It's a life saving tool that comes before an open heart surgery. 


And it's a procedure patients are awake through, but rarely know the extent of what is being done, until now. 



It looks like the real thing, the conversation even sounds like the real thing. But it's practice for physicians--- and for patients. 



It's a diagnostic test that gives your doctor a better and up close look at the condition of your heart.

It can be caused by a variety of conditions, which can be challenging to diagnose...until now. 


For two months, 81-year-old Stella Berkness would faint off and on. She felt fine and couldn't figure out what the problem was. Well the problem was her heart. But a tiny piece of technology saved her life. 



Berkness says, “It was just plain black out...and there I was.” 



It was only a few weeks ago that Berkness went to sit in her chair and down she went.

A majority of heart attacks happen at home, and a significant number of people die before they even reach the hospital. 


But technology could change that for people at a high risk of suffering a heart attack. That’s because a new device is making it possible to get help before it's too late



Two weeks ago Don Arends had a heart attack.

Heart disease is America's number one killer. In fact millions of Americans of all ages are living with risk factors that increase their chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke. 


A young man Sioux Falls man has been through more than many older adults. And this weekend he'll join millions as they walk in support of the American Heart Association. 



The American Heart Association's signature fund-raising event, the Start! Heart Walk kicks off here at Sertoma Park Saturday morning.

It's a story that's all too familiar - an athlete everyone assumes is in great shape - dies of a heart condition no one knew about. Now a new way to diagnose those athletes may change that. For the first time, doctors are using technology to help control the problem. 


It was while training for a half marathon that Sondra Workman first felt pain in her chest and tingling in her arms.

Your doctor may tell you to try to lower your cholesterol or increase your fiber intake, but there's one thing they may not mention - that you should find ways to get more Omega-3s in your diet. 


You may have just asked yourself what is an Omega-3? It's simply a nutrient found in fatty fish oil, and according to researchers, it's more important to your health than you think. 



If you eat salmon, herring, sardines, or albacore tuna consider your diet very rich in Omega-3s. 



William Harris, Director of Metabolism and Nutrition Research at Sanford Health says, “They're sort of like a vitamin in a sense because they operate at a very important level within every cell.

High levels of an amino acid in the blood called homocysteine have been associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Researchers are looking to a common vitamin, one you may have in your medicine cabinet, to lower that risk. 


Researchers in Norway studied whether using B vitamins such as folic acid and B12 could help prevent heart problems.

In March, HealthBeat told you about a comprehensive cardiac screening offered at Sanford that went on sale for 50 dollars. It's a series of tests that would normally cost nearly a thousand dollars. That price has created quite a frenzy and the hospital is making more room for more heart checks. 


The 50 dollar scan has saved lives.

For most people with faulty heart valves, it means open heart surgery. But now doctors are using robots to help them perform certain valve operations without opening the chest. There's less pain, shorter hospital stays and many people get back to work in a couple of weeks. 


Like an animal's instinct in the field, it was instinct that prompted Don Ginder to see a doctor. 



"I'd walk to the shed and I'd get a little winded,” says Ginder. 



Ginder had a faulty heart valve.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women each year in the United States. A routine procedure called a cardiac catheterization allows doctors to find potential blockages in the coronary arteries, but the procedure may not benefit all women. 


Virginia Devlin says she felt tightness in her chest and tingling in her arm.

Earlier this week we brought you the story of Jon Faulds, a 48-year-old Sioux Falls man who had no chest pain, no dizziness. But after his wife talked him into having a comprehensive cardiac screening at Sanford he found out that every artery in his heart was blocked. A week later he had a triple by-pass that saved his life. 


The test, which includes a blood pressure check, electro-cardiogram, cholesterol check, and a CT scan for calcium deposits in the heart, normally costs nearly a thousand dollars.

The American Heart Association has just released some new guidelines for people with hypertension, and it may help you ward off a heart attack or stroke.

Millions of Americans suffer from heart failure. As a result, their quality of life isn't what it could be. But doctors are studying a device that is not only keeping heart failure patients alive longer, it's also improving their quality of life.

With at least another couple of inches of snow expected Monday evening, chances are if you haven't done it once already today, you're going to come face to flake with what health experts call a "heart attack snow." 


The term "heart attack snow" is reserved for exactly the kind of snowfall we've been dealing with since 8 or 9 Sunday night.

Of the 3,300 Americans who will have a heart attack today, nearly one-third of them don't know they're at risk. 


Yet when you consider that someone dies from a heart attack every minute in this country, knowing that risk could 

be critical to saving a life, and determining that risk just got more affordable. 



That's because one of the most telling series of tests, known as a comprehensive cardiac screening, just went "on sale," if you will.

It causes distinct chest pain, and may feel like a heart attack, but doctors say it isn't one. And the inflammation this condition can leave around the heart is enough to side-line a normally healthy person. 


Pericarditis is a heart condition doctors say can be difficult to diagnose, often hard to treat and very challenging for many of the people who suffer from it, including the many you are about to meet.

Every year nearly half-million Americans are diagnosed with heart failure. Most of the time, it's caused by coronary artery disease or years of high blood pressure. 


But doctors say heart failure can be caused by something else... something you wouldn't even guess would be related to your heart. 



Crystal Vallez had some common flu symptoms, so she went to see the doctor.

Statistics show that more than 200,000 Americans die of sudden cardiac arrest every year. Up to 50,000 of these deaths could have been prevented if someone had access to an automated external defibrillator or AED. Across KELOLAND, more AEDs are being put in to place, but it's important to make sure the machine is as prepared to save a life as you are. 


AEDs are so effective at saving lives that more than 700 have been put at the ready in the Sioux Falls area alone.

Heart disease is the number one killer in North America. And while most of us know that high cholesterol is a major risk factor, exercise, eating right and medications can also help get your cholesterol down, but for some people, none of those things work. Now there’s a new device being used could help when all those other things don't. 


Doctors say it's best if your cholesterol is below 200.

It's a concept that has interested scientists for years - what if you could use stem cells in the heart after a heart attack, to help re-build damaged tissue? It's a good idea, but researchers have had trouble measuring if - and how well - the heart might respond. But new technology may change that. 


During a heart attack, unless treatment is almost immediate, damage will be permanent.