EP348: Climate and Environment with Dr Fiona Foo Part 1

Doctor Warrick Bishop - Heart Health

Welcome to my podcast. I am Doctor Warrick Bishop, and I want to help you to live as well as possible for as long as possible. I’m a practising cardiologist, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the creator of The Healthy Heart Network. I have over 20 years as a specialist cardiologist and a private practice of over 10,000 patients.

This podcast features a discussion between Dr. Warrick Bishop and Dr. Fiona Foo, a cardiologist from Sydney, Australia. They discuss Dr. Foo's background and interest in cardiology, as well as the important link between climate change, environmental factors, and cardiovascular health. Dr. Foo explains how air pollution, extreme temperatures, and other environmental pollutants are major modifiable risk factors for heart disease that are often overlooked. She provides recommendations for how individuals can reduce their exposure to air pollution and make lifestyle changes to mitigate these environmental risks.

The discussion covers a lot of ground, and they agree to continue the conversation in a future podcast episode to dive deeper into topics like the impact of climate change on mental health.

Takeways:

• Dr. Fiona Foo is a cardiologist from Sydney, Australia with expertise in women's heart health and sports cardiology.
• Environmental factors, including air pollution, temperature extremes, and chemical pollutants, are significant modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
• Air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from sources like fossil fuel burning and wildfires, can enter the bloodstream and damage organs throughout the body.
• Over 90% of the world's population is exposed to PM2.5 levels exceeding WHO guidelines, making air pollution a major global health issue.
• Transitioning to renewable energy sources like solar and wind power can help reduce air pollution and improve cardiovascular health.
• Reducing use of domestic gas is also important, as gas production and usage can increase respiratory illnesses.
• During periods of high air pollution like wildfires, staying indoors, using air filters, and wearing N95 masks can help protect individual health.
• Traffic exhaust is another major source of air pollution with negative cardiovascular impacts.
• The discussion will continue in a future podcast episode to cover the impacts of climate change-driven temperature extremes and mental health effects.
• Addressing environmental risk factors for cardiovascular disease requires both individual and systemic changes to policies and infrastructure.

Australia, like the rest of the western world, has a heart problem.

Over 9 million people around the world die from heart disease every year.

Every 10 minutes, someone in Australia suffers a heart attack. And 21 lives are lost daily because of it.

The devastating fact in all of this is…

Almost every one of those cases could have been prevented.

This podcast is for anyone who wants to improve their health literacy and gain information to help them make the best decisions about their risk of heart attack, their cholesterol, blood pressure, risk of diabetes, weight loss and general health. Join me on my personal mission journey to prevent Heart Attack on a global scale. If you like this podcast, I would be honoured by a 5-star review and appreciate if you let your friends and family know about this podcast; you may even save the life of someone you love!

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Are You at Risk of a Sudden Heart Attack? How Healthy is Your Heart? Really?

Heart disease is the #1 killer in the Western World. In Australia, someone dies every 28 minutes from heart disease. That’s 51 people a day. In the US, someone has a heart attack every 40 SECONDS! Fortunately, many heart attacks are preventable. However, regular exercise and eating healthy are no guarantee you won’t succumb to this silent killer.

• 94% of Australians have at least One Risk Factor for heart disease.
• 59% of Australians have been Touched by heart disease.
• Yet only 3% of Australians have had a Full Heart-Health Assessment in the past 12 months.

Do the free heart check today at www.virtualheartcheck.com.au

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Join the Healthy Heart Network and become part of our growing community!

Do You Want to Improve Your Heart’s Health and Reduce Your Risk of Suffering a Heart Attack? Join The Healthy Heart Network For Only $5 Lifetime Access (Valued at over $55)!

The Healthy Heart Network is designed to help members:

• understand the present state of their heart’s health
• recognise their current level of risk of suffering a heart attack
• Learn the positive steps they can take to improve their situation

Visit https://healthyheartnetwork.com/ and click on the JOIN THE FAMILY BUTTON