To promote his book, Your Heart House: An Artisan’s Approach to Heart Health, Dr. Aarush Manchanda has been doing book signings at Barnes & Noble. In this video, he talks to a patient who suffers from a number of medical problems, discussing how she can prolong her life and improve her heart health.

The lady – who’s asked for Dr. Manchanda’s advice – starts by discussing her medical history. A recent angiogram revealed that her arteries are clear (so clear, you could drive a Mack truck through them!) with just a little bit of a blockage to the left side. She’s a brittle diabetic. And she’s had pancreatic cancer since 2007. What she wants to know is: what can she do to make sure she lives 20 more years?

Firstly, Dr. Manchanda congratulates her on having minimal plaque in her arteries, because, as a brittle diabetic, this is almost unheard of. But this just goes to prove why his personalized medicine approach is so important – because we don’t all respond to a disease in the same way. One size really doesn’t fit all.

Diabetes and Heart Health

Despite the fact the patient has clear arteries, she does need to take extra steps to protect her heart because she’s diabetic. Diabetes is one of the major risks factors involved in heart health, as it can lead to blockages that may cause strokes. This is because of the higher levels of glucose in the blood, which creates a “sugary water” that can clog up arteries. Equally, diabetics can suffer from blockages in the legs, which can lead to diabetic neuropathy (a nerve disorder).

Therefore, it’s vital that, as a diabetic, this lady takes additional steps to protect her heart by eating healthily, exercising regularly, regulating her caffeine and alcohol intake, keeping her cholesterol levels low, and not smoking. By controlling all of these modifiable risk factors, she can help to protect her heart health from the non-modifiable risk she suffers from – diabetes.

Even though Dr. Manchanda is a certified heart doctor, he had to train as a general doctor before he could choose his specialty. That’s why he’s so driven to promote the use of personalized medicine across the board – and not just for heart health. Especially when, as the lady in this video has demonstrated, the cookie-cutter approach that’s still widely used in modern health care doesn’t necessarily work for everyone.