My Dad Had A Heart Attack

It was many years ago.  It was his first heart attack and his last, he died.  My Dad was a surgeon, a good one many people tell me.  Since I was only 18 when he died I was only in a position to tell you he was a great Dad.  While outside his hospital room I had my first lesson on reading EKG’s.  His cardiologist was his friend.  What he wanted was dignity and his friend gave that to him, he knew he would not live.  The medical treatment of heart attacks has advanced to the point that many people survive heart attacks.  But many people don’t realize that heart disease treatment has advanced to the point that people can be treated with pills that can reverse heart damage and clean up the clogged arteries before they cause heart attacks.   One of the last big challenges of medicine has been to find people that are high risk to die from heart attacks years before they have problems.  The goal is to find these people, treat them and help them change their lives.

 There are things people can’t change about their risks but there are many things that can be changed.  For me it is a harsh reality that I am at high risk only because of my father.  But my kids don’t need to lose me, like I lost my Dad.  Yes I’m busy, exercise is a little boring, but I make time to exercise.  The data is clear, since I don’t smoke, exercise is the most critical tool I have to live a longer good life.  This is information I try and share with all of my patients.  Prevention of heart attacks is a personal and professional battle I feel passionately about.

You can age well remember, don’t smoke, exercise, choose more vegetables and fruit, choose liquid oils like canola oil and olive oil. Fish is a good choice.   Use the time you have wisely, none of us knows how much we have.