Key points from today’s guests:

Jan Powell, patient

• Jan had a heart ablation and was put on medication. However, in January 2022, she was also diagnosed with diabetes. For a 72-year-old, that was a tough diagnosis to overcome.
• Doctors at The University of Kansas Health System pushed her to see a dietician, which inspired her to change her diet and start exercising.
• But the exercises she was seeing online were way too intensive for her. So she decided to design her own at-home workouts. In fact, she wrote a book about it.
• The book is called Quick Start HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for Seniors and Dr. Sheldon gives her book to other patients.
• Her workouts take just under 17 minutes and include quick bursts instead of continuous activity.
• In just two years, she lost 75 pounds and has a healthier heart.
• She offers this advice: “It's never too late to change. And it doesn't have to be with big things -- you can start slow and build up. But it's just never too late.”

Dr. Seth Sheldon, electrophysiologist and cardiologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• It's really cool to see a patient take ownership of that issue and really implement sustainable life changes. That she was able to facilitate this type of weight loss and improvement in her overall health is really remarkable and an example for other patients.
• Jan had atrial fibrillation, which is a chaotic rhythm in the top chambers of the heart. And it has a number of different ramifications when the blood sits in the heart and the top chamber is not contracting the way it's supposed to.
• Blood can sit there and if it sits there, it tends to form a clot and that could travel to the brain and cause a stroke.
• One way to treat this is lifestyle modifications. It's like the fuel to the fire with atrial fibrillation and so we want to make sure we get control of the drivers for atrial fibrillation and any reversible factors.
• We also want to manage stroke risk as symptom control and that can be medications or procedures like an ablation procedure.
• Exercise and healthy lifestyle goes a long way and Jan’s story is just a great testament to that and a great example that can be utilized by other patients.