ORLANDO, Fla. — During American Heart Month, Orlando Health doctors are sounding the alarm on the rise of heart failure among young adults. A local 32-year-old father is one of them. He just received lifesaving surgery.
“It was kind of hard to explain to her that my heart is bad because she thinks the heart is who you are as a person,” Alex Balmes, a heart failure patient, said. “She said No, you have a good heart, Daddy.”
The Orlando father said his main symptoms were bloating, weight gain, fatigue, shortness of breath and feeling jittery.
“I said Oh, it’s just anxiety,” Balmes said. “I don’t need to go to a doctor.”
A new survey from Orlando Health shows that about one in ten Americans would schedule an appointment with a cardiologist immediately if they experienced those symptoms.
Orlando Health Cardiologist Dr. Yahaira Ortiz said that young people are even more likely to blow off those common heart failure signs.
“The issue is, when it’s a young patient, it’s usually dismissed,” Dr. Ortiz said. “It’s not standard when someone that young is going to be sick.”
Balmes now has an implant while he awaits his heart transplant. It’s called an LVAD and works as a battery-powered pump for his heart.
“It maintains blood flow to the organs,” Dr. Ortiz said. “Gives you quantity and quality of life.”
“I would say it’s more like an earring,” Balmes explained. “When you first get your ears pierced, you always feel it there; your hand wants to touch it. After a while and it’s healed, you forget it’s there.”
According to the Florida Department of Health, about 1–2% of adults ages 18–44 have reported any cardiovascular disease. While that may seem like a small number, doctors said these are all still too high.
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