When a Top Heart Surgeon Has His Own Heart Attack

Dr. Jeremy London had been working as a top heart surgeon for 25 years when the unexpected happened; he had a heart attack of his own. Then began his difficult recovery, which was followed by plenty of insights about his own lifestyle choices that led to his cardiac event.

Dr. London appeared on the top podcast The Mel Robbins Podcast to explain his top advice for both avoiding being a cardiac patient on the operating table and what he now realizes about his own lifestyle and habits that led to his heart attack.

He unpacked the top five things he advises for people to cut out of their lives in order to live a longer life:

  1. 🚭 Smoking: It’s important to note that, if you’re an Altrua HealthShare Member, you have agreed to the Statement of Standards, a cornerstone of healthy living. This means that you understand that the use of tobacco (along with illegal drugs and overconsumption of alcohol) is toxic to the body. Altrua HealthShare is a community of health-conscious, like-minded individuals who share in one another’s eligible medical needs. Anyone who can agree to the Statement of Standards is welcome to join the membership and understands that conditions related to tobacco use will not be shared in by the membership.
  2. 🧁 Excess sugar: convenient and easy, but it’s not real food. It’s a food product. As Dr. London says, “Our bodies don’t process that well. It’s this additional engine for an inflammatory response and again to store this as fat in our bodies that drive that forward; the mechanism of inflammation directly on the blood vessel wall.” 1 
  1. 🍟 Processed or ultra-processed foods: Eating this way is similar to sugar in that it creates inflammation and doesn’t give our bodies the real nutrients they need. These types of foods are also generally high in calories and chemicals.
  2. 🍷 Alcohol: Alcohol is now understood to be a toxin to the body. While you may have heard that red wine can be good for the heart, it’s actually properties in the red grapes from which red wine is made that is good for the body, not the wine itself. Resveratrol is the component that is in the red grape that is good for the heart, but red wine in and of itself is not good for your heart. And he also points out that alcohol-containing mouthwashes are dangerous to the gut microbiome, which has an impact on cardiac health.
  3. 😮‍💨 Nicotine products: Maybe you’ve thought that it’s better to use other nicotine products instead of smoking cigarettes. Unfortunately, nicotine products still pose a risk to your cardiac health, even if they aren’t as dangerous a cancer risk as smoking. Again, inflammation is one of the key culprits.

Dr. London points out that in addition to the things we ingest, we also push ourselves with excess stress and schedules that are overly-stacked. He suggests considering using a food journal to remain accountable to what you’re actually putting in your mouth and emotional support for your inner life. Dr. London is transparent about the habits that he believes led to his cardiac event and also shares that while cardiac surgery can be life-saving, that it doesn’t address the underlying issue. If you’re wanting to avoid cardiac disease, or if you’re recovering from a heart attack or bypass surgery, important lifestyle changes are the only thing that will get at the root of the issue. 

You can watch the entire episode for this important conversation below:

If you’re currently a Member of Altrua HealthShare and want to learn more about your personal cardiac health, consider scheduling a telehealth visit through your HealthWallet app to speak with a provider about your concerns and questions. If you’re not yet a Member of Altrua HealthShare or have questions about your membership, you can contact a Member Services Representative at 1-888-244-3839 for more information.

1 https://youtu.be/sMmYWoKv_PM?si=bR1zcuYMoHBTyxoS&t=1745