So a 42-year-old relative of mine goes in for her six to eight hour Ventricular Tachycardia surgery today. While she is hardly a shrinking violet, this is a pretty complicated heart condition and am looking for tips to aid in her recovery. While she realizes that 'heart surgery' will become a way of life, we're all trying to find ways to help her heal faster. Has anyone undergone VT surgery before? What tips do you have to make the transition easier?

For the younger women among us, who may not be concerned about heart disease in our near future, but know we should generally eat right and exercise, I wanted to mention a condition that may occur before a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, which is Metabolic Syndrome. (oh---and just because you are “young” does not mean you do not have risk factors for heart disease! Just read egreene’s personal story with heart disease on her blog entries on the EmpowHer site).

An adult relative of mine was recently diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia. She has been referred to a pediatric EP because they are supposedly more skilled given the smaller scale they are more accustomed to working with. Has anyone heard of this before? Are adults routinely referred to pediatric specialists?

My father is 65 and has high blood pressure. Last October he had a severe blockage and had a stent put in. He is on lots of blood pressure medicine and over the last 4 weeks his blood pressure has been really high. We are very concerned that the stent has become glogged again which is some thing that can occur frequently from what I'm starting to learn. I'm am extremely worried about my father and we are not confident in his current cardio doctor and are looking for another doc.

We are almost at the end of Heart Disease Awareness Month in February, and I ran across an interesting article I wanted to share. According to the Mayo Clinic, if you have an "apple" shaped body, compared to a "pear" shaped body, you may have an increased risk of heart disease. We know that obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, and the "apple" shaped body is one that contains most of the extra weight around the middle or waist. This is compared to a "pear" shape, where most of the extra weight is around the hip area.

According to the CDC, not enough Americans know the signs of a heart attack, and those who do wouldn't know what to do. More than 900,000 Americans suffer heart attacks each year. More than 150,000 deaths occur within one hour of the first symptoms. The five warning signs of heart attack are: 1) pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck or back; 2) feeling weak, lightheaded or faint; 3) chest pain or discomfort; 4) pain or discomfort in the arms or shoulder, and 5) shortness of breath.

One health-related headline today suggests that obesity or being a smoker "saves money" compared to being "thin and healthy". Of course, this type of headline makes you scratch your head in disbelief, and read the article.

Heard an interesting point today that came from a book called “The Fattening of America” where the author states that business and policymakers need to re-examine the role they play in America’s obesity epidemic.

Leaders, according to the book’s Web site, need to do exactly the opposite of where the economy is taking us. They need to make it cheaper and easier to be thin—not fat.

What do you consider the biggest causes of stress in your life? And what are you doing to control them?