Salt Lake Regional Medical Center

Summer 2012

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Heredity and Heart Disease If you have a strong family history of heart disease, protecting your heart health is even more vital to your longevity. According to the World Heart Federation, if a male relative in your immediate family suffered a heart attack before age 55 or an immediate female relative suffered one before age 65, you are at a greater risk of developing heart disease. "While discovering a family history of heart disease can be alarming, it doesn't necessarily mean you're destined to develop it," says Amanda Donohue, D.O., cardiologist on the medical staff at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center (SLRMC). "You may be at a greater risk, but you're also at an advantage. Instead of resolving yourself to heart disease or turning a blind eye to the possibility, utilize your knowledge by implementing a healthier lifestyle and undergoing yearly screenings." LOWER YOUR RISK Heredity is out of your control, but numerous lifestyle choices can also impact your risk for developing heart disease. "The easiest way to maintain heart health is to exercise 30 minutes a day, five times a week, stop smoking and eat a healthy diet," Dr. Donohue says. "Continually monitoring cholesterol levels, blood pressure and weight is also an important part of managing your heart health." Learn more about cardiology services at SLRMC by visiting saltlakeregional.com. Do you need a cardiac specialist? Call 1-866-431-WELL (9355). Putting Hard-to-Heal Wounds Under Pressure Imagine healing from a stubborn diabetic foot ulcer while watching your favorite romantic comedy or action flick. At Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) helps patients do just that. HBOT involves the delivery of 100 percent oxygen to a patient's wound while he or she lies in a pressurized chamber. Extra oxygen encourages healing by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels in damaged, poorly oxygenated tissue. For patients with diabetic foot ulcers, failed skin grafts and other types of wounds, HBOT can be an effective treatment when used in conjunction with other wound-healing techniques. RELAX AND HEAL The Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Treatment Center of Utah — located at 540 Arapeen Drive, Suite 110, in Salt Lake City — has four single-person HBOT chambers in which patients spend nearly two hours, five days per week. How many treatments, or "dives," a patient undergoes depends on his or her diagnosis. After arriving at the Center and changing into scrubs, a patient enters one of the transparent chambers, where he or she can watch a movie or sleep during treatment. Patients only notice a change in pressure during the first and last few minutes of treatment; the only thing they have to do is "pop" their ears as pressure increases. "HBOT can save the legs of patients with diabetes, restore quality of life to individuals with radiation injuries and help people with failed skin grafts avoid more surgery," says Terri DeJohn, M.D., FACEP, FAPWCA, medical director, Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care, at SLRMC. "It is one of the most helpful medical interventions we have." For more information about HBOT at SLRMC, call 1-866-431-WELL (9355).

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