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Heart attacks in younger people are becoming increasingly more common, especially in women. This could likely be due to the increase in the prevalence of the risks factor for heart attack and stroke in young adults, according to Wayne Leimbach, M.D., medical director of Oklahoma Heart Institute.

“This was predicted to happen more than 15 years ago due to the obesity epidemic in our country,” Leimbach said.

Smoking also contributes to the upsurge because there has been an increase in the amount of women who smoke. Additionally, there has been a rise in consumption of fast food... Read More »

Please join us in welcoming Wendell Williams, M.D., our new cardiologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute. He is now seeing patients at our Muskogee clinic. Williams, who is originally from St. Louis, is a third generation doctor and led a cardiology practice in St. Louis for more than 20 years before moving to Jefferson City. For the last six years, Williams has called Muskogee home and he is now looking forward to his future with Oklahoma Heart Institute.

Dr. Williams is a cardiologist who specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment and education of congestive heart failure,... Read More »

Jenn Jordan has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager. For more than 25 years, she was consistently trying to figure out what to do to get to a healthy weight for her body.

“I was always the heaviest one in my family, my group of friends or just a group of people in general and it was very frustrating,” said Jordan.

Jordan was very aware that her weight was an issue. “I was always trying to find a program that would work for me,” said Jordan. “When you are carrying this weight around with you all the time, you know it’s a problem.”

Trendy diet plans were... Read More »

Nora Connelly had tried what felt like every diet program on the market. While out shopping with her mother in Utica Square, she ran into an old family friend. Upon seeing her, Connelly was shocked at her appearance.

“When I ran into her, she was half the person that I’ve always known her to be,” said Connelly. “When I asked her what she had done to lose so much weight, she started telling me about the Health Management Resources (HMR) program that is offered through the Weight Loss & Wellness Center at Oklahoma Heart Institute.”

At that point in her life, Connelly knew... Read More »

The holiday season can often be summed up in one word: indulgent. Offices are filled with gift baskets full of treats and parties are heavy on the seasonal sweets and hearty dips. While partaking in these dishes isn’t something you are doing on a daily basis, it can set you back in your diet when you are consuming more than usual.

Brook Hinton, health educator with the Weight Loss & Wellness Center at Oklahoma Heart Institute, and Susannah McCabe, registered dietitian with the Center for Diabetes Management at Hillcrest Medical Center, are sharing some helpful control strategies... Read More »

Information provided by Dr. Wayne Leimbach, medical director at Oklahoma Heart Institute.

 

There always seems to be questions surrounding vitamins. Are they really beneficial to take and if so, which ones and at what dosage? Recently, fish oil has been the topic of conversation and in fact, the REDUCE-IT trial that Oklahoma Heart Institute was involved in just uncovered some interesting findings.

The REDUCE-IT trial randomized 8,179 cardiovascular (CV) risk patients with known CV disease or high risk patients with diabetes and other CV risk factors who were already on... Read More »

In September of 2017, Missy Storm and her husband were in New Orleans celebrating his birthday. At the time, Missy was struggling with walking long distances, but she thought it had something to do with getting older and being out of shape. Storm had recently retired after a 40-year career in education, but the stress her body was experiencing was different than any she had felt before.

“When we were in New Orleans, I would be walking down the street and every 30 yards or so I would have to stop to catch my breath and let my heart slow down,” said Storm. “During our travels back to... Read More »

Tulsa resident Glenn Harris started experiencing heart problems when visiting Australia, which led to him needing a pacemaker and defibrillator installed immediately. Upon returning to Tulsa, Harris needed to find continuing care, which is when he contacted Oklahoma Heart Institute and started seeing Dr. Wayne Leimbach, medical director, and Dr. David Sandler, director of electrophysiology.

Harris’ youngest daughter, Lauren, took him to many of his follow up appointments and rehab sessions when he first started visiting Oklahoma Heart Institute, becoming familiar with the faces... Read More »

David Engle, 76, had heart complications in his 60s. Years later, after being involved in a car accident, Engle experienced another life-changing cardiovascular event that lead him to Oklahoma Heart Institute.

“I had a triple bypass and valve replacement nine years ago,” said Engle. “In September of 2016, I was hit head on in a car accident in Arkansas. Following the accident, the EMC workers told me that I needed to be checked out because I was in such bad pain. When I was taken to the hospital, the doctors told me I had contusions and that muscle relaxants would take care of the... Read More »

Leading an active, healthy lifestyle has great benefits when it comes to cardiovascular issues, but what about the practice of yoga in relation to atrial fibrillation, or AFib? We talked to Dr. David Sandler, director of electrophysiology at Oklahoma Heart Institute, to learn more.

“When it comes to yoga, the main message is that the lifestyle helps prevent heart disease, including atrial fibrillation,” said Dr. Sandler. “80 percent of heart disease cases are preventable, AFib included. Yoga is basically a paradigm for healthy living. Yoga specifically has been shown to reduce a... Read More »