Failing Hearts Club:Celebrity cardiac
woes put heart disease in public eye
February 6, 2005
By Candace Murphy
He wasn't supposed to be in an advertising campaign
like this.
Ray Knight was supposed to be plugging products fit
for the man who in the 1986 World Series scored the
winning run in the most epic Game 6 of all time.
Sure deodorant would have been a natural. The ad could
have featured footage of Boston Red Sox first baseman
Bill Buckner infamously muffing that ground ball, allowing
the New York Mets' Knight to gallop across home plate.
As Knight thrust a victorious fist in the air, the spot
would have ended with "Raise your hand if you're
Sure."
But that was not to be. Instead, 19 years later, Knight
is a poster boy for heart disease.
"I thought I was bulletproof," says Knight,
who suffered a heart attack two years ago.
He and his wife, former LPGA golfer Nancy Lopez, visited
the Bay Area recently as part of their publicity tour
for Back in Swing, a heart health program.
Never at one time did I ever think there would be an
incident with heart trouble, he says.
Ray Knight today, his Cabbage Patch face a bit more
doughy, his thinning hair the color of a slate gray
sky, is a stark reminder of how far the advertising
machine has come from the time when celebrities endorsed
the so-called good life, which usually meant ads for
cigarettes and booze.
Now, instead of Bob Uecker putting his mug out there
for Miller, we have Larry King, David Letterman, former
President Bill Clinton, David Bowie, Isiah Thomas and
Knight putting a face on heart disease.
Some are paid for their endorsements, some are helping
the cause simply by receiving mainstream media coverage.
It s simple: Bill Clinton undergoing a quadruple bypass,
after a lifetime of dining at McDonald s, makes for
a more powerful message than the so-called esoterica
spouted by heart professionals.
The medical community, eyeing current health trends,
perversely admits that a better thing couldn t have
happened to a widespread problem such as heart disease.
Each year in the United States an estimated 1.2 million
people will suffer from a heart attack, and nearly 200,000
people essentially, the population of cities the size
of Fremont will die.
Still, doctors, who have seen a sharp increase in interest
in heart health, especially since Clinton had quadruple
bypass surgery last September, say statistics make people
s eyes glaze over. But threaten the life of a favorite
late night talk show host or a ballplayer, and the country
snaps to attention.
People identify much better with an individual than
with a nuance of something like 68,000 deaths, says
Dr. Michael Fowler, medical director of the Cardiomyopathy
Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
For the first time, people realize a man, like President
Clinton, who looks quite well, is not necessarily that
old, isn t invincible. I mean, yes, the man clearly
liked a Big Mac, and he exercised, but how much? It
s useful. People can see themselves in someone like
Clinton. It makes them recognize that it s a common
disease.
Theory may be true
Heart patient Bill Jones of Lafayette, who had a triple
bypass two years ago at the San Ramon Regional Medical
Center, proves the good doctor s theory is true.
It didn t surprise me, really, about Clinton. That
guy was always out eating cheeseburgers, says Jones,
60. But I think it ll raise awareness. I think it might
help people not be so frightened themselves if they
have a problem.
While people can identify with Clinton in some ways,
there are obvious differences.
The job stress level of the leader of the free world
compared with that of the average cubicle dweller is
significant. But Knight s tale might resonate more with
common folk: A guy who played America s pastime nearly
falling victim to America s No. 1 killer.
Knight recalls how it happened.
At home one afternoon in Albany, Ga., Knight asked
his then-16-year-old daughter to play a game of one-on-one
basketball. His 6-foot daughter s team was gunning for
a state championship, and Knight wanted to help her
finesse her game.
The game was rough by father-daughter standards. Elbows
jutted, blocks were thrown. Then, 15 or 20 minutes in,
Knight felt a tingling in his chest. He dismissed it.
I had had acid reflux when I managed the (Cincinnati)
Reds, and it was not dissimilar to that, says Knight,
recalling his more recent past. It was very much the
same deal. I was just thinking I was getting acid worked
up. As with most males, you always come up with some
kind of excuse why you re not sick.
Hard to accept
Knight s wife, Lopez, has a family history of heart
disease, and she was a bit more suspicious. So after
the pain surfaced again the next day in another game
of one-on-one, and after Knight grew short of breath
on a hunting trip in Colorado, she sent him to a cardiologist.
The news was grim: Knight not only had high blood pressure
and cholesterol but also definitely had suffered at
least one heart attack in the past month. For a guy
who was not only a former professional athlete but also
a guy who never smoked, didn t drink, never dipped it
was hard to accept.
I didn t realize it when I was having the heart attack
that it was a heart attack, says Knight, and still,
to this day, it s pretty tough for me to admit.
Knight, though, like others who have caught heart problems
in time, worked with doctors to make himself better.
The doctors cleared a completely blocked artery with
an angioplasty balloon and prescribed medications.
After months of tweaking the drugs, a cocktail of ACE
inhibitors, aspirin, statins and the beta block Coureg,
for which Knight is also an official spokesman, Knight
s heart is now healthier than it s been in a long time,
and he s able to exercise more strenuously.
Public service
While the story could have had a grim ending, the medical
community wants the public to hear it, and those like
it, over and over. The hope is that a story such as
Knight s, or Letterman s, or Clinton s will do for heart
disease what John Wayne did for lung cancer. There was
no more poignant Public Service Announcement, they say,
than Wayne s anti-smoking spot of the 70s. Aired 20
years after a famous advertisement he made for Camel
cigarettes, the PSA proved that even The Quiet Man could
succumb to a silent killer.
Such a strong message is necessary, say experts, because
of the current obesity epidemic in the United States.
Obesity increases the chances of a person developing
type 2 diabetes. Of those with diabetes, two of three
will die of heart disease and stroke.
With one of three children expected to develop diabetes
in their lifetime, and the fact that one of 20 people
already have type 2 diabetes, doctors are nervous. Even
though rates of heart disease have been declining in
recent years, they say that if obesity and diabetes
rates aren t put in check, rates of heart disease may
rise for the first time since the mid- 90s.
We re looking at a potential explosion in heart disease
from diabetes, Fowler says.
And with childhood obesity, it s not too late to get
the message out on this, in any and every way possible.
Otherwise, this may signal an ominous trend.
You can e-mail Candace Murphy at cmurphy@angnewspapers.com
or call (925) 416-4814.
What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease is caused by a narrowing of the arteries
that supply the heart with blood. The heart, like any
muscle, needs oxygen and nutrients to continue working,
and they are brought to the heart through the coronary
arteries. If these arteries become clogged by cholesterol
or fat deposits, the heart doesn't get enough fuel.
The result is heart disease.
Who's at risk?
There are two categories of factors that can help you
determine if you're at risk of developing heart disease.
One category is based on who you are, so you can't change
those factors. The other is related to your health and
lifestyle.
Risk factors that can't be changed:
-Heredity: Children of heart-diseased parents are more
likely to develop heart disease.
-Race: African Americans are more likely to develop
heart disease than people of other ethnicities.
-Age: Of heart attack victims over age 65, four of
every five die. Of this group, women who have heart
attacks are twice as likely to die as men within a few
weeks of the incident.
-Diabetes: More than 80 percent of people with diabetes
die from heart disease.
Risk factors that can be changed:
-Obesity: People who weigh more than 30 percent over
their ideal body weight are more likely to develop heart
disease, even if they have no other risk factors.
-High blood cholesterol levels: As blood cholesterol
levels increase, so does risk of heart disease.
-High blood pressure (hypertension): Hypertension causes
the heart to enlarge and weaken from the increased workload.
- Smoking: A smoker is twice as likely to suffer a
heart attack than a nonsmoker.
Am I having a heart attack?
The most common cause of death from heart disease is
the ignoring of symptoms of a heart attack. The American
Heart Association, doctors and www.heartinfo.org list
the following heart attack symptoms:
-Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain
in the center of the chest that lasts a few minutes.
-A mild to intense pain that spreads to the shoulders,
neck or arms.
-Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating,
nausea or shortness of breath.
-Anxiety, nervousness, cold or sweaty skin.
-Unnatural paleness.
-Increased or irregular heart rate.
-A feeling of impending doom.
Source:www.insidebayarea.com
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