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inflammation of the membrane surrounding
the heart that typically resolves on its own, and
he shouldn't worry. He scheduled Wolverton
for a heart catheterization, a diagnostic exam
that involves inserting a thin tube through
a blood vessel to internally examine the heart.
Finally, during the heart catheterization,
the cardiologist discovered the scary truth:
Wolverton had experienced a massive heart
attack in his left anterior descending artery,
a blockage so often deadly that physicians
refer to it as the "widowmaker."
"All of a sudden, [the cardiologist] just goes,
'Oh, my God! Your widowmaker's 99.9 percent
blocked,'" Wolverton says. "He said he'd only
seen that one other time in a patient so young."

WHAT'S CAUSING
EARLY HEART ATTACKS?

ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID MILAN

A third of heart attack
survivors say chest
pain wasn't one of their
symptoms, according
to the American College
of Cardiology

Heart attacks are declining overall, including
in adults 65 and older, but they're on the rise
in younger people.
The annual number of first-time heart
attacks in adults ages 65 and older has been
declining since the 1960s.
But the number of heart attacks that
occur in people younger than 40 is
increasing. Of the people who have
a heart attack before age 50, 1 in
5 are age 40 or younger, and the
proportion has increased each
year for the past 10 years, according to a study co-authored by Ron
Blankstein, MD, a member of the
American College of Cardiology's
Prevention of Cardiovascular
Disease Section.
"When you look at why there are
fewer heart attacks in general, some
of it we attribute to wider use of medications like blood thinners and statins
that lower cholesterol. And some of it has
to do with the fact that there's less smoking than there used to be," Blankstein says.
(Smoking is a contributor to heart disease.)
"But then we ask, 'With the advances we've
made in the field of cardiology, why do they
seem to be less applicable to individuals who
are younger than 50?' "
In reality, it's not that the advances are less
applicable. It's that people are doing more
damage to their hearts earlier in life by eating

Heed the
Warning
Signs

When a heart attack strikes,
every second counts.
Recognizing the warning
signs and responding
immediately can make the
difference between life
and death. 
The classic signs of a
heart attack are shortness
of breath, lightheadedness
or nausea, and pain or
discomfort in the center of
the chest, back or jaw. But
for women, the symptoms
may be less obvious: pain
between the shoulder
blades, dizziness, indigestion, extreme fatigue and
only sometimes chest pain.
Community Healthcare
System's hospital
Chest Pain Centers:
Community Hospital
in Munster,
St. Catherine Hospital
in East Chicago and
St. Mary Medical Center in
Hobart, treat and stabilize
a heart attack from the first
point of contact, when the
chances of recovering are
the greatest.
Specialized teams at
the hospitals work seamlessly with area emergency
services and internal
departments to ensure
that patients complaining
of chest discomfort are
provided with immediate treatment that can
help to limit potential
heart damage.
For more information
about cardiac services
available, visit COMHS.org/
heart.

VIM & VIGOR SPRING 2020
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Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System

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