Heart Checkups Are Lifesavers

Are heart checkups potential lifesavers?
If you ask Sharon Tietze, a key administrator at North Shore University Hospital at Forest Hills, shed give them an enthusiastic endorsement.
Last summer, her father, Frederick Doherty, 75, was at the hospital to be treated for a prostate condition when Dr. Robert DAvino, chief of the cardiac care unit, spotted him in the waiting room.
"He appeared to have breathing problems," DAvino said. "I told Sharon about it and we ordered medical tests including an electrocardiogram."
The tests showed that Doherty had experienced a "silent heart attack," a serious ailment that strikes without symptoms. He was placed on medication and his condition is improving.
"That day I went to see my urologist. I had been feeling poorly," Doherty, a B-29 pilot during World War II, said. "I had trouble walking up the incline toward the hospital."
Tietze said that on Feb. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m., North Shore Forest Hills will offer free heart health screenings. Both blood pressure and cholesterol will be checked.
For more information, call (718) 830-4210.
February is American Heart Month.
Howard Girsky