Tony Vanetti and I have a strong message to convey, particularly to guys who think the way we used to think.
But first, let me brag on Tony, a highly successful media personality with a long list of credits to his name that would fill the rest of this column. Recently, you know him as the host of “Tony and Dwight” on 84 WHAS radio.
I knew Tony way back when he played Pee Wee football alongside my son, Benjy, before they moved on to Trinity High School. Tony flashed back into my life recently when my son sent me a post telling Tony’s story. In a nutshell, Tony miraculously survived 100% blockage in an artery that feeds oxygen to a major portion of the heart. When this particular artery is involved, the consequences often are dire, and it is often referred to as the “widow maker.”
How did Tony, an intelligent, well-informed person, allow his heart health to deteriorate to a critical state that almost cost him his life?
Unfortunately, his story is quite common, especially among men, and it underscores two important points. First, heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the U.S. And second, many established medical experts believe that 80% of heart disease cases are preventable. When you put these two facts together, they seem to make no sense.
Indeed, many instances of heart disease are preventable if you don’t smoke, eat right, manage your weight, exercise regularly, etc. However, there is little incentive for doing the right things, because doing the wrong things seems to be “Ok.” For many of the American population, gorging on double bacon cheeseburgers and fries is more satisfying than a vegetarian plate, plus, it’s seemingly no problem if you aren’t exhibiting any symptoms. This is because atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries) starts early in life and progresses year by year, often without us knowing it.
That means your heart arteries could be clogged to a high degree, but there are no symptoms, which for many, translates erroneously into “whatever I’m doing is no problem.”
Could shoulder pain indicate a heart attack?
Okay, back to Tony. In fairness, despite his dietary indiscretions, he was an avid exerciser and looked great. Unfortunately, Tony was an advocate of the philosophy I followed early in life, that plenty of exercise pays all health dues, including overcoming the effects of a horrible diet.
Wrong!
But he thought he was getting away with it, even though his father died at age 60 of a heart attack. This means Tony has a powerful hereditary disadvantage, and his margin of error when it comes to heart disease is greatly reduced. Even so, in his mind, his daily exercise routine had that covered.
Then, with the strong encouragement of our mutual friend, preventive cardiologist Dr. Henry Sadlo, Tony had a coronary calcium scan (CCS) that detects calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the heart arteries. His score was high, suggesting a problem. However, with no symptoms, Tony interpreted this as “all is well.”
At this point, one might legitimately ask… “Tony, with your dangerous family history and a high CCS score, what were you thinking?” Clearly, “all is well” is the wrong response, especially when symptoms finally appear.
Tony began experiencing severe pain in his shoulder, which he dismissed as muscle strain from heavy bench presses. But as the pain persisted, he thought it might be time to get another CCS. He contacted Sadlo who set up the test, but never told him about the shoulder pain. As the pain got worse, especially upon mild exertion, he thought it might be worth “mentioning” to Sadlo.
The response?
“Get to the hospital now!”
Tony was on the verge of a catastrophic heart attack, and the shoulder pain was “referred pain” as the heart was screaming for help.
Thankfully, despite 100% blockage in a key artery, Tony survived and underwent surgery to insert stents that opened up the clogged areas. Was this a miracle? Sure seems like it, and perhaps Tony was almost right about his devoted exercise habit. It’s possible that exercise helped his body build additional blood flow avenues around the clogged sections of the artery. This is known as collateral circulation. Exercise can promote it, but it also can be a natural consequence of severe clogging, and the body on its own, desperately seeks a way around it.
Why a coronary calcium scan could prevent a future heart attack
In many ways, Tony’s story parallels mine, up to a point. We both shared the same philosophy about exercise as a “cure-all” for all health concerns, allowing us to follow horrible diets. Worse, because of our heavy exercise habits, we ate excessive amounts of food daily, consuming artery-clogging garbage to an alarming degree. We both had advanced clogging in the same area of the heart, in the “widow maker” artery.
I say, “up to a point” because at the age of 35, I fortuitously became a vegetarian and cleaned up my diet. I often have said that if it wasn’t for that, I honestly believe had I stayed the course I was on, I would have succumbed to a massive heart attack down the road. Tony’s case bolsters that belief. His heart attack was at age 55. I had my first CCS at about the same age, and it revealed my “widow maker” problem.
In other words, my arteries at age 35 were clogging rapidly and calcifying, and if I had followed 20 more years of that lifestyle, my results very likely would have mimicked Tony’s. Tony, along with countless other folks, myself included, owe a big debt of gratitude to Sadlo. His strong support for getting a CCS and taking the right steps to prevent a heart attack saved us from ourselves.
Reach Bryant Stamford, a professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at stamford@hanover.edu.
