I am very fortunate to be sitting here typing this diary. Heart disease runs in my family. My father died in his early 50's from a heart attack, and I lost my brother to a sudden heart attack on March 20. I'm 66, and my brother was 63. I've been thinking about writing a diary on this topic, and the death of Tim Russert makes this an opportune time. There has been an excellent diary on heart attack prevention by MisterOpus1, which I encourage you to read.
MisterOpus1 diary
I would like to address the issue from a different point of view. I firmly believe that preventive measures should be taken early. Continue on to read what I think has helped me to stay out of trouble.
I was in graduate school when I read "Aerobics" by Kenneth Cooper. That book changed my life. I had watched my father suffer as he struggled with heart disease after his first heart attack. I developed an acute fear of having a heart attack myself later in life. The book gave me hope that I need not follow the course my father had taken.
There has been a lot of progress since that time in understanding what can be done to prevent heart attacks, but I don't think enough emphasis has been given to the importance if starting an exercise program early, or just how easy that is.
I'll be very specific here. What a younger person needs is a good pair of running shoes, a Timex type stopwatch, and about 40 minutes per day for four days a week. No health club needed if you live in a warmer climate. It's very easy if you start when you're young.
For details of what is known today, just Google "Kenneth Cooper Aerobics" for references. I know from what I hear from several acquaintances that starting an exercise program when you're over 50 is not easy. Start now.
Imagine if you owned a nice new car and waited 40,000 miles for an oil change, and then took it in for repair when problems developed. It's not so easy to fix things when the damage has been done.
Now, I found out that as a person ages, you're asking for knee problems if you keep running. I switched to bicycling, and now I go to a local health club for weight training and cardio workouts on a machine.
I wish I had been able to convince my brother to do what I had done, and I'm having a very hard time dealing with the fact of his death. That's part of the reason I'm writing this. If I can get just one person to take notice and follow up, I'll feel somewhat redeemed.