Dr. Emily Rapstine knows heart health

It’s Women’s History Month and we plan on highlighting local women making history. Emily Rapstine M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon with Covenant Health’s East Tennessee Cardiovascular Surgery Group, is one of those women.

Dr. Rapstine reminds women that heart disease is the cause of one in five deaths in women, making it the leading cause.

She advises women how to manage cholesterol and limit heart issues through nutrition, diet and lifestyle.

Nutrition is the major factor to improving heart health. Proper nutrition includes:

• Maintain healthy eating practices
• Reduce refined and processed sugars
• Limit salt to 2-3 gm a day
• Consume alcohol in moderation

Healthy eating requires a focus on a diet and Dr. Rapstine says we should make the following dietary choices:

• Fresh fruits
• Fresh vegetables
• Lean meat and chicken
• Fish

Nutrition and healthy eating become a part of a heart healthy lifestyle in addition to other elements.

• Visit a primary care provider regularly for blood work, blood pressure and weight monitoring.
• Exercise with moderate intensity for 150 minutes a week. Rapstine says 15 minutes around the block is better than nothing.
• Sleep 7-9 hours a night

There are risk factors women can’t control as well as modifiable ones they can.

• The family history can’t be controlled
• Modifiable risk factors are controllable
  • Smoking: reducing or quitting benefits heart and lung health
  • Obesity: reducing weight also benefits heart and lung health

What are the warning signs for women experiencing heart issues?

Dr. Rapstine reminds chest pain, sweats and arm pain may occur in women, but the studies that listed these signs were done in 1970-90s on men, not women.

While women may have the same signs, more often than not women experience:

• Fatigue
• Indigestion
• Upset stomach
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain and short breath may come on after all the other symptoms

Dr. Rapstine has found sometimes women ignore the signs and try to tough it out. She says to advocate for yourself and keep a confident relationship with a primary care provider so symptoms that are nonspecific aren’t written off.

More information can be found at Go Red for Women.

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Covenant Health is a community-owned, healthcare enterprise committed to providing the right care at the right time and place. Covenant Health is the area’s largest employer and has more than 11,000 caregivers, clinicians and dedicated employees and volunteers.