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Cardiovascular Disease in the Filipino American Community: Revisiting Our Beloved Filipino-Comfort Foods

Filipino Americans make up the 3rd largest Asian American group with about 4.2 million living in the United States1. The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in this group is significant, with 1 in 3 having CVD and a 48% increase in Filipina women undergoing coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous intervention (from 3% to 51%)2. Even more ominous, CVD mortality in Filipino Americans is twice as high compared to the general American population (396 per 100,000)2.

You may be wondering what makes Filipino Americans more vulnerable to CVD- the answer is, it’s complicated. The westernization of the Philippines has in large part increased cardiovascular risk factors that continue to affect Filipinos who immigrate to America. The major culprits include unhealthy ultraprocessed foods, fast food options, and the consequences of the stress of “making it” in America while also financially supporting loved ones back home. One study in the New York City area found that Filipino immigrants were more likely to be obese the longer they lived in the US, especially if they lived in the US for >10 years and if they were <30 years old at the time of moving here3.

Here are the following CVD risk factors in Filipino Americans that stand out2:

  • Alcohol consumption: 80% of Filipino American men, 50% of Filipina American women
  • Smoking: 17% of Filipino Americans
  • High Sodium Diet: the average salt intake in the Filipino diet is 12 grams à 8x greater than the American Heart Association’s recommendation of sodium (1.5 g daily)
  • Hypertension: >50% of Filipino Americans 50 years and older
  • Diabetes: 70% increased risk compared to other Asian Americans
  • Obesity: 14% of Filipino Americans (7 out of 10 Filipino adults living in California are obese)

Most, if not all of the above CVD risk factors have one thing in common: the Filipino diet. Before I get crucified for calling out Filipino comfort foods, let me state that as a Filipino-American I very much grew up salivating over Sinigang (tangy tamarind meat or seafood stew) with an extra side of patis (fish sauce), tosilog (sweetly seasoned chicken or pork accompanied by a fried egg and garlic fried rice), and halo-halo (a shaved ice concoction that includes sugar, condensed milk, and other goodies).  However, now, as an adult preparing for (hopefully) many decades ahead, it is important to make changes, small or drastic, to improve my chances of having a long and high-quality life with as minimal chronic disease as possible.

 

Here are my 10 tips and tricks for modifying how we prepare and consume Filipino Foods:

Reduce the amount of salt you cook Filipino dishes with:

  1. Use low-sodium soy sauce and half the amount in dishes like chicken adobo.
  2. Skip the patis and bagoong for dishes like sinigang, arroz caldo, tinola, and kare kare and instead add more lemon, calimansi or an alternative non-salt seasoning to satisfy your palette.
  3. If you are using premade Filipino seasoning mixes, look at the nutrition label for the sodium content and consider using half of the packet or even making your own seasoning from scratch to reduce the amount of salt intake.

Reduce the amount of Filipino carbs:

  1. Replace your white rice with brown rice, quinoa/brown rice blend, or cauliflower rice to get the added benefits of fiber and the sensation of feeling fuller faster.
  2. If you crave white rice and cannot live without it, cut your portion in half and fill the rest of the plate with vegetables (garlic green beans, garlic broccoli, sauteed kale/spinach).
  3. For noodle and pancit lovers, change your ratio of mostly noodles and vegetables/proteins to the complete oppositeà mostly vegetables/lean protein and a quarter portion of noodles
  4. Our Filipino desserts like halo-halo, mamon, sans rival, ube desserts, leche flan, and bibinka are some of the many indulgences we enjoy. These have a TON of sugar and empty calories but are difficult to modify so instead, only eat these for special occasions 2-3x/year when you are really craving them. Alternative Filipino desserts include fresh fruits like mangoes and whatever fruit is in season. And if you did not know already, Filipino fruit salad is NOT healthy- condensed milk, all-purpose cream, cream cheese, and canned fruit cocktail is FULL OF SUGAR and a one-way road to diabetes.

Reduce the fried and high-fat Filipino foods:

  1. Love lumpia and ukoy? So do I. If you can afford to use an air fryer select this to save on calories that would come from the oil required to fry these foods. If you do not have an air fryer, consider baking your lumpia.
  2. For the staple dishes like kare kare, sinigang, nilaga, kaldereta, menudo, and mechado, you have a few options for modifications: 1) select lean meats like chicken or seafood, 2) if you love red meat and cannot live without it then select leaner cuts of red meat and pork, or 3) use your favorite meat but put less amounts in the stew and add more high fiber vegetables
  3. Stop eating ultraprocessed foods: these include Spam, longganisa, tocino, corned beef, and Vienna sausage. Many of these are canned and have high preservatives, artificial additives, sodium nitrites and nitrates that increase your risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, and death.

If you’ve reached this paragraph then I will assume you are motivated or at least partially motivated to modify the way you think, prepare, and eat Filipino comfort foods. We can all agree that food culture is incredibly important to living a full and happy life. As a preventive cardiologist, my hope is to help myself, family, friends, and patients strike the balance between enjoying culture while developing healthy habits that will improve our quality of life for the long run.

 

Stay healthy,

Dr. Kyla Lara-Breitinger

References:

  1. Pew Research: Over 4.2M Filipino Americans in the US  — (asianjournal.com)
  2. Sales et al. Philippine and Philippine-American Health Statistics, 1994-1018. CARE Data Brief Feb 2020.
  3. Afable A et al. Fam Community Health. 2016 Jan-Mar;39(1):13-23.

“The views, opinions, and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness, and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke, or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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Is Breakfast Still the Most Important Meal of the Day?

“Breaking-fast,” or breakfast, has been endorsed as the most important meal of the day. Replenishing energy stores from overnight fasting boosts energy levels and cognitive function and helps control weight by minimizing fluctuations in blood glucose and preventing binge eating later in the day. But is this still the case today? Has the evolution in the convenience and accessibility of foods, in particular ultra-processed foods and refined high-carbohydrate breakfast items, changed this dogma? Well, the answer is, it depends.

Intermittent fasting, in particular time-restricted feeding, where anywhere from a 6 to 10-hour eating window is followed by fasting, has been growing in popularity as this is the least restrictive form and has less side effects of irritability, and headaches, and decreased concentration (aka “hangry”). Say, for instance, you only consume food from 12 pm to 8 pm and fast the rest of the day. You are essentially skipping breakfast. Short-term studies have found benefits in bodyweight reduction and improved cardiometabolic health.

However, in contrast, our inherent circadian rhythm favors breakfast. Consuming most of our meals during the active phase or light phase of the day results in peak gastrointestinal emptying/motility, increased insulin sensitivity, and lower appetite (in part due to low levels of the hormone ghrelin, which increases appetite). In theory, if we were all able to use our circadian rhythm to our advantage but also eat during a time-restrictive window (6am-4 pm), we could take advantage of all the pleiotropic benefits of fasting. But for most of us, this isn’t realistic because we are social beings and interact with our community that very much revolves around dinner gatherings with family and friends.

So, what’s the solution? Here are a few tips for using everyday that consider the above:

As a reminder to myself and my patients:

Changing dietary habits is a gradual process with delayed gratification. One small change a day will make all the difference in your lifetime.

Eat well and be well,

References:

  1. Time-Restricted Eating: Benefits, Mechanisms, and Challenges in Translation – PMC (nih.gov)
  2. Nutrition and the Circadian System – PMC (nih.gov)
  3. Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease | NEJM

“The views, opinions, and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness, and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke, or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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Afraid of What’s in Vaccines? Here Are 5 Things You Ingest or are Exposed to Everyday Without Thinking Twice About Their Effects on Your Body and Heart Health

The American divide regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is a passionate topic for everyone. This article is not intended to prove to readers why getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is safe but to provide some insight on the daily decisions we don’t think twice about that have both theoretical and established health consequences.

  1. The beef you eat and the milk you drink: Many farm-raised cattle are injected with artificial growth-promoting hormones such as oestradiol, progesterone, testosterone, zeranol, trenbolone and melengestrol to promote rapid meat production. Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is a genetically-engineered synthetic hormone used to increase milk production in cattle, which then communicates to your liver to increase the production of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). Although no systemic studies have directly researched the health effects of these hormones in the body, associations with DNA damage, infertility, premature puberty and risk for breast, prostate, colon, and lung cancer have been found retrospectively1,2.
  2. Ultra-processed foods: How often are you eating chips, bagels, pizza, soda, and other highly-processed food items without thinking twice about how they are manufactured? Based on the NOVA system classification, ultra-processed foods go beyond the addition of salt, sweeteners, or fat and include artificial flavors and preservatives that increase the shelf-life in your kitchen cupboards, preserve the texture of foods and increase their palatability to leave you craving for more. More and more studies are being published linking these foods to heart disease, heart attacks, and death from cardiac causes3.
  3. Aspirin, Tylenol, and Ibuprofen: You likely reach for these common analgesics in your cabinet when you have pain, inflammation, or fever to alleviate the symptoms you are suffering from. However, there are risks and rare side effects associated with taking these drugs that include serious allergic reactions, kidney damage, bleeding, heart attacks, and stroke4. This is not meant to scare you into never taking these medications but to bring to light the many decisions we make that are more likely to benefit us rather than harm us.
  4. Air pollution: How often do you grab your smartphone to check the air quality for the day? If the quality is less than ideal, how often does that impact whether you go outside? Poor air quality has been associated with heart disease, long-term respiratory problems, stroke, and low life-expectancy5,6. However, the benefits of staying physically active outside, experiencing life events, socializing to improve mental health, and anything else that provides meaning in our lives by being outside likely outweight many of these risks.
  5. The sun: Everyday, UV radiation from the sun and our atmosphere produce reactive oxygen species that cause direct DNA damage. This can lead to skin aging, skin cancer, and eye damage. Despite these risks, the benefits the sun provides to our planet and existence outweigh the risk and allow us to appreciate the positives7.

Every decision we make involves a conscious or subconscious risk assessment rooted in our values. As physicians, we are committed to providing medical advice based on whether the benefits outweigh the risks for our patients. While I can and will validate your concerns and fears, I hope that in the future you might consider seeing the forest for the trees.

References:

  1. https://www.jswconline.org/content/68/4/325
  2. http://ifrj.upm.edu.my/25%20(01)%202018/(1).pdf
  3. https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2021.01.047
  4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12325-019-01144-9
  5. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.5487/TR.2014.30.2.071.pdf
  6. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875213617301304
  7. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13273-017-0002-0

“The views, opinions, and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness, and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke, or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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A Few New Thoughts on the Road to Younger Arteries

If you didn’t tune into #AHA21 “Novel Strategies to Promote Healthy Vascular Aging,” you missed an exciting area of health and wellness that many of us care about: how can we and our patients live longer with reduced cardiovascular disease burden? The AHA makes it “simple” with Life’s Simple 7 that includes 1) managing blood pressure, 2) controlling cholesterol, 3) reducing blood sugar, 4) getting active, 5) eating better, 6) losing weight, and 7) cessation of smoking1. However, this session on novel strategies provides additional directions to our roadmap to healthier arteries:

  1. Adding a polygenic risk score to our current assessment of cardiovascular risk offers significant improvement in predicting CV events2. By capturing more patients using precision medicine as Dr. Brooke Wolford presented, we can initiate lifestyle modification and statins earlier and reduce the rising rates in cardiovascular related deaths.
  2. When vascular smooth muscle cells are exposed to continuous damaging stressors (aging, diabetes, CKD), they become osteogenic-like cells that undergo apoptosis and osteogenic differentiation which leads to more mineralization and calcification of the vascular wall3. While statins can increase coronary calcification, they get rid of the lipid in the plaque which leads to less risk of rupture. The question that remains to be answered is what does the calcium score reflect with regard to other clinical outcomes?
  3. Dr. Catherine Shanahan eloquently presented that inhibitors of DNA-damage used in cancer treatment are also key drivers in mitigating vascular calcification4. If these drugs can prove safe in the future, they could be promising in the anti-aging of arteries. For now, lifestyle modifications such as dietary phosphorous have been implicated in premature aging. Do you know what foods have high dietary phosphorus? Processed foods.
  4. Do you know what a flexitarian diet is? Dr. Walter Willett presented the EAT-Lancet Commission’s challenge of feeding 9.8 billion people by 2050 with a healthy AND environmentally sustainable diet.  His explanation of this planet friendly, flexitarian diet is quite simple: 1 serving of dairy + 1 (optional) serving of other animal source foods (fish, poultry, eggs, red meat) per day5. The base of the flexitarian diet consists of nuts, soy, beans, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and plant oils.
  5. The combination of aging and being sedentary promotes a reduction in nitric oxide and an increase in superoxides and oxidative stress. As a result, suppression of endothelial function propagates cardiovascular disease. Dr. Anthony Donato’s research found that habitual aerobic exercise in older men prevents the decline in endothelial dependent dilation6. Post-menopausal women, however, did not derive the same benefit from exercise unless they were on hormonal therapy7. In essence, habitual exercise and its modulation on endothelial senescence is most likely sex and hormone-dependent.

There were additional highlights during this session that included the ABCDE’s of primary prevention presented by Dr. Roger Blumenthal that form the backbone of health and longevity8.

 

References:

  1. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/my-life-check–lifes-simple-7
  2. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.25.21259158
  3. Vascular calcification and osteoporosis—from clinical observation towards molecular understanding | SpringerLink
  4. Poly(ADP-Ribose) Links the DNA Damage Response and Biomineralization (cell.com)
  5. Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits | Nature
  6. Cellular and molecular biology of aging endothelial cells – PubMed (nih.gov)
  7. Aging and Exercise: Habitual aerobic exercise does not protect against micro- or macrovascular endothelial dysfunction in healthy estrogen-deficient postmenopausal women (nih.gov)
  8. 2019 Updated Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Guidelines Announced – Johns Hopkins Medicine

 

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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Goodbye Self-Inflicted Intimidation and Hello Learning: A fellow’s experience working with Dr. Rick Nishimura

“Don’t speak out, you may answer incorrectly and embarrass yourself.” This thought was not uncommon during my first two years of fellowship. Yes, I evolved out of this which is why I am sharing my experience. At the same time, I am here to tell you to not make this mistake early in fellowship.

You may or may not have heard of Dr. Rick Nishimura, a master clinician, and educator of cardiovascular hemodynamics. You may have seen his name authored in many of the national guidelines or his face at national and international conferences. Now, imagine him (or your own respective master clinician-educator at your own program) leading weekly hemodynamic sessions and asking escalating difficult questions to the audience. Would you answer? How confident would you need to be to articulate this out loud?

I am about a month away from completing my general cardiology fellowship (my 3 years were slightly extended from two maternity leaves) and I have had time to reflect on my clinical experience. I remember my first year sitting in our auditorium and can vividly recall answering a question about x and y descents incorrectly in front of everyone. I rarely spoke out again for the rest of that year.

As a third-year at the Mayo Clinic, I had the opportunity to work in “Nish” clinic amongst a handful of other fellows and participate in his hemodynamic sessions. Every fellow before me, alongside me, and after me all feel the same way: to work with him requires a great deal of preparation and meticulous chart review of patients, repetitive review of all the guidelines, and an attempt at reading published research relevant to each case. The more I thought about it, it became clear that I had a unique opportunity to challenge myself before graduating. I’m glad I did.

I’d like to share reflections, learning pearls, and takeaways from my experience working with and learning from Dr. Nishimura:

  1. Find passionate clinician educators early in training and don’t be timid about learning from them.

The way he lectures to hundreds of people in a room is the exact way he teaches you and it is incredibly motivating. By explaining complicated pathophysiology with such simplicity, I became deeply entrenched in the learning process. I cannot overemphasize the hours I spent preparing for the potential questions he might ask yet I still left clinic with at least 4+ things to look up, feeling inspired and motivated to be a better learner and educator. This is the art of teaching.

  1. Do a good physical exam and use it to determine whether the rest of the workup is concordant or discordant.

One example I learned was the location of the P2 component of S2 on the chest can tell you the degree of elevated pulmonary pressure.

  1. Look at the data (i.e. echocardiograms) yourself.

Avoid only reading reports as they can sometimes mislead you into making life-altering management decisions for patients. For example, do not accept pulmonary artery systolic pressures without looking at the tricuspid valve regurgitant Doppler profile yourself. Confirm if this was measured correctly because it can change management.

  1. Know the guidelines but understand that not all patients fit perfectly in them.

An elderly woman with severe aortic stenosis may be eligible for both SAVR and TAVI, which stresses the importance of individualization and shared decision-making with the patient and heart valve team.

  1. Communication with the referring provider and follow up with the patient cannot be overstated.

Reaching out to referring providers via letter and phone will develop your communication skills, professionalism, and collaborations. Following up with the patient is not only the right thing to do but also allows you to learn whether your management decision resulted in the best outcome for your patient or if there is a learning opportunity for the next patient who presents similarly.

  1. Teach one another.

Create an environment where you are sharing cases with your co-fellows and colleagues and practice teaching to one another with the hope that one day with dedication you will also inspire trainees.

  1. Lastly, do not be afraid to ask questions and answer questions. Even when you are intimidated.

I eventually told Dr. Nishimura how intimidated I initially felt. If you haven’t had the privilege of meeting him, he is one of the most down-to-earth and welcoming teachers you will ever come across. He laughed and said there was nothing to be intimidated about. Many of the questions you have in your head are also questions others have. In that light, more learning, engaging, and teaching can occur if you allow yourself to.

 

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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A Letter From One Postpartum Cardiology Fellow To Another

Dr. Postpartum Mom,

Congratulations on bravely bringing a precious life into the world! The morning sickness, exhaustion from the physical demands of pregnancy while taking call, performing procedures in the cath lab, and extinguishing fires in the CICU are all behind you! However, the anxiety of maintaining academic productivity, continuing self-directed learning, preparing for multiple board certifications, and looking for post-training opportunities are some of the newer undertakings you may be experiencing, all while balancing the postpartum physical recovery, sleep deprivation and caring for a newborn life.

I, myself, am 5 weeks postpartum with my second child (I had both during cardiology fellowship) and feel a sense of urgency to not “waste” my maternity leave and instead be productive with research, studying, and getting back to my prepregnancy weight. I am writing this letter with the hope that reading about my experience may resonate with you.

I will preface by stating that I am no expert on how to be great at everything: a mom, wife, cardiology fellow, and physically fit individual. But the following are pearls I have learned over the past 5 weeks and from my last maternity leave.

  1. Be realistic about what you’ll accomplish during maternity leave. I know most people will tell you to just focus on the baby since this is what maternity leave is for but if you’re like me, you’ll want to be productive in some other capacity while at home. Be forewarned, you may not do it all and may miss research deadlines and opportunities. Pick one or two small-to-medium project goals and try your best to complete them. Be honest with whom you’re collaborating with and give yourself grace.
  2. Hire help if you can afford to. I grew up in a very frugal household and my mother did everything herself (cleaning, cooking, and childcare). It has been difficult for me to solicit outside help because of my upbringing but I am learning that if my husband and I can afford to hire help, I will be able to focus more energy on physical activity, academic projects, and goal-setting. For example, we have a cleaning company come every 2 weeks and I have interviewed at least 3 sitters for help with my toddler and newborn. I recently vented to a friend about the guilt I feel hiring people to watch my babies while I’m physically at home, and her response truly resonated: “You can hire help with the tasks that keep you away from your kids like meal-prepping, cooking, laundry, and cleaning up. In turn, you will have more quality time with them.” Truth.
  1. Accept help when offered. In addition to family members, allow your co-fellows and friends to drop by precooked meals and watch the baby while you take a walk, exercise, or sleep for an hour or two. Don’t be embarrassed or shy about it. They offer because they genuinely want to help and you can always return the favor in the future.
  1. It’s impossible to study or maintain self-directed learning if you are sleep deprived.

Try your best to get as much sleep (easier said than done) and when you feel refreshed enough, study and read what you can. I tried making a daily schedule to stick to that includes a dedicated time slot to study, however I have continued to fail at adhering to it when my unpredictable baby decides to stay awake at night or sleep minimally.

  1. Each postpartum recovery period and maternity leave are unique and different.

My first maternity leave was during first year of cardiology fellowship and it was more challenging than my current leave. I was in a new city, had no family around, didn’t know what to expect and was learning how to be a new mother. Besides taking care of the baby, I spent the majority of my time sleeping, watching television, and dealing with transient postpartum blues. This time around I am much more prepared emotionally and physically and I am enjoying my time so much.

This may or may not have helped you. I want to reiterate that if you decide to do nothing but care for and cuddle with your newborn, that is enough and is an achievement in itself.

With love,

Kyla Lara-Breitinger, MD

 

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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“Paid Leave Regardless of Pregnancy Outcome? While New Zealand pioneers the future for women, the US continues to be left behind.”

As I approach the final weeks before delivering my second child in cardiology fellowship, my friends outside of medicine ask if I’ve started maternity leave. I answer, “No, I’m saving the 7 weeks of paid leave to start at the time of delivery.” Like most women physician mothers, I have a suspicion you can relate. We want to maximize our time with our newborns before returning to work. While every pregnancy varies, the last few weeks can be quite challenging, depending on the clinical and procedural duties required, all while balancing the responsibilities of “nesting” and mentally preparing for this new addition. While our preferences may differ on how much time we’d ideally spend on maternity leave, I feel it’s worth the few moments to reflect that maybe we would like the opportunity to have more time if we were granted it. That being said, there continues to be a lack of standardization of maternity leave across the country.

As we approach the end of #InternationalWomensMonth and celebrate women across the world and discuss #equalpay, the news of New Zealand’s approval of paid leave after miscarriage announced a few days ago in the NY Times is so fitting for a finale1. Ginny Anderson, the Labour member of Parliament who drafted this bill, stated.

“I felt that it would give women the confidence to be able to request that leave if it was required, as opposed to just being stoic and getting on with life, when they knew that they needed time, physically or psychologically, to get over the grief.”

I have been fortunate to not experience the immeasurable pain of losing a baby through miscarriage or stillbirth. As healthcare providers, we are all aware of the 10-20% of known pregnancies resulting in miscarriages, and with more women, in general, pursuing careers and getting married later in life, us “older mothers” are at increased risk of miscarriage and gestational complications. The jury continues to be out on whether the culture of medicine that embraces night shifts and working long hours contributes to physician miscarriages2. Regardless, the culture of appearing calloused immediately after such a devastating loss and carrying on as expected while mentally grappling with the physical and emotional trauma that lingers seems primitive.

As I hold growing belly during this final stretch, my hope is for all women who desire to be mothers to have the same opportunity to have the time and space to deal with whatever comes down the road. While the rise in pregnancy hormones may explain my emotional post today, the humility I feel and sensitivity to women who may be coping in isolation is not lost on me.

With a warm heart,

Kyla Lara-Breitinger, MD, MS

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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Eating To Live Or Living To Eat? The Weight-Gain Struggle During a Pandemic

To my fellow physicians and patient providers, how many of your patients have gained weight and blamed it on the pandemic due to limited options for physical activity outside of the home?

Unsurprisingly, almost all of my patients I’ve seen over the past year have fallen victim to this, with good reason. They are protecting their health by avoiding exposure to COVID-19 but at the same time are unconsciously neglecting their health by not having the means or green light to engage in healthy behaviors such as going to the gym, walking in public spaces, and engaging in aerobic exercise and strength training. Our current restrictive environment combined with more time at home to eat and indulge is a fail-proof setup for adding on these harmful extra pounds.

So what can our patients control and how do we motivate them? This reminds me of my roommate in medical school who once told me that I “live to eat” because I would act immediately on a food craving and would also plan my next meal while actively eating a meal in front of me. I asked him if he also followed this same dogma of being an “emotional eater” and acted impulsively on energy-dense, nutritionally lacking foods. He responded with “I eat to live” because he only thinks about food when his body sends him the appropriate signals. I had to think about this. Yes, “stress-eating” is a habit that many of us are using as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food culture is central in many cultures across the world. Food brings people together, establishes common ground amongst strangers, and provides satisfaction and emotional fulfillment while traveling, learning, and growing. We’re social creatures who naturally select to build connections that many times are centered around meals. But when the balance tips towards overindulgence and away from physical activity and healthy mindfulness is when chronic diseases such as coronary artery disease and its associated comorbidities arise.

For many of us, we understand what we should eat to become healthier, however, that does not mean we will actually follow this rationale to maintain a heart-healthy diet, especially during a pandemic when most of our day is spent sedentary in isolation at home. Despite having a master’s degree in Nutrition as part of my training, I can admit that I have invariably fell victim to the vices of food comfort at home. I was eating a lot of baked desserts after dinner but recently decided to replace this habit with a cup of hot chocolate made with soy milk and sugarless cocoa powder.

So how do we combat this? We know the right food prescriptions of diet to provide our patients and have all heard the saying of “you are what you eat.”

Let me quickly review the 4 strategies of motivational interviewing (OARS) and a few quick tips to help our patients (and ourselves) make gradual and achievable nutritional changes:

  • Open-ended questions- this allows your patient to explore and think more deeply about personal goals.
  • Affirmations- highlight your patient’s strengths and skills to support self-efficacy
  • Reflections– reflective listening and providing empathy deepens the trust with your patient; avoid making judgments as patients become may become defensive
  • Summaries- summarizing the above then allows you to move on to making a specific plan with your patient

Here are 5 tips to help your patients make healthier food choices during the pandemic:

  • Allow your patient to decide on 1-2 specific food goals per week (this can involve eliminating one food item they are able to identify that is unhealthy or decreasing the amount of this food item per day or week).
  • Empathize with the difficulty of being at home and that boredom by itself can cause overeating. Prior to eating, challenge them to take a few seconds to determine whether or not they are hungry or are deciding to eat because they are bored.
  • Make a goal of drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day- being underhydrated can in turn cause overeating of salt-laden foods.
  • “Eat your calories, don’t drink them.” Ensure that your patient is avoiding caloric beverages. If they enjoy fruit juices, ask that they try eating fruits as the fiber benefits are much more plentiful with less additive sugars.
  • Lastly, congratulate them on their decision to make a change and have a specific follow up plan to continue building on the changes they are making.

Be well,

Kyla Lara-Breitinger, MD, MS

References:

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-04654-001

 

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

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To Vaccinate or Not Against COVID-19 During Pregnancy: A Pregnant Cardiology Fellow’s Humble Perspective

When news of the approval of the Pfizer vaccine surfaced, I felt a sense of anxiety. There was no data on pregnant women in the COVID-19 vaccine trials. As a medical professional, we have been trained to apply for evidenced-based medicine and baseline patient characteristics of trial participants to the patients we plan to treat. But what if your pregnancy status was not studied in the trial during a global pandemic? How might you weigh the unknown risks of the vaccine to your growing fetus with the risk of COVID-19 infection while pregnant?

Making the Decision

A few days passed when I received an email from Occupational Health that my cardiology fellowship program would be part of the Phase I distribution of the vaccine. The following day, my midwife conveyed to me that the OB department would align with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) Practice Advisory Statement:

“ACOG recommends that COVID-19 vaccines should not be withheld from pregnant individuals who meet criteria for vaccination based on ACIP-recommended priority groups.”

I felt a sense of relief that I would not be prohibited from getting the vaccine if I chose to do so yet also felt a sense of panic when I read the following:

“Vaccines currently available under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) have not been tested in pregnant women. Therefore, there are no safety data specific to use in pregnancy.”

As a trained medical professional and protective mother, the overwhelming number of daily decisions we make to ensure the safety of our babies are overwhelming- no sushi, no wine, no retinoids or other harmful active ingredients found in our beloved skin care regimens, no hot tubs… I could go on.

However, the challenge of navigating the emotions of fear and uncertainty about the vaccine became incomparable to the following facts:

mRNA Does Not Alter Your DNA

These vaccines are not live virus vaccines and do not use an adjuvant to augment the efficacy of the vaccine. It does not enter the nucleus or alter human DNA.

Risk of Exposure

My job involves routinely interacting with patients and performing aerosolizing procedures, which places me at increased risk for exposure to COVID-19.

Symptomatic Pregnant Patients Infected With COVID-19 Are at Increased Risk of Severe Illness

This includes hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU), the need for intubation and mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and death.

I decided that getting vaccinated was safer than getting COVID-19. I also consulted with my partner who is also my husband and the father to our developing fetus. Although ultimately it was my decision to make, I felt comforted knowing he was 100% on board with me proceeding with vaccination based on the above as well.

Getting Vaccinated and the Side Effects

I received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the first dose at 20 weeks and the second dose at 23 weeks gestation. With the first dose of the vaccine, I only experienced arm soreness that peaked on day two. With the second dose, I experienced a mild headache and mild bilateral upper extremity soreness but with two doses of acetaminophen, I continued to work at full capacity and performed intraoperative transesophageal echocardiograms without issues.

I am now 25 weeks pregnant and feel a sense of pride that I made this decision to protect myself and my unborn child. I have received many texts and messages inquiring about how I made my choice. Questions such as “would your decision change if you were in your first trimester before organogenesis was complete?” or “would you get vaccinated while trying to conceive?” were a few memorable ones. I firmly believe it is your right as a woman to make this difficult decision when there is no safety data available.  Personally, yes, I would have still made the decision to vaccinate.

Lastly, I will join many of the other scientists and advocates out there who demand that pregnant and lactating women be included in future vaccine research trials http://vax.pregnancyethics.org/prevent-guidance. Track records of vaccine safety should exist for expectant mothers to help guide and improve vaccination rates.  Here is to hoping for a better year that allows each and every one of us access to the COVID-19 vaccine no matter what country, gender, pregnancy status, lact

ation, status, or employment status we bear.

Stay safe and stay healthy,

Kyla Lara-Breitinger, MD, MS

References:

https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2020/12/vaccinating-pregnant-and-lactating-patients-against-covid-19

https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.smfm.org/media/2632/FDA_final.pdf

 

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”

 

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A Reflection on Prevention: Can a Holistic Approach to Prevention Include a Polypill?

Does a polypill obviate the need for behavioral changes? Absolutely not. As a physician training in Cardiology, I spend a sizeable part of my time discussing achievable weekly nutritional goals with patients in addition to stressing the importance of medication adherence. I ask myself after watching the “Bending the Curve for CV Disease- Precision or Polypill,” would I recommend a pill that can treat both hypertension and hypercholesterolemia and decrease the risk for CV disease? Certainly, this would make medication adherence for our patients much simpler, especially with the combination of atenolol, ramipril, hydrochlorothiazide, and simvastatin into one pill.

The International Polycap Study (TIPS-3) presented by Drs. Prem Peis and Salim Yusuf was a double-blinded, randomized trial of more than 5,700 adult men and women at increased CV risk with an intervention of the once-daily polypill, aspirin, combination of both or placebo (see figure). Endpoints of CVD events included CV death, non-fatal stroke, non-fatal MI, heart failure, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or arterial revascularization.

To summarize the results, 5-year outcomes found that the polypill was superior to placebo in decreasing systolic blood pressure, LDL-C, and non-fatal CV events in mostly Southeast Asian participants.  Low-dose aspirin resulted in lower stroke risk and the additive effect of aspirin to the polypill had a higher reduction in nonfatal CV events when compared to the double placebo arm. The side effects of the intervention group included dizziness and hypotension.

 As I return back to clinical responsibilities, I reflect on the AHA Scientific Sessions with particular attention to this polypill. Would you recommend a pill that was cost-effective that decreased pill-burden in your patient? I think I would but not at the cost of leaving behind crucial behavior changes that are integral for health and well-being.

More importantly, the following slide resonated with me the most and I believe conceptualizes a comprehensive framework for prevention and precision medicine:

The takeaways here are that there is a continuum of care across a spectrum of healthy, at risk, and diseased patients we see on a daily basis. Each group in this spectrum requires an individualized, community, and health system approach to intervention and implementation of decreasing cardiovascular risk. The domains needing to be addressed are part of a long list but each important in their own right:

Health Literacy

Health System

Health Policy

Socio-Behavioral Sciences

Human Resource Training

Health Economics

Technological Innovations

Media and Communication

Monitoring and Evaluation

With this framework in mind, I challenge myself and you all to think more deeply about how we might integrate universal standards along with individually-tailored preventative interventions when managing our patients. Our day-to-day clinic experience can at times lull us into the feeling of an unchanging routine, however this presentation was a great reminder of future opportunities to probe further to apply novel universal approaches while also seeking to understand individual patients’ health behavior needs and pushing individualized medicine further in the domain of CV prevention. This will be accomplished through quality care projects, educational work, health equity advocacy, and investigative research.

Take care and be well.

References:

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2028220

“The views, opinions and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your personal health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”