Talk Of The Rock - Heart Health Month with Miss Arkansas Cori Keller

Talking with Miss Arkansas Cori Keller about her platform of heart health and discussing all the ways to take better care with your own cardiovascular fitness with the American Heart Association.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome and thanks for tuning in forTalk of the Rock public affairs, community
events, and public services for CentralArkansas from the iHeartRadio studios in Little Rock.
Here's your host, DJ Taylor,and thank you for joining us for
Talking the Rock. I'm DJ Taylorand I'm joined by the amazing Corey Keller.
Miss Arkansas. How are you.I'm great. How are you doing.

(00:21):
I'm fantastic. Thank you so muchfor being here today. I appreciate
it. Thank you for having me. I do want to start out by
saying, first of all, thankyou for what you do in the community.
Because every time I see you,you're reading to kids, or you're
playing with kids at a park,or you're doing like you're doing today and
informing people about very important things.That's amazing, and thank you for what

(00:44):
you're doing is Miss Arkansas. Thankyou so much. It's been the biggest
honor of my life to serve myhome state this year. It's been an
incredible opportunity, fantastic. And thenof course the Miss America contest was just
a couple of weeks past. Itis that was an amazing experience. I'm
sure, oh, it was incredible. And get to make the top ten
and represent Arkansas was a very surrealand overwhelming moment for me. I've watched

(01:07):
Miss America growing up. I haveadmired other Miss Arkansas that have gone and
heard their stories, and it wasreally cool getting to make my own story
and getting to represent Arkansas that way. Absolutely. Now this is February,
It's Heart Health month, and yourplatform deals with heart health and the American
Heart Association. How did all ofthat tie together? How did that become

(01:30):
your platform? My platform this yearis Miss Arkansas has really evolved. I
became an American Heart Association advocate almosttwo years ago now fighting for nutrition access
because my platform is feeding the futurecollaborative solutions to hunger. Because in Arkansas,
we are first in the nation forfood and security, more specifically childhood
food and security. I'm from Stuttgart. I saw that in my communities.

(01:53):
I saw that even in my ownclassroom, and I wanted to help those
around me. I wanted to helpthose that I grew up with. So
I became an advocate with the AHAto advocate for systemic change in legislation as
it relates to nutrition access. Butthe week before Miss Arkansas, I was
with the Aha in Washington, dC. Advocating for the farm bill as

(02:15):
about eighty five percent of the farmbills actually nutrition access related instead of necessarily
just farming. Sure, it's morenutrition access. But I got a call
from my mom that my dad wasgoing to be having emergency open heart surgery
because he was diagnosed with three ninetypercent blockages and heart disease. And I
flew home and he had his surgery, and the surgery itself went well,

(02:38):
but in recovery he ended up goinginto heart failure and was put on a
life support machine and was there forthree weeks, and he missed Miss Arkansas.
So my platform has really evolved fromliterally the first day I was crowned
Miss Arkansas. I've cared about heartdisease from a new light and a new
perspective because it's my genetic predisposinestion now, but it's also millions of Americans who

(03:01):
suffered from heart disease, and Iwant to sure that no hungry child has
to worry about that, that theycan create heart healthy lifestyles from a young
age, but also that all Americans, all are Kansons, are prioritizing their
heart health to absolutely it's something thatsneaks up on you. As a matter
of fact, maybe six months agonow, I was doing just fine,

(03:23):
and then all of a sudden,I'm seeing spots. I'm dizzy. I
don't know what's going on. Itturns out that it was just a brief
spike in my blood pressure. ButI am predisposed to high blood pressure.
Hypertension runs in my family. AndI thought, surely not me, surely
not me. I'm healthy, Itake care of myself. But as it

(03:46):
turns out, you know, ofa family and having kids and not a
whole lot of time, the poundstend to sneak on. Which is going
to leave it at that. Butthe important thing, like you're saying,
is nutrition is key when it comesto that sort of thing. Over the
last six months, I have learnedso many things that, oh, surely

(04:09):
this is fine. It's really not. You know, there are so many
different facets to a healthy lifestyle,not just exercise but also diet, absolutely,
and so many times people live thathealthy lifestyle and they still have heart
disease. About eighty percent of heartdisease is preventable, but that twenty percent
still exists. My dad, hiswhole life. He was a runner.

(04:31):
He always watched what he ate.His dad had heart disease and he didn't
want that outcome for himself. Butyou can't outrun genetics. You can't walk
away from them. They're going tobe there no matter what. So it's
important and something to AHA preaches,something I preaches. Know your numbers,
how are you doing? What isyour blood pressure consistently over many days?
What's your cholesterol, what's your Aone C, your triglycerides, what's your

(04:55):
BMI? Are you living that healthylifestyle? And are you regularly checking up
with your health care provider? Becauseit matters. And always say preventative medicine
is the best form of medicine.It's good to know now instead of when
you have a problem. So prioritizingit from a young age is really important.
But yes, it can sneak upon you if you're not careful.
Absolutely, you know one of thethings you said. And I want to

(05:17):
just point this out because I giveblood on the regular, so I see
come out of cholesterol levels and thingslike that. They've always been just fine.
But I never checked my blood pressure. I never thought to do that,
especially not on a daily basis.Only if I was at the doctor's
office already or something like that,and it will it'll sneak up on you.

(05:41):
And one of the great things aboutthe American Heart Association is they make
sure that you know how to usethat cuff appropriately, how to read test
results appropriately. What would you sayis one of the oh wow moments in
your learning experience with American Heart associateiation. What's something that just stood out as
like I would have never guessed forme. It's one statistic that I've said

(06:05):
often in a lot over the lastcouple weeks with it being Heart month and
specifically go read for women, isthat forty percent of women over the age
of twenty have some form of undiagnosedheart disease or heart condition over the age
of twenty. I would have thoughtit would have been forty or fifty,
but twenty year olds. I'm twentysix, and that made me think about
myself, like, oh gosh,you know, how am I doing really?

(06:28):
Because you can have undiagnosed conditions thataren't necessarily reflected from poor lifestyle habits
or blood pressure or your cholesterol canjust be something you're born with and you
may never know. So that wasreally shocking to me and specifically for women.
And you think about women who arein child bearing ages about to have
children. That puts a lot ofstress and strain on your body and more

(06:49):
specifically your heart. You know,your blood volume increases while you're pregnant,
So women, especially those of childbearing age, really need to take hold
of their heart health because cardiovascular diseaseis also the number one reason for maternal
mortality because so many underlying conditions goundiagnosed and unnoticed. So women need to

(07:10):
prioritize that if they're thinking about havingchildren. You know, I read a
statistic funny you mentioned that when mywife was pregnant with our youngest that a
woman's heart goes through the same stressesand the same pressures and workout ethic.
I guess you could say as anultra marathoner. I don't know if you'd

(07:30):
ever heard that or not, butit's true during pregnancy, a woman's heart
works as hard as a training ultramarathon runner. Yeah, that is unreal,
but really, women over the ageof twenty a forty percent. Wow,
that is I mean, I'm blownaway. Yeah I was too,
because I'm like, oh, wow, that's me that's my generation. Those

(07:51):
are my friends, and I wantto make sure that they're doing what they
can. And I even had aheart screening this year. There's some really
great resources in Central Arkansas to getlow cost, high efficiency, high rates
of success. And you know yournumbers immediately and have a cardiologist recommended to
you, or you have a healthplan assigned to you where you can know

(08:13):
your numbers and even get ekg's orsome types of CT scanning done. I
did one with Baptist Health earlier thisyear, a b Heart healthy heart screening.
It's forty five minutes and one hundreddollars and you know all of the
numbers I discussed earlier, triglycerides,A one C cholesterol, your blood pressure,
your BMI. They also do anEKG, a CT heart scan,
and they also do an abdominal andaortic aneurysm and blockages check in your abdomen

(08:41):
in your neck, so you canknow about all of your major arteries and
veins in your body, your heart, you can know how you're doing in
forty five minutes, have a healthcareplan for you that's really quick and efficient
and something just to check up onyourself quickly absolutely, and you don't.
I think the main thing is,though, is to not take it for

(09:01):
granted. I mean that statistic rightthere tells you any age, any person,
any lifestyle, any background. Andof course I remember the first time
I heard that heart disease is thenumber one killer of women in this country
and thinking, how is that possible? How could that be? But yet

(09:24):
there it is, and that's true. And that's why we have Go Read
for Women month, well, actuallythe Go Read for Women campaign. We
just did the Where Read for Womenlast Friday, but the Go Read for
Women campaign to bring awareness to that. What are some of the main messages
from the Go Read for Women movement? We'll call it that really need to

(09:46):
be shared with everyone. Many peopleand specifically women, think that cancer is
the number one killer of women,but it's not. It's hard. Disease
is the number one killer of women. And speaking about maternal mortality, women
are more likely to die in theprocess of giving birth or having a child

(10:07):
from heart disease than any other condition. Women in the state of Arkansas are
also at a higher risk because there'sthe number one mother mortality rate in the
nation is Arkansas. Oh my god, So in our state. It's specifically
really important because when you have thenumber one maternal mortality rate in the nation,
you need to be taking those preventativesteps. You need to be seeking

(10:31):
out help from a healthcare provider,using prenatals, doing what you can to
be as healthy as possible. Andthen also knowing that statistic about even if
you're not ready to have a child, but you're over the age of twenty,
checking in with a primary health careprovider or your doctor or any kind
of cardiologists or physician to see howyou're doing is important because you could be

(10:52):
at risk for a heart condition andnot even know it right. And you
know what, when you go tothe doctor for a checkup for your annual
health screening, things like that,bring it up to that GP, bring
it up to your PCP that youare concerned about heart health. You're not
concerned that you may have an issue, but you know what, like you

(11:13):
just said, an ounce of preventionis worth a pound of cure. And
February during American Heart Association's Heart HealthMonth, also American Heart Associations hundredth birthday.
Yes that's a nice time birthday,but you know, I think one
of the main things is to understandthat this is this is not an age

(11:35):
related crisis. This is not wellI eat healthy or I exercise every day.
It's still something that needs to betaken into consideration. I mean,
like I was saying, you know, my mom was hypertensive. My fat
levels were good, my cholesterol wasgood, my A one C was fine.

(11:56):
I've never had a problem with sugar. I've never had this or that.
I trained to run five k's andthings like this, and yet blood
pressure just out of the blue,just blood pressure is shue. Yeah,
and if you tell your primary carephysician that you're concerned about that, especially
if you have a history of it, if mom or dad had an issue

(12:18):
in the past, Grandma grandpa hadan issue in the past, if you
have a history of heart disease,heart attack, or stroke in your family,
this is something that needs to betaken seriously and promptly. Yeah,
even if you don't go ask ahealthcare provider because you don't know when you're
going to start that line for yourfamily, or if it could be something

(12:41):
that affects you or a mutation youmight have separate from your family. You
just don't know, and it's importantto take care. And we're talking about
women specifically. You know, ifyou have a cardiac event in public,
women are actually less likely to receivebystander CPR than men are. Really,
Yeah, I did not know thatthat's the reason for that, do you
know? I think people are justweary to touch a woman or to be

(13:07):
that close and personal. When theAmerican Heart Association now is just teaching compression
only CPR, are encouraging everyone tolearn by standard CPR because if you're not
prioritizing your health, if you're notknowing how you're doing cardiac wise, this
could be a reality. This couldhappen to you. So it's important that
you're not only prioritizing yourself, butprioritizing others and knowing how to care for

(13:33):
everyone should a situation arise, becauseI would want someone to take care of
me if I was in public andthat happened to me. Oh, don't
just leave me laying there on theside telling all that is not the way
to behave y'all. Come on now. And here's an interesting little tidbit about
that. American Heart Association says thatkids as young as nine can learn CPR.

(13:54):
Oh yeah, I mean anybody inthe family. In fact, as
a family man almost that that isa great idea because the American Heart Association
they do CPR clinics and training.Take the whole family. Oh yeah,
kids nine and up, they're welcome. And I would even encourage schools like
have it as a regular class orsomething you review every year. I visited

(14:16):
a school in Jonesboro, and itis a priority and also a requirement to
get out of they're like a midlevel education, like a fourth fifth,
sixth grade school. To graduate fromtheir school, you have to know how
to give CPR and do basic vitalsand that's sixth graders, fourth fifth,
and sixth graders. Yeah, that'sa great requirement to have and you can
do that in the school system.You can do that in your house.

(14:37):
You can do it, take agroup, make it a birthday party if
you wanted to. Really, Oh, that's not a bad idea. There's
a wide variety of ways you cando that, and it's a cost efficient
thing to do that could potentially savea life. Absolutely, you know.
I hey, my generation, Iremember we were in ninth grade health class
and we spent a whole week justcovering and learning CPR. Red Cross and

(15:00):
American Heart both out there watching usand certifying everybody in that class and every
you know, every year, youhad two sets of classes that we go
in and they had to certify topass the class. That's just how it
was, and I think that thatis really a brilliant thing to do.
Church groups is another another business,an enourishment activity for your team building,

(15:24):
your business, yeah, or yourneighborhood groups, your civic groups, anybody
and everybody, because I mean,really, what have you got to lose
nothing, You're going to be savinglives. You'll have that knowledge in the
back of your mind. And whatbetter way to celebrate Heart Health Month than
by learning CPR and learning how tomake it well. And there's some pretty

(15:46):
fun songs we are on a radioshow, okare pretty fun songs about over
one hundred beats per minute or aboutone hundred beats per minute is what you're
looking for when given compression CPR.So I like to think about some real
cool Michael Jackson song. There yougo any are you okay? Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, it'sa great one and you cannot forget Stay

(16:07):
in a Line Alive, Yeah classic. As long as you got that song
in your head. You're keeping therhythm needed for CPR, which is pretty
amazing. There's actually there's a playlistfor that. I think AHA dot org
is it. You can go therethat you even have a playlist on Spotify
that is, you know, chestcompression songs, or you can look up

(16:29):
CPR appropriate songs. Yeah, yeah, you can. You can act that
is that is actually a search onGoogle. That's true. And also while
you're online AHA or Heart dot org, you can go there and take an
online CPR class. I don't knowif you knew about that, but yeah,
it's possible to do it online.I would recommend it. I don't
know about you. I'm sure you'retrained and your training was probably in a

(16:53):
group of folks and it was probablya lot of fun. It's not this
grim dark doing. Now that MissAmerica is an official partner of the American
Heart Association, we're doing it everyyear at Miss Arkansas Cool, So all
contestants in Miss Arkansas are getting CPRtraining every summer because it's also something you
have to practice. You can doit once, but you have to do

(17:14):
it often because many bystanders don't wantto give cprs. They don't feel comfortable
or they haven't practiced recently. Sure, so I'm glad that Miss Arkansas we're
prioritizing that for our young women.Absolutely, it's talk of the rock Corey
Keller, Miss Arkansas and talking aboutthe American Heart Association and Heart Health Month,
all the different things that are goingon. As we get through the

(17:36):
month of February, I want togo back again just quickly, to go
red for women and the fact thatwomen have a that is the number one
killer of women in this country isheart disease. And heart health is so
important now me, you know,I think back to my mom and all
the things that she used to do. I think about my wife and all

(17:59):
the things that she does now.I mean, she's constantly on the go,
she's eating healthy, She's usually carryingaround a four year old, right,
you know, because for whatever reasonhe still wants to be carried around
by mama sometimes, you know.But she's she's physically active. You know,
she's on the treadmill or the elliptical, or she's lifting weights. There's

(18:21):
cardio, there's yoga. There's somany different things that she tries to do,
and yet so many women have hearthealth issues. I think about many
women, they always prioritize other people. They prioritize their children, they prioritize
their spouses, they prioritize their partners, they prioritize their families, their work,

(18:41):
whatever they're doing, and a lotof times they forget to prioritize themselves.
You can't care for others if you'renot caring for yourself too. So
it's not selfish to take an afternoonand go see your cardiologists, go see
your primary health care provider. Caringfor yourself means you're caring for others as
well, and that also goes forlearning cp are. That also goes for

(19:02):
you know, advocating for others orvolunteering for the AGA is. While you
might be filling your own bucket andyou might be making yourself feel better or
giving yourself some peace of mind,you're also helping others in the process because
you're taking care of yourself so youcan care for them too. Very well
said, I mean, you haveto be able to take you know,
you've got to take care of yourselfif you intend to take care of others,

(19:22):
and whether it's your career, whetherit's your family, whether it's your
friends, or your hobbies even Imean, I know a lot of folks
they get they get tied up intheir hobbies for a while, and you
know what, it's important to rememberthat you have to be able to function
and that you need to make surethat you're taken care of as well.

(19:42):
And also bringing up the subject ofkids, we were talking about CPR a
minute ago. What happens mom?If you know, kids put the randommest
things in their mouths, It justhappens. Yeah, lego bricks, rocks
at the playground, any number ofthings, and there could be a choking
situation, yeah, or there couldbe some sort of event that requires CPR

(20:08):
on a child. I mean,it broke my heart taking that training,
just thinking of what situation I mightbe in. Maybe it's a pool accident
or well there's the different strategies basedon the size of the person exactly.
You have CPR for full grown humans, but you also have cprs for infants
and toddlers that you need to knowthe different techniques that go with that.

(20:32):
The American Red Cross can also teachyou how to be first aid and choking
hazard certified, to do an officialcertification to go through the first or the
American Red Cross. They can teachyou all of these various techniques. They
chase great about teaching CPR, sure, and it's various techniques as well,
but to get the full scope,like you were talking about if someone was
choking, going to the American RedCross to get that done. But I

(20:55):
mean, think about even going towatching your child as a sporting event,
right, how many times do wehear about a child collapsing on the field
and having a cardiac episode? OrI think about often Damar Hamlin from the
Buffalo Bills. What happened to himon the field. You know, he's
someone's child too, And if thereweren't trainers there or physicians on the field

(21:15):
to help revive him and do CPRand do what is necessary and know how
to properly use an AED, wouldhe be here advocating for the American Heart
Association. I don't know. SoI'm glad that the AHA and a Nation
of Life savers is campaigning to ensurethat all Americans and all people can live
a healthy lifestyle, but also ensurethat they can help someone in dire need

(21:37):
as well. Absolutely, and ofcourse pointing out you're talking about the NFL
and things like that. Of course, American Heart Association ties in with the
NFL. Yes for a special program. Tell me a little bit about that.
Yes, So, Nation of LifeSavers is a campaign that Damar Hamlin
is really the figurehead of as hehad a cardiac episode last season with the

(22:00):
Buffalo Bills, and his was asudden cardiac event. But it's necessary and
it just goes to show you thatthis happens all the time. You know,
Lebron James child, Bronni James,he had a cardiac event this past
year as well on the court andneeded help. So creating a Nation of
Life Savers so all people can knowhow to do hands only CPR and can

(22:21):
properly use an AED as essential.But also to ensure that AEDs are available
at every sporting event, whether they'reminor or major. It's significant and necessary
to ensure that proper care can begiven to children and adults and young adults
if something like that were to happen. And two things to point out on
that particular note. First of all, those units are made so that literally

(22:47):
anybody can use them. They haveon screen and picture instruction and it tells
you what to do so if thereis a cardiac event and that is required,
don't be afraid to take advantage ofwhat's there to help save a life.
And secondly, I want to pointout that we're talking about some star

(23:07):
athletes here. Oh yeah, ifanybody is in cardiovascular shape, it's them,
it's them. They do the cardiothat they put in the world to
the right and they I mean absoluteperfect heart health. But like you said
earlier, you just you can't runfrom genetics, and anybody can be susceptible.

(23:29):
That's why it's so important to makesure that you get checked and to
make sure that you're in a conversationwith your doctor about heart health. And
also, don't think that it's aweakness. This is not something that uh
that you know, it's it's nota weakness. It's not showing badly on
you. It's so yeah, thisis this is something perfectly normal and natural

(23:52):
that just happens to us as humanbeings. And it's I think it's natural
to think that to think something thatphysically might be wrong with us, it's
also a weakness or something we shouldn'ttalk about with others. But sharing our
stories brings so much power and somuch encouragement to other people to not only
prioritize themselves, but maybe get thatnaking at or nagging ache they feel in

(24:15):
their chest checked out, or anychest tightness they might feel when they're exercising
checked out, or maybe they're havingthat jawn shoulder pain but don't want to
tell anybody about it. It's nota weakness. Knowing your numbers, knowing
that you're okay is a strength.So then you can prioritize others as well.
By prioritizing yourself. It's it's veryempowering. And I've seen, even

(24:37):
just sharing my dad and my family'sstory this year is miss Arkansas, how
many people have feel have felt encouragedto go to the doctor or to get
that nagging pain checked out, orto just ensure that they're doing okay because
it's you don't want to have toget checked out when it's too late.
You want to do it now.That is one hundred percent on point.
And another thing about that, likeyou said, talking about it makes a

(25:00):
world of difference because for me,like I said, it kind of snuck
up on me, but it wasn't. Maybe a month before that I had
actually talked to my cousin who was. He's a police officer, he does
Brazilian jiu jitsu, he runs,he lifts weights, he is I mean,
he works out all the time.And he said he was having some

(25:23):
pain in his chest, a littlebit of numbness here and there, and
he went to the doctor thinking Iprobably just got heartburn or something like that.
He had blockages, Oh yeah,and they found them because he knew
it was time to just go getit checked out. Didn't want it to
affect him or his family. Andhim telling that story was what ultimately spurred

(25:48):
me on to go ahead and goto the doctor, just because I didn't
want to be like that. Ihave friends that have lost their family members
to heart attacks and heart doessease,ease and all kinds of different different problems,
and I didn't want that to bemy family's story either, right,
And I think that that's something youhave to keep in mind, even if

(26:11):
you don't do it for yourself,do it for your family. Yeah.
Absolutely, It's like you said,it's not a selfish endeavor to take care
of yourself. It's prioritizing yourself soyou can care for others. Is so
incredibly important. We prioritize, andI know so many times, especially parents
prioritize everyone else but themselves. Butif you're not caring for yourselves, you

(26:33):
cannot care for them. And Idon't want to be like that for my
family or my future family, andI want to ensure and I still nag
my parents today. I'm like,if something is wrong, go to the
doctor. If you don't feel right, go to the doctor. Your body
will tell you if something's happening,and sometimes it might not. But by
creating those habits of dieting, exercising, regularly, visiting your primary care physician,

(26:56):
you can mitigate some of those problemsabsolutely. And like you said,
you know, if you go tothe doctor, you know that everything is
okay. Case of mind, andthat's what they're there for. That's what
the doctors are there for, tomake sure that you're healthy. And talking
about diet and exercise, that's somethingelse that's on heart dot org. You
can go by there. They dohave some really good recipes. I love

(27:18):
to cook, I mean that's oneof my you can tell by my person
I love to cook and I loveto eat, and they have some really
really good recipes on that are hearthealthy and they actually taste good. It's
okay, I promise. And theyalso have a variety of exercises that are
available there, even if you're nota fitness guru. Even if you're not

(27:44):
you know, a d one sportsathlete, can be very simple. Yes,
absolutely, And it takes just afew minutes, Like they're fifteen minute
workouts I think are on huh soyeah, I mean they have heart dot
Org has incredible resources about heart disease, the risk for heart disease and stroke.
How you can mitigate your risk fromdiet, exercise that looks like recipes

(28:04):
that looks like exercise, from justgoing on a walk that can even make
a huge difference in your life andyour lifestyle. How you can visit your
doctor, what resources are in thearea, how to do CPR, but
also how to reduce stress. Isthat is one of the most common factors.
How to reduce work related st leavethat at the office, yes,
because that can be a huge dresseron your heart as well and the things

(28:27):
that we let affect us and justhaving that peace of mind and knowing it
you're doing well can mean the worldfor you and your family and your body.
Absolutely, it can. Corey Keller, Miss Arkansas. Thank you so
much for coming in today talking withus about Heart Health Month and the American
Heart Association. And I just againthank you so much for what you're doing

(28:49):
in the community across the state.You're talking about my old stomping grounds up
there in Jonesboro, and of courseStuttgart, I mean love Stuttgart, and
so thank you very much for whatyou're doing. And thank you for taking
the time to come in today andtalk with us about heart health. Thank
you so much for having me.Thanks for listening to Talk of the Rock

(29:11):
public affairs and community events from theiHeartRadio studios in Little Rock. Be sure
to subscribe to this podcast and listennext week as we talk to more guests
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