From a family of doctors, his father was his inspiration and his brother shares the same profession and now his two sons are following in his footsteps with other specialties. Dr. Jorge Tartaglione is a cardiologist, a full member of the Argentine Society of Cardiology and has been dedicated to the dissemination of health issues for 25 years.
He recently published his new book “Small Big Changes”, which deals with achievable and long-lasting habits for leading a healthy life, a kind of manual, full of advice and real practical proposals as a result of his extensive knowledge and practice as a doctor.
-With almost forty years of practicing medicine, what changes in patients’ health and habits have you observed?
-I do lifestyle medicine and pay attention to habits, what I see more and more in the office is cholesterol, obesity, hypertension, diabetes. They have a common pattern which is that we have so many things on our minds that we forget what we have to do for ourselves. I also see a lot of uncertainty, worry, 50% see everything negative, the other has hope. That uncertainty and reluctance can make you sick and I see it constantly. How do I cure myself of this? Doing activities that I like. The lifestyle generated a group of exhausted, tired people. I talk to people in their 50s and many are distressed, with a feeling of emptiness, which makes them more anxious and irritable. I also see a lot of concern, and all of that has an impact on the heart; That’s why I try to motivate them, so that when they get up they have a purpose. Another thing I see is loneliness, which has become a new risk factor: people who live alone take less care of themselves.
-What advice do you give to people who are locked in or focused only on work?
-Fundamentally, they have social relationships, we are beings who need to bond with others. Then, that they continue doing activities that are good for them at any age, that is key. Also, of course, review your diet. Be calm with yourself, give space to leisure, if you like sports doing it is distracting. Don’t watch the news too much – which, although I am in the media, I limit because it can make you sick. And older people are in front of the TV all day. If you have a ball in the pit of your stomach, you have to talk, wherever you want, with a priest, with a friend, with a therapist, but you have to get it out. If you have worries, anxiety, you have to talk about them and listen to yourself.
-Does the doctor listen to the patient less today?
-Medicine has become more technological, and the most important invention in science is the chair. The fact that the patient tells you what he or she is is tremendously important, but the time and low costs of consultations and having so many people per day make it impossible to achieve that listening. So the doctor-patient relationship has become a bit stale. Think that when I was six years old I would accompany my father to different homes in the car and they would wait for him with a scarf and hot water, he would attend to the whole family. But the system made medicine change. If you have ten minutes to see a patient it is impossible to make a good diagnosis and listen to him properly. Health should not be stigmatized. People are not obese because they want to be. It is not what they eat but what they want them to eat. It is marketing, the industry that wants you to put more food in your mouth, and it is very strong, that is why restrictive diets are no longer valid. Food is very complex, the industry knows what you like, what will generate addiction.
-What else has changed so that the average doctor does not have the necessary time to properly care for someone with a problem?
-Technology, time, everything has changed, it is done much faster. And this affects the doctor-patient relationship. If you are not cautious you can do something wrong from the word to what you medicate with. It involves a risk. A large part of the solution is listening to the person, how I perceive them when I serve them. I can’t be left alone with a pain, I have to investigate whether or not it corresponds to a medical problem, maybe there is a lot behind that person, maybe they have a lot of problems. But beyond the technology, the basic function is the same: being a doctor is being able to contain a patient from the moment we shake their hand. It is putting yourself in someone else’s place, always. The doctor’s word, not to mention being in a media, must be used with great responsibility, you must be very careful and know who you are talking to, you can improve their quality of life or harm it, it depends on what you say.
-Why is it that “stress” is often the one to blame? Maybe today it is an empty word?
-There is a lot of verse on the topic of stress, a lot of marketing. When doctors don’t know what’s happening, we say it’s stress. But I believe in the small, big changes we have to make to be better, beyond that term. I know that cardiology has modifiable risk factors, what can you do to lower your blood pressure, a sedentary lifestyle and also to see if you are having a bad time. That’s how I work, without talking so much about stress. And there is something key: enjoy every moment you live. If you don’t have a bad time! Have presence in what you do, be here, in the present moment. Be calm with yourself most of the time.
-As for diseases, can genetics be twisted with healthy activities?
-Only 25% of diseases are genetic, the rest has to do with what you did with your life all this time. Here epigenetics comes into play: by making changes in habits, small things in daily life, one can transform. That is to say, DNA can be twisted if changes are implemented to live better. I usually say: everyone knows what is wrong with them, the problem is changing. As a doctor, then my goal is for people to be able to change their behaviors.
Don’t be intoxicated by what makes us sick, give importance to our body, don’t let something that you don’t think is important go by, some pain, be attentive. Don’t be hyperconnected, laugh more. Think of a friend who does you good, who you like to be with, who makes you smile when you see him arrive. Go back to what’s natural, write by hand, it’s therapeutic. Be with your loved ones. Create strong social bonds. Don’t judge people so much. Put yourself on the agenda: what you can do for yourself.
Particular signs
A doctor who graduated from the UBA and has residency in cardiology at the Churruca Hospital, where he was also Head of the Medical Prevention Service, Dr. Jorge Tartaglione is also a full member of the Argentine Society of Cardiology. For 25 years he has been dedicated to the dissemination of health issues, currently hosting the program “Médico de familia” on Channel 9 and also a columnist on “La superviviente mayoridad” on FM Radio Con Vos. He is the author of several books and has just published “Pequeños grandes cambios” (Small Big Changes) (Grijalbo).
