The Breakfast Club - Dr. Joseph Puma Talks Cardio Health Risks, Innovative Screening Technology More

Episode Date: September 5, 2023

Dr Puma stops by Cardio Health Risks, Innovative Screening Technology and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey y'all, Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history.

Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Goldman.

Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking musica, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us,

and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only Nuestra Gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows and it's going to be devilishly good.

We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha.

And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up in the morning.

The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building, Dr. Joseph Puma. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you for having me here. I appreciate it. Dr. Joseph Puma, I've been telling you all about this Soarin' Medical Scan. No, that's not what it's called. It's Soarin' Heart Scan at Soarin' Medical. But tell people what Soarin' Medical is first, Dr. Puma. Soarin' Medical is a cardiovascular medical practice. We have offices throughout four of the five boroughs. Generally, we provide care

in underserved communities where there are what are often called health deserts. There's no hospitals or not many physicians around, and we try and meet patients who need our care where they live. And I told y'all, I've had every cardiovascular test there is to have over the past few months. I had, name some of them, Doc. What is it? EKGs? What are some of the tests? I think you had stress test, EKG, hold them, monitor before you came to us. Absolutely. You had a calcium score. Calcium score. And yours, absolutely, not only was the best, it's the one that put my mind at ease the most. Well, thank you.

Especially after I got those results back. But why is it important for people of color to get their heart tested regularly? So it's important for people of color to get their heart tested, period, and not regularly because one of the challenges is they're not regularly getting their heart tested. People of color have a almost one and a half to two times the rate of death from heart disease. They get the risk factors for heart disease, high blood pressure. They often develop high blood pressure at an earlier age. It's more difficult to treat. They have diabetes at a higher rate, also a risk factor for heart disease.

When they have heart attacks, their outcomes are worse. They have a 30% to 40% increased chance of congestive heart failure, which is very disabling. And they develop that often at an earlier age. Well, how can people get tested? Not how can they test it, of course, but, you know, they tell you at 45 years old, you get a colonoscopy. They tell you at this age, you do this. At what age should people be checking their heart? And I go to my doctor twice a year for checkups, and not one time has he said, all right, well, you need to check out your heart.

Are there certain signs where maybe people say you should check out your heart? Are there certain signs where they should do certain things? Or should it be at a particular age where this is where you should start doing it more and more and more? Yeah. So that's a great question. So the answer to that question, I think, depends on whether you have symptoms or no symptoms. If you have symptoms of discomfort in your chest, shortness of breath, more easy fatigue, not able to do the usual level of exercise, dizziness, lightheadedness, doesn't matter what age you are, you should be tested. Because let's remember, heart disease is the number one killer in America. And even though over the last 40 years, the rate of death from heart disease has come down, it has not come down for the black community.

All those gains have been in the white community. So second, if you're not necessarily symptomatic, okay, overall you're working, you feel good, but you're 40 and older as a man or 50 and older as a woman, and you've smoked, have a family history of heart disease, have high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, then you should be tested. Prior to the Soren heart scan or CAT scanning in general of the heart, the only test we had to determine if you had heart disease was a stress test. But that's not nearly as accurate and doesn't define the heart arteries as Charlemagne, when you came in, we sent you images of your heart arteries. We gave you a risk assessment, and it's costly stress testing, almost 10 times the cost of a CAT scan. But CAT scanning now takes four minutes or less. If you come into our office, less than 15 minutes of your total time, and you have a fully accurate, greater than 97% accuracy of your heart anatomy, whether there's

blockage, calcium, any disruption that could potentially cause a problem later on in life. Well, I was going to ask, so you go to the dentist, you have a cavity, they can fix it, right? Floss it, whatever. Colonoscopy, they clean your butt out, right? So now- No. He knows what I mean. You know they clean it out, they cut right? So now, he knows what I mean.

You know they clean it out, they cut off the polyps, you know what it is. So if there is a problem with your heart, what are the procedures to, can it be done right then and there? Talk that talk, Dr. Puma. This is good. This blew me away when you told me this. Yeah, so nationally, Medicare has now approved putting heart stents right in the office in appropriate facilities. New York State has not

yet approved that, but our center down in lower Manhattan is built for that. And we have the latest technology and cardiac catheterization labs where you could have a stent put right in at that time. What's a stent? A stent is a metal scaffold that when you have a blockage in your artery through an artery in your wrist, we put a catheter up into the heart and then over a wire through the catheter, we can pass a metal stent over a balloon

and dilate it and clear away the blockage. Oh, so the stent doesn't stay inside of you. It just cleans out. It stays inside of you. Oh, it does stay. And becomes part of the artery wall. Okay. So you have a piece of metal in you. So every time you go through TSA metal detector, you- It won't go off. Okay. It doesn't go off. It's very small, three and a half millimeters usually. But no, it doesn't set off metal detectors. You can use your microwave, but it's

the most common treatment for blocked arteries in the world. Can you explain to people what causes heart attacks and strokes? Sure. That's a great question. And I think that it's not only a great question in general because it's the leading cause of death, but in the black community, the risk of it is so much higher. I know, Charlemagne, you're from South Carolina. I told you my family are raised in North Carolina. And in that part of the world, we call it the stroke belt from North Carolina down to Alabama, primarily because black men in particular

have high blood pressure at such an early age, so difficult to control, less likely for African-Americans to control their blood pressure than white, that the risk of stroke from that elevated pressure over time causes either a blood clot in one of the arteries to the brain, or it just ruptures. Same thing with heart attacks, or similar at least. Over time, the body builds up plaque in the arteries. Plaque is just cholesterol and calcium. Some of it's from our diet. Some of it's genetic. Some of it is accelerated if you have diabetes. In fact, if you have diabetes, you have a three times higher risk of dying from a heart attack than someone who doesn't have diabetes.

So if you have diabetes, that ought to be like a flashing neon sign. I need to see a cardiologist. And in communities of color, when they have high blood pressure and they have diabetes, when they end up with a heart attack or a stroke, they usually have worse outcomes, a higher risk of dying from it. And if they survive, they're more likely to have a lower functional status, to be in congestive heart failure or to have physical abnormalities that they're not able to do their activities of daily living. I was going to ask, you know, so for people that's listening right now, and a lot of people

don't know some of the symptoms and some of the things that you're talking about. So when you talk diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, are there symptoms besides going to the doctor, something that people should look out for? A lot of people in our community are scared to go to the doctor or can't afford to, don't have insurance. So what are some of the signs that they should look out? Let's start with diabetes. What is a sign of diabetes that people should look out for? Yeah, so that's a great question, DJ Envy. First of all, I would say health care should not be just for people well off or people who have insurance.

Health care should be a right in this country. There's no reason. I agree. There's just no reason why we should not treat any human being that needs our help, right? And if you come to any one of our offices, we take care of everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. So that's number one. Number two, high blood pressure and diabetes, both when we're in medical school, we're taught that they're called the silent killers because they often don't have symptoms. Okay. But when they do, if you have high blood pressure, you might feel flushed sometimes during the day in

your face. You might get headaches. Okay. You might have chest discomfort. You might get short of breath. All right. You don't need to go to a doctor. You can go to any pharmacy even, and they have a blood pressure cuff there usually, and they'll check your blood pressure. So a simple screening for that. And remember something, blood pressure diagnosis often it peaks in our 30s or in our 50s. So if you're in communities of color and you're in your 30s, you should at least get a screening for blood pressure. Diabetes also very elusive in terms of symptoms. Often the first symptoms a diabetic will feel is that they're very thirsty or they're urinating a lot. And that's because their sugar levels are high and it's making them urinate,

which then makes them thirsty. They often feel weak, have a brain fog. They just never feel clear. And again, simple pinprick of your finger can tell you if your sugar is high or low. That you probably do need to go to a doctor to have that checked or simple blood tests. But the bigger point is simple screening things or just self-awareness. You bring up fear. Fear is a big issue. Fear is a big issue for many people. People don't come to me it's it's not like uh i don't know if you're married or you have kids but you know you remember when you both

married me yeah you met my wife i can't bring that up again wow carolina is okay i can't bring that up again. But anyway. But remember, the first time you're pregnant and you go to the doctor, everyone's happy, and it's an exciting time. When people come to me, they're scared. They're not sure what's going on. They may not feel well. They may have a family history. So we have to deal with that fear. One of the ways you deal with that fear is by bringing health care to them as opposed to saying, here, I'm in a big fancy building. Come to me. I'm really smart. We go to them. We want to be in their community. And then if there is an issue where they need a test, make it easy for them.

OK, explain, talk. You know, people are a lot smarter than sometimes we give them credit for. And understanding where they're from and trying to learn about them and their family can help kind of bring people together and have an honest conversation. I think people understand. When I asked you what causes the heart attacks and strokes, I wanted you to talk about like the blockage and how the plaque breaks off and that stuff. Yeah. So in the coronary artery, so for strokes, if you have high blood pressure, just the high blood pressure, right? It's the same as if you have high blood pressure in your water heater at home.

If it gets to a certain level, boom, it just pops. But in the heart arteries, you can even have a mild to moderate plaque in your arteries. And then some stressor, you're smoking a cigarette one day, you're in an argument with someone, you're having a stressful time at work, it can cause that plaque to rupture and then causes a blood clot. And that's a big challenge. The reason when you asked DJ Envy

about who should have the scan, and we said, even in people who are not symptomatic, if they have risk factors, they should have a scan because one in three people that have a heart attack find out they have heart disease the day they have their heart attack. And out of those, one in three die the day they have their heart attack. So it's often unpredictable. So unless you know you have some plaque, then there are strategies, as we discussed, whether it's statin medications, aspirin, counseling to help you maybe stop smoking if you smoke, weight reduction, things of that nature that can help. But heart attacks are, I like to think of it this way. If you're lucky enough to have symptoms, it's kind of like when you're driving your car and the little light goes

on and says the tire's running low, right? Usually if you're having symptoms or you see that light, you'll attend to it so that you don't end up with a blowout, let's say on the highway, because that's like a heart attack. But many people don't end up with a blowout, let's say, on the highway. That's like a heart attack. But many people don't have symptoms until the day they have their heart attack. I was going to ask, you know, a lot of people feel like there's a difference between smoking weed and smoking cigarettes. Is there a big difference between the two? Or is it still putting smoke in your lungs? It's still putting smoke in your lungs.

There are different agents that's causing the addiction, right? We get a different feel. You know, you get a high, let's say, from smoking weed, whereas nicotine is giving you a different kind of addiction. But it's the tar, it's the junk that's going in the lungs that adversely affects you and eventually affects the arteries in the heart. What if I smoke joints? I smoke in a bong and I'm not using tobacco products. So non-tobacco products are better than tobacco products. But as we saw, for instance, just with

vaping, right? Early on with vaping, I actually encouraged folks that I took care of that were having trouble stopping cigarettes to vape because it gave them the nicotine, but it didn't give them the junk. But I don't think we have enough studies or really understand enough. What about edibles? That has no effect, no significant effect from a cardiac standpoint. Okay. Okay. Word. What if a patient doesn't have insurance?

That's the other thing I found very impressive about Soarin' Medical. So we take care of anybody. We're in the community, whether we're in Inwood, Upper Manhattan, Harlem, Crown Heights, Brownsville. We have offices in all these communities. We have great physicians. And we take care of everybody. If they don't have insurance, at least testing in our office, we basically do for free, quite honestly, even though we're not a free clinic per se. But we'll

help patients to get them the care that they need. Either you're part of the community or you're not. It's a binary thing. There's really no in between. And y'all take insurance as well? Yeah, of course. We take insurance and we have a team to get the prior authorizations. I mean, you know, today insurance, just because you have a car doesn't mean you get great health care. There's a lot of work behind it. But that's why we try and build loyalty with the people we take care of. We try and take time with them. And, you know, we're there to help.

And I want to read my results that Dr. Soren sent me. Because y'all send five things after you have the test. It's the images of your coronary heart arteries, your heart flow analysis of the arteries, right? What is that exactly? So the heart flow analysis is if there is any plaque in the artery, it's a heart flow is a company based in California that has proprietary AI software that can actually assess the flow to determine if that plaque, that blockage is obstructive, needs to be treated with a stent or bypass, or non-obstructive, needs aggressive

medical therapy. It's amazing software. We use it on all our patients. And it's that alone, that software alone has been proven to reduce mortality, increases survival by having the Soren Heart Scan with HeartFlow. And y'all send the Soren Heart Scan final report. You send your blood work report. And finally, which I really loved, the 10-year risk of cardiovascular events, which is heart attack, stroke, or death. Now, this is what put my mind at ease.

Overall, your results are excellent. Despite a high calcium score for your age, there is only minimal, stroke, or death. Now, this is what put my mind at ease. Overall, your results are excellent. Despite a high calcium score for your age, there is only minimal plaque in your heart arteries. Furthermore, your lipid cholesterol profile is excellent and well below goal on your current statin medication and aspirin, which I would continue. Your blood pressure and heart rate are those of a man 20 years younger. All these factors contribute to a very low 10-year cardiovascular risk of only 3.5%.

Optimal for men of your age would be 3%, so you are in very good shape. That put my mind at ease more than all of the tests I did prior to coming to Soarin' Medical. And how long did it take? I mean, four minutes to do the scan. I was looking at my heart within the next 15. I think I got those results the next day. That's correct.

I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's correct. So I would flip it back to you. You need to sign me up. You know, I'm kind of upset. We do everything together. We got a colonoscopy together.

That's not true. That is true. Dr. Fumar, that's not true. No, that is true. And he didn't call me for this one, which is fine. That is not true. I told you I was going to get it. You didn't say, hey.

I didn't know how to explain it. I was like, I'm going to get my heart looked at. It's like this new technology. How did you explain the colonoscopy? I told you that I'm going to get one. You knew what that was. But yeah, so I need you to sign me up, Doc, because I definitely want to check. I'm one of those people that I use my health insurance.

So if there's a problem or feeling, I go. Some of the times it's very stupid but my doctor's looking at me like why are you back like i have tennis elbow and i don't even know what tennis elbow is i haven't played tennis in 10 years but my elbow is still kind of rickety rickety rickety but i would definitely like to sign up because i definitely would like to make sure that i'm here for my kids i have six kids uh so i want to make sure i'm here for my kids you'd be welcome to come and and again i I just think the access, making it easy, right? You know, you all are people of means and, you know, but it's for everybody.

And you can really make a great impact for people who may have some fear, aren't sure what the entry point is, aren't sure what to do. So I appreciate you inviting me. I appreciate you taking the time and talking about it. And I hope we can help some people. And where can they get more information or reach you directly? On our website, sorenmedicalny.com. We're on Instagram. I've never been on any of these things. I've been practicing for over 30 years, But in the past year, all the young folks in our practice have us on Instagram and on the website now. And if we think there's something more, we make sure that we shepherd you through your health care journey to good health. Everybody needs to go do this, man. I've had too many friends, you know, either having heart attacks or having strokes over the past few years or dying of heart attacks and strokes.

So you should definitely go to us or a medical and get the soaring heart scan. Absolutely. I'm going as soon as I can. And I appreciate you so much for joining us thank you very much dr joseph puma it's the breakfast club good morning wake that ass up early in the morning the breakfast club hey guys i'm kate max you might know me from my popular online series the running interview show where i run with celebrities athletes entrepreneurs and more after those runs the conversations keep going that's what my podcast post run high is all about it's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories their journeys and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Hey y'all, Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, the Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone.

Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral.

We're talking musica, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only Nuestra Gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together.

Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people,

but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other, so join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.