The heart of the matter

By Finbar Garcia LUTCF, FSS, MFA

The heart can be described in so many ways. There is the ‘soft heart’, always caring and loving; the ‘hard heart’ that does not care about anyone or anything. The ‘big heart’ is willing to give all to make people happy, and then the ‘broken heart’ carries all the hurts and pains.

What about your heart that pumps blood to all parts of your body? The heart has many functions: pumping oxygenated blood to body tissues, receiving deoxygenated blood, maintaining blood pressure, routing blood through the lungs for oxygenation, regulating blood flow by adjusting your heart rate and providing nutrients to its tissues through coronary circulation.

While there are other functions, a damaged heart can cause you distress. Each day, your heart beats about 100,000 times, continuously pumping about five litres of blood through a network of vessels, arteries, and veins, in your circulatory system.

Understand these simple but complex functions of your heart, but you must take a deeper look at the heart of the matter.

A heart disease diagnosis is not something you should take lightly. Early diagnosis can prevent further deterioration of your heart and save you thousands of dollars.

Heart problems are one of the biggest causes of death in Trinidad and Tobago, and blocked heart arteries, also known as coronary artery disease, are the major reason for this.

There are early signs of heart disease and, as you get older, you need to take action to improve your health. Men between age 40-45 need to start checking themselves; women can be a little older before checking, but if there are hereditary issues with heart disease, you may want to check much earlier.

These early signs are:

• Chest pain or tightness: This is one of the most common signs of blocked heart arteries. You may feel this discomfort during physical activities or when you are stressed. In some cases, the pain can even happen while you are resting.
• Shortness of breath: If your heart is not getting enough blood and oxygen because of blocked arteries, you may have trouble breathing, even when doing things that don’t usually make you tired. This shortness of breath can happen during activities or rest.
• Unusual tiredness: Feeling tired or weak without doing much can be a sign that your heart isn’t pumping blood properly. When blood flow is reduced due to blocked arteries, your body must work harder, which makes you feel more tired than usual.
• Dizziness or feeling lightheaded: Blocked arteries can make it harder for your heart to send enough blood to your brain. This can cause dizziness or a feeling of being lightheaded or even fainting.
• Fast or irregular heartbeat: If your heart feels like it is beating too fast or irregularly, this could be a sign that it’s struggling to pump blood effectively. Blocked arteries make it harder for the heart to do its job.
• Other body pains: Not all heart pains stay in the chest. It can spread to your shoulders, arms, neck, jaw and back. This type of pain is often on the left side of the body but can appear in other areas.
• Cold sweats: Sweating a lot for no reason or feeling cold, especially with other symptoms may indicate that your heart is under stress.

Now that you know the signs of having heart issues, let us look at the financial costs associated with heart disease. It is not all doom and gloom but having sufficient critical illness insurance and an effective medical plan, can save you and your family from financial hardship or even death.

Regular medical checkups using your medical plan can indicate early diagnosis of heart disease. These plans will assist with all initial tests, like physical exams, blood tests, and an electrocardiogram to identify heart rhythms or electrical conduction.

An echocardiogram will show the heart structure and function, how well the heart is pumping, and how well the valves are working. A stress test will show how well the heart is responding to physical activities while monitoring heart rate, rhythm, and blood pressure. These costs are not always cheap and will add up to your total cost of heart health care.

If the diagnosis indicates blocked arteries, then the doctors will recommend some type of surgery. While some surgeries are minimally invasive, having Open Heart Surgery is where the bulk of your money will go. This procedure can run you upwards of TT$750,000 at a private medical institution, providing there are no complications during surgery and not counting any post-surgery follow-ups and medication.

If you desire to have the procedure done abroad, then you need to consider the conversion of TTD to USD, as this is currently in short supply.

Another cost associated with this condition is the length of time confined to the hospital and time away from employment. Would your employer continue to pay you while you are recuperating, or are you prepared to earn half pay or less?

Your critical illness policy should be specifically tailored to suit your needs and financial circumstances and should include living expenses for a minimum of three years. Failure to invest in a critical illness personal policy will cause you to be placed on a waiting list at the public hospitals or your early demise.

While we cannot predict our future health, we can do something about it now to be financially secure.

Call me for more information on planning your financial future. Send your questions to myfinancialadvisor2020@gmail.com or call 620-1185.