A little heart makes a big impact

A story on a Heart Walk family from Medill Reports:

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=170006


by Anna Lempereur
Oct 07, 2010

Colton Sullivan is a typical 6 year old who enjoys splashing through puddles, rolling in mud and digging for worms. As he ran around the field and wrestled with his brothers, Sam, 7, and Max, 3, you would never guess he had five heart surgeries and has his very own pacemaker.

Because of other birth defects, he has had four lung surgeries, two brain surgeries and two stomach surgeries. He has been admitted to the hospital more than 100 times and spent a total of two years of his life in the hospital.

Colton, of Shorewood, a small town just west of Joliet, was born seven weeks early with three different congenital heart defects: ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus and transposition of the great arteries, according to his mother Andrea Sullivan, 31.

Cardiac pediatric nurse practitioner Patricia Stapleton at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago said ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus are among the most common congenital heart defects.

She said a child has a less than one percent chance of being born with congenital heart disease.

Stapleton said the cause of the disease is unknown, but it could sometimes be associated with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, Di George syndrome and Marfan syndrome.

“Children with some genetic defects have a higher incidence of congenital heart disease than the general population,” she said.

Stapleton said screening could sometimes be done before the baby is born to detect congenital heart disease, allowing time to know that surgery and intensive care may be needed.

Sullivan said there was no determination in the cause of Colton’s heart disease. She said he had no risk factors, no family history and no exposures.

“Advances in medicine and support from the heart association has really gotten Colton to where he is today. He’s a thriving, active, very healthy 6-year-old,” Sullivan said.

Colton and his family are members of Mended Little Hearts, an organization that unites families who have been impacted by congenital heart defects.

Mended Little Hearts Group Coordinator Jaime Olsen said she started the Chicago group in 2007 after her son, Tyler, was born with congenital heart defects and had open-heart surgery at 2 months old.

“The fear that you have as a mother, that your child has to have open-heart surgery to fix his heart is devastating…the emotions of just giving birth to a child and being just completely blind-sided by this,” Olsen said.

She said the Sullivans have been very active in the congenital hearts defects world.

“If you know Colton, you are a blessed person. He’s an amazing little boy and his family has such great strength. Colton is lucky to have the parents that he has,” Olsen said.

Sullivan said Colton’s most recent surgery was 11 weeks ago.

She said her son has been walking around showing everyone his scar from his recent surgery and his new pacemaker.“He’s as proud of it as can be. He’s not afraid to tell everybody, ‘This is my battle wound!’ One of these days I’m waiting to hear him telling his friends it’s a shark bite or something like that.”

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown Says House Passage of the HEART for Women Act is an Important Stand in Support of Women's Health

Washington, DC (September 30, 2010) - The U. S. House of Representatives has taken an important stand in support of women’s health with the passage of the Heart Disease Education, Analysis and Research and Treatment (HEART) for Women Act. This legislative win will help make meaningful advancements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD)—the leading killer of American women. Provisions include greater oversight of Food and Drug Administration requirements for reporting sex and race-based data about new medicines and devices and the expansion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WISEWOMAN screening program for low-income, uninsured and underinsured women.

Although we still have more work to do to achieve equity in health care and health status for women, this effort sets the stage to better identify and address women’s unique cardiovascular health needs. With more than one in three deaths among American women caused by CVD, we must continue to make strong efforts to ensure this measure is passed into law.

We commend the House for addressing women’s health needs and Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) for their leadership and efforts to move the HEART for Women Act forward.

FYI: Cook Co.'s Alliance for Healthy and Active Communities!

Information from the Cook County Department of Public Health:

Many of the places we live, work and play promote increased food intake, unhealthy foods or physical inactivity. Here’s how you can change that and get involved.

Join the Alliance for Healthy and Active Communities to receive up-to-date information. As an Alliance member, you’ll have the opportunity to meet and work with a vast array of organizations, including healthcare, community-based, governmental, school and faith groups to ‘make the healthy choice the easy choice.’ Visit www.cookcountypublichealth.org and click Join the Network.

The next quarterly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 23rd from 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM at the Oak Park Library (834 Lake St., Oak Park). Linda Shak of the Prevention Institute is the guest speaker and will present on how community health can be transformed through environmental and policy change. Click here to register.

Attend a regional forum and help shape a healthier future for Illinois. Express your ideas for what should be included in a state-wide plan for tackling obesity. Also, learn more about available funding. Regional meetings will be held October 1, 8 and 15 (9 a.m. –12:30 p.m.) in the West, North and South suburban Cook County regions, respectively. Click here to register.

Begin preparing now to apply for the Model Communities Grant. The Request for Proposals (RFP) will be released in early November. Up to $4 million will be awarded to applicants who demonstrate readiness to make changes in their communities that support residents in efforts to live healthy, active lives. To learn more about trainings and other actions you can take now, contact the CPPW office and ask for a regional manager at 708-524-5156 or via e-mail at cppw@phimc.org.

Thank Your Legislators for Protecting Public Health Funding

This week, by a vote or 46 to 52, an amendment that proposed cutting billions of dollars in critical disease prevention and public health funding was defeated in the U.S. Senate!

Please send a quick note of thanks to your Senator(s) by following the link below:

Thank Your Legislators for Protecting Public Health Funding

By defeating the amendment and preserving this funding, the Prevention and Public Health Fund will continue to be used for meaningful public health efforts in communities across the country. Currently, the Fund supports efforts to increase tobacco control, implement tobacco cessation services, combat obesity, and promote better nutrition and physical activity. Prevention is paramount in our fight against heart disease and stroke- and we should be proud of our Senators who stood up to protect this vital funding.

Thank Your Legislators for Protecting Public Health Funding

Thank you for joining us in thanking your U.S. Senators for their efforts. We can't spell CURE, without "U".

No tobacco product is safe to consume

From the Chicago Sun Times:http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/2711700,CST-NWS-smoke15.article

September 15, 2010
Smokeless tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco and snuff, are not safe or effective alternatives for people who want to quit smoking, says a new policy statement issued by the American Heart Association.

"No tobacco product is safe to consume," said Mariann Piano, a professor in the biobehavioral health science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead writer of the statement.

Smokeless tobacco products are addictive and may also increase the risk of fatal heart attack, fatal stroke and certain cancers, according to the statement published online in the journal Circulation.

Gannett News Service

Social media account holders –The American Heart Association just released a policy statement on smokeless tobacco.

Read policy statement here.

Learn more about AHA resources to help you quit: http://www.heart.org/quitsmoking

Here are some social media messages you can use on your accounts online to help us spread the word about these products as well as links to learn more about resources to help you quit:

TWITTER:·

Smokeless tobacco products not a safe option, won’t help smokers quit http://bit.ly/ajYHGm·

An est. 7% of adults uses smokeless tobacco. AHA advises against smokeless tobacco products to quit smoking. www.heart.org/quitsmoking·

To help Americans quit smoking, AHA supports tobacco excise taxes to fund prevention & cessation programs http://bit.ly/bYQS94

FACEBOOK:

1. AHA Policy Statement: Smokeless tobacco products should not be used as an alternative to cigarettes or for smoking cessation due to the risk of addiction and return to smoking.LINK: http://bit.ly/ajYHGm

2. Smokeless tobacco products such as dry and moist snuff as well as chewing tobacco may also increase the risk of fatal heart attack, fatal stroke and certain cancers, according to a new study.LINK: http://bit.ly/ajYHGm

3. An estimated 7 percent of adults use smokeless tobacco. Smokeless tobacco should not be used for smoking cessation because long-term use moderately increases the risk of a fatal heart attack, fatal stroke and certain cancers. Check out the American Heart Associations’ resources to help you kick the habit!LINK: www.heart.org/quitsmoking

4. To help Americans quit smoking, AHA supports substantially increasing excise taxes on all tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco to help fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs.LINK: http://bit.ly/bYQS94