Thursday, May 16, 2013

Have a Heart

This is dedicated to my dad who is having open heart surgery tomorrow...

In medical school we learn everything about the heart. We learn about the aortic valve, the chordae tendineae, end diastolic volume and myocardial infactions. We open the heart and scrutinize all its different parts. We calculate cardiac outputs and inspect its silhouette on chest X-rays, but we forget about our first lesson we ever learned about the heart, that it is for love.


What am I saying? I am a medical student, of course I know the heart has nothing to do with emotion, but that's where I am wrong.

When I heard my dad had to have open heart surgery I was angry, I didn't see why it had to be my dad. He has such a big heart, he is so giving and very loving. I then felt scared, this is such a big procedure and I am on the other side of the country. The heart is such an important organ, it pumps your blood everywhere around the body. Then I realized that the heart does carry an emotional aspect. Its such an important yet vulnerable organ, any problem with it instills many emotions in the person it belongs to and the people who love that person.

When you say someone has a big heart, its not that they have cardiomegly due to left ventricular hypertrophy, but that they are giving and warm. They love unconditionally and they spend their lives making other people happy. Therefore my dad has a huge heart.

Where do emotions come from? well your brain and all the neurons in it. Emotions come from the limbic system, higher order function of the brain. The limbic system along with other parts of the brain like the amygdala (fear), help humans feel emotion. To function these parts of the brain require oxygen, which is carried in the blood which is pumped by the heart. Therefore without the heart you would not have a functioning brain and therefore no emotion, the most important being love.

At one point someone must have decided that a big heart means more blood to the brain, although cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) usually has the opposite effect, the saying stuck.


You know that feeling you get when your heart beats really fast (tachycardia) when your nervous or when your excited? These are regulated by emotion, so not only does the heart supply the brain which creates emotion, your heart also responds to emotion. Your heart slows down and speeds up based on your emotional state. This helps pump the required amount of blood to all parts of your body so you can use your muscles to hug, your lips to feel a kiss, your eyes to see someone who you love.

Therefore your heart is entwined with human emotion, especially love. The next time someone says that the heart is the organ of love you can think of its huge role in human emotion.


Friday, May 10, 2013

Sunday Suppers - Philly

Over the weekend I had the opportunity  to hold a health fair at Sunday Suppers in Philly.  With a couple other volunteers from the Student Pediatric Medical Association and the Emergency Medicine Club we set up fun, interactive and educational booths to learn about very important medical issues. These included blood pressure education and screening, diabetes information, BMI calculation, exercise education, and the best nutrition.

Sunday suppers works to end the hunger epidemic in Philly. They hold weekly healthy suppers for families in the Philly area. Along with a nutritious meal they provide education, resources and recipes for families. Their goal is to increase access to health foods  to communities that might not have the resources to cook their own healthy meals They believe in a family style meal, where cellphones are not allowed at the table and families are encouraged to sit and share with each other.

I helped run the nutrition station. Here we designed "health plates" based on Choose My Plate created through the US Department of Agriculture. In this activity we gave examples of how a healthy plate should look. We drew out with colorful markers portion sizes and gave them creative examples to put into each section.

Along with our "healthy plates" exercise we also had an interactive "whats in your drink?" game. It's kind of like pin the tail on the donkey but with popular drinks and sugar amounts. People learn about recommended additive sugar quantities as well as how much sugar is in their favorite drinks. We had examples of sugar amounts in bags that people can hold. Its surprising to see what 64 grams of sugar look like in raw form.

The American Heart Association suggest that women consume no more than 24 grams/day of additional sugar, men no more than 37 grams/day, and for children only 12 grams/ day of additional sugar.  Sugar is in many things we eat, fruits, milk, grains, this sugar gives us the energy we need for the day. With the addition of sodas, candy and large portions, Americans get more than the normal intake of sugar, this is called additional sugar. Its this sugar that is increasing the cases of type two diabetes across America in younger adults and even children.

It was surprising to many that their favorite drinks (Gatorade - 36 grams, Coke - 64 grams) had more sugar than recommended additional per day. It gives me great satisfactions to offer free educational information to the public and know that maybe the next time someone I taught reaches for a coke they think twice about their decisions. I always have fun teaching and interacting with the public. I hope to volunteer again soon.