Heart House News
Always Be Aware of Family Health History
By Carly Romalino
Gloucester County Times | February 8, 2010
Tanya Dargusch did everything right.
The 45-year-old Washington Township resident works out, eats right, and doesn't smoke.
But in 2002, the then 38-year-old athletic trainer for Washington Township High School found herself in a Virtua hospital bed recovering from her first mitral heart valve replacement surgery. Between this operation and a 2008 surgery to replace a mitral valve and repair a tricuspid valve, she had an aneurysm and a silent heart attack.
"I'm not a smoker, I'm a very active person, and I always eat right, so it was a surprise," she said.
Her doctors told her heart disease is hereditary. Dargusch, who did not know heart problems run in her family, was shocked. Dargusch's knew her father had a heart attack, but he never had valve problems.
"I was talking to my mom, and she said I had an uncle and aunt who had valve problems," Dargusch said. "You have to be aware of those things. You always go through life and think it's not going to happen to you, because you are healthy and do the right things. But it happens to healthy people, so you have to be careful."
According to Dr. Daniel Tarditi, a cardiologist affiliated with Virtua, everyone should know their family history, because in cases like Dargusch's, heart disease may be caused more by Uncle Fredo than the fatty fettuccini alfredo they had for lunch, he said.
Tarditi said patients should know if there is a family history as far back as their parents and even grandparents, and look for heart attack, stroke, mini strokes and uncontrolled diabetes.
"If a family had an abdominal aneurysm, that could be familial, which is something people don't often think about," said Tarditi, who has a Washington Township-based practice called Cardiovascular Associates of the Delaware Valley.
Tarditi said if the doctor does not ask about the family history, the patient should be the one to bring it up.
[Read this article online here.]