Genetic factors can influence cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and heart disease risk.
Welcome to the Younger Longer 28-Day Healthy Heart Challenge, a transformative podcast series designed to help you take control of your heart health and live a longer, healthier life. Over the next 28 days, we’ll guide you through a comprehensive journey covering key aspects of cardiovascular wellness—nutrition, exercise, stress management, medical awareness, and lifestyle choices.
Each daily episode is packed with expert insights from Dr. Warrick Bishop, best-selling author and cardiologist dedicated to preventing heart disease before it becomes a life-threatening issue. Using the latest science and practical strategies, this series empowers you to make heart-healthy choices and build habits that will support your well-being for years to come.
What You’ll Learn in the 28 Days:
✔ Understanding Your Heart – How it functions and why proactive care is essential.
✔ Heart-Healthy Nutrition – The best foods to fuel your cardiovascular system.
✔ Exercise & Movement – The role of physical activity in strengthening your heart.
✔ Stress & Mental Well-being – Managing stress and anxiety for a healthier heart.
✔ The Power of Sleep – How sleep quality impacts cardiovascular function.
✔ The Impact of Smoking & Alcohol – Making informed lifestyle changes.
✔ Supplements & Medical Insights – Understanding key nutrients and medical checkups.
✔ Advanced Heart Testing & Risk Factors – Going beyond traditional risk assessments.
✔ Sustaining Long-Term Heart Health Habits – Turning knowledge into action for lifelong benefits.
Why Listen?
- Get practical tips and science-backed advice you can apply immediately.
- Learn from real-world examples and medical expertise.
- Gain daily challenges to help you stay engaged and track progress.
- Take charge of your heart health in a simple, effective, and engaging way.
Your heart is your most vital organ, and the steps you take today will shape your future health. Whether you’re looking to prevent heart disease, manage risk factors, or simply improve your overall well-being, this 28-day challenge is your roadmap to a healthier, longer life.
Subscribe and start your journey today—because every heartbeat counts!
Transcript
Well, welcome to day 21, and let's blame our parents. Look, even if you eat well, exercise, and have good cholesterol, your genetics could still alter your risk of heart attack.
When we talk about family history, we're talking about young people. We're talking about males, 55 years of age or less, who don’t have a clear reason for having a heart attack early—things like smoking, obesity, or severe hypertension. When we're talking about women, it's about those 60 years of age or younger. We’re not talking about great-uncle Bulgaria who had a stroke or a heart attack at 93, because that’s not premature.
So if you do have those sorts of risk factors in the family—premature coronary disease—be aware, because there are risk factors worth checking. And sometimes we can't check them, so you just have to look.
One of the things that we're most concerned about is a lipoprotein particle or a carrier of cholesterol called lipoprotein, lowercase a, little a. This is probably the most significant genetically inherited risk that we know of. If we find families with premature coronary artery disease or early coronary artery disease within the family, we will often check for LP(a).
Currently, it’s not covered by Medicare rebate in Australia, so you will be out of pocket, probably $50 to $80, depending on where you get that done. But it’s certainly well worthwhile.
One of the other things that we often do for people who don’t appear to have traditional risks but have a family risk—because often the traditional risk calculators don’t factor family risk very well—is we think about imaging the arteries of the heart. A really good way to do that is a coronary artery calcium score. This could be done for men as young as 40, and for women as young as 50, particularly if there is a significant family history of early problems.
Obviously, if there is a bad family history, avoid the traditional things like smoking. Do try and exercise well. Do look after your diet. What’s really important to know is that just because there are bad hearts in the family doesn’t necessarily mean that’s your destiny. Remember, if it’s your mother or your father passing on the genes, you’ve only got a 50% chance of actually picking up the gene from them.
My own practice and my preference is to look and see what’s going on. I see many people who have fairly unremarkable traditional risk factors—things like blood pressure, diabetes, exercise habits, and cholesterol levels. But I go on and get imaging of the arteries done, and that really helps. If we can then identify people who’ve got the gene and we know they’re at risk, we can put strategies in place to make a huge difference.
So remember, your family is not necessarily your destiny. Though you can pick your friends, you can't pick your family. You are best playing the cards that you've been dealt, but trying to look at those cards beforehand.
Until next time, I’m going to wish you the very best. I do hope you live as well as possible for as long as possible. Take care and bye for now.
Are You at Risk of a Sudden Heart Attack? How Healthy is Your Heart? Really?
Heart disease is the #1 killer in the Western World. In Australia, someone dies every 28 minutes from heart disease. That’s 51 people a day. In the US, someone has a heart attack every 40 SECONDS! Fortunately, many heart attacks are preventable. However, regular exercise and eating healthy are no guarantee you won’t succumb to this silent killer.
- 94% of Australians have at least One Risk Factor for heart disease.
- 59% of Australians have been Touched by heart disease.
- Yet only 3% of Australians have had a Full Heart-Health Assessment in the past 12 months.
Do the free heart check today at www.virtualheartcheck.com.au
Join the Healthy Heart Network and become part of our growing community!
Do You Want to Improve Your Heart’s Health and Reduce Your Risk of Suffering a Heart Attack? Join The Healthy Heart Network For Only $5 Lifetime Access (Valued at over $55)!
The Healthy Heart Network is designed to help members:
- understand the present state of their heart’s health
- recognise their current level of risk of suffering a heart attack
- Learn the positive steps they can take to improve their situation
Visit https://healthyheartnetwork.com/ and click on the JOIN THE FAMILY BUTTON
