Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum.

The national spokeswoman for the popular “Go Red for Women” campaign of the American Heart Association will be in southeast Iowa this month to talk about preventing heart disease.

Cardiologist Suzanne Steinbaum says the number-one killer in Iowa and America is heart disease and in almost all of the cases, the factors that caused it were completely preventable.

“It starts with very simple steps,” Dr. Steinbaum says. “It starts with diet and exercise and really learning how to manage stress and how to truly live from the heart. Once you do that, we know as much as 88% of the time, heart disease is something that is in our control.”

Those controllable factors include things like stress, smoking, diet and depression. People -can- change themselves and their lifestyles, she says, and small changes over time can have a significant, positive impact on your health.

“It’s really about becoming accountable and making those small steps that ultimately can make big changes,” Steinbaum says. “If one of your issues is not sleeping enough, figure out how to sleep a little more. If you’re eating foods that are too sugary or too fatty, start with small changes in making little, different choices.”

Stress has a profound impact on the heart, Steinbaum says, and it has to be managed properly. She says one tremendous benefit for her personal stress management effort is transcendental meditation. Steinbaum says, “TM has been proven and has been acknowledged by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology as being the main modality to decrease blood pressure, preventing heart attacks and strokes and is an important part of that stress management issue.”

She quotes a study that finds TM can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by 48-percent. Steinbaum is Director of Women’s Heart Health at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital. Her talk at 10 AM on May 23rd in Fairfield is free, but advance registration is required by calling (800) 635-7173 or online at: www.tmforwomenshearthealth.org/register