peggy fleming, heart champ

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legacy of health

In addition to her circuit training and jogging three or four times a week, Peggy takes a cholesterol-lowering drug every morning. She keeps an eye on what she eats, avoiding her father’s poor nutrition habits.

“My dad would eat everything with butter and lots and lots of steaks,” Peggy says. “We didn’t know as much about nutrition in the ’60s as we do today. My mom tried to keep his diet in line, but he was a headstrong ex-Marine, a tough guy, and nobody was going to tell him what to do. We did try to lower my dad’s cholesterol with diet, but he also needed a drug to do that. In some cases, we need technology to live longer.”

Some of the risks connected to family history are lifestyle-related, according to Keith Ferdinand, M.D., chief science officer of the Association of Black Cardiologists and a board-certified cardiologist for more than 20 years. For example, if your family eats large amounts of saturated fats and sodium, you’re more likely to eat the same types of foods and may share your relatives’ higher risk of heart disease.

“We’re not really sure to what extent genetics impacts heart disease,” Ferdinand says. “In our usual calculations we look at age, gender, whether the person smokes, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and diabetes. The way to overcome your risk is with simple lifestyle changes. And the good news is that families may also help. If there is a strong family history of adhering to lifestyle modifications, then you may be more likely to stick with any needed changes as well.”

After seeing what happened to her father and sisters, Peggy decided to pass along positive family lifestyles to her own children. Along with cooking healthfully, Peggy’s family works out together and regularly visits doctors. It was on one such doctor visit that Peggy discovered her son had an elevated cholesterol level. He’d been eating a lot of fatty food at college without exercising much. After he stepped up on exercise and started keeping his food in check, the levels returned to normal.

“Heart disease can happen to any of us, even if we’re doing everything right,” Peggy says. “Some people look the other way and think that they aren’t going to know the horror of a heart attack. The absolute worst part is for the people who are left if someone dies of a heart attack. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Your children need you. It’s a terrible loss for people left behind. It’s sad and unnecessary.”