
Heart surgeon Dr. Jeremy London reveals why heart disease kills 20 million people yearly and shares the lifestyle factors that land patients on his operating table after 6,500+ surgeries. Learn the three pillars that reduce cardiovascular events by 50% and why he believes alcohol will become the next cigarettes.
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Host
Do you think someone can die from a broken heart?
Dr. Jeremy London
The short answer is yes.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
And there is an actual syndrome. Broken heart syndrome.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
It is a thing. 50% of Americans have high blood pressure.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
And the majority don't even know they have it. Most people if you ask them, you know what are you afraid of dying of? They all say cancer but it's really not the case. It's heart disease. He is a board certified cardiovascular surgeon. His tips for living well and protecting your one and only heart have racked up nearly 50 million views on YouTube. I am super excited to introduce you to Dr. Jeremy London.
Host
What is the main cause of us having heart disease? Heart attacks, heart conditions?
Dr. Jeremy London
Nothing happens in a vacuum in our bodies.
Host
It's all connected.
Dr. Jeremy London
Everything is connected.
Host
How much does vaping affect the heart health for Gen Z?
Dr. Jeremy London
Have I seen really life threatening situations from vaping? 100%.
Host
What have you seen?
Dr. Jeremy London
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Dr. Jeremy London
To zoom out just a little bit further to put the perspective on this worldwide, yeah, it's 20 million deaths a year. So it's the leading cause of death of men and women worldwide. And most people, if you ask them, you know, what are you afraid of dying of or what, what do you think? The biggest. They all say cancer, but it's really not the case. It's heart disease worldwide. Now, of that group, the most common reason is blockages in the heart arteries, and that's what causes heart attacks. We have arteries that are on the surface of our heart that bring nourishment to the heart muscle, which is just a pump. It's just, you know, that pump requires energy, and in our bodies, that's nutrition and oxygen. Well, if you get a blockage in there over time, usually from cholesterol buildup, that then creates basically a roadblock to the heart muscle below. And if that gets tight enough or completely blocks, that's when you have heart attacks. And that's the single biggest bucket in that 20 million. But there are a lot of different reasons why people get heart disease. You can have valve problems within the heart. You can have electrical problems. Those are the three most common buckets. And then there's, of course, congenital heart disease. People are born with abnormalities, and they all go in those numbers, too. But the majority of it is because people are getting blockages.
Host
How much does stress affect heart health? If someone's just feeling, like, overwhelmed, burnt out, mentally in their head constantly.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure.
Host
Can that affect heart health or hurt you?
Dr. Jeremy London
So the way I would look at this is nothing happens in a vacuum in our bodies.
Host
It's all connected.
Dr. Jeremy London
Everything is connected. Our mind, our nervous system, all connected to our blood vessels, our heart, et cetera. Is that a major risk factor? No, it's not necessarily a major risk factor, but it definitely plays a role in heart disease. It influences it 100%.
Host
It influences your body feeling sick, and if your body feels sick, it puts stress on the heart. And that could. Yeah. So what would you say, then, are the three biggest factors of heart disease?
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure. The first would be obesity.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah. And along with that, you know, comes poor diet and insulin resistance, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, and we cannot leave out smoking.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
Because that is the single worst thing you can do for your body. Again, thinking about it like a vacuum, smoking affects the lungs, it affects all the arteries, and it's the leading risk factor really, for heart disease.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
Oh, yes.
Host
So here's a question that most people are not going to like the answer to. Probably how much does vaping affect the heart health for Gen Z?
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah. So the short story with vaping is, unlike tobacco use, we don't have the years of data. So it's hard to really say. You know, there's all the data of, oh, it's better than. We don't know what the long term implications are. What we do know is there's a lot of people doing it. They're doing it all the time. Because unlike cigarettes, you don't have to.
Host
Go outside, you're smoking every five seconds, right? Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
You constantly see the blue lights all the time. You don't have to go to the room at the airport anymore. That now they've actually taken those out all together. So the issue is we just don't know the long term. But the nicotine content in those vaping formulations is essentially unregulated. So they can have just multitudes higher levels of nicotine than cigarettes. And again, because you can do it all the time, the exposure is all day long. So nicotine in and of itself is a vasoconstrict, vasoconstrictor, so it constricts, not the valves, the actual blood vessels themselves to constrict.
Host
And what does that do when it's pumping through the heart?
Dr. Jeremy London
Right. So if you think about it again as the heart, as a pump, you.
Host
Got a little example here.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely. So the big chambers down here, you have the right and the left chamber. The left chamber here is the main pumping chamber. And it's pushing blood out through the aorta. That's why it's red, because it's got lots of oxygen in it to the rest of the body. So if all of these blood vessels are clamping down and this pump is trying to work against that system, what do you think that causes high blood pressure?
Host
Interesting. And that's one of the main causes of.
Dr. Jeremy London
Exactly. Because high blood pressure over time does two major things. One, you get decreased what we call elasticity of the blood vessels. They become stiff, so they don't flex with each heartbeat. And as they become stiff, they can then become damaged. And the repair process from that damage is what causes atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. So you've got direct damage from the higher pressure. And then over time, because the left ventricle or that pumping chamber is just a muscle. What happens if you put any muscle time under tension? It's going to grow, it's going to get thick. Well, when the muscle gets thick, it decreases the size of the cavity where the blood comes from. So less blood is getting ejected from the heart. And then the end result of that as it works against resistance is eventual heart failure.
Host
Interesting.
Dr. Jeremy London
And so it's really a continuum timeline. And that's why high blood pressure is such an important risk factor. And, you know, 50% of Americans have high blood pressure.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
And the majority don't even know they have it. And it's one of the single most modifiable risk factors that we can have.
Host
How can we lower our high blood pressure if we have it?
Dr. Jeremy London
Well, the pillars that we talk about all the time, you know, a solid nutrition. Yeah.
Host
Low stress. That's right.
Dr. Jeremy London
Regular exercise, both, you know, with a aerobic training as well as resistance training, all of those things are really, really important. And you can modify your blood pressure significantly with just lifestyle changes. Now, many people do, me do need medications and that's not a failure, you know, but getting your blood pressure under control is really important from a heart disease standpoint.
Host
How many heart surgeries do you feel like you've done in the last 25 years as a heart surgeon?
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah, we've estimated this on multiple different times. Because the beginning of my career I was doing, you know, crazy, crazy numbers. Probably somewhere around 6,500 to 7,000. Wow.
Host
Somewhere 6 to 7,000 heart surgeries in 25 years or heart operations in 25 years. What are the three things that all those people had in common that got them on your operating table with some type of heart failure?
Dr. Jeremy London
So they don't have. All have heart failure. So I think that's. Yeah.
Host
Some heart condition.
Dr. Jeremy London
Exactly. And depending on why they're there, again, the three buckets, either blockages in the arteries, problems with the valves, or problems with the electrical system. That's why they get there. So let's, let's go with the most common, which is blockages in the heart.
Host
That's one of the most common when you see it.
Dr. Jeremy London
The most common operation that we do.
Host
60, 70%.
Dr. Jeremy London
Probably. Yeah, probably 60% would be a reasonable.
Host
Is a blockage.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yes, it would be a blockage in the artery that would be picked up either because patients were having symptoms or because they were in a high risk category. And their internist or cardiologist recognized that and intervened before there was a problem.
Host
What are the main symptoms someone might have if they're in. If they have, you know, that restriction.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure. So heart symptoms from blockages are. Is frequently referred to as the great masquerader because not everybody presents with what I call the TV heart attack, where it's clutching the chest pain into the jaw, pain down the. Now, many people do, but the symptoms can be very subtle. Even in that pre heart attack phase, there are warning signs. Well, if you, if you have a blockage in one of the main arteries that's supplying again the pump, and that blockage gets significant enough as you exert yourself, you outstrip the amount of nutrients and oxygen that can get to that portion of the heart. What happens in your calf when that happens? When that occurs, you get a charley horse. What happens interesting in your heart muscle is you have tightness in your chest, or it can be shortness of breath, or it can be abdominal pain even. And the symptoms can be very subtle. The key is that the symptoms come on with activity and then when you sit down, it's relieved with rest. That's referred to as stable angina or stable chest pain. In other words, warning signs of something potentially bigger to come.
Host
If someone's having that type of a warning sign, what should they do?
Dr. Jeremy London
That is a red flag and you should be evaluated by qualified healthcare provider.
Host
Do you call 911 right away or.
Dr. Jeremy London
Is it not necessarily 911 as long as the pain goes away?
Host
Got it.
Dr. Jeremy London
If the pain continues, Absolutely. 911 is the answer. But if it's the kind of thing where you notice, for example, every time I take the garbage out, I get this little tightness in my chest and I have to stop for a minute. The pain goes away and I go walk back in the house and it kind of comes back, but every time I rest, it's okay. It's relieved. That stable angina, it is definitely something that needs to be evaluated, but not, not necessarily an emergency. However, if you're ever concerned, that's the safest route to take.
Host
Wow. Okay. So again, I heard you in the beginning say obesity with poor diet is one of the main causes or the main reasons why people have conditions. Heart diseases, high blood pressure and diabetes also influences heart conditions or failures in a big way. Sedentary lifestyle. And you also mentioned smoking. We were talking about vaping a little bit, which we don't have the data it sounds like yet of how it actually influences the heart. But are you seeing or noticing signs or patterns of People coming in who also vapes that are just happen to also be vaping that have heart conditions.
Dr. Jeremy London
So think about the demographic of people that are vaping. Primarily it's usually younger.
Host
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
So folks under the age of 40 that don't have a family history, they're not diabetic, you know, the risk of heart disease there is certainly lower. Now have I seen really life threatening situations from vaping? Absolutely. Which is why. 100%. Which is why.
Host
What have you seen?
Dr. Jeremy London
Well, there is a syndrome called evali, which is E cigarette. E cigarette vaping associated acute lung injury. And this is an injury that can occur from vaping one time from an inflammatory process that happens in the lungs. In these really young folks, they come in the hospital, they're so sick that even the ventilator, the breathing tube is not adequate to nourish their body with oxygen. And we have to put them on something called ecmo, which is an external lung circuit where we take blood out of the body, put blood back, oxygen back into the blood and return it to the body. And these can be 18, 21 year old, 23 year old individuals and unfortunately we've had several that haven't survived.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
So these are all patients who have vaped, it was caused from the vaping?
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
What's the youngest patient you've had to.
Dr. Jeremy London
Operate on to place them on ECMO for the.
Host
Just as like a heart, heart failure heart.
Dr. Jeremy London
So for heart disease, 23 years old is the youngest patient I've ever operated on for bypass surgery, for blockages in the arteries. 23 years old, had a very, a strong family history of heart disease and they had a genetic propensity for very high cholesterol, which is not common, but it does occur. And their cholesterol was in the thousands, whereas Normally, you know, one at around 90 to 100, theirs was in the thousands.
Host
Was this person healthy in general or were they not? They were more obese or more poor diet as well?
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
So they weren't influencing the reversal of that?
Dr. Jeremy London
They were not. And they would have needed medication to help do that because they had all of the genetic force behind them then to get to that spot and then they didn't take care of themselves on top of it.
Host
So we don't have a lot of the data yet I'm hearing or the research around how vaping causes heart disease yet is what I'm hearing. But you've had to operate on many people who have come in because of vaping, is that correct?
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah, it's not Many, I would say. Yeah, I don't think that handful. Yeah, for sure. But I mean usually see 3, 4, 5 young adults not survive from an addiction and something that has become normative in our society today. You know. And I have three boys.
Host
Wow.
Dr. Jeremy London
And so it hits really close to home for me. I'm. I am really on a personal quest to get the information out about, about vaping. And look, in the end you're by your rules like I get it, but at least know the facts. At least understand that we really don't know the implications of this. All of the chatter about this is a safe alternative. We don't know that.
Host
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Dr. Jeremy London
So for sure, the cardiac patients, 100%. It's, it's like a, you know, 10, 12, 15 X factor when people are smoking cigarettes in particular. Wow. Yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean, if you're going to examine, like if we're going to take a step back for a second and say, am I healthy right now? You know, how would you do that? Number one would be do you smoke? Let's start there. The next on the list would be alcohol or. Well, yeah, we can leave that one off for just a minute. It can even be broader than that. There's a real powerful tool just to put yourself in a category like how healthy am I? Excellent, good.
Host
You know, average, fair, poor.
Dr. Jeremy London
Believe it or not, they use that in research and it just kind of puts you in the mindset of where do I fall? Interesting. Then what are you going to do next? You're going to weigh yourself, right? Which is not a great indicator of longevity. We can talk about the better ways to do it, but it's a good place to start, right? Then just measuring your abdominal girth to your height. That ratio is very meaningful. Again, we talked about obesity, this over consumption problem. Well we know that visceral fat, or the fat that's in your belly, around your organs, is the engine for inflammatory diseases, particularly heart disease.
Host
Yeah. And if you have a lot of excess belly fat, then you probably have fat around your heart, too.
Dr. Jeremy London
I'm assuming you do. But it's this fat in particular, the.
Host
External fat, the visceral.
Dr. Jeremy London
The visceral around your organs, not the fat that's in, you know, under your skin, in between here, inside, inside, that you really can't. Belly fat, it's the beer belly.
Host
Gotcha.
Dr. Jeremy London
Is really how I would describe it that really influences the overall inflammatory process in your body. And it's a known risk factor for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. What would be next on the list? Resting heart rate. You know, kind of, where am I on that scale? And start with those things. Then you start to look specifically at lifestyle. You look at diet, you look at alcohol. You know where I'm on the scale, you look at your sleep. Simple things with sleep. Am I going to bed at the same time every night? Am I getting six to eight hours? Am I waking up at the same time? And then as you mentioned earlier, like, what is my mental health status? Where am I with that? And that can be tough. But there's some great online questionnaires that you can do, and that's a great place to start. Like, how healthy am I? Not just from a cardiac standpoint, but in general. And sometimes just kind of knowing where you are currently as an opportunity opens that door.
Host
I mean, we're in a society right now that people praise those who are, you know, plus sizes or don't shame someone for how big they are or things like that. And I'm all for not shaming or judging people, but when it comes to people's heart health or just overall quality of life.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
If they're extremely obese and they're not taking accountability for their lifestyle decisions, they might be causing a lot of physical harm to themselves. More medical bills, medications in the future, and also putting strain and stress on the people around them by not taking care of their health. I'm not saying you have to have a six pack and be perfect. That's not what this is about. But what do you say as a doctor to society that says, you know, celebrate anyone for how big they want to be, It's a good thing. You know, let's not shame anyone. How do you navigate that to. To support people's emotions and feelings and how they feel or their. Their own personal experience in life versus leading them to take accountability in their life and take responsibility for their health not being perfect, not being a cover model or something like that, but like making sure you're responsible for your health, for your future, the family you have in the future, the people around you. How do you navigate that? People's emotions versus practicality.
Dr. Jeremy London
You've touched on so many things there. But let's try to slide down the first slippery slope.
Host
Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
Which is, you know, how do you enter that conversation and potentially change that narrative? Because I agree with you that I think that it's dangerous to validate a lifestyle that we know from the data is not healthy on so many, on so many fronts. So how do I do it personally? When you know, when a patient comes in and you start that conversation right, like they tell you, I don't have any risk factors and they're 70 pounds overweight, you're like, okay, let's take a step back. I think many times allowing people to understand that the life they've lived to getting to that point doesn't necessarily define what their path is forward. And when you, when you kind of give them a new set point of okay, you've, you've gone down a road and it's gotten you to a place where now you're potentially in trouble, or if you're seeing me, you probably are, how do you picture yourself? 5 years, 10 years, who's the person you want to be? And almost invariably it's not who they are at that point. And each individual person is so different on how you have that conversation. But I do think that that overall narrative is dangerous because it creates an insulation in a way that you're really abdicating a potentially very unhealthy scenario. And so I think that backing into it from that perspective, from a non emotional way, not totally non judgmental, and then break down each of those things that you just talked about into really small steps for people. Because most of the time folks are really overwhelmed. They don't really know where to start. They're scared. They're scared, they're already at a deficit. They're worried they're going to fail.
Host
They're already in shame 100%. The food relieves some of the shame feeling.
Dr. Jeremy London
Many times, Many times. And I don't know who said it, but I love that quote that fear is ocean wide but only an inch deep. And I think that if you can help folks take that first step and it can be simple stuff, just walking. Yeah, like many of those folks are just really uncomfortable walking into a gym and you can appreciate that. And all of the. You need to be comfortable with the body that you are. That doesn't help. Now do I think it's about finding, as you point out, the healthy weight for you. That doesn't mean that you're a swimsuit model necessarily. And so you have to set appropriate goals. So I think allowing people to identify where they are and the person they want to be and then helping them break that down into really small steps has worked really well for me in the practice. Yeah, really has.
Host
I guess it's challenging because if someone is 70, 100, 150 pounds overweight, it's not just a, you know, physical, practical thing for them that got them there. If there's some type of emotional or mental trauma or blockage, also, not just a heart blockage, but an emotional or mental blockage that has allowed them to get to that place of not taking care of themselves in a certain way around health. Maybe they're like amazing people and they're good for other people and they're smart and they're talented, but something has been blocking them emotionally or mentally to want to create that for themselves. And I can imagine how hard it is to reverse it, especially if it's been years of living in a familiar pattern. So it must be extremely hard. But how do we, how does someone watching this get through to someone in their life who is extremely overbeast and has just allowed year after year, 10, 20 pounds a year to pack on every year and they're not making any changes? It's almost like you need to be completely obsessed for a whole new identity and lifestyle. If you're going to reverse £100, £70, it's almost like you have to think a different way and you have to start healing and mending certain things that caused those actions to get there, I'm assuming. But how does someone who's watching this, who has someone in their life they care about, who's struggling with this, that's afraid for their heart health.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure.
Host
How can they communicate to the person they love in a way that doesn't judge them, but holds them accountable to start taking action?
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah. And I think that that certainly is.
Host
That may not be your expertise.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah, you're stretching out outside of my wheelhouse, but not entirely. I mean, from my perspective, I have the benefit that if they're in my office, they're having a touch point in their life, that we are at a new crossroads. And so it enable me to utilize that as life is a series of choices right there's many times where we know better, but we don't do better. You now have a real reason to do better. Yes, and here's why. And here are the things that I recommend. And sometimes when folks fall into a level of complacency, as you've described, to break that pattern can be really tough. And so I think that obviously from a supportive place always makes the most sense. But when in doubt, fall back into the data, Share the data. How you started, how we started this conversation. It's not cancer that's going to take you most likely, if you continue down this road. Yeah, we know what the number one killer is of men and women. What do we need to do so that you don't get there?
Host
Yeah. And how much does alcohol affect heart disease?
Dr. Jeremy London
So obviously this has been a hotly debated topic that, you know, when we start talking about nutrition or alcohol, it rivals religious conversations with many people, with the emotional embodiment of how people step into this.
Host
But just on the data alone, culturally, society.
Dr. Jeremy London
Let's talk about what happens when you drink. Okay. Alcohol is broken down into two things, acetaldehyde and acetate. Not to give you a bunch of chemical names, but acetaldehyde is what makes you feel good when you're drinking. If you find that to be good, it's also what's toxic to every single cell in your body.
Host
So poison 100%.
Dr. Jeremy London
And that is an undeniable fact. And acetate is basically empty calories. If you don't burn the acetate, you're going to turn that into fat, essentially. So those are the two major components. So when we look at this from a stepwise fashion, number one, it's directly toxic to cells. Number two, additional acetate goes to fat. Where does that fat go? It's visceral fat, abdominal fat driving this, this engine, not to mention the fallout is typically speaking, when you're taking in extra calories when you're drinking, you're not mindful of what you're putting in your mouth. We've all been guilty of such, you know, so your, your over consumption then becomes more of an issue. So there's a lot of ramifications to alcohol. But in the end, you know, alcohol is a personal choice of recent. Even moderate alcohol use has really been questioned. And I think that data is going to come out very strong in the next two to three years. Personally, I think alcohol is going to be the new cigarettes in the next five to 10 years. I think there's going to be warning labels on alcohol very similar to cigarettes.
Host
I hope so. I mean, I. I'm sure there's a lot of people in business who run alcohol businesses or restaurants that probably don't like me saying that, but I just don't know the benefit. There's got to be another way to sell product that people can enjoy that doesn't hurt them.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
You know what I mean? There's got to be something else like, that society can come up with. But I've never been drunk in my life, so I've never known what that feeling is. I've had sips of alcohol, but I've never been. Had a full beer. I've never had, like, wow, a glass of wine. I have only had one sip of wine. One time was with Gary Vaynerchuk, because I told him I'd do it, like, 10 years ago. And I was like, this is the one and only time I'm doing this, and I've never been drunk. And I don't feel like I'm missing out because I just. I know what it does to the body. I know how it impacts the mind and how being around people who are extremely drunk is different than being around people that just drink a little bit. But when you're around really drunk people and you're not drunk, it's not enjoyable. It's different. If it's like, I'm having a glass or two, it's like, cool. I can be around that, it's fine. But it's like, if you're just unable to think clearly, we're not having fun.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
And it. You don't look like your body is having fun the next couple days either. So how is there a benefit to this? You know, I get it culturally, religiously, for some religions, societally, there's benefit for bringing people together. But you can come together and play without it. You can come together and have fun and talk and open up. Vulnerability versus needing the courage of alcohol to start sharing the truth.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
Knowing that the damages are way stronger now. I might die of some random thing and be like, oh, if you died of this, you could have been drinking your whole life and whatever. But I just don't think there's benefit to it personally.
Dr. Jeremy London
There's. There's not benefit.
Host
And it hurts your. Your heart.
Dr. Jeremy London
It hurts every cell of your body. So I had a little different path than you.
Host
Didn't you used to drink?
Dr. Jeremy London
I did, but I want to validate.
Host
You were like a good Southern boy who's like, let's drink every few nights. And, you know. Well, tell me Your drinking experience.
Dr. Jeremy London
I'm not going to admit to too much. No judgment.
Host
I don't judge. I'm just.
Dr. Jeremy London
I enjoyed. I enjoyed alcohol. I enjoyed wines. I enjoyed pairing wines with food. I enjoyed the whole experience, like you discussed. Yes, I did. It was. It was very much part of my lifestyle. No question about it. And when I started to not feel well prior to my own cardiac situation, I said to myself, well, I mean, the one thing you can do at least is quit drinking. At least remove that from your life and make sure. Because I didn't really know what was going on.
Host
See what happens.
Dr. Jeremy London
See what happens.
Host
How old were you?
Dr. Jeremy London
I was 55 at the time.
Host
It's like a year ago, or.
Dr. Jeremy London
What was this? No, thank you. That was three years ago. And it didn't really make a lot of difference because I had something else going on. Yes, it made some difference for sure. But once I knew what was happening and I got a stent and I felt much better. The first thing my wife said to me, she's like, and she doesn't drink, by the way. She said to me, are you gonna start drinking again? I said, this has been a year at this point. I said, no way. I don't even want to because of all the things that you just mentioned. I like to live my life untampered. You know, the good times are the good times. I deal with the bad times accordingly. And with alcohol, people drink it both times.
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
To celebrate. And when you're sad and it's the one drug that your friends will encourage you to continue to do.
Host
Let's have a beer.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
And one of the other things that really got my attention that you said is that it's really not fun to be around a bunch of drunk people if you're sober. And I didn't realize that for a long time.
Host
Interesting.
Dr. Jeremy London
And it. I can tell you that removing alcohol for my life was probably the single most transformative decision I've made as an adult.
Host
That's great.
Dr. Jeremy London
There's no question about it. And, you know, I heard Lance Armstrong say on a podcast not long ago, when he was talking about. I guess he's removed alcohol recently or in the last year or two, he said, I've never heard anyone say, I regret moving alcohol from my life. I wish I hadn't quit. And I was like, that's so true. And for me, it is like this magic sauce of, every day is the same, every day is predictable, I'm clear. And people feel like I'm very judgmental when I Talk about it this way. I'm not at all, like, when I say your body, your rules, like, go.
Host
For it, live your life.
Dr. Jeremy London
I don't have any room to be judgmental, nor, nor, nor do I want to be. But it's kind of like when you read a good book or go see a good movie. You want to, like, share that experience. And that's kind of the sense I got from you when you were sharing, you know, your experience without alcohol. I have seen the contrast of that and just how powerful that change has been for me.
Host
And so life has gotten better for you, no question. Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
On all fronts.
Host
Yeah. Health wise, relationship wise. You've saved me money, like, all these things.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
Yeah. Yeah. You've probably heard me say this before, but taking care of your health should be your number one priority. What you put in your body directly impacts how you think, how you feel, and how you show up in the world. And whether you're training for a marathon, you're running a business, or just trying to get through a busy day with energy and clarity. Nutrition is fundamental. And when I fuel my body right, I perform better. Period. And that's why I'm a big fan of RX Bar. RX Bar is all about simple ingredients and honest nutrition. They lead with transparency. Just look at their packaging says no bs, Just real ingredients like egg whites for protein, dates to bind, and nuts for texture. Whether you're on the go or in between meetings, they've got something that fits. The original 12 gram protein bar, the nut butter and oat bar. Soft, crispy and packed with 10 grams of protein. Or the mini, just 100 calories with 6 grams of protein. RXBar is the proud sponsor of no BS and they want you to say no to what's holding you back and yes to what fuels your greatness. Use code greatness on RXBar.com for 25% off. RXBar proud sponsor of no BS. Subject to full terms and conditions and to change. Valid until September 30, 2025, and may not be combined with other offers. See rxbar.com for full details and limitations. If you're running a business, you know that every time you miss a call, you're leaving money on the table. When every customer conversation matters, you need a phone system that keeps up and helps you stay connected 24, 7. That's why you need open phone. Openphone is a business phone system that streamlines and scales your customer communications. It works through an app on your phone or computer. So no more carrying two phones or using a landline. With OpenPhone, your team can share one number and collaborate on customer calls and texts, like a shared inbox. That way any teammate can pick up right where the last person left off, keeping response times faster than ever. OpenPhone is offering my listeners 20% off of your first six months@openphone.com greatness. That's O P E N P H O-N E.com greatness. And if you have existing numbers with another service, Open Phone will port them over at no extra charge. Open Phone. No missed calls, no missed customers. Now, do you wish you could go back and quit sooner or do you feel like, okay, it served a purpose for 50 years of my life and now?
Dr. Jeremy London
Well, yeah, I mean, I do because it's been so powerful that I, I, I do wish I had realized it sooner, but it just wasn't my path.
Host
Yeah, exactly.
Dr. Jeremy London
Wasn't my path. And I'm okay with that.
Host
Yeah, of course.
Dr. Jeremy London
You know, I, I'm enjoying it now.
Host
Yeah. Yeah. I'm curious about this. You've done over 6,500 plus heart operations, heart surgeries. How many hearts have you held in your hand?
Dr. Jeremy London
Well, all of those.
Host
You put them. You, like, take it out of the body or some of them you like?
Dr. Jeremy London
No, it's every. Everything remains in the body, but you have to manipulate the heart. So the arteries that I was talking about on the front of the heart are these red, red lines. So if we're operating on the front of the heart, the heart can kind of sit here, but if it's on the back. But if on the. You're right. So we stop the heart for the majority of these operations.
Host
Stop it.
Dr. Jeremy London
Utilizing a heart lung machine.
Host
Holy cow.
Dr. Jeremy London
So the blood continues to go around.
Host
The body, but not through the heart.
Dr. Jeremy London
We put a clamp here, otherwise there's blood coming out. Exactly. And then we infuse the heart with a high potassium containing cold solution that puts the heart muscle in a hibernating state. And then we can actually maneuver the heart open the heart, that's how we fix the valves. That's how we do all of that. And then we maneuver the heart. So you're actually handling the heart when you're doing all those things. But no, we don't remove it.
Host
Like. Yeah, yeah, but you're kind of adjusting. Absolutely. The chest cavity.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure, yeah.
Host
What is that like holding the heart of a human being?
Dr. Jeremy London
You know, I look at what I do as an honor and a privilege, honestly, and it starts well before I ever get into the operating room. And that's the relationships that I develop with my patients. And that is just one component of it for me. For the patients, it's like you've had my heart in your hand. I get that comment a lot. You know, I think it's. And I don't, I don't want to, I don't want to deprioritize or belittle the comment that they're making, but when you're doing something every day, it becomes, it becomes part of the routine. But, but again, to develop a relationship that there's enough trust that I'm given that opportunity to do that. That's what's meaningful for me.
Host
Yeah. Now, this may be very sensitive topic. We don't have to talk about if you don't want to, but I'm assuming you've been a surgeon for 25 years. There's been people that haven't made it from surgery. Right, sure. Have you ever talked about that stuff of what that is like when you're invested in a person and you know how high risk it is, like they may not make it either way and you've got to go in and operate and then they don't come out of that alive. How is that impact you either emotionally, mentally, confidence wise? Just kind of. How do you deal with that in general? I know a lot of doctors have to face this, unfortunately.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
You know, brain surgeons, heart surgeons, this is, this happens, unfortunately.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure.
Host
Obviously you hope it doesn't happen that often, but what has that been like for you?
Dr. Jeremy London
So for elective operations, lowest risk operations, the risk of patients dying is 2%. 1 to 2%, which sounds like a small number until you put it in the perspective of 6,000 patients. Right, right. And so if you ask me what the single most difficult part of what I do is, it's patients dying.
Host
Wow.
Dr. Jeremy London
And that's no easier today than it was when I started 25 years ago. It is absolutely no easier. And you know, you mentioned the patients that are really high risk and aren't going to make it. You know, honestly, from a mindset standpoint, if it's a real Hail Mary operation, the expectations with that patient and the family are very lower.
Host
Oh, man.
Dr. Jeremy London
But for elective operations, when someone walks into the hospital and they're a mother, a husband, you know, and they fall in that 1 to 2%.
Host
Oh my gosh.
Dr. Jeremy London
It is really, really, really difficult and remains so to this day. And I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about some of those losses over the years. But, you know, in the end with when and if that were to ever go away, I would quit what I do.
Host
What do you mean?
Dr. Jeremy London
Because if, if that sense of attachment and the importance of that, that event occurring and the way it impacts me personally was never.
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
Then I don't think I should be doing what I'm doing.
Host
If it didn't bother you or affect you.
Dr. Jeremy London
Exactly. Exactly. And you know, you do, as you mentioned, have to compartmentalize because you can't take that home and you got to get up the next day and you got to come back.
Host
You can't do it at heart surgery the next day. And thinking about that.
Dr. Jeremy London
Right.
Host
I mean, obviously you're thinking about it, wanting to do the best job. You can absolutely make sure you're taking the right actions, but you can't. I hope this doesn't happen again.
Dr. Jeremy London
You can't not go into the operating room with that mindset. And you have to compartmentalize.
Host
How did anyone teach you? I don't know if they teach you this in med school, but did anyone teach you how to navigate when you lose a patient? Like how to process that emotionally, or is it more you have to just compartmentalize, do the job and almost like not stuff it, but stuff the emotions so you can show up your best self the next day.
Dr. Jeremy London
So the first part of your question, can you teach that? No. And it doesn't really happen until you're technically out of training entirely.
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
And the responsibility is 110% on your shoulders.
Host
So you're like 10 years in as a doctor training student. You're like, you've done so many reps.
Dr. Jeremy London
But you're not truly. The response with the buck doesn't stop with you.
Host
Yes.
Dr. Jeremy London
And until you get into that situation, it's very difficult. It's like trying to instill ownership into someone as an employee. Right. Like, you can't really do that until they're there and they're part of your business and what have you. And they either have that or they don't. Same thing as, as a physician, as a surgeon. You know, until you show up and all of that responsibility is on you, you don't have that emotional attachment, even though you see it and are part of it in training because you've seen other doctors. Absolutely.
Host
That you were helping or guiding.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely. And you're still, of course, I mean, you feel badly in those situations. Not that you're non emotional, but you're.
Host
Not the one in there doing the job.
Dr. Jeremy London
You don't have to go out and look family in the eye and have that conversation.
Host
I don't know how you do that.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah, it's. It's not easy, and it's never gotten any easier. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, it's never gotten any easier. It has not. It is not the fun part of my job. It is not.
Host
Has there ever been a patient that has come in on the operating table that you said this is the biggest long shot of success, like there's a 1% chance this will work or something like that, and they have somehow recovered and lived a longer life because of that operation?
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely. I mean, yeah, absolutely. I think most cardiac surgeons would identify with that, too.
Host
Just like miracles.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah. I mean, look, we never walk in the operating room alone. That's. That's the bottom line. We're just people operating on people. And there's certainly, you know, we. We always do the best we can, but the end is not up to. It's not up to us. That's that ultimate. The ultimate outcome is not up to us. But we certainly have taken patients, particularly younger patients, that come in with really grave problems. We're going to give them an opportunity, even if it's a very low percentage, because why wouldn't we? Of course, you know, if somebody's lived a long life and they're in their 90s and they have multiple medical problems, they come in with that same problem. It's a different conversation with the family.
Host
Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
Dr. Jeremy London
But absolutely, that does occur.
Host
Do you have a ritual before you go into surgery? And do you have a relationship with God where you bring God to the room with you?
Dr. Jeremy London
So I go through very much a process. It doesn't necessarily happen right before the operation, but days leading up potentially. And much like military or sports, where I visualize the operation that I'm going to do, I then identify the three or four worst possible scenarios that I can get into. Wow. And how I'm going to get out of it.
Host
That's smart.
Dr. Jeremy London
Because, you know, we never rise to the occasion. We always fall to our level of training. I mean, that's just human nature.
Host
Military 101.
Dr. Jeremy London
Exactly. I mean, I like to occasionally believe that we do rise to it occasionally, but that's under duress. You can't count on that.
Host
No.
Dr. Jeremy London
And so unless you train for it.
Host
You'Re going to fall to the level.
Dr. Jeremy London
Of your training every time. And so that's absolutely what I do. And then I always bring it back the morning of when I see patients before surgery to the patients that were. That we're actually going to be operating on that day. Because I tell patients in the pre op conversation that I can't guarantee them that we're not going to have bumps in the road. But what I can guarantee them is they're going to have 110% of my attention at all times and I'm going to care for them like they're my own family.
Host
Wow.
Dr. Jeremy London
And that I truly mean. That's great. And I think that that's how I express to them that I'm truly going to be a part of this and fully engaged.
Host
Do you bring God into the, your, your ritual at all or is that not for your life?
Dr. Jeremy London
I, I don't specifically.
Host
Some doctors are full faith based and other doctors, absolutely. I just gotta.
Dr. Jeremy London
I am a very, I'm a very spiritual person. I'm not a very religious person. And I also find that with the breadth of religions that, you know, there's times when it's appropriate and there's other times when it's uncomfortable for patients. And so my job is to try to make them as comfortable as possible. And so I want them to know that I'm coming to them fully engaged and open and fully responsible.
Host
A lot of the topics that we talk about on the school of Greatness is around relationships. I think relationships is one of the keys to either living a fulfilling life or suffering in life based on the quality of your relationships. I'm curious, from a heart surgeon standpoint, do you think someone can die from a broken heart based on relationships, not life? Again, the mind and the emotions impact the heart so much if they feel devastated from a loss, grief, a breakup, a divorce where the heart just cannot go on.
Dr. Jeremy London
The short answer is yes, really? And there is an actual syndrome.
Host
What is that?
Dr. Jeremy London
Tokasobu's cardiomyopathy or broken heart syndrome. Really it is a thing.
Host
Come on. So you could be a healthy human being, have none of these, you know, workouts, absolutely nobody fat.
Dr. Jeremy London
Now it is most commonly occurs in women over the age of 55 or 60. Most commonly it happens in men too.
Host
You've seen this?
Dr. Jeremy London
Oh, absolutely. We see it multiple times during the year. Typically, as you pointed out, it's after the death of a loved one, financial loss, major emotional stress. So we think, and we don't truly know the cause, that it is an over stimulation of the autonomic nervous system, which is that fight or flight or the rest or digest. It's like an imbalance of that that then causes like acute heart failure. And patients present just like they've had a heart attack. And many times they end up being evaluated by a cardiologist, actually having the dye put in the arteries, the catheterization, and they have no blockages. But the heart function that was before normal is now down to like 20%. Now here's the here's the good news and bad news. The majority of these patients get better just with support, some medications, support and time. And it gets better.
Host
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Dr. Jeremy London
Women, it's much more common, but the death rate is very low, somewhere around 1 to 2%. Men, it happens much less commonly, but the death rate is much higher, really 5 to 8%. There was some research early on that this maybe has something to do with the decrease in estrogen, which is why we're seeing it in perimenopausal and menopausal women more commonly. But men get it, too, so those theories aren't holding water across the board. So we don't really understand it, but, yes, you can die from a broken heart. And we see it, and we see this syndrome. I have had patients that I have operated on that have been really sick, and then their family member comes in two weeks later with broken heart syndrome, and they're both in the hospital.
Host
Come on.
Dr. Jeremy London
Oh, yeah. It's crazy.
Host
But you can't operate on broken heart syndrome.
Dr. Jeremy London
No, you don't have to.
Host
There's no blockages.
Dr. Jeremy London
There's no blockages and the valves are working fine. It's just that the heart function, that heart pump that normally is strong is now weak. And with time and support, thank goodness, the majority of them come. Yeah.
Host
Wow. Don't start drinking when you have a broken heart. Don't start overeating and drinking.
Dr. Jeremy London
That's. That's. That's good advice. Yeah, that's good advice.
Host
What is the difference? You know, I hope I never witness this, and I hope no one has to witness this, but what is the difference between someone having a stroke or stroke like symptoms.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure.
Host
Versus a heart attack or heart attack like symptoms? What do they do? How do they respond? What are they saying between the two?
Dr. Jeremy London
That's a good question. And I think that it's. It's not an uncommon confusion because people think that. That there. There's a lot of overlap, and sometimes there can be. But let's start with stroke first. Okay. So that you understand what's happening. Basically, with a stroke, it's lack of blood flow to a portion of the brain.
Host
And does the heart influence the blood flow to the brain?
Dr. Jeremy London
Not typically in standard stroke symptoms. And I don't want to get too far in the weeds. Are cardiac sources that can cause strokes. It's not a blood flow issue, though, from a heart problem most of the time. What it. Where's the most common places that strokes come from it's blockages in the carotid arteries that break off, pieces break off and go north and cause blockages in the small arteries in the head and then cause a lack of oxygen and nutrients to the brain, just like a heart attack in the heart. So the essential problem is the same. The symptoms are very different.
Host
So when someone's having a stroke, what are the symptoms that you'll see or notice?
Dr. Jeremy London
The things that you want to look for are changes in speech, drooping of the mouth, weakness, typically on one side of the body and not on the other. But it can be, you know, there can be some crossover, but it's usually facial changes, slurred speech, visual changes, and one side of the body, meaning upper extremity, hand and or leg not moving properly, weakness. Okay, so that's a stroke and that is a medical emergency for 911 now. Absolutely.
Host
Stop what you're doing 100%. Call A paramedics, get them to the hospital.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely. That is, that's a medical emergency, as is a heart attack.
Host
And what are the main symptoms of a heart attack?
Dr. Jeremy London
So the main symptoms are going to be crushing chest pain, typically described as like an elephant sitting on your chest, shortness of breath, radiation of pain into the arms or up into the jaw. That being said, as I mentioned earlier, can be the great masquerader. Patients can have intense abdominal pain that doesn't go away. It can be difficult to discern. But, but those symptoms of crushing chest pain that does not go away, pain that radiates or into the jar, shortness of breath. 911-911-911. Absolutely.
Host
I hope I never have to witness that. But that's good information to know. So you're taking action as opposed to, ah, you'll be fine, or, you know.
Dr. Jeremy London
And, and always, when in doubt, you're never, you're never gonna be, you know, you're never going to be criticized for calling 911 and going to the hospital when there's a concern. The commodity is too great to not do that.
Host
Yes. Yeah, you got to take care of your life. And what would you say are the three biggest things then everyone should be adding to their life to help their heart and the three biggest things people should be removing from their life, life to support their heart health. Okay, we talked about some of them already.
Dr. Jeremy London
Sure.
Host
If you're like, here's the three things you need to add to your life and three things to remove and you'll improve the quality of your heart health, much better. What would you say those things Are.
Dr. Jeremy London
So let's talk about the things that you should add, because I think people are much more willing to add things to their life than to remove things that they.
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
Gotten accustomed to or they've enjoyed. So I think the first is to move every day and not live a sedentary lifestyle. And that comes in a lot of forms. Ideally, like, if we're following the data, what do we want that to include? We want that to include aerobic training, where you are getting your heart rate up at least two to three times a week significantly so that you can move what's called your VO2 Max. Again, a fancy term. What does it mean? It just simply means how efficient your cardiovascular system is working. So the better your VO2 max, the more efficient your heart is working. That increases your health span and lifespan. Probably the single most important Predictor, honestly, is VO2 max. Got then along with that is resistance training so important? As Gabrielle Lyons says, muscle is the organ of longevity. Why does she say that? Well, obviously having a solid muscular mass as we age, because we know we're going to be losing muscle mass after the age of 30. It's dramatic having that in place. You're more stable, you're less likely to fall. You're. You're able to pick up your grandchildren and pick up suitcases and function, have a functional life. In addition, muscle is a glucose sink or a sugar sink in our bodies. And maintaining stable blood glucose levels is critical not just for cardiovascular health, but for chronic disease in general. So I think exercise is so important to add. I think the next one would be a solid sleep hygiene program because you as an athlete, understand that the biggest gains happen during recovery. And it's hard for guys like you and me that just want to go harder to get those results right. Just push harder, harder sometimes to take the step back and actually allow your body to recover. And it's not just your heart and your muscles, it's our brain, too. Our brain rejuvenates when we sleep. That's when all of the waste products that have occurred in the brain during the day get washed out. So sleep is important across the board, both from a cardiovascular standpoint and whole body. And then I think the third is what you mentioned earlier. I think relationships are really, really important to longevity. You know, my dad's about to be 89 years old this month actually, and he called me one time and said, you know, I'm going to give you one piece of advice. As you age, he said, keep your friends really close to you. He goes, because you're not sure which ones you're going to lose, which ones are going to be able to communicate. Because having someone pick up the phone and just say, hey, what you doing? Yeah, or how are you doing? He goes, not that you have to make any great plans, but just that connection, I think is a really, really important factor.
Host
That's cool.
Dr. Jeremy London
In the reasons we get up every morning. And that really stuck with me when he made that comment. Good wisdom, particularly on the eve of his 89th birthday. And he said this actually years ago. It wasn't recently.
Host
Wow. So three things to add to increase your heart health is to move every day. Aerobic and resistance training, have a healthier, better sleep hygiene program, get quality sleep every night and improve the quality of your relationships. And what would be three things to remove to improve your heart health?
Dr. Jeremy London
Okay, so the first would be be conscious of what you're putting in your mouth. Remove the processed and ultra processed foods and added sugars because glucose management, sugar management is such an important risk factor. When we look at things like type 2 diabete metabolic syndrome, all of these things that drive coronary disease, as we discussed earlier, obviously ultra processed foods, again, driving this inflammatory engine. So removing those, focusing on a whole foods diet and really just being thoughtful about what you're putting in your mouth. The next one is obviously smoking. We got to remove that from the list.
Host
And vaping.
Dr. Jeremy London
Right. I would love to include both. If I could support it with the data, I would definitely put it on there. But I think that ultimately. Yes.
Host
Well, the data of. You've seen young people come in your operating room.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
From vaping.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
That has impacted their heart. I mean, that's your personal data. You haven't seen the data in the literature, I guess. Right, but exactly. And the third thing to remove.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah. I would have to put alcohol on that list. Both from my personal experience and from my clinical experience experience that the patients that I, you know, the patients that I care for that don't drink are a different group of patients.
Host
Interesting.
Dr. Jeremy London
Than the ones that do. Interesting just because typically the rest of the pieces of that lifestyle also go in line with that mindset.
Host
Yeah. It's hard for someone to be healthy with their sleep and prioritize sleep.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
Move their body, eat really clean.
Dr. Jeremy London
Right.
Host
Have good relationships and then also be an alcoholic.
Dr. Jeremy London
Right.
Host
Like it's hard to have, you know, it's like if you're doing all these things well, you see the effects of alcohol. It's hurting my sleep, it's hurting my relationships. It's hurting my. My fitness levels. I can't train as hard. So you're probably more mindful. Maybe you drink every now and then, but you're not drinking every night. You know, you're more mindful if you're conscious of all these other things, but not here.
Dr. Jeremy London
Something's all, you know, I think that brings up a point. You know, we all have our own instruction manuals. Yeah, Right. Like, yours is different than mine. Your diet is going to be a little bit different than mine. It's about what. What works for you. And I think a big part of this whole journey is. Is figuring out what that instruction manual is. And these are kind of the. The major levers. And then you need to figure out how and where and when you're gonna.
Host
Yeah, exactly.
Dr. Jeremy London
Work after those.
Host
I mean, and I. And I speak with a lot of conviction, but I hope that people watching or listening to both of us, you know, if people want to drink, drink, you know, my. Yeah, I know I don't live a perfect, healthy lifestyle. I have too much sugar. I probably have too many processed foods, and I know that, but I'm conscious of it. And I have more whole foods than I do processed most of the time.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
But I also know when I'm doing it, I'm like, you know, I need to be doing better.
Dr. Jeremy London
That's right.
Host
Let me pause this.
Dr. Jeremy London
What did I say earlier? We know we know better, but we don't do better.
Host
So it's about being, you know, being conscious of it. If you are drinking, it's about like, okay, I'm only gonna do this once a week maybe, or once every now and then or something like that, and really try to limit it if you can. No one needs to be perfect, and you don't have to worry about that. And I'm. I'm not here to judge people, but I am here to elevate myself and others to living a better life. And if that means calling people up, then that's what I want us to do.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely. And it's about. It's about progression, not perfection.
Host
Exactly.
Dr. Jeremy London
And you're right. Like, even for me personally, if I'm eating whole foods, 80% of the time, it's amazing. And 20% of the time, I fall off. That's a W for me. That's a win.
Host
It's a big win.
Dr. Jeremy London
And I'm comfortable. And I'm comfortable with that for me. And when you talk about, you know, like, how do you evaluate where I start with my health or, you know, what's the One thing I would say do. It's very difficult when we talk about all of us as individuals to give that one thing. Because if I came to you and said, well, you need to move every day, you'd be like, well, I do that. Like, I don't need to do, I don't need to do that. What we need to do is we need to identify what we're bad at.
Host
Yes.
Dr. Jeremy London
You know I'm a terrible sleeper, right?
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
So I need to work on my sleep. That's my Achilles heel, you know. And so first, having intellectual honesty to identify those things that you don't do well is the greatest opportunity to move the needle with your health span of life.
Host
And I want to ask you, I know a lot of people are confused about this. What is the difference between a heart attack and a panic attack? Because some people have a panic attack and they think I'm having a heart attack. What is the difference? Difference?
Dr. Jeremy London
It's tough to, to tell the difference many times because the symptoms can be so similar. And panic attacks can be very physical as well. Of course. And you know, so what are those symptoms? Well, some of the things we've already talked about, shortness of breath, sweating, chest discomfort, you know, nausea, changes in vision, you know, all these things, they can be panic attack, they can be heart attack. How do you tell the difference? Well, panic attacks typically are brought on by emotional scenarios. Not always, but typically speaking, they'll typically last 10 to 30 minutes, self limited, and then they'll, then they'll ease off. Heart attacks, on the other hand, are typically, you typically have some warning signs of the progression of the discomfort before it comes on and doesn't go away. It's crushing chest pain, not a sharp chest pain. And it doesn't get better with time. And that's a key. And that is a true medical emergency. Now if you're in one of those scenarios and you're not sure, then you need to go to the hospital because that's always the safest thing to do. Because with an EKG and a simple blood test, you know, that can be, that can be delineated pretty easily. So it's a difficult, it's a difficult scenario. It really is. And people frequently during panic attacks will say, I'm having a heart attack. Now the other important thing is panic attacks do not cause heart attacks. And I think that's a spin that a lot of folks will get into. Yes, I'm having a panic attack, but now I'm having a heart attack. That would be very, very Unusual, Very rare, Very, very rare.
Host
For the panic attacks, you know, don't make you feel good, but it's not killing you.
Dr. Jeremy London
Correct, right, exactly.
Host
It might be influencing your overall health, but it's not creating a heart attack.
Dr. Jeremy London
Right, right. And you may fear for your life during a panic attack, I've seen that many, many times. But you're not in danger.
Host
What's the best thing someone can do to recover from a panic attack? Yeah, so, so it doesn't happen again, you know.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah, well, so it doesn't happen again requires coping skills. But to break a panic attack, what you really want to do is divert your nervous system in some way. The fastest way that I have found to do that is take a bag of ice, fill it up and put it on the back of the neck and it just kind of changes your whole focus. If you don't have a bag of ice, you can, and you know, just put your face under cold water. Whatever, whatever opportunity you have, if you're driving, please pull over. You know, get a, get a cup of ice from the convenience store and put your hands in it or just hold on to some ice is usually enough. And it'll frequently break a panic attack. Now treatment of panic attacks is way outside of my wheelhouse as far as long term coping skills and things of that nature. But, but I think the good news is in most cases, with appropriate support and guidance, people can get over panic attacks.
Host
Okay.
Dr. Jeremy London
I mean I really think, and anxiety in general, I think that it's not something that people have to live with forever.
Host
Okay, so I'm going to ask you 1 through 10, 10 being the best one, being the least best, 1 through 10, how valuable is saunas for helping heart health?
Dr. Jeremy London
So I am a huge believer in sauna therapy. Now all of the data has been done in traditional finished saunas. I don't have a problem with the other alternatives with the infrared type saunas and there's some other ones out there. But, but if we're going to talk about the data and what I personally use, that's where I think the money lies, if you will. So the numbers are dramatic that if you are utilizing sauna four to five times a week, sessions of 11 to 12 minutes each, that 11 minute mark seems to be important. Somewhere over 175 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, your decrease in cardiovascular events is greater than 50% and all cause mortality is in that same level as well. In addition, now the neurocognitive benefits of sauna are starting to come out. As far as being protective from Alzheimer's, dementia and what have you, why does all of this happen? And I don't really have the capability to dive deeply into the science, but the basics is that we release something called a heat shock protein when you're in the sauna. Particularly when you get to that uncomfortable place in the sauna seems to be where you really have this release and.
Host
You stay just a couple of minutes.
Dr. Jeremy London
A little bit longer is where you really get the benefit. And that, that is where the cardiovascular all cause mortality and neuroprotective benefits come from.
Host
So one through ten, what do you think? Is that a ten for you? Is that an eight? Nine?
Dr. Jeremy London
It's a, it's a ten for me. I sauna at least three to four times every single week.
Host
Okay. One through ten. Ice therapy, cold therapy.
Dr. Jeremy London
So personally speaking, I am a huge believer in cold plunges. It's my morning routine. Every single morning, 4:00am you know, I like to start the day with something hard. It puts, puts my whole mindset in perspective. It wakes me up because you get this cortisol release and it really sets the tone. Plus as I'm peaking at 60 here and like to stay really active, you know, when I get out of bed in the morning, my wife will say to me, what hurts? And I'll say, look, it'll be quicker for me to tell you the things that don't hurt. Right now she's like, well that's not good. But cold plunging really helps on a day to day basis to keep all of that under control. The data from a cardiovascular standpoint and really overall longevity standpoint is not as powerful as it is with sauna. I can't tell you specifically what it is off the top of my head, but from a cardiovascular standpoint, I would say that I would have to put that on the lower end of the spectrum. 1 to 10. But for personal impact and the way that I've utilized it, it's an 11 now.
Host
What about over seven hours of sleep? Yeah, a one to 10 scale for heart health.
Dr. Jeremy London
It is, it's a 10 plus.
Host
Really?
Dr. Jeremy London
It really is. Because again, if we look at the recovery piece, what does that really impact? Well, the risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome and how your body metabolizes glucose all changes when you're recovered and well rested. Sleep apnea, where your oxygen level is changing during the evening, again affecting the hours of sleep that you have, is a direct risk factor for high blood pressure, which we know is a risk factor consequently to heart disease.
Host
Yeah, I Guess the only thing I could. I've never been drunk, so I don't know what that feels like. But I have been on a lack of sleep at different times of my life. Life.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
And I can almost sense that it feels like you're drunk. So if you're not sleeping well.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
You're not performing well the next day and it's starting to stack if you don't sleep well every night.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
And so I can only imagine how much it could be hurting your physical health and creating excess fat and therefore impacting your heart.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely. I think it's. I think it's one of the, of the pillars that people miss many times. You know, it's not a new gym membership. It's not whatever, PR lifting or cold plunging or whatever. It's like, you know, you need to prioritize your sleep. We all have to sleep.
Host
That's great. Dr. London, this has been powerful. I've got a few final questions for you, but I want people to follow you. You've got amazing content on Instagram. Dr. Jeremy London on Instagram. Also, drjeremielondon.com your website. You've got a podcast as well, right?
Dr. Jeremy London
We do, we do.
Host
So you have a lot of the insights, the information. If people want to learn more, where can they go to get the podcast?
Dr. Jeremy London
YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. We've got a newsletter that usually tries to parallel many times. So whatever format you enjoy getting this information, we like to get it out to you so that, you know, we're spreading the word and hopefully giving folks insight into.
Host
That's great.
Dr. Jeremy London
Into things that is going to allow them to live longer and live better.
Host
Drjermeelondon.com for the newsletter as well, right?
Dr. Jeremy London
That's correct.
Host
And you're working on a book right now. So in the future we'll get a book from you. Hopefully we'll have more of this stuff for people, more research and data as well. This is a question I ask you if you could go back right before you started medical school. I don't know, where were you? Where'd you go to medical school?
Dr. Jeremy London
Like, I went to medical school in Augusta, Georgia.
Host
Okay, cool. So how old were you when you went to medical school? Do you remember?
Dr. Jeremy London
It was 21. 21, yeah.
Host
So you make the decision. I'm going to medical school. You're getting your plans together. You go for the first day, whatever. You're in class, you're in the clinic, wherever you are. I don't know if you can remember that first day of medical school. Nearly 40, not that old. Nearly 40 years ago.
Dr. Jeremy London
I can remember that.
Host
Yeah. I mean, 40 years ago. Almost 38, 39 years ago.
Dr. Jeremy London
Right.
Host
If you could remember the excitement and the joy and the unknown of what was about to happen. And now almost 7,000 surgeries, thousands of lives impacted in a positive way. The influence you've had on people's life, personally, their families, the miracles that have happened. If you could go and give three pieces of advice to the younger you going into med school for the first day, what would you share?
Dr. Jeremy London
Wow. First one would be don't take yourself so seriously. For sure. Be willing to live in the gray, man. That's hard. And always trust your gut.
Host
That's good advice. Would your 21 year old self have any advice for you currently for this next season of Life as you're rounding into 60, would he give you any advice on what to expect for the next decade or two?
Dr. Jeremy London
Get outside, relax, enjoy the day, let go.
Host
Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
That 21 year old was pretty good at all that.
Host
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to remember some of that, huh? Yeah.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yep.
Host
Well, hopefully your son will remind you that every day too. Cause he's working with you.
Dr. Jeremy London
Got lots of people to remember me.
Host
But listen to that inner voice inside of you.
Dr. Jeremy London
Absolutely.
Host
He's your gut.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah.
Host
That 21 year old's still in there.
Dr. Jeremy London
Yeah. There's no. There's no doubt.
Host
He's still in there, man.
Dr. Jeremy London
There's no doubt.
Host
I want to acknowledge you, Dr. London, for the work you've done to inspire millions of people around the world. Helping people, even if just one video you shared has helped someone change their life and live better, healthier, happier life, you're saving lives with the content you're sharing. So I want to acknowledge you for your 40 years of experience, hands on, literally helping people's hearts heal, but also now using your wisdom to share with others so hopefully they can make better decisions in their life and impact the families and friends around them to live better as well. I want to acknowledge you for the gift that you are.
Dr. Jeremy London
Well, thank you.
Host
And you may not be holding people's hearts literally in the future, but you're doing it spiritually, emotionally, mentally through the content you're sharing through this conversation. So I acknowledge you for all the work you're doing.
Dr. Jeremy London
Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. It really does. And I think you really touched on what's important with the platforms and the effort that we're making. If we can just touch one life, it's all worthwhile.
Host
That's it.
Dr. Jeremy London
And we get so much feedback that it's been so much more than that. That it is really that's the motivation for us to continue doing this. So thank you for acknowledging it. Of course, I appreciate that.
Host
Final question, Jeremy, what's your definition of greatness?
Dr. Jeremy London
Always being willing to change that. I don't ever feel like I've arrived and I feel like I'm always open to change. And that is one of the things that I think has enabled me to accomplish many of the things that I have in my life. And I hope to accomplish many, many more as a result of maintaining a very open attitude towards opportunity.
Host
A lot of thanks so much for coming on. Appreciate you. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our greatness+channel exclusively on Apple Podcast Podcast. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.
Dr. Jeremy London
Hey everybody, it's Rob Lowe here. If you haven't heard, I have a podcast that's called Literally with Rob Lowe, and basically it's conversations I've had that really make you feel like you're pulling up a chair at an intimate dinner.
Host
Between myself and people that I admire.
Dr. Jeremy London
Like Aaron Sorkin or Tiffany Haddish, Demi Moore, Chris Pratt, Michael J. Fox.
Host
There are new episodes out every Thursday.
Dr. Jeremy London
So subscribe, please and listen wherever you.
Host
Get your podcasts at Capella University, Learning.
Dr. Jeremy London
Online doesn't mean learning alone. You'll get support from people who care.
Host
About your success, like your enrollment specialist.
Dr. Jeremy London
Who gets to know you and the.
Host
Goals you'd like to achieve.
Dr. Jeremy London
You'll also get a designated academic coach who's with you throughout your entire program.
Host
Plus, career coaches are available to help you navigate your professional goals. A different future is closer than you.
Dr. Jeremy London
Think with Capella University. Learn more@capella.edu.
The School of Greatness: America's #1 Heart Risk & How You Can Prevent It
Hosted by Lewis Howes | Featuring Dr. Jeremy London | Released July 28, 2025
In this enlightening episode of The School of Greatness, host Lewis Howes sits down with Dr. Jeremy London, a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon with over 25 years of experience. Together, they delve deep into the leading causes of heart disease in America, exploring both well-known and emerging risks, and provide actionable insights on how listeners can safeguard their heart health.
Lewis Howes opens the conversation with a provocative question: "Do you think someone can die from a broken heart?"
Dr. Jeremy London responds emphatically:
“The short answer is yes. And there is an actual syndrome. Broken heart syndrome.” (00:02)
He further emphasizes the prevalence of heart-related issues by stating that “50% of Americans have high blood pressure,” and highlights that many are unaware of their condition (00:08).
Dr. London provides a comprehensive overview of heart disease, noting that it doesn't occur in isolation.
“Nothing happens in a vacuum in our bodies. Everything is connected,” he explains (00:36).
He identifies the primary cause of heart attacks as “blockages in the heart arteries,” primarily due to cholesterol buildup, which restricts the heart muscle's access to nutrients and oxygen (03:06).
A significant portion of the discussion centers on the rise of vaping, especially among Gen Z.
Lewis Howes asks: “How much does vaping affect the heart health for Gen Z?” (00:46).
Dr. London warns, “The nicotine content in those vaping formulations is essentially unregulated,” leading to potential long-term cardiovascular risks (06:17). He shares alarming cases of young adults developing severe lung injuries from vaping, some requiring advanced life support like ECMO (15:04).
The conversation shifts to the role of stress in heart disease.
Dr. London asserts, “Everything is connected. Our mind, our nervous system, all connected to our blood vessels, our heart,” highlighting that while stress might not be a major risk factor on its own, it “definitely plays a role in heart disease” by influencing overall bodily health (04:58).
Dr. London outlines the three biggest factors contributing to heart disease:
Obesity and Poor Diet
“Obesity along with poor diet and insulin resistance… high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, and we cannot leave out smoking,” he lists (05:30).
Smoking
He describes smoking as “the single worst thing you can do for your body,” impacting not just the lungs but all arteries, significantly increasing heart disease risk (06:00).
Alcohol Consumption
Dr. London discusses the toxic effects of alcohol on heart health, comparing it to the eventual regulation of cigarettes (32:37).
Dr. London shares poignant anecdotes from his surgical career, including operating on young patients with vaping-induced heart conditions.
“The youngest patient I've operated on for bypass surgery was 23 years old,” he recounts, highlighting the severe impact of lifestyle choices combined with genetic predispositions (16:11).
He also opens up about his personal journey with alcohol, explaining how removing alcohol from his life was the most transformative decision he made, significantly improving his health and relationships (36:38).
Dr. London offers practical advice for listeners to enhance their heart health:
Add to Your Life:
Remove from Your Life:
Dr. London emphasizes the importance of progression over perfection, encouraging listeners to make gradual but consistent changes to their lifestyles (71:40).
A common confusion addressed in the episode is distinguishing between heart attacks and panic attacks.
Dr. London clarifies:
“Panic attacks typically are brought on by emotional scenarios and last 10 to 30 minutes, whereas heart attacks involve crushing chest pain that does not go away,” advising listeners to always seek emergency medical attention if in doubt (72:53).
Towards the end, Dr. London shares his personal practices for maintaining heart health:
Sauna Therapy:
He rates saunas a “10” for heart health, citing studies that show a significant reduction in cardiovascular events with regular use (76:42).
Cold Therapy:
While not as impactful as saunas, he finds cold plunges valuable for mental clarity and stress reduction, rating them an “8” (78:35).
Concluding the episode, Dr. London reflects on his career and offers words of wisdom:
"Greatness is always being willing to change and never feeling like you've arrived." (86:25)
He encourages listeners to stay open to growth and embrace opportunities for continuous improvement.
Dr. Jeremy London (00:02):
“The short answer is yes. And there is an actual syndrome. Broken heart syndrome.”
Dr. Jeremy London (05:35):
“Obesity along with poor diet and insulin resistance… high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, and we cannot leave out smoking.”
Dr. Jeremy London (36:38):
“Removing alcohol from my life was the single most transformative decision I've made as an adult.”
Dr. Jeremy London (71:40):
“Progression over perfection.”
Dr. Jeremy London (86:25):
“Greatness is always being willing to change and never feeling like you've arrived.”
Taking charge of your heart health is a journey. By understanding the risks and implementing positive lifestyle changes, you can pave the way to a healthier, longer life.