 92.7 WOBM. Good morning, Sean and Sue. It is a Friday morning, Sue. And of course, February is National Heart Month. Joining us right now is Dr. Matthew Sable, a cardiologist with Hackensack Meridian Health's cardiovascular network. Good morning, doctor, and welcome in today. Hi. Good morning, guys. Thanks for having me. How are you doing? Very good, thank you. It is National Heart Month, February. Of course, we've been talking about this. It's much more than just Valentine's Day. We're talking about the real heart, Sue, not just those chocolate ones. Why doctors should listeners take it serious, their heart, not just now during Heart Month, but year round? Well, I'm really glad that we have this month to draw attention to this epidemic that faces mostly everybody in the world. But most importantly, heart disease and cardiovascular disease doesn't discriminate. It can affect anybody at any age, any month, any time of the year. And it's very important to recognize that and recognize that it's not about taking a pill a day and seeing a doctor once a year, but it's really a lifestyle that you pursue your whole life and try and be your best. Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but they bring up the point that a lot of times when people hear the term heart disease, first thing that comes to their mind is older men. Do you find that to be true or can that myth be debunked? I think it's completely debunked. And unfortunately, women are at a real disadvantage. There's a preconceived notion that it is a disease of men and only men get heart attacks, men get chest pain, but that's just not true. And women can be affected in the same way. In fact, they're predisposed to some unique heart conditions that men aren't predisposed to. And a lot of people can have symptoms that aren't typical of what you see on TV. I just need to say, every time there is a doctor in here, I have a pain in my arm right now. I am telling you because I just hearing all about it and it is so good to always talk about it, but I'm telling you, I'm a hypochondriac. But go ahead, I'm so sorry. Maybe the doctor should check you out before he leaves since you're having pain going down the arm there. But I mean, it's just like, oh my goodness. Now, doctor, when we hear diet and exercise are important to maintain a healthy heart, what are some, if we could talk about it while we're having a little morning coffee chat here, what are some simple things that listeners can do to make a healthy change today that they could even start? Simple things like maintaining a lean body weight, participating in at least 20 to 30 minutes a day of mild to moderate aerobic exercise. If you're someone who likes data, I do believe in the step counting and trying to reach that 10,000 steps a day, taking stairs, trying to get up every hour while you're at work. Anything to just increase your activity and of course, trying to eat a healthy life. Do you find that the advent of modern technology now, we've all got our smartphones, our smart watches, I've got the watch on, they track my every move. They know how many flights of stairs I went on, they know how many steps I take, I track it each day. You feel that this is a positive so people can kind of be reminded of how they're actually doing. Yeah, I don't think it's for everybody, but some people really do respond to the data and augment their life based upon the data rather than just observing it. If you're one of those kind of people, then I'd definitely encourage it. I saw my wife one day, she was getting close to 10,000 steps and she literally was walking around the living room at Circle. Oh sure, you have to make it right. Just because she was at like 9,900 data steps and she just kept going around at Circle till she got there. Heart Health, we're talking by the way with Dr. Matthew Sable from Hack and Sack Meridian Health. Heart Health starts at home. What are some tips to get everyone in the household on board with eating more nutritional foods and meals to get heart healthy as we finish up? I think it's very important to augment your diet based upon the diseases you have. So if you for instance have high blood pressure or if you have diabetes, there are very specific dietary changes you can make that will improve your blood pressure, improve your sugar control. If you've got high cholesterol or if you have heart disease or prior heart attacks, there's certain diet changes that we'll recommend to mitigate future risk. And then over your life, things that are simple that I believe in are converting to whole grain foods, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, trying to avoid fatty foods and red meats. These are all things that can have a big impact on your cardiovascular health. How can we get more information if we want to find out about heart health with Hack and Sack Meridian? One place to start and encourage your listeners is hackandsackmerideanhealth.org slash HMH has a heart. That is a useful website for at least learning about some initial treatment strategies and connecting with providers in your area. Very nice, very good. Well, Dr. Matthew Sable, we're gonna wrap things up here with you today so you could take Sue out into the lobby there and check on that arm pain that she's got. Cause that's nothing to laugh about, Sue. Don't laugh, yeah. If you seriously were happy. I am okay, I'm all right. All right, you brought it up. I'm trying to look out for you. Don't you like get pains like when doctors are talking to you? No, not usually. Even like when I'm at my heart doctor or something. I swear my heart races more when I'm there than it does normally. And the doctor says, well, that is normal when you're at a doctor. I don't know, I'm just, that's just what I do. I'm fine though, I'll be all right. Doctor, thank you so much for coming guys. Thank you so much. Check out hackensackmeridianhealth.org. HMH has heart for more details and keeping you healthy during National Heart Month with WOBM.