Have a healthier heart — right now!

Millions Are Missing Out
Despite all the advances and our proven success, I am frustrated that more Americans aren’t getting the preventive care enjoyed by my patients and the patients of other preventive physicians. In fact, heart disease is by far the number one killer in the United States, accounting for 1 in 5 deaths annually. And it’s not just the stereotypical middle-aged or older man who falls victim. Heart disease is an equalopportunity killer — approximately 500,000 women die of hear-trelated ailments each year. And women, take note: If you have a heart attack, you are twice as likely as a man is to die from it. I want you women readers to realize that what I say in this book is as relevant toyou as it is to your husband, sons, father, and brothers.

Most deaths from heart disease result from a condition known as atherosclerosis, or “hardening” of the arteries, which occurs when artery walls are gradually filled by plaque, a toxic soup consisting mainly of cholesterol, inf lammatory cells, and scar tissue. But all plaque isn’t created equal. A heart attack occurs when a soft, cholesterol-rich plaque bursts, resulting in the formation of a blood clot that blocks the f low of blood to the heart. (The mechanism of most strokes is similar, except that it occurs in the arteries in or leading to the brain.)

Despite the fact that most heart attacks are preventable, there are about 865,000 new and recurrent heart attacks each year. And notwithstanding what preventive cardiologists are seeing every day, the total number of invasive heart procedures is actually on the rise. More than 1 million angioplasties are performed each year to open clogged arteries. In addition, some 467,000 coronary bypass operations are performed annually in the United States.

Patients are often told that having angioplasty or bypass surgery will prevent them from having a first or second heart attack. In the majority of cases, this simply is not true. While angioplasty (which involves opening a blockage by inf lating a balloon at the end of a catheter) can be lifesaving when performed early in the course of a heart attack or when symptoms are severe, it is too often being done on patients with mild or no symptoms of heart disease. In other words, this invasive procedure is being performed on people who are otherwise leading normal lives and for whom opening a chronically blocked artery will do nothing to prevent a future heart attack. And while bypass surgery (which reroutes bloodf low around blockages in the coronary arteries using veins and/or arteries transplanted from other parts of the body) can be lifesaving or life-extending in certain people, too many patients are undergoing this very serious procedure even though it will neither prolong their lives nor make them feel better.

Reprinted from “The South Beach Heart Program” by Arthur Agatston, MD. Copyright 2007 by Arthur Agatston, MD. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc.

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