Improved
6112 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3568 Lives1 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
Do you know what your risk factors are for developing heart disease? Cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York explains what tests we should have to monitor our own heart health.
I'm Lisa Birnbach for Howdini. How many women know as much about monitoring their heart health as they do their breasts? And yet, cardiovascular disease kills 10 times as many women as breast cancer does. Clearly, we need to know more about heart disease, the number one killer of both men and women in the United States.
Joining me to talk about how to monitor your heart health is Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a cardiologist who specializes in women's heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Hi, Dr. Steinbaum.
Hi.
We're breast cancer minded. And we're not enough heart healthy. At what age should we really be on top of this issue? I think women in their 20s, 30s, 40s think that heart disease has nothing to do with them. That in fact, it happens to older people, and that's the way it is. It just happens.
But what really is the truth is that it takes decades for heart disease to develop. So when you have that social smoking thing that goes on in your 20s, you're setting the stage to develop heart disease in the future. It takes longer than a day. It takes years.
So I think it's very important that women understand that their risk for heart disease develops when, in fact, we are younger. And we need to pay attention to this.
You mean, if you're eating a lot of fatty foods and smoking now and then in your 20s, you are not maybe developing heart disease, you are definitely developing heart disease?
Absolutely. All of these things, these lifestyle issues, that we start in our 20s, it's just to build up to disease later in life.
Does that mean everyone will eventually have heart disease, we just may not die of heart disease?
That's exactly right. Everyone over time, mostly everyone, if we live this American lifestyle, will in fact develop plaque in the arteries, or really a build-up of cholesterol. We know that for certain, that every single American will develop plaque in their arteries. Whether or not they have a heart attack is another issue.
So is aging by its own definition developing heart disease?
As we age, if you develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, if you develop diabetes, become sedentary, and overweight, you will in fact develop blockages in the arteries. And most of us develop these things as we age. But it's not necessary.
What kinds of exams or tests should we be getting now before the age we think we should?
Well, starting at 20 years old, I think it's very important to know what your cholesterol is. And it's very important to get it checked. Maybe not yearly. But certainly at 20, and then five years later. And then, as we get towards 30, really consider getting it checked every year.
But if, in fact, we are smoking, or we do have a family history of heart disease, or have any of those other risk factors, like are overweight and not really exercising, under stress, then it's important to get it checked more frequently.
Is family history enough of a factor to get a young person to be monitored for heart health?
Studies have shown that younger women who are considered at low risk but have a family history of heart disease may, in fact, show signs of blockages in the arteries through something called a coronary artery calcium score. And that's essentially an assessment of calcium inside the arteries, which is associated with plaque formation. These women actually do have plaque in the arteries at a young age.
And how do you get your calcium checked? Your calcium index checked?
Getting your calcium checked is actually through a CAT scan. It's truly a preventive measure in deciding how aggressive you have to be in taking care of the other risk factors for heart disease.
What are the extra things that we should be doing?
It's very important to understand that we don't need to over test. We don't need to go crazy. But we need to know what we can control. And we know what we can control is our diet, exercise. We need to understand what our numbers are. What is your blood pressure? What is your cholesterol? How can I change those things through diet, through exercise?
Because it can be changed through that. But if you really and truly have a significant family history-- and that's a father or mother with heart disease less than 55 and a mother with heart disease less than 65-- you have a significant risk of developing disease.
Thank you so much. For Howdini, I'm Lisa Birnbach.
Howdini is life’s little instruction manual, in HD. We’re all about bringing together the top, most respected experts in their fields to help us be the best we can be at all of the little and not-so-little challenges of our complicated lives. Howdini is the place to be for the know-how you want, when you need it. Or maybe it’s the know-how you need, when you want it. Whatever. We’re here to help. So come in and look around, won’t you?
We think you’ll love finding everything you want to learn about in one convenient place, and as we grow and add more categories and more Howdinis, you’ll be doing less surfing and more learning right here. And unlike television, Howdinis aren’t limited by time—we don’t have to break for commercials, and we’re always on.
Who is Howdini?
People often ask us, is there an actual person who is Howdini? And the answer is, it’s kind of like Lassie. Just as there were many Lassies, there are many individuals who are called Howdini. In fact, each of our experts is a Howdini, and, like all those Lassies, they really know their tricks. (Although so far there is no ‘How to tell your master that Timmy is trapped in the old abandoned mine’ segment)
Our gurus are people you know and trust because you’ve been getting advice from them for years, at places like Good Morning America, The Today Show, Money, Prevention, and Food and Wine (to name just a few). Many are best-selling authors. Others, like our medical experts, are respected leaders in their fields.
Howdini History
The first Howdini was Joanna Breen, who left a comfortable career at ABC’s 20/20 to create a how to video website after one too many frustrating experiences with handymen who weren’t that handy. Joanna had traveled the world reporting with Barbara Walters and others on injustice, outrage, and tragedy, but now it was time to turn her talents to dealing with crises closer to home, like what do you do if you drop your diamond ring down the drain. Joanna is the quintessential can-do girl, so she didn’t find the prospect of launching a gigantic website the least bit daunting. (Ok, that last part isn’t entirely true.)
Joanna convinced an old ABC News buddy, Shelley Lewis, to join her. Shelley had supervised roughly 9.7 million helpful how to segments during a long career executive producing television shows like Good Morning America and CNN’s American Morning. A self-described “info-pig” who loves all kinds of information programming, she is never happier than when she’s learning an amazing new tip that she can annoy share with everyone she knows. Needless to say, Howdini was a dream gig for her. A career woman, a wife, a mother, and author of two books, Shelley considers herself equally challenged by all the facets of her life.
Joanna and Shelley were introduced to marketing executive Alison Provost by a mutual friend who knew that Alison had what they needed - entrepreneurial experience, patience, and a checkbook that still had checks in it. Joanna and Shelley could see right away that Alison should join Howdini. They figured that they would take care of the programming, and Alison would bring trustworthy sponsors to help pay the bills. It took Alison significantly longer to be convinced, maybe because she was crazy busy running a marketing firm called PowerPact, which she continues to oversee while serving as the biggest of big cheeses at Howdini. But whether it’s playing Suduko or launching a new business in a field she knows little about, Alison loves the challenge of a good puzzle, It wasn’t long before she began dropping obscure internet terms like “user-interface” and “googlebot” into casual conversation.
What’s Next for Howdini?
Our goals are modest. Complete and total domination of the internet, crushing Google, Microsoft, and any other punks who get in our way. (Hey, it’s a just a goal.) But until then, we will content ourselves making the best, most professional, most credible how to videos you can find anywhere. We want to help you solve your career issues, your parenting problems, your money troubles. We want you to be more glamorous, healthier, and less stressed out. We want you to check Howdini every day for fun, interesting, useful advice from experts you know and trust.
We want to make Howdini the community you love to be part of every day, To do that, we need to hear from you. Please share your suggestions, rate and comment on the Howdini videos, and the blog, (The Howdini blog). Tell us what you’d like us to create for you.
And then, when we’ve achieved that, it’s back to working on complete and total domination of the internet.
Add a CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first one and get the conversation started!