|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by MARK POWELL
***
February is American Heart Month. And although Cupid and his romantic candy hearts have come and gone, the need to keep your physical heart healthy and strong remains a year-round priority. And since we recently observed Presidents’ Day as well, two presidential perspectives offer excellent examples of what to do (and what not to do) when it comes to heart health.
Both Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson dealt with heart issues while in office – and both responded to those issues very differently.
“Lyndon Johnson established Heart Month in 1964,” noted Sean Javaheri, DO of Lexington Health Heart and Vascular Center. “Johnson suffered a series of heart attacks himself and ended up dying at 64 years old of a heart attack.”
“The importance of heart health has been in the American conscience since Dwight Eisenhower had his heart attack in 1955,” added Javaheri, a fellow with the American College of Cardiology. “His physician got on television and educated Americans about heart disease in a way that really brought it down to everyone’s level of understanding. Since that time, we’ve been talking about controlling risk factors for heart disease.”
Eisenhower’s and Johnson’s first heart attacks came relatively close together, in 1955 and 1956, respectively. LBJ largely ignored his doctors’ advice while Ike mostly followed his. The result? Johnson was dead before age 65; Eisenhower lived to be 78.
***
Heart disease isn’t just an Oval Office problem, though. It’s all too real right here in the Palmetto State.
“While the United States itself has an incidence of about 5% of people having coronary artery disease, it’s double that in South Carolina,” Dr. Javaheri noted. “There are 800,000 new heart attacks a year in the U.S., with 600,000 of them new heart attacks and 200,000 recurrent heart attacks. And in South Carolina, it’s just devastating. Some 60,000 hospitalizations a year and 13,000 deaths annually at a cost of $6 billion to the state. Every year. That’s essentially $16 million a day we’re spending on the care of people having heart attacks here in South Carolina.”
That means prevention not only helps people stay healthy, it’s also good for the state’s bottom line.
So, what can you do to keep your ticker in tip-top condition?
“I tell people to start controlling their risk factors for heart disease as early as possible,” Dr. Javaheri said. “The biggest things are diet and lifestyle, exercise, low-fat, low-cholesterol foods, limiting salt and sugar, and fat intake. Watching high blood pressure, high cholesterol, not smoking, and controlling diabetes if you have it. Those are the big risk factors for heart disease.”
But it doesn’t stop there.
***
***
“Know your family history,” Dr. Javaheri continued. “Do you have a mother, father, brothers, sisters, or extended relatives who have heart problems? Because that could put you at a higher risk of heart issues. Plus, we’re learning a lot more about obesity and physical inactivity in and of themselves being risk factors for heart problems.
“Then there’s race and ethnicity,” he added. “African-Americans, people of American Indian descent, and South Asians all have an increased risk for heart problems. More recently, we’re gaining a better understanding of the role of inflammation. People with autoimmune diseases, things like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and other types of autoimmune diseases – or people who have chronic inflammation – they’re at elevated risk. And of course, people exposed to chronic stressful environments also have chronic inflammation that puts them at increased risk of heart disease. So, the first thing I try to impart is the importance of identifying those risk factors – and controlling them.”
And, Dr. Javaheri continues, those preventative measures aren’t as difficult as you might think.
***
RELATED | WHAT TO DO WHEN FLU STRIKES: ER OR URGENT CARE?
***
“It starts as simply as getting in to see your doctor, making sure your blood pressure is checked, and making sure your cholesterol is checked,” he said. “If you’re a smoker, it’s seeing your doctor and asking for help because it’s so hard to stop smoking on your own.”
Dr. Javaheri also strives to educate people about the benefits of losing weight, increasing physical activity, and getting regular exercise.
“There are also things people can do to screen for coronary artery disease at an early age to begin earlier preventive therapies,” he added. “I tell people who have a strong family history of heart disease that something as simple as a coronary artery calcium score, which they can get for $99 out of pocket, can be a good first test to screen for coronary artery disease – especially if they have a strong family history. It doesn’t replace managing all the other risk factors, but it’s a nice, easy initial screening test.”
Taking a few simple steps now can go a long way toward ensuring you’ll be around for Heart Month (and President’s Day) next year.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
1 comment
Ya know what else would help gramps? Republicans actually funding healthcare! What is the old saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Yet Republicans, and their voters continually deride preventative spending as socialism. While at the same time Boomers collect Social Security and Medicare without an ounce of self awareness that those are two of the biggest “socialist” programs on the planet. Such is the intelligence of the average Republican voter I guess.