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Your heart will beat about 100,000 times today—but how many of those beats are healthy ones? The truth is, your cardiovascular system isn’t just keeping you alive, it’s quietly writing the long-term story of your health. The choices you make today—how you eat, move, manage stress, and respond to warning signs—can help protect your life or cut it short.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women—every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a heart attack. Yet many of the conditions that threaten cardiovascular health are preventable or treatable when caught early—if you know what to look for and how to advocate for yourself.

This episode of The Future You, a vodcast hosted by Richard Dorment, editorial director of Men’s Health and Women’s Health at Hearst, explores heart health and how men and women can prevent, track, and manage cardiovascular conditions at every age. NYU Langone interventional cardiologist Sunil Rao, MD; Grammy-winning country music star Carly Pearce; and snowboarding legend Shaun White join the conversation to discuss warning signs, the importance of self-advocacy, and living fully with heart conditions.

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Listen to Your Body and Speak Up

Pearce had always been active and healthy. As a performer, she relied on cardiovascular endurance for her 75- to 90-minute shows. But in 2020, at age 29, she noticed something unusual: a stabbing chest pain and shortness of breath while walking up a hill.

“My father had a serious heart attack when he was 44, so I immediately went to the worst-case scenario,” she says. Even her parents suggested the cause of her symptoms was likely stress or anxiety. When she visited her doctor, she heard the same thing: you’re young, you’re healthy, you’re fine.

But Pearce knew something was wrong. After being dismissed multiple times by her doctor, she endured a frightening escalation of her symptoms when she collapsed at dinner. “I was doubled over; I couldn’t stand straight,” she explains. “I was taking breaths almost like you would through a straw. That was as much as I could manage, because the pain was so severe.”

An emergency room electrocardiogram revealed the diagnosis: pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining around the heart. Over the next few years, the condition returned in flares—what doctors call recurrent pericarditis.

“If I hadn’t advocated for myself, I probably would not have gotten that diagnosis,” Pearce says. “You know your body better than anybody. If it is telling you something, listen to it.”

Heart Disease Doesn’t Discriminate

The fact that Pearce had to collapse before getting a diagnosis reveals a dangerous truth about how heart disease is overlooked, particularly in young, healthy-seeming women. The classic warning signs of heart attack were historically described in men, but women can present differently, with symptoms like unusual fatigue or unexplained nausea rather than crushing chest pain.

“Being male was taught as a risk factor for coronary artery disease for a long time,” says Dr. Rao. “But we’re finally becoming aware that it’s just as common in women as it is in men.”

He emphasizes that anyone over age 18 with concerning symptoms—chest pain, unusual shortness of breath, or an inability to do once-easy activities—deserves thorough evaluation. Early diagnosis means access to treatments that can reduce the risk of future heart attack or stroke.

From Heart Condition to Heart-Stopping Feats

Heart health has been part of White’s story from the very beginning. The three-time Olympic gold medalist was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a group of congenital heart defects that cause the heart’s chambers to leak, leading to oxygen loss. He had multiple surgeries as an infant to repair the condition.

Rather than letting his condition limit him, White’s parents let him find his own boundaries. His story took a twist when he discovered snowboarding and skateboarding—extreme sports that require tremendous cardiovascular endurance. “I think my parents felt like they’d come so close to losing me that they were on bonus time,” White says. “They said, ‘We should just let him live.’”

White’s story is commonly referenced by cardiologists to bring hope to newly diagnosed families. His message to those discovering heart conditions is one of perspective. “At first you might think it’s the end of the world, when it’s not,” he says, emphasizing that small, consistent steps toward better health can lead to meaningful improvements over time.

The Power of Heart Disease Prevention

There’s an enormous amount we can do to prevent heart problems or catch them early—the mission of NYU Langone’s Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Rao recommends starting annual checkups in your 30s to monitor blood pressure and cholesterol, two key indicators that can be managed before they cause serious problems.

While genetics plays a role, lifestyle factors remain the most powerful defense. “Nearly 80 percent of heart disease is preventable,” says Dr. Rao. “We have proven tools—better blood pressure control, cholesterol-lowering therapies, and new drugs targeting inflammation.”

Beyond screening, the fundamentals of heart disease prevention remain powerful:

• regular physical activity
• eating whole foods with adequate fiber
• controlling weight
• not smoking
• getting seven to eight hours of quality sleep each night

Living with a Heart Condition

Having a heart condition doesn’t mean the end of living fully. During a 40-city concert tour, Pearce altered her routine, keeping her heart rate below 110 and finding new ways to perform.

“I don’t think about recurrent pericarditis all the time,” she says. “I’ve had to make adjustments, but it doesn’t completely take over my life.”

White’s message is similar: don’t let a diagnosis define your limits. His career in extreme sports proves that with proper care and monitoring, you can still achieve at the highest levels.

That’s exactly what modern cardiology aims to support, says Dr. Rao. “Our goal as a medical community is to make it so that you can just go about your life after a diagnosis involving your heart,” he says.

for an informative discussion on protecting your heart and living fully at every age. Some highlights:

• how heart disease symptoms can differ between men and women
• why you should never dismiss warning signs or accept answers that don’t feel right
• how lifestyle changes and medical advances are revolutionizing prevention
• what to do if you receive a cardiovascular diagnosis