Skip to content
Next Episodes
Mon: 7:30pm
Tues: 7:30pm
Classic Episodes
Mon: 1:30pm
Tues: 1:30pm
Six cardiologists were asked what they would ‘never do’ and they all said the same thing Credits: Social Media
By Ellissa Bain

Six cardiologists were asked what they would ‘never do’ and they all said the same thing

By Ellissa Bain

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and a healthy heart is the key to living a long and happy life.

Six cardiologists were asked for one thing they would “never do” for good health, and they all said the same thing.

Woman Holds Her Chest in Pain
Close-up of unrecognizable black woman holding her chest in pain. Credit: Grace Cary (Getty Images)

Thing cardiologists would ‘never do’

“What’s one thing you would never do as a cardiologist?” an interviewer asked the heart doctors at the 10th Annual Women’s Heart Symposium in 2023. They all had the same answer – smoking.

Cardiologist 1:

“I would never smoke even if the packaging is appealing.”

Cardiologist 2:

“I would smoke anything or do any stimulant drugs.”

Cardiologist 3:

“I would never smoke and actually I would not drink alcohol either.”

Cardiologist 4:

“I would never smoke. That would be number one.”

Cardiologist 5:

“Smoke. It’s the worst thing you can possibly do for yourself. It’s awful. It is the cause of so many major problems in not only heart health but general health.”

Cardiologist 6:

“The number one no-no in terms of heart health is going to be smoking, and that really includes all forms of smoking (including vaping).”

@pacificheartinstitute

The verdict is in, every cardiologist we spoke to at the 10th Annual Women’s Heart Symposium all said they would never…SMOKE! Smoking of any kind can not only be detrimental for your heart, but also for your overall health. Thank you to everyone who participated in our video! Christiane Schaeffler, MD Alexandra Lajoie, MD Nancy Southern, RN Steve Weinberg, MD Rigved Tadwalkar, MD #smokingrisk #hearthealth #cardiovascularhealth #cardiologistanswers #losangelescardiologist

♬ original sound – pacificheartinstitute

Smoking is a huge cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), causing one in every four deaths from CVD, the Centers for Diseases and Control Prevention (CDC) explains.

It raises heart disease risk in loads of different ways, including increasing a type of fat in your blood called triglycerides, lowering good cholesterol and making blood sticky and likely to clot. Regular smoking also damages the cells that line the blood vessels, increases the buildup of plaque in the blood vessels and causes thickening and narrowing of the blood vessels.

It can cause all kinds of CVDs including coronary heart disease, heart attack, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm and atherosclerosis.

Even secondhand smoke causes almost 34,000 deaths every year in the United States from coronary heart disease in people who do not smoke.

As soon as you quit smoking, your risk of heart disease drops dramatically and all the negative effects on the body begin reversing. This continues decreasing every year, and 15 years after quitting smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease drops to almost that of someone who doesn’t smoke.

Here are three easy heart disease tests you can do at home to see if youre at risk, as revealed by a cardiac surgeon.