Health Expert Interview
Welcome to the Health Expert Interview page! Here we will be
interviewing various Health Experts on different health topics, to help learn
about ways to be preventive, or help manage health issues and questions.
February is American Heart Month, and we would like to welcome
Cardiologist, Dr. Vimal I. Nanavati, MD for our Health Expert Interview. Dr.
Nanavati is a Board Certified Invasive and Interventional Cardiologist and
Fellow Of The American College of Cardiology, (FACC), and Fellow of
the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, (FSCAI),
with over 15 years of experience, and currently practices in the San
Diego, CA area. He has also been a frequent media contributor for expert
advice on heart related topics for several Television News Stations
throughout California. We are very grateful to him for joining us to provide
his expertise in helping us understand more about heart disease and
ways to prevent it.
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
Approximately how many cases of heart attack do you see in your
practice in a year (or month)?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
4 to 6 per month
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
Of those, how many could possibly have been prevented if the patient had
made lifestyle changes, such as healthier eating, exercise, weight loss,
cessation of smoking, improved cholesterol levels, decreasing blood
pressure, or better management of diabetes?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
90%
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
Of the patients you treat for heart attack, what percentage have had prior
risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes or both conditions?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
95%
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
What is the average age or age range of the patient who comes in with a
first heart attack?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
48 to 68
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
Is there general data indicating how many of first heart attacks are fatal?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
First heart attacks are often fatal. 17% die immediately. 30% don't make it
to hospital alive. Of the remainder that do make it to hospital, 10% die
before they go home. These are staggering statistics. However, they are
better than 20 years ago when 50% of patients didn't make it to hospital
alive from an acute heart attack. What does that mean? Prevention and
knowing BLS (Basic Life Support) is critical to saving your loved ones life.
Prevention of heart attacks is key.
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
What is your advice for middle aged adults who are overweight and may
have other additional risk factors for developing a heart attack?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
See a Cardiologist., get a lipid panel, and a stress test. Seek out a
Registered Dietitian who has experience in cardiac nutrition to get heart
healthy eating information. Losing weight is a critical intervention you can
do to prevent a heart attack though it is not the only thing you need to do.
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
What are other critical things that people should do to help prevent a heart
attack?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
1. Stop smoking. 2. Lose weight 3. Get screened by a Cardiologist. 4.
Exercise program 5x per week. 5. Get Diabetes under control. 6. Get on
a heart healthy eating plan.
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
Given the alarming numbers and percentages of people with risk factors
having heart attacks (diabetes, overweight, hypertension), it appears quite
clear that many people are not keeping optimal health. In your opinion,
what is causing people to not take care of themselves or be proactive
about improving their health?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
My opinion is stress. Stress and heavy work load to make ends meet in
this economy are the two factors preventing people from maintaining a
healthy lifestyle. You notice people who are stressed eat more junk food,
don't bother to work out and sleep less.
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
What age should Cardiologist screening, and/or stress test begin?
Dr. Nanavati, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Males over the age of 40 especially with strong risk factors for CAD
(family history, smoking, overweight, etc). With females, usually after
menopause since the incidence of coronary events rise exponentially in
females after menopause. However, that doesn't mean pre-menopausal
females are safe. Even they need to be vigilant. If they have multiple risk
factors, they should also be screened, especially if they feel any kind of
discomfort. Women tend not to have the typical symptoms of heart attack
that we all are familiar ( chest pain, jaw pain). Their symptoms tend to be
more insidious and often mistaken for other problems. Thus we tend to be
more vigilant with symptoms of females.
P. Mehta, RD/Healthfulfilling.com
Dr. Nanavati, thank you for taking the time to give our visitors valuable
guidance on preventive heart health and the imperative information on the
statistics of heart attack and heart disease. We hope to have you join us
again.
For more information on heart disease, please visit the website of Dr.
Nanavati, FACC, FSCAI, at www.heartcare4life.com.
**************************************************************************
Health Expert Interview Archives:
Diabetes, with Dr. Sheri Colberg, Ph.D
Copyright 2008 Healthfulfilling.com Reproduction of any content of this website,
whole or in part, without permission is strictly prohibited.
Updated 2/2010
 | This site complies to the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. |
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
