Myths of the heart

June 1st, 2009 at 06:00am Mike DeDoncker

The problem with heart problems is that the first sign of trouble is often death. So, before you give yourself a clean bill of heart health, make sure you aren’t operating under misinformation about your chances for a heart attack.

The cardiovascular medicine faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health recently offered up a list of the most common myths they hear from patients.

MYTH: “Nobody in my family has heart disease, so I’m not going to get it.”

Dr. James Stein, director of the Preventive Cardiology Program at the UW Hospital and Clinics in Madison, said only 47 percent of people with heart disease have a family history of the disease. That means the other 53 percent develop it in the absence of an obvious genetic component.

“Risk factors like unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle predict heart disease. The presence of any risk factors increases your risk of developing heart disease,” Stein said, “but not having a family history does not protect you.”

MYTH: “I don’t have high blood pressure. My bottom number has always been normal.”

When you’re young, the bottom number of a blood pressure reading is a marker of heart disease and stroke risk. After age 35 or 40, though, the top number of the reading is the one that should have your attention.

“As you age, your arteries get stiffer, and as a result, the top number goes up and the bottom number goes down,” Stein said. “Actually, a low bottom number is very dangerous.”

MYTH: “My angiography showed that I have an artery with 50 percent blockage. We just have to take care of that one spot, right?”

No. Atherosclerosis — maybe better known as hardening of the arteries — isn’t confined to one spot.

“Chances are, if you have blockage that is easy to see, you almost assuredly have blockages elsewhere that are harder to see, said Dr. Jon Keevil, a preventive cardiologist at UW Hospital and Clinics. “Unfortunately, even those can be risky for heart attacks.”

MYTH: “I’m thin and I’m in shape. I don’t have to worry about bad cholesterol.”

Wrong again. Dr. Mary Zasadil, a preventive cardiologist with UW Hospital and Clinics, said obese patients may be more likely to have cholesterol issues but, like heart disease, cholesterol is largely genetic. If your parents or relatives struggled with cholesterol you and your doctor need to play close attention to yours.

MYTH: “I stopped taking my cholesterol medication because my cholesterol improved. I didn’t think I needed it any more.”

Cholesterol medicines, including statins, aren’t like antibiotics, which can be stopped once the infection is resolved and you’ve completed your course. The protective benefits of cholesterol medicines disappear when a patient stops taking them and what went down can quickly shoot back up again.

Source: University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics

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