TVLSE, Oklv. – The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Department of Health partnered with the Oklahoma Heart Institute to host the Go Red for Women Event at the River Spirit Casino and Resort on Feb. 15.
Attendees at the event gained knowledge of cardiovascular disease in various ways including personal accounts, activities, risk assessments, walking program signups, professional seminars and other resources provided by the MCNDOH.
The annual event is a part of the movement that started nearly two decades ago led by the American Heart Association.
Studies have shown cardiovascular diseases resulting in stroke and heart attacks are the number one killer for women. Each year the disease claims over 500,000 lives.
According to the event’s special guest speaker, Director of Cardiology at Bailey Medical Center Dr. Frank Gaffney, one in four women suffer from cardiovascular disease.
“It is also the number one killer of Native women in the United States,” MCNDOH Secretary of Health Shawn Terry said. “This event is to highlight and show that 80 percent of cardiovascular disease is preventable.”
Terry said men have similar causes of mortality when it comes to heart disease, but women are affected at a higher rate.
“There’s a multitude of things we have to start doing better,” Terry siad. “First and foremost, we have got to change what we put in our bodies.”
According to Terry, many people are fooled by the misconception that age keeps you safe from malnutrition, or to do “whatever you want.” Terry claims that’s far from the case.
“That’s really the foundation of all of our health, what we put inside our bodies,” Terry said.
Terry claims the health department and the Nation work together to provide the best resources for preventing disease along with management of diseases.
That’s where Connie Berryhill and her stroke and diabetes prevention team come in. Berryhill is the manager of these programs across the six clinics on the Mvskoke reservation. Unfortunately, the team stays busy as they receive several referrals a week for these diseases with the major one being hypertension.
“Hypertension is concerning, yes,” Berryhill said. “Some people’s hypertension is quite high and that is when we can see them.”
A specialist works with the patients to talk about ways to improve health with different factors including changing diets or adding exercise.
“It’s hard to change everything all at one time so we just talk about a couple things at one session then another session with more changes,” Berryhill said. “Not everybody needs the same thing so we take it on an individual basis.”
Berryhill claims that staying active, watching sodium intake, not smoking, changing your diet, drinking water, along with seeing primary care providers regularly can help prevent meeting with her team in the future.
“This is the number one killer for women, is the heart,” Berryhill said.
Cardiovascular disease has affected her life personally, she urges people to get checked.
“It’s that simple, just get checked,” Berryhill said. “We all have our time but it doesn’t have to be early because we didn’t take care of ourselves.”
For further information on cardiovascular disease prevention, or to find a nearby MCNDOH clinic, call 918-233-9550.