Ep. 1680 – The Good News with Angie Austin – JIM STOVALL, A LEGENDARY LESSON / Dr. Payal Kohli & John Heart Health- Why Diagnosis and Treatment for Symptomatic (oHCM) Are So Important
Join Angie Austin and Dr. Pyle Coley as they dive deep into heart health, discussing symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the importance of awareness and treatment. With guest John sharing his personal journey of living actively post-diagnosis and powerful insights from Dr. Coley, this episode emphasizes the crucial role of recognizing and acting upon symptoms ahead of time. Learn why heart health cannot be overlooked and discover strategies for staying active and healthy today.
Welcome to It Takes Energy, presented by Energy Transfer, where we talk all things oil and natural gas. Oil and gas drive our economy, ensure our country’s security and open pathways to brighter futures. The US produces 13 million barrels of crude oil every day, enough to fill 800 Olympic swimming pools. But what is that oil used for? The gas we put in our cars is just the beginning. Nearly 50% of each barrel is refined into gasoline. Another 34% is refined into fuels like diesel and jet fuel. And the rest is used to make more than 96% of our everyday essentials, like the tennis shoes you wear, the cell phone you rely on, and medicines that help save lives. Look around, and you’ll see the essential role oil and gas plays in our modern lives. Our world needs oil and gas, and people rely on us to deliver it. To learn more, visit ittakesenergy.com.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin and Jim Stovall here with the good news. And we are talking about his winner’s wisdom column titled A Legendary Lesson. Welcome, Jim Stovall.
SPEAKER 04 :
It is always good to be with you, Miss Angie. And A Legendary Lesson, this week’s column, was just a lot of fun for me because… My first movie, The Ultimate Gift, was directed by Michael Seibel. And he was in town and stopped by to see me. And it brought back so many memories. And I asked, what are you working on now? And he’s working on this faith and football movie about the Green Bay Packers. And I thought, what a cool deal. And he’s actually going back to the Ice Bowl, 1967, the first championship. It was 15 below zero, and Vince Lombardi’s team won. And there’s only two guys alive that were on that team, and one of them was Jerry Kramer. And wow, that brought back a memory, because when I was nine years old, I went to a college basketball game, and they had this lounge in between, and you could go get a Coke or popcorn. And I went up there with my dad, and several people were saying, that’s Jerry Kramer. Well, I couldn’t believe it. I went over and met this giant guy. As you know, I wanted to be a football player, and that’s probably where the ambition began. And he actually talked to me quite a bit about it, and he’s such an amazing guy. And I said, what are your memories of Lombardi? And he said, you know, he’s the only coach I had, so he seems normal to me only now in retrospect do I understand what an amazing figure Vince Lombardi was. But he said, you know, Jim. Vince Lombardi always told me, my best is good enough. So don’t worry. Don’t feel inadequate. You are entitled to victory. You’ve got it. Your best is good enough. But we need your best every time. We’ve got to have your very best every time. And that’s not as easy as it sounds. Because sometimes we think we’re doing our best, and we’re really not. And you have to reach down and just get a little more. There’s always a little more. I’ve shared with your listeners before, I do a lot of Fortune 500 events for CEOs, and I remember I was working with a guy who helps with brainstorming, creative thinking, and you had a group of these guys who run some of the largest companies in the world in the room, and he said, okay, here’s our topic, write down every idea you can think of, every idea, total brain dump, and when you’ve got it all down, put your pen down, we’ll know you’ve got it all. And he waited until everybody had written down every idea they had. Okay, everybody’s down. All the pens are down. He said, now, pick up your pen and write down one more idea. And without hesitating, these guys did it. And I said, where did that idea come from? We just had a total brain dump, and there’s a little more left in the tank. Well, that’s how giving our best effort works. You think you’re doing your best until you find out when you really are. It’s kind of like that first love you have, Angie, you know, when you’re in junior high school and you meet somebody and say, this is it. This is the absolute quintessential love of my life. And they are until you meet the one that really is. And they’re, oh, well, that’s what that is. And you don’t know. So, you know, we are always deeper, broader, more significant. I always tell my audiences, I hope God will put enough challenges and obstacles and barriers in your life so you’ll find out what a giant of a human being you were created to be. Because we all have so much more than we think we did.
SPEAKER 08 :
I love it that only an elementary school age Jim Stovall would ask Jerry Kramer for the best advice he received from Vince Lombardi. Like that cracks me up. But even at nine, you’re like, oh, this would be a good question where most kids are like, how much can you lift? How fast can you run? You know, but his best advice from his coach is a pretty good question to ask when you get someone like that who will spend that amount of time, you know, someone that well known that will spend that amount of time with a kid.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, absolutely. And I will admit, when I was nine, my dad may have helped me with that a little bit. I was scared to death that he’d meet this guy, you know. So, you know, we’ve always got to remember that there’s always more capacity than we think there is, and you can always get more out of it. You think you do your best until you do, and then you can do better than that.
SPEAKER 08 :
So, yeah, right. You think you’re doing your best, but can you pull more out? So he told…
SPEAKER 04 :
jerry i want your best but i want it every time not just your best half the time or in the playoffs or you know whatever you know it ends up being yeah and you know and and you know football’s like life i mean there’s a few things that matter and a lot of things that don’t and we need to make sure we focus on the things that matter you know and people always tell me you know i’m giving 110 percent no you’re not and and there’s some things that aren’t worth that just uh You know, I would encourage most people, look at the things you’re doing today and do fewer things but do them better. And the people who succeed, I don’t care whether you’re the greatest golfer in the world or the greatest actor or the greatest writer or you’re like Angie, you’re the world’s greatest radio host. The thing you do, if you’ll do it better and do fewer things, it won’t matter. It will not matter. I mean, I have interviewed some of the greatest people from their field. You know, whether it’s entertainment or sports or business. And it’s amazing how some of these people, they don’t know how to do any of the normal stuff that, you know, you and I and your listeners know how to do. They don’t know how to go to a grocery store. A lot of times they don’t know how to drive a car. They don’t know how to do anything, you know. And, you know, because they focus everything on the one thing they do, they’ve got other people to do everything else in their life. So the more you can focus and be excellent on the thing that matters… and avoid the things that don’t matter.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. Don’t spend so much time on the stuff that doesn’t matter. Like I’ll find myself and it matters to do puzzles with my mom because she’s in her mid eighties and she loves to do them and no one else in the family is really into it. So I do those with her, but then she’ll be like, And her little apartment in the basement and I’ll be upstairs on the big dining room table, you know, and I’ll pass the puzzle and I’ll be like, I’ll just feel that draw. And I’m like, I know I need to clean. I know I have laundry to do. I know I have other things I should be doing. And I’ll stop for like 15 minutes by myself and I’ll just think in my brain like. Why am I standing here doing this? This is like scrolling on social media or whatever. It’s fine if you’re with your mom and you’re having a conversation and you’re keeping her company. But for me to stop by the puzzle in the middle of the day when I have so many other things to do, I get that giving your best all the time is important, but also focusing on the things that really matter at the right time. Like that puzzle might matter when it’s in conjunction with my mom. But when it’s by itself, there are things that are much more important for me to be doing. I’m just stalling, you know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I remember when I was first starting in the movie business, and I interviewed Jack Lemmon, the Academy Award-winning actor, and I went on set. He was making a movie. And just before the director would say, you know, action, Lemmon would say something to himself over there. So when we took a break and I was talking to him, I said, what is that you say to yourself? And he said, I always tell myself, this is the magic time. This is, you know, somebody’s grandchildren that aren’t even born yet are going to see this. And you leave it. So every time I walk on stage, I always think of, you know, Mr. Lemon. And this is it. I mean, there are people here tonight. This is the last time and the only time I’ll ever see them. They’ll ever see me. And, you know, this is what matters. This is these people. 12,000 people is what matters. Or every week when I talk to Angie Austin, the people in your audience, for these few minutes, good, bad, or ugly, this is the best I got. And I bring it every time because you never know when you’re going to have that. And somebody out there is hanging, and they’re trying to decide if their dreams can come true, and does this stuff really work. You know, that’s why, you know, we all got to find something that matters that much to it and give it your best every time. Your best is good enough, but make sure it’s your best.
SPEAKER 08 :
Did he say anything else that stuck out to you? He’s been gone a long time. He died in 2001, but I knew exactly who you were talking about. He’s an Oscar winner and, you know, obviously very, I mean, one of the top all-time actors. I think he won for Save the Tiger. I’ve never seen that one.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Yeah, and China Syndrome, he won an Academy Award.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, that’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, he was an amazing, amazing actor. And he started out on Broadway, and he and Walter Matthau did so many movies together. They did The Grumpy Old Men and stuff. And I remember, you know, but he said that he never had more fun than doing The Odd Couple on Broadway with Walter. And he said, but the fun show was the Sunday afternoon show because he said, I was Felix, he was Oscar. until sunday afternoon we would switch parts and nobody knew and we would do the other part and he said it was just so much fun we always look forward to that one and and he said walter lived to make me laugh he was always helping you you know in the middle of the broadway show doing the odd couple he’s going to make me laugh and he was so dedicated to that all the time and uh yeah he was he was uh and then and then he said walter was totally insane i got to interview him too but he said Walter, you know, he said, I hadn’t seen Walter Matthau in two years. We just hadn’t worked together. And then he said it was Saturday morning, really early, 7.38 in the morning. And he said the maid wasn’t there and there was nobody. The doorbell rings. And he said, I couldn’t figure out, how is the doorbell ringing? He said, I have a gate out front. How does somebody ring my doorbell? So he said, I get in my bathrobe and I go down there. And there’s Walter Matthau standing there in his pajamas with a cup of coffee. And he doesn’t say hello or anything. He says, you got any cream, Jack? And he said, that’s Walter. And he would just do stuff like that to try to make me laugh. And he said, I don’t know how he got there. There wasn’t a car. There wasn’t anything. And then we had a cup of coffee and he left. And he said, that was Walter. He said the man was absolutely insane.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s hilarious. Yes. Now, Michael, who directed The Ultimate Gift, that was your most popular movie, your very first movie. Now you’re doing your ninth. How come you haven’t worked with him again? Have you had a chance to work with him again? Have you done other big projects?
SPEAKER 04 :
We finished that project, and he was off doing something else. And Michael Landon Jr. did the sequel to the film. And then we brought in Raquel Welch to make the third film in the trilogy. And she had a director she wanted to work with. And it worked out really, really good. And then, you know, it’s just, yeah, Michael and I were sitting here talking, you know, maybe we should do another film together. I think we probably will. But it’s just, you know, everybody’s schedule has got to be clear at the same time because, you know, making a movie is a year out of your life. And, you know, everybody’s time has got to coordinate or you’ve got to go find somebody else.
SPEAKER 08 :
I love it. I think he said this, that I couldn’t do it. I don’t think I could do a film that’s against my world view. That’s pretty cool. That seems like someone you would work with.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, Michael can’t do that. And the thing I’ll always remember about him in that movie, we had Abigail Breslin when she was eight years old, and she had just got nominated for the Academy Award for Little Miss Sunshine, and she came to our movie. And what a gifted actress. But she’s eight years old. And Michael would take time with her, and she was fearless. She’s standing around with James Garner and Brian Denny and Lee Merriweather and all these people, and Michael was discussing the next scene. And she would say, now, Michael, I have a thought here. And she’s talking like a little – I mean, I told her, I said, tell the truth. You’re a midget in a kid’s suit, right? I mean, don’t give me this. And she was just the most amazing thing. But to see her work with him – was such a delight. I mean, it takes a lot of talent to pull that out of a kid like that. And then to work with all these big stars and not be intimidated by them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I’m looking forward to, I’ll keep my eye out for his documentary about faith and football regarding the Green Bay Packers. I take it that Michael is a Christian. It sounds like he is from his interviews.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, he is. And in his case, being a person of faith It’s not what he does. It’s who he is. I mean, you don’t have to. He didn’t tell anybody. He didn’t make a big deal out of it. It’s just like totally obvious to everybody.
SPEAKER 08 :
I love that. And then when’s your ninth movie coming out? What’s going on with your next movie?
SPEAKER 04 :
It will probably be out next year. That movie is Will to Win. And then I have two others that have been optioned. um coach for life and then that travels with steinbeck and uh coach for life the book will be out this summer but it’s already been optioned and then and then the steinbeck book will be out early 26 and it’s been optioned for a movie so you know you got to be insane to do one to do three movies at the same time and and in a show every week with angie then you know you’ve arrived and who’s what’s uh who is uh the top the subject of coach for life It is a novel. It’s a fiction I wrote about a coach that lives in this little tiny town for 50 years, and he coaches football, basketball, and baseball. And when he dies at age 80, that’s the opening of the book and the movie. And then all these people, governors and world leaders and billionaires and athletes and entertainers, that he coached way back in the day when they were little kids. They come back and say what he did for them. And the whole thing is our legacy is that which we leave behind in other people, and it’s just a great story about that thing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, I love it. All right, jimstovall.com. Thank you, friend.
SPEAKER 04 :
Be well, Angie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Arc Thrift has the summer clothing and household items you need. With 5,000 new items on the floor every day in 35 locations across Colorado, Arc Thrift also needs your donations of houseware, small furniture, electronics, and kitchen items. Donate generously and check out their stores. They’re looking for small electronics like alarm clocks and radios and all types of home goods that could include lamps, side tables, blenders, food processors, and more. Clothing is always a need for families, and Arc Thrift knows how quickly kids grow out of their clothes every season. They have clothing for all ages and times of the year. For any large furniture, you can schedule an online pickup with Arc Thrift. And as long as there’s a large furniture pickup, you can give them up to 20 boxes or bags for free. Go to arcthrift.com to schedule your large furniture pickup and to find the nearest location to you. That’s arcthrift.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Longmont is listening to the mighty 670 KLT Denver.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey, friend, if you’re just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. And today we are talking heart health. Joining us is Dr. Pyle Coley. Dr. Coley is a board certified cardiologist currently practicing at Cherry Creek Heart in Denver, right here in Colorado. And heart patient, John. John is a patient who has returned to his active lifestyle and his path. Thank you for having us, Nancy. Yeah, we appreciate that. You are welcome. Well, Doc, I’ll start with you. We’re talking about something specific regarding the heart, symptomatic OHCM. Please explain this to us and how it impacts people like John.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Angie, symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is actually a condition that’s called the great masquerader because it’s often missed both by patients and by doctors. In fact, there are data that tell us that 80% of cases are undiagnosed or underdiagnosed. And so it’s a genetic condition and it affects the way the heart looks and the way the heart behaves. So if you think about the heart, it’s a pump that’s pumping blood to our body all day and all night long. And in symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the heart is stiff. So instead of being like a water balloon, it’s like a lead balloon. It doesn’t fill normally with blood. And then the blood doesn’t leave the heart normally. So normally the blood leaves through a hallway. And in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with obstruction, that hallway is thickened and narrowed. So the blood has trouble getting out, essentially. And you can imagine when you’re exercising and being active, the heart is beating harder and faster. The blood needs to get to the organs more. And if it doesn’t, you can start to have symptoms. So if it’s not getting to your brain, you can feel lightheaded, dizzy or faint. like you’re going to pass out. If it’s not getting to your heart and lungs, you can feel short of breath and have chest tightness and have palpitations. So it’s really important to raise awareness of this condition. And that’s why John and I are here today and working with Bristol Myers Squibb, because we really want people to be plugged into their symptoms and to understand not to blow off symptoms, because some days are better and some days are worse with this condition. And I don’t want people to say I’m just getting older or just getting out of shape or dial back what they’re doing as a way to accommodate, essentially make up for the fact that the blood’s not doing what it’s supposed to.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. So let’s talk about those symptoms. And, you know, John, I understand you were into tennis and then pickleball. And can you talk about the symptoms that you experienced and how that was holding you back from what you wanted to do with your life?
SPEAKER 05 :
Like so many people, I think, you know, I really value being an active person and exercise has been a big part of that. I played college tennis back in the day and really appreciate an active lifestyle. It’s interesting to side note, both my two older brothers and I were misdiagnosed with heart murmurs when we were in our 20s, and all three of us would later be diagnosed with this disease, OHCM. My symptoms actually started in my mid-50s when I started feeling dizzy during workouts, and these symptoms continued to get sort of worse, and I also experienced shortness of breath. These things became so difficult and so overwhelming that I couldn’t go on a simple walk without needing to constantly stop and catch my breath. A few years ago, I switched from tennis to pickleball, thinking it would be easier. But even then, I struggled to finish a match. These symptoms continued to interfere with some of the things that I really valued, and that is my ability to stay active. So about three years ago, I saw another cardiologist, and that’s when I was diagnosed with OHCM.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. So let’s talk about then, Doc, and I’ll start with you, but, John, you can join in as well. So this is holding him back from his lifestyle. Like you said, Doc, you don’t want to just ignore this and say, oh, I’m getting older. So how can it be treated and the lifestyle be improved for the patient? Sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, thankfully we do have some good tools in our toolbox. So certainly surgery is an option. We don’t start there just because it’s more dramatic and we sort of start people on medications. But the surgical option is to actually cut out part of that hallway to allow more space for the blood to leave the heart. But there’s also medical options. And where we usually start is a medication called a beta blocker, which… reduces the heart rate. So it allows more time for that blood to leave the heart. And if somebody is, you know, still having symptoms on that, then we can reach for other medications like Camzias or Mavacampin, which is a medication for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that decreases the force with which the heart squeezes. So one of the problems in this condition is the heart is squeezing really hard. It’s trying really hard to push against that obstruction. And that actually makes the problem worse because it kind of collapses on itself and it causes the hallway to sort of be sucked closed when it’s squeezing. So by reducing the force with which the heart is squeezing, you kind of give it a little bit of a break and allow the blood to leave the heart a little bit better open. And the patients that I’ve treated with Mavacampton, I’ve seen a dramatic improvement in their symptoms, and they’re able to sort of dial back that level of activity and get back to the things that they love. But you can imagine, Angie, for reducing the force with which the heart squeezes, we have to watch the heart carefully because you don’t want the heart to get too weak. And that’s why any patient taking Camzives or Mavacampton actually needs echocardiograms or ultrasounds of their heart on a regular basis in order to monitor how the heart is functioning.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. So let’s talk about then, John, you know, you’re pulling back from your lifestyle and then you get treatment. Talk about the treatment and returning back to, you know, your activities. Talk about, you know, your life’s journey with that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. So I started with a beta blocker like so many other patients, it seems, but I was still having symptoms. And then my doctor did tell me about this medication called Camxios to treat symptomatic OHCM. And After a few months, I took Camxios, and I really noticed a difference in my symptoms. I was delighted that I could play pickleball again, and even my friends noticed a big difference in my stamina. Today, my symptoms, such as shortness of breath and feeling faint, are much better. After working closely with my doctor and my medical team, they’re allowing me to play amateur pickleball tournaments in Florida and here in Wisconsin. And that’s important to me because I thought I may never be able to participate in these activities again.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. And in Wisconsin in the summer, I mean, come on, it doesn’t get any better than that for weather to get outside and play pickleball.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. Absolutely. You know, last year, the summer happened on a Tuesday, but no, seriously, we had… We have nice summers here in Wisconsin, but they are short, and you’re absolutely right. I’m so thankful that I can get out and, you know, appreciate an active lifestyle once again.
SPEAKER 08 :
I love that. I love that, you know, that you shared your story with us. And, Doc, besides living up there in Minnesota and Wisconsin, I actually have been in Denver for a very long time, so we’re lucky to have someone like you. I was a little bit blown away because I don’t know that I’ve ever interviewed someone that has five board certifications. You went to Harvard. You went to MIT. You’re an associate adjunct professor of cardiology at both Duke and Johns Hopkins. I mean, you’re associated with four of the top universities in the world. I mean, that’s pretty cool.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you, Angie. I appreciate that. I love being a Denver native and I work on Nine News. Actually, I’m their medical expert as well. So I live here with our beautiful weather.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, that’s awesome. What gave you a passion for doing this? I’m always interested. You know, I’ve done news all over the country. And I love to ask people, you know, how they got into their area of expertise. How did you get what gave you a passion for this kind of work?
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, I love being a cardiologist because there’s a range of diseases from prevention all the way to ICU care. But really, education is my passion. because I feel that knowledge is power, and I feel that if you change one small action in somebody’s life, you can change the trajectory of their entire life. And so for me, educating people about their health is one of the greatest privileges of all time, and being able to work on the news to have that sort of platform to help empower people, because a lot of diseases, as we’re learning, are not just preventable, but if they’re diagnosed early, they’re highly treatable, and the prognosis of the disease can be changed immediately. if you teach people what they’re supposed to look for. So I’m just really privileged to be in a position where I can help people understand their bodies and their health and understand how to take control of their outcomes.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I like what you said, too, in the beginning when you just said, you know, a lot of us are starting to have symptoms of something or feel different, and we just chalk it up to, you know, we’re getting older or whatever. And I think about my father, and he was having heart attacks or heart issues, and he was telling my mom, my stepmom, who’s from Iran, you know, you cannot call the ambulance. And she was like, this is Bull Bryce. I am calling 911. And so she just told him, I refuse to let you die. And he just would always say, you know, I wasn’t going to, I would have died, but she would refuse to let me just ignore these symptoms that he had been ignoring for years. And then through the two heart surgeries he had, he lived many more years because she would not allow him to ignore it. And I think maybe men in particular, but many of us as we’re getting older, just want to shut our eyes to the symptoms. So I like that you say Don’t chalk it up to getting older. Go in and get some expert advice.
SPEAKER 06 :
So true. So true.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, so where do we go for more info?
SPEAKER 06 :
So I would say talk to your doctor. Of course, there’s always a great resource, but also camguys.com has a wealth of information about obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, about its symptoms, about its diagnosis, and about its treatment. And even though I told you it was a genetic condition, it doesn’t mean you have to have a family member who has tested positive in order to get the condition because a lot of patients can get what’s called spontaneous mutations. The gene just kind of misbehaves on its own. And so even without having a strong family history, you can have the disease. And it’s really a disease that doesn’t discriminate. You know, it affects men, women, different races, different ethnicities. So I really want people to be plugged into it so that if they’re looking for it, then we can be smarter than the great masquerader, as the disease is called, and make sure that we don’t let it get the best of us.
SPEAKER 08 :
Great. Thanks, John. And thanks, Dr. Coley. Appreciate your expertise.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much for having us.
SPEAKER 08 :
You bet. That was a great interview. Always love talking about health on The Good News. We’ve covered the heart. Now let’s move on to vaccination. So do you know 1.4 million Americans go to the emergency room with pneumonia? and 40,000 die from this vaccine-preventable disease each year. So today we’re talking about preventative vaccines and how they can help us. Joining us is an expert in the area, Bob Blancato. He’s the executive director of the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs. Welcome, Bob. All right, Bob. So why is pneumococcal disease a serious threat to adults? Explain that to us.
SPEAKER 01 :
Most of us, a common bacterial infection that causes mild complications, but for some people, it can lead to very serious illnesses like pneumonia. And we know in this country that we’re 1.4 million hospital visits are resulting from pneumonia and up to 40,000 deaths occur. So this is a very serious issue that we want to address today through talking about vaccines.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. What should adults know about current vaccine recommendations?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, mostly good things to talk about. One is the Centers for Disease Control late last year now recommends pneumococcal vaccines for all adults age 50 and over, not just people 65 and over. Pneumococcal vaccines can be administered with other vaccines such as shingles, flu or RSV vaccines at the same time during a health care visit. And Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance cover the cost of pneumococcal vaccines, and they can be given at any time of the year. And so having all these options make it clear that people can pursue these vaccines and should do so as quickly as possible.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, Bob, let’s talk about why vaccines are an important part of preventative care to help all adults stay healthy.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, first of all, you know, getting vaccinated can shorten should you actually have to go to a hospital can shorten your hospital stay considerably. But it could probably avert the hospital stay to begin with. And, you know, it also helps to reduce other medical costs that, you know, compared if you didn’t get vaccinated. And the idea is that you should not wait until you have some of the symptoms that could lead to pneumonia. The opportunity is available all year long to get the vaccine. And if you have any doubt, get the vaccine and then be comfortable knowing that you have been vaccinated and you have less chance of contracting pneumococcal disease.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. What else should adults 50 plus know about steps that they can take to protect their health?
SPEAKER 01 :
The answer is all about prevention. Let’s start with the vaccines. Keeping up with your recommended vaccines like pneumococcal and shingles and making sure you’re on track with recommended screenings. You know, we know that by age 50, all women should have had a breast cancer screening and all adults should have been screened for colorectal cancer. Preventative care, it’s all the critical issue, like regular checkups and screenings can catch health issues early when they’re easier and cheaper to treat and manage. And vaccines and screenings aren’t just about avoiding illness. They’re about protecting your independence and staying active. We need to make sure that people are aware of the vaccine policies that we have and the ability to get as many vaccines as possible without cost being incurred to the individual.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, great information today, Bob Blancato. Thank you so much for joining us. Where can we go to learn more?
SPEAKER 01 :
I’ll give you two locations. NANAS, National Association of Nutrition and Aging Service Programs, www.nanas.org slash vaccines. or the CDC site, the Centers for Disease Control site, cdc.gov slash pneumococcal.
SPEAKER 08 :
Excellent. Again, thank you, Bob, for joining us on The Good News with Angie Austin. Have a great day. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
Join Angie Austin and Dr. Pyle Coley as they dive deep into heart health, discussing symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the importance of awareness and treatment. With guest John sharing his personal journey of living actively post-diagnosis and powerful insights from Dr. Coley, this episode emphasizes the crucial role of recognizing and acting upon symptoms ahead of time. Learn why heart health cannot be overlooked and discover strategies for staying active and healthy today.
