WEBVTT - This Valentine’s Day, How To Protect Your Heart (Literally) 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:05.400 Hello Sunshine, Hey bessies. 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:08.239 Today on the bright side, it's Wellness Wednesday, and we're 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.280 tackling a topic that affects millions of women every year, 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.040 heart disease. Cardiologist doctor Jennifer Haith is here to drop 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.640 some truth bombs and share a few surprising tips that 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.400 honestly could save your life. It's Wednesday, February twelve. I'm 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:22.640 Simone Voice, I'm. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:27.840 Danielle Robe and this is the bright side from Hello Sunshine. 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:32.479 All right, besties. All week we are talking love and 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.680 relationships as we look forward to Valentine's Day this Friday. 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.680 We hope you've got your Gallantine's Day plans in order. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.640 And for today's Wellness Wednesday, we're talking about the one 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.519 thing that symbolizes all things love and romance. 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:51.159 Our heart be still our hearts. Okay, this is actually serious. 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:55.280 February is American Heart Month, a time when everyone is 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:59.280 encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health, and for good reason. 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.200 This may come as a surprise to everybody, but heart 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:04.880 disease is the leading cause of death in the United 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:09.160 States and unfortunately the leading killer of women, more so 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.520 than breast cancer, and estimated one in four women will 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:14.320 die from some form of the disease. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.440 I mean one in four women. That is a truly 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.440 shocking number. And I was also surprised to learn that 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.720 even though heart disease is the leading cause of death, 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:27.400 an estimated eighty percent of cardiovascular disease is preventable. Just 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.720 to say that one more time, it's preventable, it's mind blessing. 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:33.200 So if you are as surprised by these statistics as 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.520 we are, just know that there are a lot of 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.480 things that we can actually start doing today to feel 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.080 empowered on this journey of lowering our risk for her 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:42.720 heart disease. 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:46.800 Absolutely, and I think it goes without saying that we 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.800 all know the importance of eating well, exercising, sleeping well, 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.960 and our guest today is building on that. She's sharing 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.560 some lesser known ways that we can protect our hearts 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:57.920 and improve. 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.000 Our cardiovascular health. 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:03.800 Doctor Jennif for Haith is a cardiologist and Columbia University professor. 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:09.440 She specializes in heart failure, cardiac transplant, and women's cardiovascular disease. 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.640 Doctor Jennifer hath Welcome to the bright Side. 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:14.520 Hi, thank you so much for having me. 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.200 We're really grateful for your time today. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:22.080 The stats around heart disease are equal parts terrifying and empowering. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.840 We just mentioned that cardiovascular disease is the number one 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.120 killer of women, but it's also preventable eighty percent of 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:32.200 the time. I just want to reiterate that eighty percent 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.800 of the time. Can you help us make sense of 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.680 that contradiction. If heart disease is so preventable, why is 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.160 it still the leading cause of death in the United States. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.800 It's a really good question, and it's probably the most 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.160 important thing we should talk about today, which is that 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.320 most of heart disease is in fact preventable and also 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:52.239 very treatable, which is part of why I picked cardiology 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:57.040 as my profession. The reason that people develop heart disease 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:58.120 is usually. 0:02:57.840 --> 0:02:59.440 The combination of factors. 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.480 So there are risk factors that predispose you, and it's 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:06.320 a lot of women and men, but women especially where 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.680 since we're talking about women, don't necessarily take care of 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:14.200 these risk factors. And so when you have unchecked diabetes, 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:19.720 high blood pressure, obesity, tobacco use, sedentary lifestyle. I mean, 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:22.680 the list goes on high cholesterol, and you don't treat 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:26.800 those from an early age. Those things add up and 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.639 you end up with having heart disease. But if from 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:31.960 a young age people were paying more attention to these 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.400 risk factors and modifying them, you really would see a 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.600 dramatic reduction in heart disease in women. 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:38.080 Wow. 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:43.360 I also learned through researching for this interview that there's 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.320 been an increase in heart attacks for women ages thirty 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.720 five to fifty four. Thirty five to fifty four is 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.320 very young, and that's increased over the past two decades. 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:54.680 What does that increase about. 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:56.360 There's a couple of different reasons. 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:01.400 One is that women are now working in the workforce 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.760 in a similar capacity to men, and so for a 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.680 long time, you know, when women were not as much 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.520 a part of the workforce, cardiac disease was more prevalent 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.240 in men. Thought to be you know, in part related 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.320 to stress of you know, having a job and you know, 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:17.960 manual labor and things like that. 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.920 But women are also now falling. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.800 Victim to the same risk factors that men have had 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:24.359 for years. 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:24.640 Right. 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:29.120 So smoking obesity huge problem in this country, and we're 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.240 seeing it younger, So women have those risk factors younger. 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.320 Diabetes again goes hand in hand with obesity, so women 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:42.320 developing insulin resistance at younger ages, higher blood pressure is 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.920 a result. So all of these things are really wrapped together. 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.760 And when you have a more sedentary lifestyle or you 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:55.080 are now working more longer hours overnight shifts, not not 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.480 aware that you are now at risk for diabetes, hypertension, 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.640 high cholesterol. Those things are all putting women at increased risk. 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.120 Women are also at higher risk for something called SCAD, 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.599 which is spontaneous cornary artery dissection. Is something you know 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.520 you may read about or hear about in the news 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:15.040 where the blood vessel wall actually splits apart and kind 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.560 of causes the blood vessel to close and cause a 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.919 heart attack, and that is common in women, particularly women 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:25.039 in the peripartum period. It's a very poorly understood phenomenon 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.800 where hormones may play a role, stress may play a role. 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.320 You know, we don't really know, but we know that 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:34.839 it affects women more than men, and that it's scary 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:38.360 because it's not so easily treated. So you know, there's 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.479 a lot of different things that play But you're right, 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.120 and being younger and being more aware of your risk 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.120 of heart disease is so important because it's when you 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:51.400 start young taking care of yourself. You're really preventing so 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:53.600 much misery down the road. 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.640 I was looking at your Instagram account and it says 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:03.000 that you encourage people to eat using the Mediterranean diet, 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.599 which I'd like to get into more. But I do 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:07.360 think that that seems like that's something you can do 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:08.560 at a young age. Yeah. 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.880 I mean, unfortunately, our diet is terrible in the United States, 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:16.880 and I think we're very fixated on being very intense 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.160 about different kinds of diets, and that's why there's. 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:21.200 Been so many diet books. 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.960 And you know, it's not sexy to just eat like 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:27.479 a balanced, normal diet, but that's actually the best thing 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.680 for you, you know. So what I tell patients is, 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.599 you know Mediterranean diet, like avoid butter, use olive oil, 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:38.679 have salads, have vegetables, have fruits, have nuts, try. 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:40.200 To limit meat, you know, takee. 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:44.200 You can have chicken, white meats, very focused on fish. 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.560 It's not so hard to stick to it. 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:48.440 It's pretty simple. 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.680 You just have to commit to like a healthier diet, 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.480 not eating fast food, fried food. 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.280 It's so part of our culture. Unfortunately. 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:01.400 Talk to me about genetics here. If your grandmother or 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.640 your mother suffers, are you more likely to suffer. 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.960 Yeah, So genetics of heart disease is fascinating. Some of 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:13.160 the diseases are clearly genetically based, are inherited. There's such 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:17.239 a bigger push for genetic testing. And so not only 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.080 is that helping us identify, you know, causes for some 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.160 of the syndromes we're seeing, but it also helps women 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.320 know that they should screen their children, or that their 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:32.440 parents should be screened, you know, if they have something 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:33.960 that their parents may not have known about, or their 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:35.200 siblings should be screened. 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:37.000 And it's fascinating. 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:41.560 I mean, there's genetic associations with almost every single heart problem. 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:43.360 We know some more than others. 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.640 And it is crucial for women to talk about their 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.560 family history with their family. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:50.960 And it's interesting. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:54.880 Women are embarrassed historically to talk about their heart disease. 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.240 They feel like it's a man's disease, you know. I 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.760 always say in the movies, you see a woman like 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:04.560 playing tennis and then having a heart attack or having 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:06.239 a heart attack in the middle of having sex. 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:07.760 Right, that's so true. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:13.200 Right, And also this association with this like overweight, smoking, 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:18.840 cheeseburger eating man, you know, and that is not the case. 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:22.080 And there's many women who do not fit that profile. 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.440 I mean even people who run marathons, who are healthy 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.640 and who have maybe, like you're saying, this very strong 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.800 family history of early heart attack that may have nothing 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:31.520 to do with how much shape you're in, and maybe 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:35.439 entirely genetically driven, and it's important to be screened. So 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.720 I tell women, talk to your mothers, talk to your siblings, like, 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:40.600 try to talk about it with your friends. 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:42.040 Don't have it be embarrassing. 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.040 You know somehow it's not embarrassing to talk about breast 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:49.959 cancer or other kinds of cancers, but heart disease feels shameful, in. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.839 Which we as a community are really trying to reverse that. 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:58.079 Is there a way to override your genetic predisposition? I'm 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:03.000 thinking obviously lifestyle facts. But can people with a family 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.480 history reduce their risks significantly by doing anything? 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:08.160 So it depends. 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:14.280 So if you are inheriting a significant like autosomal dominantly 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.959 inherited genetic abnormality that leads to certain kinds of heart 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:23.920 failure syndromes like no, probably not, You're maybe predisposed like 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:27.960 hypertrophic cardimiapathy, you are going to get hypertrophic cardomampathy. But 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:33.320 what you can do is be screened early so that 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:37.280 you don't miss it and have a catastrophic event. Know 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:41.840 what you have, there are medications available like start treatment 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:44.720 sooner and be aware of it. It's always better to 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.920 be prepared than to have something catastrophic or sudden happen. 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:52.680 Then you're in much sicker situation. There is a huge 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.600 amount you can do, though, if your genetics predispose you 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.480 to more like athrosclerosis. So if your father was thirty 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.800 five and drop dead, or your mother and was running 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.640 and was otherwise a totally fit person, you know, that 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.920 makes you wonder there's some genetic predisposition. And there's certainly 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.840 some cultures that have much earlier cornary vascular disease than 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.280 other cultures. And so what I recommend for those people is, 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:20.360 besides you know, eating healthy and taking pills for your 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.280 blood pressure and taking cholesterol medication and making sure you 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:27.080 don't smoke and exercise, you also should get screened because 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.599 even if you're doing all those things, you can still progress. 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.600 And so if you catch that early and treat it, 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:36.880 you will be okay, okay and fine. 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:40.920 So in addition to genetics, when we think about our 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.680 anatomy as women, when we think about our hormones as women, 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.960 what role does all of that play in heart disease. 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.880 So we know that women seem to be protected from 0:10:53.000 --> 0:11:00.160 athoskerotic heart disease until postmenopause, which prompted a big study, 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.600 you know, over twenty years ago now where they looked 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.080 at the use of hormone replacement in women as a 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.840 mechanism to prevent heart disease. You know. The feeling was 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.360 that there was something about estrogen that was protective and 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:17.120 that once women went through menopause their risk for heart 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:21.120 disease was the same as men. And so they did 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.960 that study and then they found a higher risk of 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.920 cardiovascular events and the women who were taking estrogen. So 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.080 after that everybody said, oh my god, we can't use 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.679 hormone replacement in women. It kills women, actually gives them 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.080 heart attacks and strokes. And so for like the last 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.760 twenty years, they've taken away hormone replacement for a long time, 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:44.400 until a few vocal doctors and scientists said, well, actually 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:49.720 the study was really misinterpreted, and yes, if you have 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:55.559 risk factors for heart disease, strong family history, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, 0:11:55.679 --> 0:12:00.240 high cholesterol, smoking, and then you take hormone replacement, may 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:00.880 be increased. 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.000 But if you are a fifty five year. 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.480 Old woman who's otherwise healthy, doesn't have a lot of 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.600 cardiac risk factors or any and you're suffering from horrible 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:16.520 hot flashes and insomnia, that taking hormone replacement is totally safe. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.120 Whether or not it's going to prevent you from developing 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:23.600 heart disease maybe still be up for some debate, but 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.760 its safety is certainly clear. And that you know, I 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.000 think we deprived women of hormone replacement for a long 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.439 time because of sort of this misinterpreted study, and people 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.600 are recognizing that now. So you guys are a little young, 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.439 but when you hit like your late forties, early fifties, 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:45.520 you'll see, you know, my friends are all asking me, like, 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:46.960 what do you think about hormone replaces? When you think 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.360 about hormone replace and then tell them like, if you don't, 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.200 you know, we go through their risk factors, and if 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:55.800 their risk factors, okay, it's definitely okay and can cause 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.040 a lot of relief from a lot of horrible symptoms 0:12:59.040 --> 0:12:59.800 of metopause. 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.880 Okay, let's talk symptoms, especially for heart attacks. This part 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.400 of this conversation is so important. I've heard that women 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.520 are less likely to experience some of the same symptoms 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:13.760 as men, some of the classic symptoms that we've been 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.920 trained to look for. So what should we be looking for? 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.960 So the number one symptom for a heart attack in 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.520 men or women is going to be chest pain and pressure. Remember, 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.240 it can be a sharp pain, but the traditional what 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.200 we call angina or angenal chest pain of a heart 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:33.679 attack is often described as like a pressure on the chest, 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.160 like an elephant sitting on your chest, and it's this 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.920 heaviness that you can't quite like, never felt before, but 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:43.320 also can have pain. So women are more likely to 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.720 have these atypical symptoms, which I say they're not really 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.760 atypical because women can also be typical, but they call 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:50.560 them a typical. 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.800 So pain in your left arm radiating up to your jaw. 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.880 The reason why we always hear about that, and people 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.640 always don't understand it is that the nerve bundles. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.680 From your arm and into your jaw. They travel with 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:06.160 the cardiac nerve bundles. 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.559 So it's not that your arm actually hurts, it's that 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:14.240 your brain is confusing the pain from the nerves traveling 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.640 from your heart with the nerves traveling from your arm 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.880 and your jaw, So you're feeling a sensation of pain 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:22.960 in your arm and your jaw, but it's really just 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.920 it's originating really from the heart and it's being misinterpreted. 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.520 Does that make sense, So we call it like referred pain. 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.360 Women are very likely to feel short of breath. I 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:37.400 try to tell people. It's the kind of thing where 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.560 every day, let's say you walk three blocks to get 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:42.840 to the subway, you go down the subway stairs, you 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.880 come up the subway stairs. Sometimes everyone feels a little 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.200 short breath when they go upstairs. But if you start 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:50.680 to say, like the last couple days, or when today 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.160 I walked to the subway and I just couldn't catch 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:55.240 my breath and I went up the stairs, I couldn't 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.440 catch my breath, that is when I feel worried. 0:14:58.600 --> 0:14:59.720 Take it really seriously. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:04.480 Another thing that women feel more commonly is mid epigastric pain. 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.360 So you know, sometimes when you're having a heart attack 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:09.920 and a certain part of your heart, it can be 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.400 referred to the mid epigastric region. So they were like, 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:14.320 you'll hear people say, like I didn't feel well. I 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.520 felt the little nauseous. I felt like this kind of 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.320 like I thought I had reflux again. That's also an 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:27.760 atypical symptom back pain, chest pain, lightheadedness, whoa palpitations. And 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.520 also this, I think this is always an interesting one, 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.280 like a feeling of doom. 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:36.560 Which feels very strange and sort of like a little. 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.560 Bit sounds like a Sunday to me, like, yeah, Sunday scaries's. 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.760 Exactly, but there is something about this, like I feel 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.080 like there's something not right with me, and I can't 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.880 quite figure out what it is, but I know something's wrong. 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.760 I tell people to take those things seriously. 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:53.640 So if you don't feel okay, go to a doctor, 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:56.600 and if you're not happy with what that doctor provider 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.560 told you, get another opinion, or take yourself to the 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.040 emmergence sea room. You know, I've seen a lot of people, 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.760 women in particular, be told that they're having an anxiety attack, 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:09.040 they're having a panic attack, and maybe some of them 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.800 may be having a panic attack. But before we decide 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:15.720 it's a panic attack, let's do an EKG and let's 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.600 check your blood work, and let's do a proper evaluation. 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.640 And then only then say it's maybe anxiety or panic. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:24.920 Before jumping to that conclusion. 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.800 I want to double down on the anxiety part. I've 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.960 done several interviews in the past about heart health, and 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.560 most of the doctors or researchers that I've talked to 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.240 have said, if there's one thing that you could take 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.920 away from today, it's that if you feel like you 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.440 are having an anxiety attack, make sure that you are 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.280 also making the hospital look at your heart. 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.640 It could save your life one hundred percent. You can 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.840 message of the day, yes, and not always the hospital, 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.000 even if you go to your regularly. If you wait 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.360 and make an appointment with your regular doctor, make sure 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.400 that they're taking you seriously too well. 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:07.280 A lot of times they dismiss you if you ask 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.400 for that because they're busy or other reasons, and it's 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:12.800 hard to stand up for yourself in that moment, but 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.720 you really I've now learned anxiety check for heart health. 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.520 I've known a woman who saved her life because of. 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:23.560 That, and I know people who've lost their lives because 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:27.399 they haven't done that. And it's sad and terrible, But 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:32.520 if you don't feel right, go and see someone, and 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:37.440 then if that person doesn't make you feel like they're 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.440 really taking your symptoms seriously, or you still don't feel 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.119 good after you see that person, go somewhere out go 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.440 to the er, like, yeah, please call nine one one 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.600 and have them take you to the emergency room. If 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.159 you're sitting in your house and you can't breathe and 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.520 you're having pain and you're like nervous, just call numb 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.760 one one. Put yourself first for once, you know it's 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:59.200 really it is life or death. 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.040 Haith, I just want to underscore everything you just said 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.800 with a statistic I came across that seventy two percent 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:09.399 of women who had a heart attack waited more than 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.000 ninety minutes to go to the hospital or call nine 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:17.800 one one. In your experience, I can't imagine that all 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:18.560 of that is shame. 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:20.760 Why are women not calling for help? 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:22.679 I think there's also fear. 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:25.439 I mean I think there's a you know, there is 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.040 a shame part or a I don't want to bother anybody, 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.720 or I have other stuff to do and I'll deal 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:36.320 with it later. But I think people are scared, right, Like, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.840 having a heart attack is scary. And what I think 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:44.000 is important for me to convey to your audience is 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.359 that there's all different kinds of heart attacks. Right, there's 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.720 really big heart attack that could chill you right on 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.160 the spot, but there's also small heart attacks. 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:54.360 Right. 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:57.720 The heart has three big arteries, but there's branches of 0:18:57.800 --> 0:18:59.879 vessels off of all of those arteries, and some of 0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:02.399 them can be small and they can do damage. But 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:05.920 I don't want people to be scared that the outcome 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:07.879 may be that they go to the hospital and that 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.360 they get a stent and that they have to take 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.000 some medication, you know, for their cholesterol and a baby 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:16.359 aspen for the rest of their life, or a few medications. 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:18.960 And I think there's this avoidance and denial of what 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:20.080 those symptoms are. 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.320 And so it's really important to try to push that 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.640 to the side and recognize that if you keep doing that, 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.200 either you could have a catastrophic event or over time, 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.440 even if it's little heart attacks, like for instance, in 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:37.040 diabetics who may not feel this heart attack the same 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.520 way as other people because of how diabetes works, that 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.240 even though the heart attack may not be actually killing 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.200 them on the spot, they are developing a heart failure syndrome. 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.000 And so what our goal is in taking care of 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.480 people is really we want you. 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.720 To be like super healthy, healthy, exercise and then like 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.480 drop dead when you're ninety five, right, like fall die 0:19:58.480 --> 0:19:59.080 in your sleep. 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:00.520 That would be everybody goal, right. 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.560 They don't want to suffer with some kind of chronic 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:07.240 illness and they want to be active. I mean, another 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.040 important thing that I want to tell women about being 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:13.560 active is that it's so important to start when you're 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:17.119 young and stay active through your life. I understand that 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:19.960 there are times where you can't always be as active 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:24.239 as other times, but even just practicing standing up from 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:26.600 a seated position in a chair. You know, we know 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:30.600 that women and men who have more core strength and 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.560 can do activities in their seventies and eighties like stand 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:35.800 up by themselves from a chair with no hands or 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.000 you know, have that inner strength, have a longer life 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.359 expectancy and do better. And so that is also really, 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:46.000 really maybe the most important thing for people to be 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:46.399 aware of. 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:49.760 We've got to take a quick break, but we'll be 0:20:49.840 --> 0:21:01.479 right back to our conversation with doctor Jennifer Haith and 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:04.080 we're back to Wellness Wednesday with doctor Jennifer Haith. 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.919 Well, I want to speak next about something that I 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.920 know you get excited about talking about which is prevention, 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:13.840 so exercise food. 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:15.399 Can we get into the nitty gritty of that. 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:17.879 Yeah, I mean, it's funny what you said before. 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:19.600 But like I was like one day, I was like, 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:21.280 I think I'm going to write a book that's called 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:23.480 like eat Less, Move More. 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:25.840 And then I was like, but that's kind of like 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:28.080 that's it. I don't know what I put in the rest. 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:28.320