Your Safety is our Priority! Masks May Be Required at Millennium Offices. February is American Heart Month and cardiovascular health is at the … well … heart of so many health and wellness issues. Millennium Physician Group Family Medicine Physician Nektarious Demetriou, D.O., was interviewed for Tampa’s Daytime about preventing heart disease as well as catching it as early as possible.
————–
FULL TRANSCRIPTION
Maggie Rodriguez:
February is American Heart Month, a time for all of us to focus on our cardiovascular health. And here with us to discuss the importance of heart health screenings is our friend, Dr. Nektarios Demetriou from Millennium Physician Group. Welcome back, doctor.
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
Thank you very much. Happy New Year.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Happy New Year to you.
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
Thank you.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Let’s start with the things that we can do to prevent cardiovascular disease because I know that you are big on prevention.
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
Absolutely, yes. Well, cardiovascular disease is a very complex issue. But what you have to understand and the question you should be asking is, “when does it start?” So how long does it take for cardiovascular disease to really, really take place? We’re talking about maybe 20 years. So most people are presenting with heart disease, right, around about 45, 50, 60. So what was happening 20, 30 years ago before then? Right? A teenager, maybe eating whatever you wanted to in your 20s, just not really concentrating. But those are the years you should be thinking about how you eat and what you do, because they will have bearing on the rest of your life and the rest of your health 20, 30 years later on.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Would you be able to catch it sooner than it presents itself? In other words, are there screenings that you can do that will tell you if you’re at risk or if you’re starting to have it?
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
For sure. Well, you’re right. So what you’re referring to is a baseline. So when you’re hitting into your 20s and 30s, before then, you weren’t really worried about your health. Go to your primary care physician. Get a panel of blood work taken regarding your cholesterol, your metabolic panel, your sugars, to look at your whole panel in regards to where you are, regarding how high your numbers are, if your cholesterol’s too high, too low, what your sugars are doing, what your waistline is doing. If you know at that point where your baseline is, then you’ll be able to monitor the trajectory of it over a period of time and stratify your risk.
Maggie Rodriguez:
That is such great advice. That’s a really easy thing to do.
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
Simple.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like it.
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
And the best things in life are simple.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Agreed. I’ve always heard that there’s a correlation between belly fat or the size of your belly and heart health. Is that true?
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
To a degree, yes. So what you’re referring to is that in women, we’re typically looking at a BMI, or sorry, a waist circumference around about 35 inches. And in men, around about 40. But the truth of the matter is you have to make it simple. Otherwise, people really won’t understand it. So think of a pear.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
If your body is shaped like a pear, you’re at risk for heart disease. Where you’ve got the belly out here, and then it narrows off at the top, that’s the individual that you want to worry about.
Maggie Rodriguez:
What about if you find out that you do have heart disease? What should you do then?
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
Well, the moment you find out you have heart disease, most likely it’s because you’ve been seen by a doctor or you’re in the hospital after the fact. So obviously, not only treatment comes into play, but also lifestyle changes as well. Whatever you were doing before has to change. And what you were doing before, the things that were possibly leading to this will be part of the discussion with your doctor, so that you can eradicate them from what you’re doing in daily life.
Maggie Rodriguez:
What is one heart healthy habit that you recommend we all take up?
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
Avoid fast food, physical activity, eat more vegetables, drink plenty of fluids, and see your doctor.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Check, check, check, check. Thank you.
Dr. Nektarios Demetriou:
You’re welcome.
Maggie Rodriguez:
Very simple, as you say, and helpful. Dr. Nektarios Demetriou. And if you would like more information on how you can schedule an appointment to find your perfect physician, visit millenniumphysician.com. Daytime will be right back.