Aside from being associated as the month of love, thanks to Valentine’s Day, you may not be surprised to know that the Philippines celebrates Heart Month also this month.
February was declared Philippine Heart Month by Proclamation No. 1096 signed on Jan. 9, 1973.
That said, it might be a no-brainer as to why this column about hearts started this month. This column is actually delayed by a year.
The concept of launching a column in the MetroPost dedicated to heart advocacy was inspired by our good friend Dr. Erlyn Cabanag-Demerre, one of the top cardiologists at St. Luke’s Hospital in Manila.
The thought crossed my mind again after I had my angioplasty on Feb. 25 last year.
Truth to tell, having to undergo such a procedure to clear a clogged artery was totally unexpected. I had been exercising regularly, brisk-walking up to Apolong in Valencia two times weekly, and doing about four-hour arduous hikes each weekend , with the aim of climbing Mt. Talinis again (that would be my third). Pre-pandemic I had been mountain-biking to Valencia a number of days a week.
My cholesterol levels were within the limits, and I had my checkups twice a year, where I passed my 2D Echocardiography test. The last test, a stress test, where I just had to walk on a treadmill strapped to heart monitors, was a walk in the park.
But Dr. Susan Denura, my cardiologist, was not too comfortable with the readings. I didn’t feel anything wrong with me but Dr. Denura said the results in the printout of my heartbeats were “equivocal”, meaning they could go either way.
Citing my family history, where my father, brother, and sister were heart patients, Dr. Denura ordered that I submit to the final test — an angiogram — which she said is the “Supreme Court” of all tests.
That was a Saturday. She sounded urgent, she didn’t even want us to dwell and “think about it”.
At that time, this procedure was done only in Manila or Cebu (we can now do this at the Silliman Medical Center). I chose to have it done at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan, Metro Manila.
I just had to wait for Irma that Monday to be done with her dissertation proposal defense. By Tuesday, she went to her credit coops to loan some money (we were advised to prepare around P60,000 for the angiogram); and we also had to get our RT-PCR tests done to be able to get on the plane, and inside the hospital in Manila.
About this time last year, travel restrictions were very tight. Aside from the negative CoViD test results and the Traze contact tracing app we had to upload and comply with, health personnel at the Sibulan Airport were asking to check our passports! (We realized that most of those travelling on the same flight with us were OFWs going back to work abroad.)
By Thursday, Feb. 25, I had my angiogram.
I expected to wake up from the anesthesia, and the doctors would tell me, “You were right–there’s nothing wrong with you. You can go home now!”
Instead, I woke up to the sound of the doctors clapping their hands. “You only got one stent!,” they said, raising one finger.
The doctors were also teasing me they just saw all the fats from the lechon and crispy pata I had been eating all these years, clinging on to my artery, and blocking the blood flow by up to 70 percent.
Dr. Ariel Miranda, intervention cardiologist at Cardinal Santos who mainly performed the angioplasty, said my case, which he likened to that of a ‘walking time bomb’, was very common. “It’s like when someone suddenly dies, and everyone says, ‘Why, I just saw him running yesterday!’”
For the next eight days, I went through cardiac rehab to teach my “new heart” about flexibility exercises, calisthenics/stretching exercises, riding a stationary bike, walking on a treadmill, doing some resistance training.
Even in this time of CoViD-19, heart ailments remain the No. 1 killer in the Philippines.
Ischemic heart disease — heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries–claimed 110,332 lives from January to October last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. This was 28 percent higher than the 86,164 deaths over the same period in 2020.
In contrast, the dreaded CoViD-19 virus claimed 55,330 deaths in the entire 2021.
The sad part about this is that heart patients spend a whole lot of money to remedy that which could be prevented through aggressive medication and a serious lifestyle change.
Reading up on this topic, I learned that these diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels are also called Cardio-Vascular Diseases. They are primarily caused by atherosclerosis or the gradual build-up of plaque or bad cholesterol in blood vessels by the constant eating of fatty food for several years.
Foods rich in cholesterol are full-fat dairy, whole milk, butter, full-fat yogurt, cheese, leche flan, eggpie, red meat, steaks, beef roast/ribs, pork chops, ground beef, processed meat like Spam, fried foods, chicharon, dinuguan, cold beer…the list of my once-favorite foods goes on.
Eating healthy (we’re talking fruits and vegetables, fish and white meat, among many other choices), and regular exercise are the best ways of preventing heart ailments.
And if you have a medical insurance plan, make the most of it by going on annual executive check-ups. This is especially true if heart disease runs in your family. (Thanks to Intellicare HMO from which I have benefitted through Irma’s privilege as Silliman faculty.)
If you don’t have medical insurance, I suggest you save up for an executive checkup (about P21,000 or more) once a year. It’s a small price to pay to stay away from more expensive procedures in the future, which could break your bank or ruin your retirement plans.
It was only several weeks after the angioplasty when I learned that the procedure eventually cost 14 times more than the amount we prepared for. (The angiogram test itself was P73,500; and at least one stenting balloon during the angiosplasty was P62,000 — which I was informed “burst” as it couldn’t get through my plaque-laden artery. So repeat cost. You get the picture.)
So now I take to heart what my cardiologists advised me: Maintain lifestyle changes and avoid stressful activities. Continue regular aerobic physical activity, with weightlifting for muscle toning for 15 to 20 minutes, three times weekly. Follow a prescribed diet. Exercise regularly to achieve ideal body weight.
We all have heard of the adage “Health is wealth”. Well, the Philippine Heart Association says, “The true wealth of a nation is the health of its people, and a nation can stand only as strong and healthy as its people are strong and healthy.”
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Author’s email: [email protected]
