Heart Awareness: The Impact of Your Behavior On Heart Health

"Think about heart health in decades. If you talk to a 10-year old boy he’s not going to understand what you’re talking about. He might be thinking about a Valentine shape or something. When you talk to a 20-year old who’s coming in with palpitations because he drank five red bulls, and thinks he’s having a heart attack, that might be a good time to start talking about heart and health awareness and cleaning up his diet.

"As the decades go on usually people start becoming more aware of heart health. Someone in the family has had an event: your father, your brother and it impacts you. And you start thinking, well what about me? That’s an awareness that most people come to at different parts of their life. You’re 30 and you might not have that epiphany until you’re 70. It’s really interesting to see patients come in and start wanting to broach the subject about their heart and their health.

"You can’t talk about heart attack awareness to an 18-year old because you’re not going to reach them. You can talk about hydration, about a healthy diet, and you can talk peripherally. It’s usually around age 40 or 50 when they really really want to start learning about what impact they can have because of their behavior. Oftentimes, they feel guilty about it so we talk about behavior and impact. We talk about what they hope for and what they expect, and I like to remind them that it’s not a given. You’re not a 5-year old you’re a 55-year old. You are now made up, in part, because of your lifestyle. You cannot hide: I have the lab data, I have the blood pressure, I have the studies and I can exam them. You’re going to want to know. Because you’re going to want to make a behavior change to make an impact.

"One thing patients underestimate the important of, is their family history. Patients will say, 'I don’t have any family history of heart disease.' And I’ll say, 'Well you must not have talked to anyone in your family because it’s the #1 killer in America today.' It is important to know. 'Oh yeah, my brother had a heart attack when he was 40 and my father dropped dead when he was 55.' These things are really important for us to know because it helps us do risk stratification. I might look at your cholesterol a little earlier. I might be interested in monitoring your blood pressure a little more closely. We might start broaching the subject of salt – talking about no more than two grams of salt a day or whatever. So I don’t think I could ever get tired or exhausted of talking about the impact of your behaviors on your health expectations. Because everybody’s different and not everyone’s honest with himself/herself and I’m here to try to help you be self-effacing, to look at your risk. Maybe change some things up and help you out."

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Disclaimer: This content is for entertainment purposes only and it is not meant to be relied on as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Consult your physician before starting any exercise or dietary program or taking any other action respecting your health. In case of a medical emergency, call 911.

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