The widespread ‘killer’ Jay Leno fears.
Celebrity speaks out on risks of high cholesterol
Most people know Jay Leno as an iconic entertainer who hosted NBC’s late-night TV show “The Tonight Show” for 20 years. Or perhaps for the ongoing CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage” series, with which the comedian entertains car aficionados and the general public driving around the country with his massive collection of almost 300 vehicles.
But as much as he likes engines and fast cars, there is a race that Leno fears: being rushed in an ambulance to a hospital for not taking care of his high cholesterol.
As the country is observing National Cholesterol Education Month, which began on Sept. 15, Leno said he is committed to advocating on a topic that has impacted his life in more than one way.
“I’ve lost a lot of friends over the years: Rodney Dangerfield, Gary Shandling, John Pinette, and it’s all the same thing,” Leno said of stand-up comedians and actors who have died suddenly of heart failure and embolisms.
“They appeared to be fine, but then, you know …” Leno said.
Leno’s high cholesterol was diagnosed about 20 years ago; it’s a condition that elevates the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.
Though the body needs the waxy substance to produce cell tissues, high total blood-cholesterol levels point to potential buildup, or plaque, accumulating in the walls of the arteries. This, in turn, reduces or blocks blood flow to and from the heart, affecting the function of the circulatory system. A blocked artery, or the rupture of plaque that becomes a blood clot, causes heart attacks and strokes.
This buildup doesn’t show any symptoms, a reason high cholesterol is commonly called “the silent killer.”
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Leno said that “high cholesterol is one of those things where there’s no warning at all.” He partnered with the pharmaceutical company AMGEN for the educational campaign “Cholesterol 911.”
With typical Leno wit, he contended that although this killer may stealthily crouch in the body for years, when it finally gives the blow, “it is really not that silent. When it happens, you go, argh!
“If you don’t control it, you literally step off the curb looking the wrong way. It’s like getting hit by a bus. It just happens, even to people who appear to be perfectly healthy,” he said.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 95 million adults in the United States 20 or older have total cholesterol levels higher than the maximum recommended: 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of blood.
Even though high cholesterol is a top risk factor for heart attacks and the leading cause of death in the U.S., millions of adults — a third of the population — haven’t checked their levels during the past five years, according to a survey cited by the CDC.
“In this country, we are great about dealing with things after they happen, probably the best “There’s a point where those numbers can’t go up any more without something happening.”
Jay Leno of the world, but what we’re not good at doing is preventing things,” Leno said.
Of men and engines
High cholesterol can be detected with a simple blood test. It affects people of all ages and gender, but Leno has a particular message for men, as studies show they are more prone than women to delay or skip visits to the doctor altogether until it may be too late.
“For some reason, men especially will take advice from their friend Larry at the gas station before they will from a doctor,” he said. “I don’t know where that comes from, but I have to admit I’m guilty of that myself. They don’t like to go through life thinking they’re vulnerable and believe that nothing can happen to them … and then, yeah, it hits you like a truck! I have seen it too many times,” the 69-year-old celebrity said.
The car aficionado played with the idea that “men should install a check-engine light on their chest that flashes when it could be anything from a loose gas cap or, oh, your engine’s about to fail.”
Leno goes to the doctor periodically and follows a medication treatment.
“There’s a point where those numbers can’t go up any more without something happening. The good news is that this is one of the things you can actually take care of yourself. You just have to talk to your doctor about your treatment options or just go to the cholesterol911.com website, and you learn what do to and the tools you need to fix it.”
Unlike other health risk factors such as genetic disorders, high cholesterol is a condition that can be modified with medication and lifestyle changes.
“You can change your life without having to make lifechanging decisions,” Leno said.
Leno said he has made lifestyle changes, including walking more and taking the stairs whenever he sees the opportunity.
He is also smarter nowadays about his nutritional choices; he has eliminated sodas from his diet.
“I read that one regular soft drink a day adds 12 pounds a year … and that struck me as unbelievable. Then you realize the average soft drink has, what? Seven teaspoons of sugar in it? So why not drink flavored water or bottled water instead?”
A regular 12-ounce soft drink has an average of 40 grams of sugar. That would be the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.
‘Listen to your doctor’
There are some things Leno has not changed.
“I’m a big steak guy, you know. I probably eat more red meat than I should, but I don’t eat as much as I used to,” he said.
High consumption of red meat has been associated with high cholesterol. Contrary to popular belief, white poultry meat appears to be equally correlated with higher cholesterol levels when compared to red meat with the same concentrations of saturated fat, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported this year.
As a comedian, Leno says he finds humor in almost every topic.
“They always say laughter is the best medicine. No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s a terrible medicine. It doesn’t work at all. If you go to a hospital, and the guy lies in a hospital bed and you start telling him jokes, he may laugh, but he still’s gonna die!”
“Now,” he said, “don’t listen to the comedian anymore, listen to your doctor. That’s the important thing.”
Leno is touring the country with a stand-up comedy show. He’ll be in Houston on Dec. 6 at Jones Hall.