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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Leading a heart to heart

First ladies of IU, Indiana speak about risks of cardiac disease

Pete Stuttgen

Dozens waited for a prick of the finger to draw a small drop of their blood to check their cholesterol and blood sugar levels Thursday in Alumni Hall. \nThe simple health exam was a precursor to the “Heart to Heart” program highlighted by a speech from Indiana first lady Cheri Daniels to raise awareness of heart disease, especially in women. \nThe room was lined with booths offering services such as blood pressure checks and calculations of body mass indexes, along with handouts of various health-oriented information pamphlets. \nIU is one of several universities Daniels is visiting with “Heart to Heart.”\n“This is a great opportunity to spread the word,” Daniels said. “It is much easier to change your habits when you’re 18 or 19 than when you’re 40 or 50.” \nIntroduced by IU’s first lady, Laurie Burns McRobbie, Daniels spoke about the importance of a healthy-heart lifestyle and touched on changes people can make to stay informed. \n“Heart disease doesn’t care if you’re tall or short, thin or not, and it certainly doesn’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican,” Daniels said. “Heart disease is the number one killer of woman, and we want every Hoosier to know that.” \nBesides Daniels, Cindy Adams, a nurse practitioner with the Indiana Heart Hospital, and Jeanne Johnston, assistant professor in the IU Kinesiology Department, spoke, and all three speakers touched on a variety of subjects, focusing on knowing the modifiable factors which put people at risk of heart disease. Each speaker emphasized a healthy diet, the importance of an exercise plan and the risks of being a smoker. \n“Stop smoking,” Daniels said. “The number one thing you can do for your health is stop smoking.” \nAdams said more than 485,000 women die each year from heart disease. \n“That is equal to a World Trade Center attack every two and a half days,” she said. \nAdams said obesity and smoking play a huge factor into heart problems. \nWatching the line of people getting their cholesterol and body mass index numbers from booths around the room, Adams said people are often surprised to find out they are at much more risk than they expect. \n“People are surprised,” Adams said. “They don’t realize the risk factors they have that they didn’t know about. Being overweight is so socially acceptable now; people are surprised when they are obese from a health standpoint.” \nMcRobbie came to the event early to greet people as they arrived and went through screenings. McRobbie said she wasn’t initially involved in the program, but when she heard about it she offered to help in any way she could, and it led into her taking part in the presentation. \n“I thought it was a very, very important program,” McRobbie said. “It’s something I feel is good to get out there.” \nMcRobbie said she tries to lead by example, offering healthy foods at dinner parties and other functions, and taking on a more formal exercise program. \n“We’re trying to lead by example,” McRobbie said. \nSeveral women from Delta Zeta came to watch the presentation and support the spread of heart health awareness. Delta Zeta held “IU Goes Red” last February to help spread awareness about heart disease. The sorority passed out fliers and pamphlets and spoke during halftime at an IU women’s basketball game.\n“We had a sister pass away from a heart arrhythmia,” junior Mandy DeWeese said. “So we’re trying to show our support.”

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