Coronary Counter Attack (1976)

Anyway, if I get an English, miss, could I have a seltzer, please? >> Sure, I'll be right with you. >> Could I have it now, please? Mr. Graham Glenn, help me out here. All right, everybody. Move back. Give me the air. Betty, doc Fraser just let us check the parking lot. Hurry. >> Somebody need >> Doctor, there's a man in the garage so sick. Let's go. >> [music] >> Oh, here's your heart. >> Anyone here give mouth to mouth? >> I'm alive. >> Good. >> This man will make it. >> He's lucky to have had a heart attack where help was available. He's only 35, much too young to have had a near fatal heart attack. The sad thing is that this is not unusual in America today. Others are not so fortunate. Fatal heart attacks among young men ages 25 [music] to 44 have risen since 1950. Fatal and non-fatal heart attacks can strike at virtually any age. If you are male, [music] aged 35 or older, you could have a heart attack any time. If you're overweight and have high [music] blood pressure, your chances of having an attack increase. If you smoke, the risk doubles. Add to this a sedentary job, [music] little exercise, and your chances of having a heart attack are vastly increased. If you are female and past the change of life, you run the same risk as the men. At least 1 million Americans die each year from heart and blood vessel disorders, which includes one death every 50 seconds from coronary disease alone. It is now known that the deposits of fat that characterize arterioclerosis and pave the way for heart attacks begin developing early in life. Hundreds of autopsies performed on [music] young soldiers killed in Vietnam disclosed that nearly 60% of those men with an average age of 22 had unmistakable signs of coronary disease. Back up kids, make some room. >> Since 1960, there has also been an increase in deaths from heart attack in women in this country under 40 years of age. >> Most of us are familiar with the reasons for [music] the increase in heart disease, sedentary living, high blood pressure, obesity, [music] emotional stress, smoking, high levels of cholesterol. >> Mr. Co, the electroc cardiogram. >> Nearly half our population is suffering [music] from one or more chronic diseases. 14.6 million adults suffer definite heart disease. Another 13 million [music] with suspected cases. 1 half million persons learn each year that they have cancer. 6 and 12 million persons are alcoholics. 13 million suffer from some form of arthritis. 2 million are known diabetics. And the list goes on. Thomas Edison had this to say on the subject. The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest [music] his patients in the care of the human frame and in the cause of and the prevention of disease. [music] Dallas, [music] Texas, where country music reigns supreme and where the Dallas Cowboys can do no wrong except to lose an occasional game. And where serious-minded physicians are making definite inroads against heart disease. Dr. Cooper, uh, could you take a look at this for just a moment? >> What's trouble with it? What do you think is wrong there? >> Heading up this group is Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper. >> At this center, the intensive physical examination is focused primarily on the performance and efficiency of the heart and lungs. The treadmill test is the most important part of the examination. Before a patient is allowed on the treadmill, however, he underos a series of preliminaries. A complete medical history is taken. Comprehensive blood and urine tests are given and a chest X-ray. Next, the patient is placed in a special tank to determine his body fat by underwater displacement. >> Have to get your hair wet and come right back up. >> A final review of the patient's medical history and his physical up to this point are studied. Next, a resting EKG. And if everything looks good, he is placed on the treadmill, a test that pushes his heart to the limit. The angle of incline is raised each minute causing the stress factor to become gradually more acute. His progress, blood pressure and heart rate are monitored and any change is quickly noted. >> Okay, let's stop the treadmill now. >> How do you feel? Fine. >> Good. Good. This treadmill stress test is very important. Many people walking around today think they have no signs of heart disease because their resting EKG is normal. But in reality, they have serious heart disease that's diagnosed by treadmill stress testing. Now if the diagnosis can be made early and if we can start the person into a program consisting of proper weight, proper diet, proper exercise and avoiding tobacco, many of these abnormal things that we see with stress testing can be changed. Now that is the practice of preventive medicine. We are convinced by five years [music] of solid research that some of the negative statistics you have seen today dealing with heart and pulmonary disease can be reversed. Our goal is to try to [music] prevent heart disease wherever possible to change the habits of millions of Americans from the sedentary life to one of vigorous regular [music] exercise and to rehabilitate those who have fallen victim to heart and arterial disease. In other words, to counterattack. As a result of our years of research, we're studying eight coronary risk factors. May I have the lights off, please? First is the level of physical fitness as determined by the treadmill time. If a man walks less than 15 minutes on the bulky treadmill test, he qualifies as a risk. In reviewing our four-year data, only 26 patients who were evaluated in the clinic later had a major heart problem. On the treadmill stress test, only six of the 26 exceeded 15 minutes. Only three exceeded 18 minutes. In cases of patients staying on the treadmill over 22 minutes, we have no records of heart attacks, sudden deaths, or the development of anggina. 22 minutes on the treadmill is the equivalent of running 2 miles in less than 15 minutes. The second risk factor is the result of the treadmill stress test. Since an abnormal electroc cardiogram indicates the presence of heart disease, an abnormal stress test is a major risk factor. The next risk factor is a blood pressure reading of more than 140 over 90. Other risk factors include a fasting blood sugar above 110 milligs per cholesterol above 250 milligrams per triglycerides above 150 milligs per. If a person smokes, we consider this an important risk. Finally, the percent body fat is important. The risk level in men is above 19% fat and in women above 22%. May I have the lights, please? We're carefully studying these eight coronary risk factors. In fact, a lot of men with an average age of 44 years come to this clinic and have none of the eight risk factors. Now, they should be excellent life insurance candidates. In the past few months, I can recall four men 33 to 51 years of age who came to this clinic and had six or more risk factors. Subsequently, two of those men died from heart attacks and all four had some type of heart disease. Now, just think of the significance here in being able to predict coronary disease based on the number and the types of these risk factors. In treadmill stress testing, over 5,000 men with an average age of 45 years, 16% had an abnormal stress test. 12% of these men had a normal resting EKG. This means that over 600 men had heart disease diagnosed only on the basis of a stress electroc cardiogram. My work with athletes is extensive. We have studied many professional football players during the offseason. At present, several NFL teams are using aerobic exercise as a part of their offseason conditioning. [cheering] However, [music] the first college football team to work with the aerobics program during the off season was the University of Nebraska. In 1969, their coach required all of his linemen to run 1 and 1/2 miles in less than 12 minutes and his backs [music] to run 1 and 3/4 miles in less than 12 minutes. The first day of the fall training camp, 88 of 90 men met this requirement. And that year, they won nine games, lost two, and finished the season ranked 13th in the nation. and during [music] two subsequent years they won the national championship. An athlete who exercises aerobically during [music] the off season can delay the onset of fatigue and should greatly reduce [music] athletic injuries as well as improve his overall performance. Aerobic exercises are those exercises which demand large amounts of oxygen and produce beneficial effects in the heart and the lungs and the blood vessels. Our bodies were designed for physical activity. So many times our bodies deteriorate not so much because we're getting older, but because we're doing less physically as we grow older. Doctors Cash and Ber from San Diego State [music] University studied 16 middle-aged men for 10 years. These men were swimmers and joggers. They swam or ran for 45 to 60 minutes at least 3 days a week. The 10-year study disclosed that while these men [music] became chronologically 10 years older, their cardiovascular and respiratory systems age very little, their average maximum heart rate had only declined seven beats per minute in 10 years. Dr. Paul Dudley White once said, "It is fascinating to know that one can grow healthier as one grows older and not necessarily the reverse." Floyd Schaefer retired from Proctor and Gamble three years ago. Instead of retiring to the farm and spending the rest of his life fishing, he enrolled as a student at North Texas [music] State University in a PhD program in plant physiology. >> Well, I wanted to uh keep up with the students. Of course, I think it's one of the greatest things that uh happened for people of all ages to participate in a exciting program of uh uh exercise. You feel better. Uh you feel like uh doing things. Uh you feel like activity is an important [music] part of your uh daily life. >> Here's a man who goes 28 minutes on the treadmill. That's in the top 1% of all people we have stress tested, regardless of age. He doesn't jog. He cycles up to 200 miles a week to keep in such excellent shape and this year will receive his PhD degree at 63 years of age. Now, just what does this have to do with young people? Patterns of living are established in childhood. Our eating habits, obesity begins then. Many young people start smoking as a child. Even hypertension probably has an effect then. We encourage many young people, I'm talking about junior high school age boys and girls to begin preventive medicine programs. We feel at that point it can be reversible. Now, you don't have to be a worldclass [music] athlete to be able to get the benefits of an exercise program and really enjoy it. [music] All of these are aerobic exercises and each can [music] play a major role in your general good health both physically and emotionally. Let me give you an example of the rehabilitative effects of aerobic type exercise. While I was still in the Air Force, I can recall a 45-year-old master sergeant came by one day. He had been medically retired because of severe pulmonary disease because of emphyma. He was wheezing as he came down the hall. He walked in and said, "Doc, I want to get started in an exercise program." And I said, "Sarge, you can't exercise. You can't even walk 50 feet without having to sit down and rest because of shortness of breath." And he said, "Doc, I'm well aware of that. I spend 24 hours a day just trying to breathe. And if I can't change this ridiculous situation in my life, life isn't worth living. Can you help me? We put him on the treadmill on a slowly progressive program. First 30 seconds, holding on to the rail, then 45 seconds, then a minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, then outside at last. It took 2 years before he could walk a [music] mile and 1/2 non-stop in 30 minutes. Now, that is not very fast, but for him, it opened up a whole new world because once again, he could play touch football with the kids. I still hear people say that too much exercise can injure a normal healthy heart. That just isn't so because the heart tends to improve. It tends to thrive on vigorous exercise. And I'm amazed at how hard it can work for prolonged periods. Witness the fantastic marathon runs of Bill Emerton across Australia's vast outback or across Death Valley. Or take the Taraumara Indians of northwestern Mexico called superr runners because of their ability to race 200 miles kicking a ball as they run. Because of the scarcity of food [music] and lack of sanitation in this harshly beautiful land, the Toraharas have a high infant mortality rate. Yet those who do survive through childhood [music] are incredibly wiry and tough. I attribute this to their love of strenuous [music] exercise. Women frequently walk several hundred miles with babies on their backs. And it's not at all uncommon for a young man to run 170 m with little rest. Raquel is well on her way to visit relatives in Wares, 300 miles to the north. Meanwhile, the marathon is into [music] the second day. [music] [music] Oh, [music] [music] [music] heat, heat. [music] >> [music] >> At certain rest stops they pause for water in pinol then continue on and Raquel [music] has only 100 miles to go. The Tarumaras with inadequate diet love to run and apparently [music] run great distances without entry to their hearts. It's fascinating to see the interest in preventive medicine in many countries of the world. For example, Japan is making much progress in this direction. During a recent trip to Tokyo, I noticed many people jogging around the Imperial Palace. During the lunch hour, the rooftops all over the city were full of people running laps, playing bad mitten, and doing calisthenics. >> How many rooftops in America can boast the same? >> Hello, Jim. >> Hi, Ken. How are you? >> How was your run today? >> Had a good run. >> Looked like it was hot. >> Was pretty hot. >> Kind of warm out there. Keep it up. >> There's my favorite marathon runner. How you doing? I bet you haven't gained an out since you actually have you. >> No, it stays the same. >> You just keep on running. You're looking great. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Jack. >> Hi, Ken. >> Good to see you today. >> Have a good workout. >> Real good. Good. >> I'm going to ask you one question. What has motivated you to continue exercising all these years, four and five times a week? Can you answer that for me? >> Sure. It makes me feel better. >> Makes you feel better. Right. Well, that's amazing. The vast majority of people who exercise regularly exercise for one reason, and that's because it makes them feel better. I ask my patients two questions when they come through the clinic. How many days have you missed from work because of illness during the past year? How many times was it necessary for you to see a physician for medical reasons? And the results are amazing. The absenteeism from disease goes down. The requirement to see physicians goes down. Exercise can be used as a very effective preventive medicine tool. Americans [music] [music] must do something to counterattack the debilitating diseases that threaten to swamp us, not only physically, but financially as well. We must explore new avenues of preventive medicine to help turn back the tide of disease before it is too late. We believe that regular vigorous [music] exercise is one answer. [music] [music]