Clinton’s Heart Disease a Lesson for All, Expert Says

History may remember Bill Clinton as a capable chief executive, but in terms of serving as a role model for heart disease prevention, he, like most Americans, has room for improvement, says one nutrition expert.

Clinton apparently suffered from most of the risk factors associated with heart disease --- many of which could have been addressed and even prevented through adequate lifestyle changes, says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.

Case in point: diet. Like millions of his fellow countrymen, the 42nd president has an abiding passion for food --- healthy food and not-so-healthy food, especially Big Macs and Southern-fried foods, now the stuff of Clinton presidential legend.

It was a passion matched by a ravenous appetite. As one aide recalled, “When he would eat an apple, he would eat the whole thing, core, stem and seeds. He would pick up a baked potato in his hands and eat it in one bite.”

Like so many other Americans, it was a lifestyle habit complicated by a manic schedule that allowed little time for exercise.

“Clinton may have lived an extraordinarily uncommon life, but he deals with many of the same challenges ordinary Americans do --- maintaining healthy eating habits and finding the time to exercise regularly when you’re constantly on the go,” Keith says.

Other factors added to Clinton’s problems, including a family history of heart disease --- one factor over which he had no control but nonetheless should have heeded, Keith says.

“People with older family members who died of heart disease before age 60 should consider that as evidence of a family history of heart disease and should include that as a factor when assessing their risks of developing the disease,” Keith says.

Other factors, however, were completely controllable --- cigar smoking, for starters. The former president also suffered from elevated blood cholesterol and hypertension, two other major contributors to cardiovascular disease, though he quit taking medication for his cholesterol.

Like millions of other Americans, he’s also struggled constantly with this weight.

“Clinton was never obese, but he exceeded his prescribed weight several times during his life --- something that likely played a role in his cardiovascular disease,” Keith says.

Age was another factor working against the former president.

“It’s a fact of life that the older you get, the more likely you are of developing heart disease,” Keith says. “Things Clinton didn’t do 10 years ago to maintain his fitness just can’t be as easily overlooked at his current age.”

Stress may also have played a role, though presidential historians already have commented on the ease with which Clinton dealt with work-related problems.

“Stress can aggravate heart disease, and it’s certainly a risk factor,” Keith says, “but in Clinton’s case, it’s hard to pin down because he didn’t necessarily deal with it in an adverse way.”

Clinton also apparently ignored the warning signs of his disease for months --- shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. By the time he was wheeled into surgery, he was possibly only weeks away from sudden death with some of his arteries 90 percent blocked.

There are lessons here for ordinary Americans, Keith says --- namely that “lifestyle is every bit as important a factor as medical care in preventing the onslaught of the disease.”

“Here’s a man who has had access to the best medical care in the world, but nevertheless developed heart disease,” he says.

“You can have all the knowledge in the world about heart disease,” Keith says, “but if you don’t choose to do the right things in terms of prevention, it does you no good.”

[Source: Dr. Robert Keith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System Nutritionist and Auburn University Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, (334) 844-3273.]

Posted by Jim Langcuster at September 10, 2004 03:05 PM | TrackBack