CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In honor of February being American Heart Month, KRIS 6 News continues the conversation about heart disease.
Heart disease is the umbrella term for a variety of heart conditions such as high-blood pressure, plaque buildup in the arteries, and stroke.
Most heart conditions are avoidable. The work starts with getting familiar with your own health and family genetics, checking cholesterol and blood pressure, and making lifestyle changes with exercise and healthy eating.
Last week, KRIS 6 News focused on the importance of knowing how to perform CPR to reduce death caused by heart disease.
“One woman is one too many,” said Corpus Christi Medical Center cardiologist Dr. Christel Cuevas.
According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States.
Cuevas is familiar with the pain that comes from losing someone to a heart condition. She lost her father to a heart attack, and her grandmother to heart failure.
As Cuevas still copes with the pain of those losses, she describes them as motivators to keep Coastal Bend hearts pumping.
“I just feel so honored and grateful to get to do my passion and help the members of my community, and if I can help treat or save or talk to a family who’s gone through what I’ve been through, I just feel honored to get to do that each and every day,” she said.
The Corpus Christi Medical Center offers a free online heart risk assessment.
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