There’s no stronger scare tactic into leading a healthy lifestyle than suffering a heart attack or stroke, which is why it might be surprising that many survivors don’t make changes needed to improve their health.
A study published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows 1 in 4 men doesn’t make any lifestyle changes after a heart attack, stroke or other major cardiac event. Women were more likely to change unhealthy behaviors, and urban residents were more likely to make at least two lifestyle changes than those who lived in rural areas.
Three behaviors were included for the study: smoking cessation, healthy eating and physical exercise. Out of 7,519 patients surveyed in 17 countries, 4.3 percent of participants improved their habits in all three areas, more than 30 percent made two lifestyle changes and more than 47 percent changed at least one lifestyle behavior to better their health.
Dr. Mark Friedman, a cardiologist at the SSM Heart Institute in St. Louis, said changing one’s lifestyle can be difficult.
“Patients don’t want to be talked down to,” he said. “They don’t want to be told they’re bad."
Much of the problem is lack of education. While patients used to stay in the hospital for as long as two weeks, they now are discharged within a day or two. This leaves little time for the medical staff to educate them about lifestyle changes.