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You Are NOT Too Young for Heart Disease!

By Dr. Mache Seibel on 02/12/2020 No Comments / 1521 views

You Are NOT Too Young for Heart Disease!

Usually when I share an article, it’s from a well-known medical journal. But this information was reported on the front page of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ January 15, 2020).

AFL’s Dr Mache Seibel

And it’s alarming!

Heart disease and strokes are killing an increasing number of Americans between the ages of 45 and 64, in the prime years of their life.

“It’s everywhere!” points out the WSJ. Major, midsize, and small metro areas, rural areas, and everywhere else. Even healthy areas of the country like Colorado reported some of the largest increases in death from heart disease. The 10 largest rate increases 2010 to 2016 were in:

Lexington, Ky	27.9% Increase	Beaumont, Tx	24.1%
Atlantic City, NJ	25.7	Fort Wayne, Ind	23.9
Corpus Christi, Tx	25.7	Greeley, Colo	23.5
Lincoln, Ne	25.1	Colo Springs	23.3
Fort Collins, Colo	24.4	Kennewick, Wash	22.5

Here is a shocker…In Colorado, one of our healthiest and most athletic states, a 2018 report from their public health department found that the people moving there were less obese and overweight than the people who already lived there. They provided example after example of people in their 40s coming into emergency rooms with a heart attack. This is even more common in women who go into early menopause and who are not on estrogen. More than a quarter of elementary-school children screened in the 2018-19 school year were overweight or obese, and just under 20% had borderline or high cholesterol.

What’s even more amazing? The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors is higher for the 35 to 64-year-olds than among the 65+ year-olds.

	% Age 35-64	% 65+
With HBP Under Control	52.9	45.9
On Cholesterol Drugs	48.1	63.5
Smoke Tobacco	24.6	10.4
Physically Inactive	28.4	41.2
Avg Sodium Intake mg/day	3,591	2,947

What can you do? Begin by realizing it can happen to you. Yes you. And then realize it’s time to change your future health. Here are the things that will help you the most:

Eliminate tobacco
Increase fiber, plant-based foods, exercise and sleep
Decrease stress, fast foods, processed foods, sugar, and salt
Control your weight and blood pressure
Get annual checkups and screening

As Ben Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” My personal way of saying this is, “It’s better to stay well than to get well.”

Dr. Mache Seibel

“It’s better to stay well than to get well!” Mache Seibel, MD.

Dr. Machelle (Mache) Seibel is America’s health expert, addressing the critical needs of consumers from stress and weight control to menopause and beyond. He served on the Harvard Medical School faculty for almost 20 years and is a pioneer in many areas of women’s health and more. He works with companies and organizations to bring exciting educational content to consumers. His professional experiences include:

– Host for PBS and NBC TV episodes, frequent media expert;

– Repeatedly voted into Best Doctors in America;

– Past Editor-in-Chief of the medical journal Sexuality, Reproduction & Menopause;

– Distinguished Alumnus Award, the University of Texas Medical Branch’s highest honor 2008;

– Multiple national awards for research, writing, music writing and patient education;

– Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School 2004-present;

– Director, Complicated Menopause Program, University of Massachusetts Medical School 2004-2011;

– Founder of HealthRock®, reshaping health education with health songs and entertainment;

– Past Medical Director, Inverness Medical Innovations (now Alere);

– Corporate Consultant and Corporate Health Expert Nationally and Internationally;

– Author/editor 14 books, over 200 scientific articles;

– American Cancer Society New England Division Medical Advisory Network;