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American Morning
Heart Disease Screenings Recommended at Younger Age
Aired July 16, 2002 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Got some medical news for you now. The recent death of baseball Darryl Kile -- baseball, that is, Darryl Kile at the age of 33 made it all too clear that heart disease can strike anyone, no matter how old you are. And today, the American Heart Association will announce a new recommendation that people start getting screened for heart disease at a much younger age.
For today's "House Call," let's turn to our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, who joins us from Atlanta this morning -- good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. The American Heart Association is recommending that people start getting screened for heart disease at age 20. That is a very young age. We will explain why in a minute, after we explain exactly what it means to get screened for heart disease.
I have with me two guests who are going to help us explain this. Dr. Sharon Horesh is an internist at Emory University, and Colin Wilcox (ph) is our summer intern here at the medical unit at CNN, and she's 25, so she fits right into this category.
The first test -- screening test that a doctor would do is very simple, weighing and measuring. And the reason why weighing and measuring is important is that a doctor can do a calculation and come up with a body mass index. The higher the body mass index, the higher the risk of heart disease.
The second and third tests are doing blood work for cholesterol levels and for glucose levels. We're not really pricking Colin (ph) here. We wouldn't do that to her. This is all pretend. Those tests need to be done every five years, as long as everything is OK. The weighing and measuring need to be done every other.
The next test is also very simple. It is just getting a pulse to make sure it is regular and strong. Again, should be done every other year.
And the fourth test, also very simple. We -- many of us have had this done many times -- that's getting blood pressure checked.
The last one, I think, may be surprising to some people, and that is getting a waist circumference. And you may wonder, Why does that need to be done? She's not fitting her for a suit, after all. The reason why is that fat that gathers around the waist is more harmful than fat that gathers around the hips. It is more harmful to the heart.
Now, Dr. Horesh is going to explain to us, why at age 20? I mean, you look at Colin (ph) over there, she's 25, the picture of health. Why does she need to be screened for heart disease?
DR. SHARON HORESH, INTERNIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: A lot of the measures that you mentioned are largely related to our lifestyle, and these measures, we know, increase the risk of heart disease. We're finding that at an early age, a lot of these measures are preventable, meaning we can make changes in our diet, in our level of activity, in our smoking habits, and if we have people make those changes early in life, we find that we can prevent the heart disease later in life.
COHEN: And do you find that 20-year-olds have some of these risk factors, that some of these tests don't go so well for some of them, even at age 20?
HORESH: Absolutely. We're finding that obesity is on the rise, the rise of diabetes is on the rise. There is still a large percentage of women, in particular, who are smoking. And these are people that we try and catch in early age, knowing that if we can influence them to make a change in their life, we can really affect the outcome.
COHEN: And there is another thing that doctors are supposed to do. They are supposed to ask questions. They are supposed to ask patients, Do they smoke? They are also supposed to ask about a patient's diet, whether or not it is healthy. They are also supposed to ask if a patient drinks. They are also supposed to ask about exercise. Now all of these seem very simple, but you know what, Paula, it is interesting. A lot of doctors sometimes miss these things, they miss the basic things which, later on in life, can make a big difference -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, Elizabeth. Thanks for the advice. Appreciate it.
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