Question (Jan 13, 2009 at 4:46pm)

Jan. 13, 2009 at 4:46pm

Joe - I had a quadruple bypass in 2007 at age 37. I have always been a jock (played college football) and have never smoked. How often does bypass or heart attack happen to people in their 30's? My surgeon told me that in 1300 open heart surgeries he had cut people under the age of 40 less than 20 or 30 times and most of those were valve jobs. I've been told repeatedly how lucky I am, but, as you may have experienced when it happened to you, I frequently feel more like I was unfairly chosen. My first few months after surgery, I was bitter, although I've dealt with a lot of it.  I look forward to reading your book, "Take A Load Off Your Heart," particularly the part about stress. I think it is probably as big a factor as diet. Thanks for your web site and your books. I'm glad to see that you are out there talking about your story. There is a need for it. Thanks!

Posted in Questions by Anonymous

Comments (1)

Joe says:

Thanks for your e-mail. I can identify with what you've been going through. As to your question, there is not a lot of data for bypass surgeries by age. When I went through it at age 32 in 1977, it was cover-story material for medical journals. Today, many in their 30's have heart disease and a lot of younger people have bypass surgery. Is a frequent surgery for people in their 30's? No. But it happens & it happened to you & to me.

If I were you, my priorities would be how to live a healthy lifestyle for the long term. I would suggest you look at my book, TAKE A LOAD OFF YOUR HEART. It covers risk factors (including new ones like C-Reactive protein), diet, exercise, stress and drug therapy. It will give you a blueprint to follow to maximize heart health.

Lifestyle modification does work and can offset bad genes. I'm a good example as I'm now 31 years post-bypass. Good luck with your efforts. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions


1 | Jan. 13, 2009 at 4:55pm

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