众议员安迪·巴尔。在签约两个月后，正在提高对心脏健康的认识以他已故妻子的名字命名的新法律他于2020年6月死于一种罕见的疾病。
巴尔周三出现在“GMA3”上，以纪念心脏瓣膜疾病宣传日，并讨论心血管研究进展和机会遗产法案卡罗尔法案-以他妻子的名字命名，他和妻子生了两个女儿。
“这是关于卡罗尔的遗产，”巴尔说。“我想做的是提高意识，让人们知道谁有这种诊断，看，这是一件大事。你需要检查一下，”他继续说道。
他家庭的经历让他大开眼界。
他解释说，“当卡罗尔上七年级时，她被诊断患有潜在的心脏疾病，一种被称为二尖瓣脱垂的心脏杂音。现在，大约有1100万美国人患有心脏瓣膜疾病。对大多数人来说，这是一种良性的状况。我们当然认为这是一种良性疾病。我们的医生告诉我们这没什么大不了的。我们只需要监控它。”
“但不幸的是，她是0.2%患有心脏瓣膜疾病的美国人中发生心脏猝死事件的一员，”巴尔谈到他的妻子时说，他的妻子被发现死在家中。
根据美国心脏协会二尖瓣脱垂是一种影响左心室之间瓣膜的疾病。常见症状包括心悸(心跳加速)、疲劳或胸部不适。
疾病控制和预防中心建议如果医生在听你的心跳时听到杂音(不寻常的声音)，“根据杂音的位置、声音和节奏，医生可能会使用超声心动图，这是一种使用声波创建瓣膜电影的测试，以查看它们是否正常工作。”
巴尔在“GMA3”上说，卡罗尔法案中的资金对科学进步很重要。
“我们可以阻止这一切，”他说。“正在进行的研究令人惊叹。我们需要资助这项研究。”
他还敦促人们注意自己的健康。
“通过早期检测和干预，这可以得到解决，患有心脏瓣膜疾病的人可以通过手术干预和其他类型的治疗长寿和健康地生活，”他说。
在这张2012年11月6日的资料照片中，共和党人安迪·巴尔和妻子卡罗尔·巴尔(Carol Barr)在肯塔基州列克星敦击败本·钱德勒(Ben Chandler)当选肯塔基州第六国会选区议员后，受到支持者的祝贺。
列克星敦先驱报-Leader/TNS via Getty Images文件
卡罗尔法案每年向国家心肺血液研究所拨款2800万美元，用于区分心脏瓣膜疾病的良性和致命病例。
此外，美国疾病控制和预防中心每年还将拨款800万美元，资助一个注册中心，为卫生专业人员提供突发心脏事件的数据，并资助一项宣传活动。
巴尔说，他希望他现在的努力可以帮助其他家庭，让他们免受“同样的悲剧”
“卡罗尔是一个非常非常好的妈妈。她是一位伟大的女士。她的生命太短了。...通过她的记忆，我们将帮助人们以更好的方式应对心脏瓣膜疾病，”他说。
After wife's sudden death, Kentucky congressman speaks about heart health and new legislation
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., is raising awareness for heart health two months after the signingof a new law named for his late wife, who died in June 2020 from a rare condition.
Barr appeared on "GMA3" on Wednesday to mark Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day and to discuss the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act -- orCAROL Act-- named for his wife, with whom he shares two daughters.
"This is about Carol's legacy," Barr said. "What I want to do is raise awareness and let people know who have this diagnosis, look, this is a big deal. You need to get checked out," he continued.
His family's experience had opened his eyes.
He explained that "when she was in seventh grade, Carol was diagnosed with an underlying heart condition, a heart murmur known as mitral valve prolapse. Now, there's approximately 11 million Americans who have heart valve disease. And for most of them, it's a benign condition. And we certainly thought it was a benign condition. Our doctors told us that this was no big deal. We just needed to monitor it."
"But unfortunately, she was one of the 0.2% of Americans with heart valve disease who had a sudden cardiac death event," Barr said of his wife, who was found dead in their home.
According to theAmerican Heart Association, mitral valve prolapse is a condition that affects the valve between the left heart chambers. Common symptoms include palpitations (bursts of rapid heartbeats), fatigue or chest discomfort.
The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionadvises thatif doctor hears a murmur (unusual sound) when listening to your heartbeat, “Depending on the location of the murmur, how it sounds, and its rhythm, the doctor may use echocardiography, a test that uses sound waves to create a movie of the valves to see if they are working correctly.”
Barr said on "GMA3" that the money in the CAROL Act is important for scientific advancements.
"We can stop this," he said. "There's amazing, amazing research that's going on. We need to fund that research."
He also urged people to be mindful of their own health.
"With early detection and intervention, this can be fixed and people who have heart valve disease can live long and healthy lives with surgical intervention and other types of treatments," he said.
The CAROL legislation annually gives $28 million for research to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which goes toward distinguishing between benign and life-threatening cases of heart valve disease.
There's also $8 million earmarked annually for the CDC to fund a registry to give workers in health professions data on sudden cardiac events and fund an awareness campaign.
Barr said he hopes his efforts now can help other families and spare them "the same tragedy."
"Carol was an awesome, awesome mom. She was a great lady. Her life was cut too short. ... Through her memory, we're going to we're going to help people deal with heart valve disease in a better way," he said.
