My Story: Harv and high cholesterol

"Listen to your body," says Harv, who read about symptoms of a heart attack when it registered that he was having similar symptoms. Watch Harv's story here and his advice to others.

Transcript

00:00

I think that the best thing that you can do is listen to your body. [MUSIC PLAYING] So I was first diagnosed with high cholesterol

00:08

in July of 2004. My general practitioner did a lipid panel. I was getting up in age, and he thought

00:14

it would be a good idea. It showed that I had an average risk for heart disease and a heart attack. And then we came back a year later,

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and I had an elevated risk. I wasn't overweight. I exercised fairly regularly.

00:28

I didn't smoke. So I thought, you know, I should be in pretty good shape. My general practitioner recommended a low dosage

00:36

of a statin. All that changed when I got admitted to the hospital. I was away on a business trip and read a newspaper article

00:44

about heart attack symptoms, and it sunk in, going, those are symptoms of a potential heart attack that I was having.

00:51

Right after the angina symptoms, I had a stent placed in me. I had a 95% blockage of my right coronary artery.

00:59

That was very harrowing of an experience. It really was. I had really never taken much medication at all.

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Also, there was a bit of mental stress, thinking, you know, am I going to have another heart attack? How am I going to live through this?

01:12

Am I going to survive? My advice for others living with high cholesterol is don't just rely on the medicines alone. Do exercise.

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Watch what you do as far as food intake. I think really paying attention to one's body and the signs that it gives you, because it does give you those warning

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signs, is vitally important. And talking to your doctor. Don't be afraid to do that. I know a lot of guys, you know, kind of like, eh, I'm OK.

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I'm a guy. And that's really important, I think, for your long-term health. [MUSIC PLAYING]