MORGANTOWN — February is Heart Month and Dr. Bradford Warden, Mon Health Heart and Vascular Center director and chief of cardiology, thought up a way to promote heart health without a doctor’s appointment.
It’s called Walking with Warden, held every Tuesday at HealthWorks Rehab and Fitness.
He wanted a venue, he said, where people could get some exercise plus some information on heart health. They meet at the indoor track overlooking the HealthWorks gym.
Warden opens with a brief talk. During the first one, on Feb. 6, he talked about cholesterol. The following week, when we visited, the topic was heart attacks and angina.
“And then we start walking. And different people will come up, and I’ll slow my speed down … and they’ll just ask questions while we’re walking.” The session lasts 30 minutes, he said, and he spent the whole 30 minutes answering questions on the first day.
They do laps around the track while they talk, but he doesn’t keep count, he said.
Walkers will ask him about their own issues, heart medications, heart health in general. There are only three things doctors can do to reduce the risks of blockages, he said: for diabetics, treat their diabetes; for those with high blood pressure, treat that; and treat cholesterol.
Everything else is up to the patient: diet, exercise, smoking and so on.
We asked if he plans to continue Walking with Warden when Heart Month ends. “We’re planning on doing it; I think it’s great. I do think it’s a practical way for people to get information.”
The 30-minute sessions are based on the idea that good cardio exercise requires 150 minutes of exercise per week, he said. Most people break it into five 30-minute sessions.
And that doesn’t mean walking up and down the hall at the office. A person needs at least 10 minutes of continuous exercise to get the cardiac benefit. Less than that may be good for other things — muscle tone, bone strength and such, but not for the heart.
Walking with Warden runs from 4-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. It’s open to everyone without a HealthWorks membership or an appointment at Mon Health cardiology.
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