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TV newsman Tim Russert was laid to rest recently, but cardiologists hope what happened to him will be remembered by many well into the future. While Russert's death was unavoidable, according to doctors, they hope it shines the light on heart disease and how it can be prevented. KSMU's Michele Skalicky has more.
Tim Russert did what doctors told him to do: he took heart medicine, exercised and had recently passed an exercise stress test. But this month, at the age of 58, Russert died of a heart attack.
Cardiologists say, sometimes, thought patients may greatly reduce their risk of a heart attack, they can't totally prevent it. That being said, many people are able to prevent heart attacks, and, if they have one, can recover and go on to lead a normal life.
Dr. Paul Freiman, cardiologist at St. John's Health System, says if people know they're at risk, they can take steps to avoid heart attacks.
"Cholesterol elevation: that's a big risk factor; diabetes is a very big risk factor; high blood pressure; cigarette smoking. Those are some of the reversible risk factors that we recognize, and, of course, family history is a big risk factor, but that's not one that there's much we can do about. But if you have a family history it certainly makes it necessary to be doubly vigilant about the other risk factors."
He says it's important that you have regular checkups to check for any risk factors for heart disease, and, if some are found, it's critical that they be addressed. And he says it's important that you know the symptoms of heart disease.
"The obvious symptoms for heart disease are chest pain, but we also worry about unexpected shortness of breath or a sudden change in someone's exercise tolerance, a marked fatiguability, you used to be able to do something a few weeks ago and now can't do it without becoming exhausted. Those are some warning symptoms."
When something tragic happens to a well-known person, as in the case of Tim Russert, some good can come out of it it others' lives are saved.
"I think that the take home message might be that this can happen to anyone. It can happen to people who have really no inkling that they even have a problem. I think the message would be to try to correct what is correctable and identify what is correctable at an early stage. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is really in play."
"About 920,000 American have a heart attack each year. Half of men and 64% of women who die suddenly of heart disease had no previous symptoms.
For KSMU News, I'm Michele Skalicky.
