Bob Harper, personal trainer and host of the NBC show “The Biggest Loser,” recently suffered a heart attack.  He reportedly collapsed while working out at the gym and a doctor who was there performed CPR on him.  News of his heart attack came as a great surprise to viewers and fans since he is just 51 years old and appeared to be extremely fit and healthy. (Harper told People magazine that heart problems run in his family, and that his mother died of a heart attack.)

People have a lot of questions about how someone like Bob Harper could have a heart attack and Einstein cardiologist Leandro Slipczuk, MD, PhD, (right) addresses some of the questions:

How does someone who is relatively young and extremely fit have a heart attack?

Data indicates that healthy behaviors such as physical activity, non-smoking, healthy diet and lack of abdominal adiposity (belly fat) could prevent four out of five heart attacks. Nevertheless, other factors such as family history of heart disease, hypertension and high cholesterol provide a significant risk. Sometimes a heart attack can happen even without risk factors and this is why screening is important. 

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Most of us associate colon cancer and rectal cancer with older adults. That’s why results of a recent study by the American Cancer Society that found that the rate of new cases of colon and rectal cancer are increasing at a rapid rate among young and middle-aged adults in the U.S., is eye opening, says Richard Greenberg, MD, Division Chair of Colorectal Surgery for Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia.  Based on the study, once age is taken into account, people born in 1990 have twice the risk of colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer compared to people born around 1950.  The study was published February 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in women. In 2017, there will be 95,520 new cases of colon cancer and 39,910 new cases of rectal cancer.  Both cancers will result in an estimated 50,260 deaths.  The risk for colon and rectal cancer has been increasing for every generation, with the highest increases among people in their 20s.

Dr. Greenberg weighs in about this study and offers information on how people of all ages can be proactive about their health and help prevent these diseases.

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