This Valentine’s Day, we were thinking about hearts in more ways than one. Sure, there were the usual candies and cards, but cardiovascular health is also on everyone’s mind right now, thanks to Bill Clinton’s recent scare. He was hospitalized after having chest pains last Thursday for doctors to insert two stents into one of his coronary arteries.
The American Heart Association couldn’t have asked for a better spokesman to remind us about heart health than Clinton, who is fortunately fine now and recovering at home in Chappaqua, N.Y. He’s one of the most mediagenic, well-known people on the planet. His unhealthy eating habits have been well documented, his public life has been the epitome of stressful and he has already survived a quadruple bypass, in 2004.
So when he was hospitalized last week, it wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was big news nonetheless. The websites of mainstream news organizations lit up—by Sunday, a Google News search turned up more than 6,000 stories—and social media followed right along. Heart health had our attention.
That’s a good thing, since heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s responsible for more than one in four deaths in the country. Although diet and exercise are often factors, no one is immune. That point was brought home this weekend, when Dr. Allen Schwartz, chief of cardiology at New York–Presbyterian Hospital, where Clinton was treated, publicly stated that the former president’s chest pains were “not a result of either his lifestyle or diet, both of which have been excellent.”
As another president might say, Clinton’s experience has become a teachable moment. News outlets including The Washington Post used it as an opportunity to educate readers about the risks, the benefits of early detection, the role of genetics and some of the persistent myths.
Happy belated Valentine’s Day, Bill. And thanks for making us remember our hearts.
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