
A diagnosis of breast cancer is never easy to hear. Thanks to early diagnosis and better treatments, more women are surviving the disease. Dr. Jordan Ray, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, urges all cancer patients to also pay attention to their heart health during and after treatment.
Watch: Stay heart-healthy during breast cancer.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (0:59) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please "Courtesy: Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.
Cancer treatment, while lifesaving, can affect your heart health.
"Patients are surviving — and for long periods of time. And because of that phenomenon, we're now recognizing that, yes, you've survived your malignancy, but now you have cardiovascular disease as a consequence — either because of lifestyle and other choices or because of the chemotherapies and radiation therapies you received during a malignancy," says Dr. Ray.
Dr. Ray says cancer patients should understand their risk factors for heart disease, which are essentially the same risk factors if you weren't diagnosed with cancer.
If you smoke, stop. Know your cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. Eat a heart-healthy diet and get some exercise.
"There's a lot of evidence now that is suggesting that routine exercise in both malignancy and cardiovascular disease are beneficial," says Dr. Ray.
Sometimes treatment can affect your heart, which may be out of your control. But paying attention to risk factors and talking to your health care provider during treatment are the best ways to increase your heart health.
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Heart failure is a potentially urgent health concern for young adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) that is often overlooked and undertreated, ...
Mayo Clinic doctors are using innovation to improve the lives of people who suffer from congestive heart failure and other chronic heart conditions. The Organ ...
Mayo Clinic researchers studying the genetics of people who had recently developed dilated cardiomyopathy, one of the most common causes of heart failure, have found a ...