In This Age Of True Crime Heart Disease Is Still A Killer Dr Andrea Phillips

Heart disease continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States, yet millions remain unaware of their personal risk, not due to apathy, but because they’ve never been taught what to look for. A recent survey from the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) found that 40% of respondents didn’t know that there are two types of cholesterol, one “good” and one “bad.” This lack of education is putting lives at risk, especially in cardiology deserts, where access to care is limited. In fact, 44% of counties in the Southeastern U.S. have little or no access to a cardiologist.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We live in a society where there is so much
going on all at one time. How are you expected
to keep up? Arro dot net a r oe dot
net not one podcast. There are seventeen to choose from
because it deals with everyday life and how we are
moving through it. Aro dot Net. Thank you so much
for your support. Hello Ero, Hello, and good morning doctor.

(00:21):
How are you doing today?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm fine, how are you doing?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Very excited to share a conversation with you because heart
disease is my family lifestyle and for you to be
talking about it, you are one step ahead of me
in the way of getting this word out there even further.
And I'm just so proud of you and your entire team.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Well, thank you so much. We're happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, one of the things that really caught me off
guard is your new campaign that says, bring the screenings
to the people. Okay, you had me at hello, what
what are you talking about? Doctor?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, we know that you know, heart disease is a
eating cause of death in this country, but there's a
widespread gap in cardiovascular knowledge around the country. Heart disease
affects all Americans, but the burden is not evenly shared,
as many as twenty two million people live in caryology deserts,
so we want to promote knowledge about cardiovascular risk and

(01:21):
access to cardiovascular screenings and treatment. In our survey, we
found that many people don't understand the basic heart health
indicators like cholesterol types or the importance of routine screenings,
which mean they don't get care until it's too late,
until they've had an event already.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yep. Yeah, I was that guy that went to the
emergency clinic across from the mall because I thought I
had strapped throat. No, we think, we think it's acid reflux,
I said, put those dotty things on my chest. It
was a heart attack. Doctor, I was having a heart attack.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
My goodness, Oh, my goodness. And now aren't you one
of those who didn't get screened? But then I had
simple yeah, didn't seek until it was you were already
having an event. I hope you're doing well now.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, thanks to my doctor Fandetti. But the thing about
it is, though, is that doctor Fandetti was the one
that opened my eyes to the good versus the bad cholesterol.
He says, you're good. Cholesterol sucks, dude. We got to
do something about that. That's why you're having problems.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, you you have a great position. Then because of
a briefing's survey done by the Association of Black Cardiologists
found that forty percent of respondents didn't know they're two
types of cholesterol, but HDL, which is the good kind
helps to protect and the LD of a bad kind
that helps clog up your arteries and cause those events.
And this gap in knowledge is even wider in underserved communities.

(02:47):
Fifty four percent of Black respondents and forty nine percent
of Hispanic respondents were totally unaware of this distinction. And
then again in the South, forty five percent reported the
same gap and knowledge with you know, with this higher
risk population because Blacks have the highest age adjusted rate
of cardiovascular related death in the country, like me, and

(03:09):
in particular, experience some of the highest stroke rates compared
to other groups, and Southern states have the highest cardiovascular
death rates. So all of these high risk people tend
to have a lower knowledge about the cardiovascular indicator.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Please do not move. There's more with doctor Andrea coming
up next. The sign and killer. That's what it's called
heart disease. We are back with doctor Andrea Phillips. Why
are we suffering so much when it comes to heart
attacks here in the South. I mean because I mean
if you look around, sure, well, you know there's the
barbecue and there's some bad things that we're eating, but
we're also eating very well here in the South.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, I think we are. We're eating too much. So
you know, the rate of obesity and the rates of
high blood trensure tend to. You know, I live in
mississip I'm right here in the Stroke Bells and I've
been doing family medicine now for over thirty years, so
I see it all, all of our risk factors, and
so you know, we have to work harder on those.

(04:12):
But one of the areas that we haven't done our
best work is notifying and educating people about the cholesterol.
I think people have gotten used to the blood pressure
and people are now with these new magic medicines, dealing
with obesity a little bit better, dealing with diabetes better.
But the cholesterol is another focus that we as the

(04:34):
Association of Black Cardiologists, want to get out there. Know
your numbers, know your risk, you know you know your
blood plessure, know your levels of cholesterol, the good and
the bad get screened, and we're also educating primary care
providers to do more screenings. Have a conversation with your

(04:54):
patients each time to make sure they understand their risk
of cardiovascular disease, make sure they're screened annually, and refer
to specialists when needed. But every conversation should be life changing.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Every six months, I get the blood tested and I
get the heart looked at every six months, and the
one of the things. And you know what, when it
comes to every morning I get up, I check my weight,
I look at my ankles to find out if they're bloating.
I mean, and you've got to do it no matter
what once you have a heart attack. I mean. And
that's the thing about it. We should not have the
heart attack to get the warning signs. Do it before

(05:28):
it hits you.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Absolutely, I think, wow, you should be a crusader. One
in five respondents in our survey said they don't consult
a heart health specially simply because they don't think they
need to. They don't think they need to be screened.
That's not a lack of concern, it's a lack of information.
So that's what our campaign, Every Heart Counts ABC Cardiology
Desert campaign is here to address. We want to educate, advocate,

(05:55):
and we want to increase access. So we're doing actually communities,
bring the screenings to those communities, those rural communities, those
deserts that don't have screenings. And then abcardio dot Org
is set up too, so that you can go there
and learn more about the campaign, explore hard health resources

(06:16):
for individuals, for providers, and for community leaders. I think
you could be one of those community leaders.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
You are well, well, I've lost my brother and I've
lost my sister, both of whom totally ignored me when
I warned them. And and and so that's why I'm
on your team, doctor, because they ignored me. Oh and
so and.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Now I wow.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
But so I'm pro all about you. And You've got
to come back to this show many times in the future.
This cannot be something that we do in November only.
We got to be talking about this more than what
we're doing.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
I absolutely agree. We're talking about the leading cause of death.
We're talking about a lack of knowledge and lack of access,
and you are evangelical in yours. I love that.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Please come back to this show anytime in the future.
The door is always going to be open for you, doctor.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Thank you so much. I want to remind people to
go to abcardio dot org for more information and health resources.