Aired February 23, 2025: Lisa Foxx talks to Dr. Megha Agarwal, a UCLA Health cardiologist and a volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, all about Heart Health Month and all the ways our listeners can LOWER their risks of the #1 killer - heart disease and stroke. Knowing important things like your risk factors, your BMI, blood pressure & cholesterol numbers, looking at your lifestyle and how much sleep you get, could all be GAME CHANGERS for your heart health!
February 2025, the American Heart Association encourages everyone to focus on heart health during American Heart Month, with a special focus on women's heart health on National Wear Red Day, February 7th, and promotes learning CPR to become a "lifesaver".
Since the American Heart Association’s founding in 1924, deaths from cardiovascular diseases have been cut in half. And yet, there are still so many lives to be saved. By driving breakthroughs in science, policy and care, together we can continue to advance health and transform lives every day. Did you know more than 23,000 children experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year? Learn CPR today so you can be ready and become a part of the Nation of Lifesavers. Because no one, especially our most precious ones, should face a life-changing moment alone.
Here's a more detailed look at American Heart Month 2025:
Key Themes and Activities:
February 2025, the American Heart Association encourages everyone to focus on heart health during American Heart Month, with a special focus on women's heart health on National Wear Red Day, February 7th, and promotes learning CPR to become a "lifesaver".
Since the American Heart Association’s founding in 1924, deaths from cardiovascular diseases have been cut in half. And yet, there are still so many lives to be saved. By driving breakthroughs in science, policy and care, together we can continue to advance health and transform lives every day. Did you know more than 23,000 children experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year? Learn CPR today so you can be ready and become a part of the Nation of Lifesavers. Because no one, especially our most precious ones, should face a life-changing moment alone.
Here's a more detailed look at American Heart Month 2025:
Key Themes and Activities:
- Focus on Women's Heart Health:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, so the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement urges everyone to wear red on National Wear Red Day (February 7th) to raise awareness. - National Wear Red Day:
Wear red on Friday, February 7th, to show support for women's heart health and raise awareness about the unique heart health challenges women face. - Learn CPR:
The American Heart Association promotes learning CPR as a vital skill to save lives during cardiac emergencies. - "Nation of Lifesavers":
The AHA encourages people to learn CPR and become part of the "Nation of Lifesavers" movement, aiming to double the survival rate of cardiac arrest by 2030. - Heart-Healthy Habits:
The month is a good time to focus on adopting heart-healthy habits, such as eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, managing stress, and getting enough sleep. - Advocate for Heart Health:
The AHA encourages people to become advocates for heart health by supporting policies that promote cardiovascular health and funding research into heart disease. - Volunteer:
The AHA also encourages people to volunteer their time to help create a healthier world free of heart disease and stroke. - Join a Heart Walk:
Participate in a Heart Walk to raise awareness and funds for heart disease research and prevention.
GET MORE at HEART.ORG
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lisa Fox, You're High is the iHeart so Cal Show.
It's our show that puts the spotlight on charterble organizations,
nonprofits and people giving back. And I know we're towards
the tail end of February, but February is Heart Health Month,
and it's very important to talk about even though a
lot of people's hearts are so broken over these terrible
fires that just devastate our communities here, devastated our communities.
(00:21):
It's a lot heartbreak and heart stress. Raising your blood pressure.
Heart health is so important to talk about. Heart disease
and stroke is the leading cause of death in our country.
We need to pay attention people. We need to pay
attention to our heart health. And the good news is
is that there's so much we can do about it
to improve it on our own. We're not doomed. We
just have to wake up and get more aware and
(00:43):
make sure we're paying attention to our numbers. And so
happy to have on doctor Mega Agriwall, Hi, doctor, can
I call you am? I calling you doctor Mega because
that sounds so powerful, Doctor Mega.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, yeah, Mega Heart Health Months, right.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's right. Doctor Omega is a UCLA Health cardiologists and
a volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, and the
American Heart Association is so much about making sure that
this is front page news, top of mind, and really
especially if you're a little on the not I won't
say older, I'll just say over a certain age, but
we really need to not be afraid to talk about
(01:17):
our heart health. But heart health for all ages should
be discussed.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Right, yeah, I mean, heart disease really does not see age,
and starting in about the forties, I mean even as
early as thirties. I think the youngest patient I ever
sent to open heart surgery or to get a stent
was in their thirties mid thirties. Heart disease is very
real and remain number one killer, like you said, for
(01:44):
both men and women. And what we've noticed through research
to the American Heart Association is that women tend to
have worse outcomes than their male colleagues. And that's now
due to many different reasons, including women presenting in a
more atypical fashion and having some unique risk factors which
(02:04):
are very age dependent, which I will get into, but
also just general awareness. You know, we don't always think
about our heart health, especially as we get older. Often
times our bodies are so resilient that they don't really
show signs of heart disease until we've already developed pretty
advanced disease. So it definitely is very important, definitely remains
(02:27):
the leading killer.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So I go to my cardiologist, doctor Botia. Hey, I
got a doctor Botia every year just to give myself
peace of mind and essentially with all these proper tests, right,
they go in and look at my arteries and look
and see how my blood is pumping, and they check
the blood pressure and there's all these things they do
to kind of get piece of my making sure the
plaque isn't building up right. Then they do a stress test,
(02:49):
so they put you on a treadmill to make sure
your heart can handle getting really really pushed with your
physical exercise. And then they do ultrasound. They do all
of these intricate tests to really get in your business
to make sure everything's working correctly. When do you advise
that people? What age should we start doing that, because
it's really a great way to know how your heart
(03:10):
is functioning.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Right. So, you know, I think one of the most early,
so some of the most treatable risk factors for heart
disease are your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your blood sugar,
and those three values gets get tested starting in your
twenties and really starting at the age of ten, you
can develop plaque in the arteries of your heart wow
(03:34):
and all other vessels. But really starting at the age
of twenty, we start to aggressively screen patients with EKGs,
with blood pests, with blood pressure monitoring. So that's when
I would start in an ideal world. But if you're
a busy twenty something year old or thirty something year old,
I think seeing your doctor by at least your mid thirties,
(03:58):
whether it's a cartiologist or primary care doctor, to get
some of these routine blood tests checked is really important.
Also for women, what becomes really important is as they
enter those perimenopausal years. You know, the estrogen levels start
to decrease, and that can change the amount of lean
(04:20):
muscle mass their bodies have, and that can lead to
increase weight gain, increase belly fat, increase blood pressure, cholesterol,
blood sugars, and those are all silent. You don't necessarily
feel those, and so they can start to accumulate without
you even really knowing it. And so I would say,
(04:42):
you know, in an ideal world twenty and at a
bare minimum starting in your mid thirties, because again that's
the earliest I've seen heart disease develop. And again, if
you have a strong family history, if you have a
family member that had heart disease, whether it's a blockage,
a heart attack, heart arrhythmias, or valve issues, younger than
(05:03):
the age of sixty or sixty five, you have an
increase really, you have an increased risk. Absolutely, and you
should probably be someone who tries to see the cardiologist
in their twenties.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And look, every person I've had on the show to
talk about, whatever disease or condition, it always goes back
to two ways to improve everything in life. Healthy eating
and exercise. Fuel in your body with healthy, delicious food,
and move in your body to get the blood pomping
at it all working healthy delicious fuel, and keep your
(05:36):
body moving. And you'll only benefit from doing those two things.
And if it does its job, it'll maybe prevent some
things happening down the road, including heart problems.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Right. Absolutely. I mean it's an age old thing, but
you are what you eat, and you know, sometimes with
like the demands of our society on the individual, and
with the craziness that is life in general, and the unexpected.
Sometimes you want to eat healthy and well and move,
but your life doesn't allow for it, you know. And
(06:09):
so in those types of situations, I always say, you know,
try to make good choices when you go to a restaurant,
Try to avoid quick foods, you know, try and carry
snacks that are healthful, and be prepared. But absolutely, you
are what you eat. We've just become more and more
sedentary as a population. I mean, before there'd be enough
(06:30):
things to do where you'd be running, walking, moving. Now
we have to go to gyms to move and exercise.
And at least we have that and we have that
ability to move. But exercise is so important. The American
Heart Association recommends about one hundred and fifty minutes of
moderate intensity exercise. So that's exercise where you could say,
(06:53):
like two thirds of a sentence, you sweat, but you
don't get your clothing wet with sweat.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Fifty minutes walk in talks are like a little out
of breath, but you can still yeah, you can still
have a conversation where you're still like, okay, so talk
to Megan. What I was saying was I'm getting my
exercise right like kind of like right at that level.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
See right exactly. So either I just.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
That's terrible, now I gotta do a real one. I
gotta do a real one.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yeah, So either that or seventy five minutes of intense
exercise that is when you cannot speak a sentence, your
your clothes are drenched with sweat. But what is unique
now is that the American Heart Association is also recommending
incorporating two to three days per week of strength training.
And I feel that this is something that in the
(07:41):
past was very overlooked, but especially as anyone ages, whether
man or woman, you know, you start to lose that
lean muscle mass that is metabolically active tissue. It keeps
your basal metabolic rate up. So if you don't build
muscle mass or pre your lean muscle mass, your body's
going to require fewer and fewer and it's going to
(08:01):
be easier to gain weight on your previous live style.
So now it's really important to also incorporate strength training
into your weekly exercise routines.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Well, look, I know it's all hard to fit in
and make it work, but at doctor Mega, I've been
on a weight loss journey since Christmas and the foods
my little food program, my foods. I got all the
foods down, no problem. But working out is a challenge.
So we have a gym in our building. Like where
do I go? It's a challenge with the schedule. So
I went on Amazon. I got the dumbells, and I
(08:33):
got the free weights, and I got some ankle weights,
and I got a walking pad and we have it
at home. So no excuses.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yes, love it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And so essentially cardio isn't enough. Okay, we have to
do weights with the cardio. Oh it's another job, but
we need to do it if we want to be
around this crazy planet for a while and be with
our loved ones. And we got to do it because
talk about the importance of building this muscle mass and
our BMI. Talk about the importance of why lifting weights
(09:01):
is key.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah. So basically, your muscles are metabolically active, meaning they
need calories to function, whereas fat and bone are not
metabolically active. They don't need calories to function. So as
we age, our body loses our lean muscle mass. This
is especially seen in postmenopausal women or men over the
(09:24):
age of fifty, when testosterone levels start to decrease and
things like that. And so what happens is our metabolism slows.
Our body just doesn't need as many calories because we
have less lean muscle mass. So let's say before you
could eat fifteen hundred calories and maintain your weight. If
you've lost lean muscle mass. Let's say after you hit menopause,
(09:45):
maybe now you only need thirteen hundred because you've lost
so much lean muscle mask. But you're still eating fifteen
hundred per day, and that's going to lead to really
quick weight gain in menopause. And so that's why we
and Heart Association really recommends increasing strength training for that. Also,
just for postmenopuzzal women, your bone health is so imperative
(10:09):
to having some resistance training. And the last thing I
will say about that is sometimes you don't even need
fancy weights. There's so many heavy things surrounding us all
the time. Oh sure, Sometimes what I'll do is I'll
just do body squats after launch to help, you know,
regulate blood sugar in my body. Just I think there's
(10:31):
a study that came out. If you do ten body
squats every hour, it will help improve your blood sugar
and decrease the incidents of diabetes or pre diabetes and
things like that. So body weights or body weight it's
so important.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And body squats will give you a nice little booty
if you do it enough right, exactly build a booty.
So eating healthy, moving your body, but also the weight training,
weight training, and then look, I mean we've heard stories
over the years too, and whether it happened to you
and your family or someone that you know about, someone
that you heard about on the news. Even it's happened
to some celebrity type people just out of nowhere, boom,
(11:10):
heart attack or stroke. Wow, no warning? Wait, how did
this happen out of nowhere? Could we have paid more attention?
Could we have been seeing a doctor reguly that could
have been deep in our heart with all the tests
and all the ways to help us see what's going
on in there ahead of time. Could that have made
a difference? Could it have Making our heart health a
top priority is key as it's the number one killer.
(11:34):
That sentence alone should make it a big motivator and
top motivator to pay attention. Yes, and you know there's
so many reasons with anxiety and stress in the world.
And if you're not paying any attention to your numbers.
You could be a ticking time bomb. Sorry to say it,
you could be a ticking time bomb. And if you
want to be here for your loved ones, you got
to pay attention. You got to pay attention to your numbers.
(11:55):
So let's break down the numbers that people must know
about to make sure that their heart health is where
it should be. They're not a taken time on.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes, So I think that's such a good point because
I think we've all heard that story of so and
so was so healthy, they would exercise all the time.
Can you believe it? They had a heart attack. And
when you go back and you look at those individuals,
I've never seen great health. I've seen high blood pressure,
a high cholesterol, but they these again are silent, so
they might not have known. So the numbers to really
(12:25):
know are your LDL, which is your bad cholesterol. Ideally
we want that under a hundred. I know that many
people say for younger population, as long as it's less
than one hundred and thirty, it's fine, But I say,
if plaque develops at the age of ten, why not
keep twenty year olds under one hundred as well? They
(12:46):
should be the age group that's moving the most, right, Yeah,
So keeping your LDL under one hundred. Knowing what your
HDL is, which is your good cholesterol, is really important.
That is something that can increase with exercise, but oftentimes
it is low in patients who have a genetic tendency
(13:07):
to have heart disease. So knowing if you have a
HDL that's low will help you identify if you're at
risk for heart disease.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
And then doctor Megan, let me ask you, so, now,
so far we're talking about at LVL and the HDL
is the only way we can know these numbers is
that by a blood test going to the doctor.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yes, this is, yeah, a fasting blood test, So make
sure you're fasting for at least eight hours for that test,
and make sure you don't have a steak dinner or
hamburger and side before that blood test the night before.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Fast for eight hours or your blood is raether, there's
nothing spiking your blood. Your blood is just your kind
of like I don't know clean blood, clean blood, so
to speak. But if we're only doing blood tests annually
with the doctor at the doctor's office or annual physical
how else will I know my cholesterol numbers? How else
can we know or stay on top or cholesterol.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Right, Yeah, that's a good question. So I mean, if
you are pretty normal at that blood you know, at
that one moment in time, and if your weight and
your diet don't majorly fluctuate, right, I mean, of course
there's the holidays and everyone's weight and diet changes, right,
But if outside of that it's not really changing, then
you're probably fine. And that's a good effort. If you
(14:16):
do feel that you've maybe all of a sudden increase
your weight or change your eating, or the opposite, if
you feel over the last six months you've decrease your
weight and really cleaned up your eating, absolutely you should
recheck it again. I would say it probably takes a
solid three months to make a dent in the cholesterol
blood test with just your diet. You can make a
(14:40):
dent a lot quicker with medications, but it takes about
three months to make a decent dent with diet and exercise.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
And then you know, you're kind of like stabilized, per se.
If you keep consistent what you're doing, then you can
stay stabilized. You numbers will be stabilized, and that's a
good thing. Again, for peace of mind, for you and
your family.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Right, and it's all about the trend. Right. If there's
one year there was an outlier and was high, and
the rest you've been normal, and even subsequent ones, okay,
maybe there was something that was off about that year
or that blood test. But it can also be the
other way. If you've always had it high and one
time it's normal and the rest are high, I'm going
to assume the normal one was the outlier. So it's
(15:19):
really the trend of cholesterol more than anything.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Okay, So we've got to numbers we need to know
for our heart health. Cholesterol numbers check. Now we move
on to very very important blood pressure numbers.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
So your blood pressure is another very important number. So
for young people that means less than the age of
sixty five, your blood pressure should always be less than
one thirty over eighty five, and if you're older than
sixty five, it should be less than one forty. So
a little more grace in a slightly older population because
(15:52):
we don't want them to get too low, but ideally
under one hundred and thirty over eighty five for your
blood pressure.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Let me just say this, So, my boyfriend, we've been
going through a lot since the fires. Okay, so we
went to the Red Cross in January and I gave
blood and then he was turned down because his blood
pressure was too high, like sky high, scary high. How
do we fix it? I know there's medication, I know
there's lifestyle changes, but it was so high. I'm like,
(16:21):
what do we do? Right? We get the machine from
CVS so we can do it at home, but how
do we manage this on our own? You can't go
to the doctor every single time your blood pressure spikes
like life can pressure buttons. How do you suggest we
best manage this on our own? Doctor, Mega?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So that's a really good question. So I think there's
three or four things that you can immediately do to
help reduce your blood pressure. So one is stress management,
and it's you know, insert I roll, I get it,
you know, like, how do I get rid of my stress?
Not all stress are you able to even get rid of? Right,
But you can help manage stress, mitigate stress. You can
(16:59):
help this stract stress. So what are those things? Exercise?
Exercise is totally one of them, where if you exercise
and get into an exercise pattern often enough, it will
lower your blood pressure. In fact, your blood pressure right
after exercise is the lowest it typically is in a day,
So that's an easy thing. Number two is sleeping. You know,
(17:23):
your sleep I think is a pillar of hap.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I like sleeping. What's that now?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
What's right? Exactly? So if you're not getting good sleep,
if you're not sleeping long enough, if things are distracting you,
you know, maybe we need better sleep hygiene, you know,
which is like is your room the right temperature, making
sure you're not looking at screens or watching television before
you sleep, you know. Five ten minutes of mindful meditation.
(17:51):
You know, there are nights where my mind is racing
with to do lists, especially when it hits the fall,
and I will put on a five minute medical on
my phone and like usually my husband will have to
turn it off.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Because I've managed to Yeah, okay, you know, so.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Kind of calming the brain which is running over active
in stressful situations, and that is what allows you to sleep.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
And people, we really have to put the phone down.
I mean, I'm guilty of this too. If I wake
up in the middle of the night, you get on
the phone, we start scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Then your eyes
are hurting from the blue screen time, and then now
your brain is like, oh what about that? What about that?
All these videos and then all of a sudden, you
now you're up for another two hours in the middle
of the night. Absolutely, so we got to leave the
phone down and get that quality sleep. I'm a fan
(18:40):
of also trying to shut my brain off at night
with the sleepy time teas or a little write magnesium
or a little like just chill out time. We give our
cat catnip lets. We need our own catnip is chill everybody,
chill relaxed.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yes, don't watch the news before that. Yeah, for stimulating.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
We used to love to watch Dayline and then now
says the fires, like why are we watching Dayline? But
if that's murder? Is not a good to set the
tone before you close your eyes? Come on so calming,
relaxing and yeah, sleepy time, relaxing, happy thoughts, manifesting good
positive things. What's what's our target? Are we going for?
Seven hours? Seven hours? Eight hours?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well, I mean everyone kind of has their own magic number.
I would say seven, I think is what's been I studied,
has been shown to be the ideal. I know I
thrive with eight and I know I'm like the best
version of myself at nine, but that doesn't happen, right.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That's exciting. Even know nine exists is exciting. Doctor Mega, Yes, niner.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
But I think seven to eight is a great goal.
If you're getting less than seven, I think it's probably
too little. And sometimes if you're sleeping too much, or
if you you are getting sleep but still find that
you need a nap during the day, it may mean
that you're not getting good quality sleep sure, and if
that is the case, you should really work with someone
(20:10):
to figure out why that could be. You know, you
could have something like sleep apnea that can then increase
your cortisol levels, make it hard for you to lose weight,
but also drive up your blood pressure. So again, just
going back to sleep, I cannot stress enough how much
of a pillar of health your sleep is.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
And again you're, you know, talking about a key point
of managing you know, for a February Heart Health Month
and knowing that heart disease and stroke or the number
one killers, A big part of that is managing our
own blood pressure and kind of being in charge of
our numbers and being aware of your numbers. You know,
get the machine, you can test it you don't, you know,
have to test yourself every day. But once you know
you're kind of stabilize, make sure you're write one thirty
(20:52):
over eighty five. You said one thirty ish over eighty
five ish for.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Most people less than lesten less than one twenties or below.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Okay, one twenties or below over eighty five. So those
are numbers were shooting for below. And all the ways
that you can just chill out, relax, manage your blood pressure,
manage your stress levels. All this will help keep you calm.
And then again the healthy eating with your body, weight training,
strength training to build your body make it healthy and strong.
Also important to strive for seven to eight hours of sleep,
(21:23):
which sounds amazing. What other ways can we make sure
our heart health is a top priority?
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, I think you know. Watching your salt intake for
anyone who may be having high blood pressure is really important.
I will tell patients, you know, see me on a Monday,
you know what did you do all weekend? Were you
eating out, were you cooking? And their blood pressure will
be so different Monday to a Friday. So just food
and restaurants just have a lot higher salt than maybe
(21:53):
that same meal cooked at home, So watching your salt
intake also becomes really important. Get get seen if you're
having any concerning symptoms. You know, we have to remember
that sometimes women have this increased you know, mortality from
heart health because they just present differently than men. They
(22:13):
can have symptoms that feel like acid reflocks or shoulder
pain or back pain or fatigue, and these are atypical
symptoms and they might not seek care for it right away.
But if you are getting these symptoms with exertion, with
sweatiness or nausea, you know, they could be signed of
heart to be so really going to see someone for
(22:35):
any concerning symptoms, it becomes really important.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Also, just a wealth of information. The American Heartsociation so
wonderful how well this is their main job, the American
Heart Association. Their main job is to make sure that
we all know that this is common knowledge how to
care for our hearts. Make sure our heart health is
a super important number one because if your heart isn't beating,
then we got a big problem there. So we need
to make sure it's beating and it's healthy again. If
(22:59):
you want to be here for you and your families
and your lad ones to experience this crazy life. As
long as we're here, let's make the most of it.
And this body, this vessel that you have, this body,
you have to take care of this vessel. And there's
a wealth information on the website for the American Heartitization
at heart dot org and so much great information about
not only kind of like recapping what we talked about
on this show, Doctor Mega, but just incredible information and
(23:22):
whole as a healthy way to live your life in
terms of heart health and making heart health a priority
all right there at a heart dot org.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
They even have recipes on there. Yeah, eat healthy, and
you know, many of these tips I talked about you
can find on that website as well. So you know,
the good thing about heart disease is that it's really
so preventable and so this is up to all of
us to try to avoid and there are so many
(23:53):
ways that we can do it. So there's a wealth
of data out there. Go to the website, take a look,
see what you could be doing better. Ask your doctors,
am I someone at risk? What tests can I do
to help identify that risk? And what can I make
better to help reduce your risk of heart to me?
Speaker 1 (24:09):
And don't be afraid to talk people that you love.
Don't be afraid to talk to your your spouse, your
your mom and your dad, your grandma and grandpa, you know,
people that you love. Don't be afraid to bring up
in conversation and say, hey, how is your heart health?
How is your blood pressure? I've gotten to a heart doctor.
Do you need to? You know what I mean? Not
to cause panic, but just say hey, I care about you,
I love you. How is your heart health and how
open up the conversation to see because sometimes, and I
(24:31):
won't say especially men, men will be like, oh, I
haven't gone to a heart doctor in years, years? What
do you mean? You know what I mean? Like women,
we're the ones who are making the schedules, We're cracking
the whip. We're the ones who kind of, like you know,
we're not afraid to talk about anything, so we want
to talk about it. We on a schedule, but we
want to make sure it happens. So don't be afraid
to bringing up to everyone that you love. Ask what
their heart health and ask what the next appointment might be.
(24:53):
Ask what their blood pssure numbers are? Do they know
because that could be you know, starting with that do
they know that in itself could be a game. If
it's too high, that could be scary, things could happen.
We got to pay attention.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, and some other simple things like if you're smoking,
we need to stop that. If you're drinking too much alcohol,
we need to cut that. You know, there's the new
studies that show no amount of alcohol is really considered
safe in terms of heart health, and that really for
(25:24):
women to limit it to less than three to four
drinks or less than three to four drinks per week,
and for men maybe about four to five drinks per week.
But we really have to drink in moderation as those
things can increase the risk of heart arrhythmias, heart function issues,
as well as drive up your cholesterol and blood pressure
(25:46):
with too much alcohol, so you know, and then at
the same time you just have to remember moderation and
moderation as well. But the cigarette, cigars, all of it,
I think we need to just stop, you know, that
just really exponentially increases your risk of heart conce.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
It's so bad. You know, my mom has struggled with
the smoking her whole well, her whole adult life. But
you know, it's it's stinky it's expensive and it's a killer.
So I'm like, mom, Mom, you know it's a killer,
and it's expensive, and it's very stinky, so no one
wants to kiss you smoke your mouths, so back off
with a smoking already, know, doctor Mega. Most importantly, are
(26:26):
you accepting new patients because it is so hard to
get a doctor's appointment these days anywhere? My gosh, no.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yes, absolutely you are Nicetis and Thousand Oaks and Calabasses, okay,
up a little north of Los Angeles. But I'm always
happy to help. If anyone's ever concerned about their heart health, well.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You are wonderful and thank you so much for all
that you do on the volunteer expert for the American
Heart Association. Doctor Mega argall with the UCLA. She's a
UCLA Health cardiologist and just a wonderful person on the
radio here helping us awaken our senses, awaken our knowledge,
and get the conversation going for heart health month and
then year round. It's a practice that we all want
to get in. Like I said, if we want to
(27:06):
be here and be around for our loved ones, we
have to pay attention to these things and really be
our best advocate for our own health and then you know,
take action, take action, you can do it. And like
she said, it's preventable eighty to ninety percent preventable heart
disease and strokes. So if we get on it and
start making those changes, we can be around here a
lot longer and to complain for even more years about
(27:27):
life in general. No, I'm kidding, to enjoy life. I
mean to smile and laugh and enjoy life even more. Yes,
all the information at heart dot org, heart dot org,
doctor Mega, appreciate you so much, Thank you so much
for your time and share is to our heart health.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Absolutely my pleasure
Lisa Fox, You're High is the iHeart so Cal Show.
It's our show that puts the spotlight on charterble organizations,
nonprofits and people giving back. And I know we're towards
the tail end of February, but February is Heart Health Month,
and it's very important to talk about even though a
lot of people's hearts are so broken over these terrible
fires that just devastate our communities here, devastated our communities.
(00:21):
It's a lot heartbreak and heart stress. Raising your blood pressure.
Heart health is so important to talk about. Heart disease
and stroke is the leading cause of death in our country.
We need to pay attention people. We need to pay
attention to our heart health. And the good news is
is that there's so much we can do about it
to improve it on our own. We're not doomed. We
just have to wake up and get more aware and
(00:43):
make sure we're paying attention to our numbers. And so
happy to have on doctor Mega Agriwall, Hi, doctor, can
I call you am? I calling you doctor Mega because
that sounds so powerful, Doctor Mega.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, yeah, Mega Heart Health Months, right.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's right. Doctor Omega is a UCLA Health cardiologists and
a volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, and the
American Heart Association is so much about making sure that
this is front page news, top of mind, and really
especially if you're a little on the not I won't
say older, I'll just say over a certain age, but
we really need to not be afraid to talk about
(01:17):
our heart health. But heart health for all ages should
be discussed.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Right, yeah, I mean, heart disease really does not see age,
and starting in about the forties, I mean even as
early as thirties. I think the youngest patient I ever
sent to open heart surgery or to get a stent
was in their thirties mid thirties. Heart disease is very
real and remain number one killer, like you said, for
(01:44):
both men and women. And what we've noticed through research
to the American Heart Association is that women tend to
have worse outcomes than their male colleagues. And that's now
due to many different reasons, including women presenting in a
more atypical fashion and having some unique risk factors which
(02:04):
are very age dependent, which I will get into, but
also just general awareness. You know, we don't always think
about our heart health, especially as we get older. Often
times our bodies are so resilient that they don't really
show signs of heart disease until we've already developed pretty
advanced disease. So it definitely is very important, definitely remains
(02:27):
the leading killer.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So I go to my cardiologist, doctor Botia. Hey, I
got a doctor Botia every year just to give myself
peace of mind and essentially with all these proper tests, right,
they go in and look at my arteries and look
and see how my blood is pumping, and they check
the blood pressure and there's all these things they do
to kind of get piece of my making sure the
plaque isn't building up right. Then they do a stress test,
(02:49):
so they put you on a treadmill to make sure
your heart can handle getting really really pushed with your
physical exercise. And then they do ultrasound. They do all
of these intricate tests to really get in your business
to make sure everything's working correctly. When do you advise
that people? What age should we start doing that, because
it's really a great way to know how your heart
(03:10):
is functioning.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Right. So, you know, I think one of the most early,
so some of the most treatable risk factors for heart
disease are your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your blood sugar,
and those three values gets get tested starting in your
twenties and really starting at the age of ten, you
can develop plaque in the arteries of your heart wow
(03:34):
and all other vessels. But really starting at the age
of twenty, we start to aggressively screen patients with EKGs,
with blood pests, with blood pressure monitoring. So that's when
I would start in an ideal world. But if you're
a busy twenty something year old or thirty something year old,
I think seeing your doctor by at least your mid thirties,
(03:58):
whether it's a cartiologist or primary care doctor, to get
some of these routine blood tests checked is really important.
Also for women, what becomes really important is as they
enter those perimenopausal years. You know, the estrogen levels start
to decrease, and that can change the amount of lean
(04:20):
muscle mass their bodies have, and that can lead to
increase weight gain, increase belly fat, increase blood pressure, cholesterol,
blood sugars, and those are all silent. You don't necessarily
feel those, and so they can start to accumulate without
you even really knowing it. And so I would say,
(04:42):
you know, in an ideal world twenty and at a
bare minimum starting in your mid thirties, because again that's
the earliest I've seen heart disease develop. And again, if
you have a strong family history, if you have a
family member that had heart disease, whether it's a blockage,
a heart attack, heart arrhythmias, or valve issues, younger than
(05:03):
the age of sixty or sixty five, you have an
increase really, you have an increased risk. Absolutely, and you
should probably be someone who tries to see the cardiologist
in their twenties.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And look, every person I've had on the show to
talk about, whatever disease or condition, it always goes back
to two ways to improve everything in life. Healthy eating
and exercise. Fuel in your body with healthy, delicious food,
and move in your body to get the blood pomping
at it all working healthy delicious fuel, and keep your
(05:36):
body moving. And you'll only benefit from doing those two things.
And if it does its job, it'll maybe prevent some
things happening down the road, including heart problems.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Right. Absolutely. I mean it's an age old thing, but
you are what you eat, and you know, sometimes with
like the demands of our society on the individual, and
with the craziness that is life in general, and the unexpected.
Sometimes you want to eat healthy and well and move,
but your life doesn't allow for it, you know. And
(06:09):
so in those types of situations, I always say, you know,
try to make good choices when you go to a restaurant,
Try to avoid quick foods, you know, try and carry
snacks that are healthful, and be prepared. But absolutely, you
are what you eat. We've just become more and more
sedentary as a population. I mean, before there'd be enough
(06:30):
things to do where you'd be running, walking, moving. Now
we have to go to gyms to move and exercise.
And at least we have that and we have that
ability to move. But exercise is so important. The American
Heart Association recommends about one hundred and fifty minutes of
moderate intensity exercise. So that's exercise where you could say,
(06:53):
like two thirds of a sentence, you sweat, but you
don't get your clothing wet with sweat.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Fifty minutes walk in talks are like a little out
of breath, but you can still yeah, you can still
have a conversation where you're still like, okay, so talk
to Megan. What I was saying was I'm getting my
exercise right like kind of like right at that level.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
See right exactly. So either I just.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
That's terrible, now I gotta do a real one. I
gotta do a real one.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yeah, So either that or seventy five minutes of intense
exercise that is when you cannot speak a sentence, your
your clothes are drenched with sweat. But what is unique
now is that the American Heart Association is also recommending
incorporating two to three days per week of strength training.
And I feel that this is something that in the
(07:41):
past was very overlooked, but especially as anyone ages, whether
man or woman, you know, you start to lose that
lean muscle mass that is metabolically active tissue. It keeps
your basal metabolic rate up. So if you don't build
muscle mass or pre your lean muscle mass, your body's
going to require fewer and fewer and it's going to
(08:01):
be easier to gain weight on your previous live style.
So now it's really important to also incorporate strength training
into your weekly exercise routines.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Well, look, I know it's all hard to fit in
and make it work, but at doctor Mega, I've been
on a weight loss journey since Christmas and the foods
my little food program, my foods. I got all the
foods down, no problem. But working out is a challenge.
So we have a gym in our building. Like where
do I go? It's a challenge with the schedule. So
I went on Amazon. I got the dumbells, and I
(08:33):
got the free weights, and I got some ankle weights,
and I got a walking pad and we have it
at home. So no excuses.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yes, love it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And so essentially cardio isn't enough. Okay, we have to
do weights with the cardio. Oh it's another job, but
we need to do it if we want to be
around this crazy planet for a while and be with
our loved ones. And we got to do it because
talk about the importance of building this muscle mass and
our BMI. Talk about the importance of why lifting weights
(09:01):
is key.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah. So basically, your muscles are metabolically active, meaning they
need calories to function, whereas fat and bone are not
metabolically active. They don't need calories to function. So as
we age, our body loses our lean muscle mass. This
is especially seen in postmenopausal women or men over the
(09:24):
age of fifty, when testosterone levels start to decrease and
things like that. And so what happens is our metabolism slows.
Our body just doesn't need as many calories because we
have less lean muscle mass. So let's say before you
could eat fifteen hundred calories and maintain your weight. If
you've lost lean muscle mass. Let's say after you hit menopause,
(09:45):
maybe now you only need thirteen hundred because you've lost
so much lean muscle mask. But you're still eating fifteen
hundred per day, and that's going to lead to really
quick weight gain in menopause. And so that's why we
and Heart Association really recommends increasing strength training for that. Also,
just for postmenopuzzal women, your bone health is so imperative
(10:09):
to having some resistance training. And the last thing I
will say about that is sometimes you don't even need
fancy weights. There's so many heavy things surrounding us all
the time. Oh sure, Sometimes what I'll do is I'll
just do body squats after launch to help, you know,
regulate blood sugar in my body. Just I think there's
(10:31):
a study that came out. If you do ten body
squats every hour, it will help improve your blood sugar
and decrease the incidents of diabetes or pre diabetes and
things like that. So body weights or body weight it's
so important.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And body squats will give you a nice little booty
if you do it enough right, exactly build a booty.
So eating healthy, moving your body, but also the weight training,
weight training, and then look, I mean we've heard stories
over the years too, and whether it happened to you
and your family or someone that you know about, someone
that you heard about on the news. Even it's happened
to some celebrity type people just out of nowhere, boom,
(11:10):
heart attack or stroke. Wow, no warning? Wait, how did
this happen out of nowhere? Could we have paid more attention?
Could we have been seeing a doctor reguly that could
have been deep in our heart with all the tests
and all the ways to help us see what's going
on in there ahead of time. Could that have made
a difference? Could it have Making our heart health a
top priority is key as it's the number one killer.
(11:34):
That sentence alone should make it a big motivator and
top motivator to pay attention. Yes, and you know there's
so many reasons with anxiety and stress in the world.
And if you're not paying any attention to your numbers.
You could be a ticking time bomb. Sorry to say it,
you could be a ticking time bomb. And if you
want to be here for your loved ones, you got
to pay attention. You got to pay attention to your numbers.
(11:55):
So let's break down the numbers that people must know
about to make sure that their heart health is where
it should be. They're not a taken time on.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes, So I think that's such a good point because
I think we've all heard that story of so and
so was so healthy, they would exercise all the time.
Can you believe it? They had a heart attack. And
when you go back and you look at those individuals,
I've never seen great health. I've seen high blood pressure,
a high cholesterol, but they these again are silent, so
they might not have known. So the numbers to really
(12:25):
know are your LDL, which is your bad cholesterol. Ideally
we want that under a hundred. I know that many
people say for younger population, as long as it's less
than one hundred and thirty, it's fine, But I say,
if plaque develops at the age of ten, why not
keep twenty year olds under one hundred as well? They
(12:46):
should be the age group that's moving the most, right, Yeah,
So keeping your LDL under one hundred. Knowing what your
HDL is, which is your good cholesterol, is really important.
That is something that can increase with exercise, but oftentimes
it is low in patients who have a genetic tendency
(13:07):
to have heart disease. So knowing if you have a
HDL that's low will help you identify if you're at
risk for heart disease.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
And then doctor Megan, let me ask you, so, now,
so far we're talking about at LVL and the HDL
is the only way we can know these numbers is
that by a blood test going to the doctor.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yes, this is, yeah, a fasting blood test, So make
sure you're fasting for at least eight hours for that test,
and make sure you don't have a steak dinner or
hamburger and side before that blood test the night before.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Fast for eight hours or your blood is raether, there's
nothing spiking your blood. Your blood is just your kind
of like I don't know clean blood, clean blood, so
to speak. But if we're only doing blood tests annually
with the doctor at the doctor's office or annual physical
how else will I know my cholesterol numbers? How else
can we know or stay on top or cholesterol.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Right, Yeah, that's a good question. So I mean, if
you are pretty normal at that blood you know, at
that one moment in time, and if your weight and
your diet don't majorly fluctuate, right, I mean, of course
there's the holidays and everyone's weight and diet changes, right,
But if outside of that it's not really changing, then
you're probably fine. And that's a good effort. If you
(14:16):
do feel that you've maybe all of a sudden increase
your weight or change your eating, or the opposite, if
you feel over the last six months you've decrease your
weight and really cleaned up your eating, absolutely you should
recheck it again. I would say it probably takes a
solid three months to make a dent in the cholesterol
blood test with just your diet. You can make a
(14:40):
dent a lot quicker with medications, but it takes about
three months to make a decent dent with diet and exercise.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
And then you know, you're kind of like stabilized, per se.
If you keep consistent what you're doing, then you can
stay stabilized. You numbers will be stabilized, and that's a
good thing. Again, for peace of mind, for you and
your family.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Right, and it's all about the trend. Right. If there's
one year there was an outlier and was high, and
the rest you've been normal, and even subsequent ones, okay,
maybe there was something that was off about that year
or that blood test. But it can also be the
other way. If you've always had it high and one
time it's normal and the rest are high, I'm going
to assume the normal one was the outlier. So it's
(15:19):
really the trend of cholesterol more than anything.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Okay, So we've got to numbers we need to know
for our heart health. Cholesterol numbers check. Now we move
on to very very important blood pressure numbers.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
So your blood pressure is another very important number. So
for young people that means less than the age of
sixty five, your blood pressure should always be less than
one thirty over eighty five, and if you're older than
sixty five, it should be less than one forty. So
a little more grace in a slightly older population because
(15:52):
we don't want them to get too low, but ideally
under one hundred and thirty over eighty five for your
blood pressure.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Let me just say this, So, my boyfriend, we've been
going through a lot since the fires. Okay, so we
went to the Red Cross in January and I gave
blood and then he was turned down because his blood
pressure was too high, like sky high, scary high. How
do we fix it? I know there's medication, I know
there's lifestyle changes, but it was so high. I'm like,
(16:21):
what do we do? Right? We get the machine from
CVS so we can do it at home, but how
do we manage this on our own? You can't go
to the doctor every single time your blood pressure spikes
like life can pressure buttons. How do you suggest we
best manage this on our own? Doctor, Mega?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So that's a really good question. So I think there's
three or four things that you can immediately do to
help reduce your blood pressure. So one is stress management,
and it's you know, insert I roll, I get it,
you know, like, how do I get rid of my stress?
Not all stress are you able to even get rid of? Right,
But you can help manage stress, mitigate stress. You can
(16:59):
help this stract stress. So what are those things? Exercise?
Exercise is totally one of them, where if you exercise
and get into an exercise pattern often enough, it will
lower your blood pressure. In fact, your blood pressure right
after exercise is the lowest it typically is in a day,
So that's an easy thing. Number two is sleeping. You know,
(17:23):
your sleep I think is a pillar of hap.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I like sleeping. What's that now?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
What's right? Exactly? So if you're not getting good sleep,
if you're not sleeping long enough, if things are distracting you,
you know, maybe we need better sleep hygiene, you know,
which is like is your room the right temperature, making
sure you're not looking at screens or watching television before
you sleep, you know. Five ten minutes of mindful meditation.
(17:51):
You know, there are nights where my mind is racing
with to do lists, especially when it hits the fall,
and I will put on a five minute medical on
my phone and like usually my husband will have to
turn it off.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Because I've managed to Yeah, okay, you know, so.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Kind of calming the brain which is running over active
in stressful situations, and that is what allows you to sleep.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
And people, we really have to put the phone down.
I mean, I'm guilty of this too. If I wake
up in the middle of the night, you get on
the phone, we start scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Then your eyes
are hurting from the blue screen time, and then now
your brain is like, oh what about that? What about that?
All these videos and then all of a sudden, you
now you're up for another two hours in the middle
of the night. Absolutely, so we got to leave the
phone down and get that quality sleep. I'm a fan
(18:40):
of also trying to shut my brain off at night
with the sleepy time teas or a little write magnesium
or a little like just chill out time. We give our
cat catnip lets. We need our own catnip is chill everybody,
chill relaxed.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yes, don't watch the news before that. Yeah, for stimulating.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
We used to love to watch Dayline and then now
says the fires, like why are we watching Dayline? But
if that's murder? Is not a good to set the
tone before you close your eyes? Come on so calming,
relaxing and yeah, sleepy time, relaxing, happy thoughts, manifesting good
positive things. What's what's our target? Are we going for?
Seven hours? Seven hours? Eight hours?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well, I mean everyone kind of has their own magic number.
I would say seven, I think is what's been I studied,
has been shown to be the ideal. I know I
thrive with eight and I know I'm like the best
version of myself at nine, but that doesn't happen, right.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That's exciting. Even know nine exists is exciting. Doctor Mega, Yes, niner.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
But I think seven to eight is a great goal.
If you're getting less than seven, I think it's probably
too little. And sometimes if you're sleeping too much, or
if you you are getting sleep but still find that
you need a nap during the day, it may mean
that you're not getting good quality sleep sure, and if
that is the case, you should really work with someone
(20:10):
to figure out why that could be. You know, you
could have something like sleep apnea that can then increase
your cortisol levels, make it hard for you to lose weight,
but also drive up your blood pressure. So again, just
going back to sleep, I cannot stress enough how much
of a pillar of health your sleep is.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
And again you're, you know, talking about a key point
of managing you know, for a February Heart Health Month
and knowing that heart disease and stroke or the number
one killers, A big part of that is managing our
own blood pressure and kind of being in charge of
our numbers and being aware of your numbers. You know,
get the machine, you can test it you don't, you know,
have to test yourself every day. But once you know
you're kind of stabilize, make sure you're write one thirty
(20:52):
over eighty five. You said one thirty ish over eighty
five ish for.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Most people less than lesten less than one twenties or below.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Okay, one twenties or below over eighty five. So those
are numbers were shooting for below. And all the ways
that you can just chill out, relax, manage your blood pressure,
manage your stress levels. All this will help keep you calm.
And then again the healthy eating with your body, weight training,
strength training to build your body make it healthy and strong.
Also important to strive for seven to eight hours of sleep,
(21:23):
which sounds amazing. What other ways can we make sure
our heart health is a top priority?
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, I think you know. Watching your salt intake for
anyone who may be having high blood pressure is really important.
I will tell patients, you know, see me on a Monday,
you know what did you do all weekend? Were you
eating out, were you cooking? And their blood pressure will
be so different Monday to a Friday. So just food
and restaurants just have a lot higher salt than maybe
(21:53):
that same meal cooked at home, So watching your salt
intake also becomes really important. Get get seen if you're
having any concerning symptoms. You know, we have to remember
that sometimes women have this increased you know, mortality from
heart health because they just present differently than men. They
(22:13):
can have symptoms that feel like acid reflocks or shoulder
pain or back pain or fatigue, and these are atypical
symptoms and they might not seek care for it right away.
But if you are getting these symptoms with exertion, with
sweatiness or nausea, you know, they could be signed of
heart to be so really going to see someone for
(22:35):
any concerning symptoms, it becomes really important.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Also, just a wealth of information. The American Heartsociation so
wonderful how well this is their main job, the American
Heart Association. Their main job is to make sure that
we all know that this is common knowledge how to
care for our hearts. Make sure our heart health is
a super important number one because if your heart isn't beating,
then we got a big problem there. So we need
to make sure it's beating and it's healthy again. If
(22:59):
you want to be here for you and your families
and your lad ones to experience this crazy life. As
long as we're here, let's make the most of it.
And this body, this vessel that you have, this body,
you have to take care of this vessel. And there's
a wealth information on the website for the American Heartitization
at heart dot org and so much great information about
not only kind of like recapping what we talked about
on this show, Doctor Mega, but just incredible information and
(23:22):
whole as a healthy way to live your life in
terms of heart health and making heart health a priority
all right there at a heart dot org.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
They even have recipes on there. Yeah, eat healthy, and
you know, many of these tips I talked about you
can find on that website as well. So you know,
the good thing about heart disease is that it's really
so preventable and so this is up to all of
us to try to avoid and there are so many
(23:53):
ways that we can do it. So there's a wealth
of data out there. Go to the website, take a look,
see what you could be doing better. Ask your doctors,
am I someone at risk? What tests can I do
to help identify that risk? And what can I make
better to help reduce your risk of heart to me?
Speaker 1 (24:09):
And don't be afraid to talk people that you love.
Don't be afraid to talk to your your spouse, your
your mom and your dad, your grandma and grandpa, you know,
people that you love. Don't be afraid to bring up
in conversation and say, hey, how is your heart health?
How is your blood pressure? I've gotten to a heart doctor.
Do you need to? You know what I mean? Not
to cause panic, but just say hey, I care about you,
I love you. How is your heart health and how
open up the conversation to see because sometimes, and I
(24:31):
won't say especially men, men will be like, oh, I
haven't gone to a heart doctor in years, years? What
do you mean? You know what I mean? Like women,
we're the ones who are making the schedules, We're cracking
the whip. We're the ones who kind of, like you know,
we're not afraid to talk about anything, so we want
to talk about it. We on a schedule, but we
want to make sure it happens. So don't be afraid
to bringing up to everyone that you love. Ask what
their heart health and ask what the next appointment might be.
(24:53):
Ask what their blood pssure numbers are? Do they know
because that could be you know, starting with that do
they know that in itself could be a game. If
it's too high, that could be scary, things could happen.
We got to pay attention.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, and some other simple things like if you're smoking,
we need to stop that. If you're drinking too much alcohol,
we need to cut that. You know, there's the new
studies that show no amount of alcohol is really considered
safe in terms of heart health, and that really for
(25:24):
women to limit it to less than three to four
drinks or less than three to four drinks per week,
and for men maybe about four to five drinks per week.
But we really have to drink in moderation as those
things can increase the risk of heart arrhythmias, heart function issues,
as well as drive up your cholesterol and blood pressure
(25:46):
with too much alcohol, so you know, and then at
the same time you just have to remember moderation and
moderation as well. But the cigarette, cigars, all of it,
I think we need to just stop, you know, that
just really exponentially increases your risk of heart conce.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
It's so bad. You know, my mom has struggled with
the smoking her whole well, her whole adult life. But
you know, it's it's stinky it's expensive and it's a killer.
So I'm like, mom, Mom, you know it's a killer,
and it's expensive, and it's very stinky, so no one
wants to kiss you smoke your mouths, so back off
with a smoking already, know, doctor Mega. Most importantly, are
(26:26):
you accepting new patients because it is so hard to
get a doctor's appointment these days anywhere? My gosh, no.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yes, absolutely you are Nicetis and Thousand Oaks and Calabasses, okay,
up a little north of Los Angeles. But I'm always
happy to help. If anyone's ever concerned about their heart health, well.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You are wonderful and thank you so much for all
that you do on the volunteer expert for the American
Heart Association. Doctor Mega argall with the UCLA. She's a
UCLA Health cardiologist and just a wonderful person on the
radio here helping us awaken our senses, awaken our knowledge,
and get the conversation going for heart health month and
then year round. It's a practice that we all want
to get in. Like I said, if we want to
(27:06):
be here and be around for our loved ones, we
have to pay attention to these things and really be
our best advocate for our own health and then you know,
take action, take action, you can do it. And like
she said, it's preventable eighty to ninety percent preventable heart
disease and strokes. So if we get on it and
start making those changes, we can be around here a
lot longer and to complain for even more years about
(27:27):
life in general. No, I'm kidding, to enjoy life. I
mean to smile and laugh and enjoy life even more. Yes,
all the information at heart dot org, heart dot org,
doctor Mega, appreciate you so much, Thank you so much
for your time and share is to our heart health.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Absolutely my pleasure
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