For patients with heart failure, Knox Community Hospital offers outpatient treatment that can reduce the need for overnight hospital stays, cardiologist Dr. Victoria Zysek told the Mount Vernon News.
"At Knox Community Hospital, we have the advantage of offering cardiovascular services that aren't typically available in a lot of small communities," the physician said. "Two examples are the Heart Failure Clinic and Cardiac Rehab."
At the Heart Failure Clinic, patients can receive drugs that help improve their condition.
"The drugs decrease admissions and the potential for patients to contract infectious diseases, which is so important, especially now," Zysek said. "It also improves patients' quality of life, because they know they are not going to be spending extensive time outside of their house."
It also reduces the cost of treatment by avoiding hospital admissions, Zysek said.
“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and the world," she said. "It supersedes all forms of cancer and all forms of lung disorders.”
Coronary artery disease (hardening and buildup of cholesterol in the arteries) and heart failure (weakening of the heart’s pumping ability) are among the most common forms of cardiovascular disease.
“Fortunately, new drugs have become available to treat the disease(s)," Zysek said. "The hot topic in the cardiology world is these new heart failure drugs. They have come to market over the past few years. They are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Those drugs are being prescribed by our Heart Failure Clinic. These drugs are revolutionizing our ability to keep patients out of the hospital."
“The most important factor in avoiding cardiovascular disease is to maintain a healthy day-to-day diet,” Zysek said.
"What I mean when I say diet, is the daily intake of food. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't also exercise and also control other risk factors such as diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. However, dietary changes are so important in reducing not only a first heart attack but a second heart attack."
Quitting smoking can also help reduce cardiovascular risk, Zysek said.
"We have lots of drugs and procedures that can be very, very helpful. But the most important piece is changing our lifestyles. That is the most difficult thing to change."
