Dangerous heart health myths

Dangerous heart health myths
There are heart health myths you should know to protect your heart.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death, globally. In the U.S., someone dies from heart disease every 36 seconds.

“A lot of people suffer from heart failure, over five million Americans in any given year will be diagnosed with heart failure,” explained Joshua Larned, MD, Medical Director of Heart Failure Services at Holy Cross Hospital.

There is a lot is misinformation about heart disease. One of the biggest is it only affects older people. But up to ten percent of heart attacks happen in people under the age of 45. The second myth is that heart disease only affects men. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women. In fact, about five percent of women are likely to be misdiagnosed when they go to the hospital with a heart attack, compared to three percent of men. And our last myth: heart disease is colorblind. Heart disease takes a heavier toll on minority groups.

“They were actually dying more than the white patients with cardiomyopathy,” said Shazli Khan, MD, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Black people were three times as likely to die of it as the overall population and more than 33 percent of American Indian people and Alaska native people die from heart disease under age 65, compared to just 17 percent of the overall US population. Separating fact from fiction when it comes to your heart.

One more myth: because you have a family history of heart disease, there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Actually, people with a high genetic risk for heart disease have lowered their odds by 46 percent with a healthy lifestyle, which includes eating healthy, getting regular exercise, and not smoking.