There was a big line outside a storefront in Sunnyside Mall in Bedford, N.S., on Friday but not because of a big sale. Nova Scotia Health (NHS) and Heart Valve Voice Canada teamed up for a free health-care event called Listen to Your Heart. The goal was to raise awareness and check shoppers for heart valve disease. “Compared to a heart attack where you have a sudden onset very bad chest pain that makes you aware, valvular heart disease can sometimes be very, very gradual,” said Dr. Osama Elkhateeb, an interventional cardiologist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. “Sometimes a very simple test like listening to your heart can identify serious heart disease and valvular heart disease.” This is the third event of its kind in the Halifax area. The previous two screened more than 375 people and found 22 heart murmurs resulting in 13 follow up echocardiograms. From that, there were three detected cases of heart valve disease, according to NSH. “It’s important to get checked because it is not an obvious thing. Some people just chalk it up to old age basically as they get more tired or short of breath, however, it can be something more,” said registered nurse Shanel Raney. Accessing health care in the province can sometimes be a challenge and NSH hopes events like this make it a little easier. “I think it’s a great opportunity to see a large number of people in a short period of time for just a very quick check,” said Raney. Within the first two hours on Friday, more than 100 people stopped by to get checked, including Debbie Richardson. “One of our friends told us about this clinic being operated today and we just had coffee with her, as we do most Fridays, and she had done this earlier this morning and encouraged us to do the same,” she said. While Richardson didn’t plan to get her heart checked when she left the house Friday morning, she’s glad she did. “Sometimes what you don’t know can hurt you, so it’s better to know what you’re dealing with, so nothing ventured, nothing gained,” she said. For those who were unable to make it to the event, Elkhateeb said there are signs of heart valve disease to watch out for at home. “If you’re short of breath, if you have swelling in your legs, if you have chest pain, if you’re dizzy, light-headed, passing out, almost passing out, these things that are unexplained, you should talk to your doctor,” he said. If a potential concern was detected during Friday’s event, like a heart murmur, a physician would provide a requisition for follow up care. NSH hopes to hold more events like this in the future. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
