Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DBJ_evWNwdh/ More than one in every four Americans will develop life-threatening heart failure during their lives, and many will develop it while they are young.  Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and Stanford University report that 6.7 million of us older than 20 have failing hearts and that number will nearly double to 11.4 million over the next 25 years.   One-third of the US population or as many as 117 million are at risk for heart failure.  The proportion of younger persons with heart failure is increasing faster than the proportion of elders suffering from it.  Black Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, and Hispanic Americans are at particular risk.  The highest heart failure death rates occur in the Midwest and Southern states. Since heart failure is the cause of 45% of cardiovascular deaths, you do want to prevent your heart from giving out too early.  The strategies you can employ to keep your heart pumping effectively: keep your weight