CINCINNATI —

Doctors are working to determine what caused a Buffalo Bills football player to collapse after taking a hit during the Monday night game with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bills defensive player Damar Hamlin is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where experts are looking at all possibilities.

“They’re looking at his coronary arteries, looking at his heart musculature, looking at his potential for arrhythmias and whatnot, and seeing if those are the predominant cause,” said the co-director of the sports cardiology center at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Tamamna Singh. “That will dictate what the treatment strategy will be.”

Singh said what happened during the hit is also a major factor.

“Blows to the chest can also trigger abnormal heart rhythms that can cause cardiac arrest. So, there's a whole host of things that we want to evaluate before we kind of speculate what the cause was in this particular case,” Singh said.

Among the most important part of the treatment was the attention given immediately on the field.

Medical teams used an electronic device known as an AED.

“What it stands for is an automated external defibrillator, meaning if you put the pads on and you don't need to be shocked, it's not going to call for a shock. So, it is truly automated,” said American Heart Association Alyson Poling.

Poling said CPR compressions were also important to circulate oxygen to the brain.

“As an adult, we have a lot of oxygen built up, but if nothing is circulating that oxygen, things will start to die off. So, truly what we call hands only or that compressions on the chest is first and foremost, especially in adults,” Poling said.

National Wear Red Day falls on the first Friday in February and is an annual campaign meant to raise awareness about heart disease in women. 

The national campaign urges women to learn their risk for heart disease and to take steps to lower their risk. Although heart disease is said to be about 80% preventable, it causes one out of every three deaths in women each year.

You can help spread the word by dressing in red and also encouraging women to learn their risks. According to The American Heart Association, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, a family history of the illness, diabetes, stress, inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s, along with complications during pregnancy and menopause can increase a woman’s chances of being diagnosed with heart disease.

Let’s go! It's #WearRedDay! So crank up the tunes, get on your feet and rock your red for women’s heart health. pic.twitter.com/ezzDSMb1OL

— GoRedforWomen (@GoRedForWomen) February 4, 2022

As the CDC notes, only around half of women recognize that heart disease is the number one killer for women. It is the leading cause of death in women in the United States, and killed 299, 578 women in 2017 alone, which equates to about 1 in every 5 female deaths the CDC said.

Talk to your doctor if you're experiencing symptoms the CDC says are associated with heart disease like angina, pain the the neck, jaw, or throat or pain in the upper abdomen or back.

For more information on National Wear Red Day visit www.goredforwomen.org

This story was originally published by Alex Livingston of Newsy.

While performing on stage in drag in front of a crowd, Mutha Chucka feels confident and comfortable.

Seeing a doctor in private, however, hasn’t always been as welcoming.

“The world wasn’t always as lovely as it today," said Chucka, a professional drag queen. “I’ve absolutely experienced overt discrimination.”

Chucka, also known as Chuck Gutro, is one of the many people in the LGBTQ+ community who claim they’ve faced discrimination in professional medical settings.

“I’ve experienced doctors who, when you’re honest with them, they have visceral reactions to things that an LGBTQ+ person would understand innately,” he said.

According to the American Heart Association, 56% of LGBTQ+ adults report experiencing discrimination from a health care professional, which medical experts say could lead to serious health issues.

“If we think about it from a clinical perspective, we certainly see that LGBTQ people are more likely to avoid seeking care," said Billy Caceres, Ph.D., RN, an assistant professor at the Columbia University School of Nursing.

He says avoiding health care, even for a short time, could have permanent consequences.

“People might go with longer periods of time having diabetes without actually knowing that they have diabetes or having high blood pressure without knowing it because they’re avoiding seeking care,” he said.

To improve this issue, Caceres believes more LGBTQ+ content should be taught in medical school, extra training should be required for established clinical practices and new policies should be put in place to help health care providers better understand LGBTQ+ health disparities.

“As somebody who’s taking care of thousands of patients, I think that everybody deserves the right to seek health care without fear that they are going to be treated differently,” he said.

While Chucka is confident getting on stage and speaking out, he understands everyone isn’t as confident.

When it comes to health, however, he says LGBTQ+ people can’t afford to be quiet.

“You have got to stand up for yourself,” Chuck said. “And if you can’t, bring someone that can.”

Robert Taub is a Type 2 diabetic who had one big problem when the pandemic hit: access to in-person medical care.

“My doctors were offering Zoom conferences,” he said. "But they can’t take my blood over a Zoom meeting."

Taub had to delay seeing his doctor for six months and as a result, his health suffered.

"Everything that could be bad and wrong was just that,” he said.

Taub is like many Americans who did not get medical care during the start of the pandemic and even after.

"Unfortunately, we’re seeing very concerning indications that people are still delaying reconnecting with their doctor a year into this pandemic," said Donald Llyod-Jones, MD., who is president-elect with the American Heart Association and a cardiologist at Northwestern University.

He says a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly 27% of Americans recently reported delaying or not getting medical care.

“We’re seeing this happen in all segments of the population,” he said. "But it’s particularly concerning, I think, among communities of color and in rural areas where access to health care already was somewhat tenuous."

Llyod-Jones says delaying checkups can take a toll on people’s health physically and mentally, adding that it also puts some people at higher risk for severe complications of COVID-19 infection.

“If you get it, it’s more likely that you will be hospitalized or that you’ll have severe long-standing complications if you have one of these chronic underlying conditions," he said.

When Taub eventually saw a doctor, he says it was the worst blood work of his life.

“My triglycerides were so high, they thought the test was wrong,” he said.

After getting the medical attention he needed, however, this Type 2 diabetic is better, managing his chronic condition one day at a time.

“My numbers are back down low again, and I’ve lost 11 pounds,” he said. “I’m on the right track home.”