So, let’s talk about the leading cause of death globally – heart disease…

Heart disease is a pervasive health issue with significant economic and personal impacts. Over the years, it has been highlighted as the number one killer globally, leading to a death every 33 seconds.

Through my extensive experience as a physician, I’ve witnessed lots of patients across different age groups affected by this disease.

And not only does it affect individuals; the economic burden of heart disease is also staggering, costing approximately $25 billion annually.

This is a pressing issue that demands our attention. It is imperative to educate people about the critical importance of proactive health management.

That’s why in this episode, we shed light on the prevalence, impact, and risk factors associated with heart disease, and emphasize the importance of early intervention and lifestyle modifications to combat this pervasive health issue. From patients' stories to prevention tips, we highlight the urgent need to focus on our cardiovascular health and make proactive choices to live vibrantly.

We all want to grow old. The question is do we want to grow old dealing with all of the medical comorbidities, or do we want to grow old and be able to live life?

Join us in this week’s episode and prevent future health problems by acting as early as today. Remember, your heart matters. Let's make every heartbeat count.

Why you need to check this episode:

• Find out what and how heart disease happens, and discover its staggering impact, both on our health and our economy;
• Get heartfelt anecdotes of patients across different age groups, highlighting the importance of prevention and healthy aging;
• Recognize the influence of genetics, age, gender, and lifestyle choices on heart health; and
• Understand the significance of education and prevention in managing heart disease effectively.

“In January, we did our 2024 resolutions to get healthier; a lot of y'all did. It's just the next month. So, if we know we need to get healthier, guess what? Heart Health Month says, let's do what we need to do. Let's get the nutrition that we need to get. Let's get the physical activity that we need to get. Let's decrease our risk factors, make sure our diabetes is controlled, make sure our blood pressure is controlled, make sure our cholesterol is controlled. Because again, we can't change the age, we can't change the gender, and we can't change our genetics; we can't change those things. But the things we could change, we need to attack in 2024.” – Maria Davis-Pierre

Notable Quotes:

The medical system loves healthy people, despite what people will tell you. We understand that there's going to be bumps, there's going to be bruises; but if there are things that we can do, education that we can perform to kind of prevent you from dealing with the ill effects of what heart disease is, we're going do so.” – Dr. Berry Pierre

“If you have heart disease, you got vascular disease issues. And if you have vascular disease issues in the heart, you likely got them in the brain, you likely got them in your carotids – those are the arteries in the neck here – [and] you likely got them in your legs. You're not going to just have vascular disease in one part of the body and then the rest of the body is flowing well. Because remember, heart disease is the aspect of not flowing well; the blood flow isn't flowing like it needs to. And because it's not flowing like it needs to, some type of tissue dies; and whatever type of tissue dies, that's what we call a problem. Brain tissue dies, it's a stroke. Heart tissue dies, heart attack.” – Dr. Berry Pierre

“It’s what it is. The older we get, the more likely we are to deal with heart disease.” – Dr. Berry Pierre

“In 2024, we are avoiding seeing the doctor, [but] that's not happening, not on my watch. It’s not even cool no more. We need to shame our friends and family who think it's machismo to walk around not taking care of their health. That's no; we're not doing that.” – Dr. Berry Pierre

“I think diabetes is my second most favorite talked about subject on the episodes on the show because it's such a significant player in all of the organ-related issues. It is such a significant player that if I don't talk about it, I think y'all are going to brush it off. I don't want y'all to brush it off. Do not brush off diabetes. Diabetes is a problem. Diabetes is a vascular problem.” – Dr. Berry Pierre

“We're going to make medicine fun, we're going to make health fun, and we're going to simplify it so you guys aren't confused when you have to go see your doctor.” – Dr. Berry Pierre

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