Local cardiologist: Don’t let COVID be a fatal distraction

Dr. Mark Stellingworth. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
editor@newsandpress.net
As the COVID pandemic approaches its third year, many Americans have been reluctant to enter doctors’ offices and hospitals out of fear they might catch the virus. Don’t let that prevent you from taking care of your heart, a Hartsville cardiologist advises.
The pandemic has “taken a toll on everyone” and distracted many people from paying attention to more everyday problems like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, says Dr. Mark Stellingworth, a Prisma Health cardiologist who works with Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center.
He’s hoping that American Heart Month, an event that runs throughout each February, will help bring some attention back to heart disease, which kills an estimated 659,000 people in the United States every year.
Heart disease is more prevalent in the South than elsewhere; in South Carolina, it’s reported to be the No. 1 killer in the state. And the Pee Dee has picked up a reputation as a region prone to heart disease. Stellingworth, 50, sees debates about which states may or may not be the “capital” of heart disease as something of a distraction.
“The risk for heart disease is not unique to South Carolina,” he says. “Heart disease is an American problem.”
It usually comes down to diet, exercise and weight. The healthier your diet and the more you exercise, or take part in physical activity, the more you can reduce your risk for heart disease.
“Try to be as active as you possibly can be,” says Stellingworth. Even “simple things,” like getting outside and going for a walk, can help.
He says there are heart-disease risks that we can modify, such as controlling blood pressure and avoiding behaviors that might eventually lead to Type 2 diabetes. There are other risk factors that we can’t change, he says, such as age, family history and being male (men are more prone to heart disease than women).
As far as the Pee Dee’s reputation for cardiovascular problems, “It’s fundamentally lifestyle,” Stellingworth says. “Maybe our lifestyle is a little more focused on good-(tasting) food, which tends to have more saturated fat.”
The technology for dealing with heart issues is improving. Stellingworth noted that when then-President Dwight Eisenhower suffered a major heart attack in 1955, he was laid up for about three months. Now, Stellingworth says, it’s not uncommon for heart-attack patients to receive a stent and go home within a few days.
To learn more about cardiology services at Carolina Pines and to take a free heart health assessment, visit cprmc.com/heart.