit and vegetable is enough?

The U.S. government recommends you eat a minimum of five serving a day of fruit and vegetable. Use the list below to sum up your servings for the day.

One Serving of Fruit

• one banana
• six strawberries
• two small plums
• half grapefruit
• 15 grapes
• one medium apple, pear or peach
• one-half cup of orange or other fruit juice
• one-half cup of cooked, canned or chopped fruit

One Serving of Vegetables

• five broccoli florets
• 10 baby carrots
• one tomato
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• half of a baked sweet potato
• one small ear of corn
• one cup of raw leafy vegetables
• one-half cup of cooked vegetables

Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are a convenient way to help fill in the produce gap, especially in the winter. They can provide the same healthful benefits as fresh produce. Whenever possible, choose vegetables without added salt and fruit packed in its own juice.

The benefits of a diet filled with fruits and vegetables are well established and thoroughly studied. It is a common denominator for good health. Make fruits and vegetables the centerpiece of each meal to optimize your nutrition.

Baked Blueberry French Toast