healthy you. i'm patty ai ann browne, inr jamie colby. it's time for "sunday housecall." >> i'm eric shawn. joining us is dr. safd samadi. chief of robotic surgery. >> and dr. marc siegel, associate p also the author of the enter pulse at nyu's langal medcon centical. joining us from london this morning. welcome to both of you. >> good morning, docs. >> good morning. >> we begin today with a potentially major change for blood pressure patients. have you heard about this?

after new guidelines say they may not need the medication after all. dr. samadi, what does this mean if you have high blood pressure. should you stop taking what you're using? >> if you're on blood pressure medications and your doctor is guiding you and you're doing well, we don't want you to stop, but this is big news about high blood pressure, and the new guidelines is normally we call high blood pressure anything over 140 over 90. now, it could be up to 150 instead of 140 to be officially called high blood pressure. >> they raised the high blood pressure if you're older. >> from 140 to 150 if you're over 60. under 60, nothing has changed. if you're diabetic, if you have kidney disease, instead of 130, they bump it up to 140. the reason is this government panel, they think we're overprescribing too many medications. they're worried about the side

effects, headache, dizziness, and the biggest risk is the risk of fall and pelvic fractures and bone fractures. also, if you look at the older population, they have 10, 15 medications. interaction with all of the medications and that's part of the reason. the other big news is instead of using beta blockers. now they're recommending using diuretics or water pills. especially in african-americans where high blood pressure is a big issue, those are the medications that would be the first line treatment. ultimately, lifestyle changes, exercise, and we'll talk more about that, should be an integral part of the process. >> they talk about high blood pressure as being the silent killer. could this be dangerous to people who should have high blood pressure medicine who go off it? >> absolutely. the first point is you have to start with exercise and lifestyle changes and decreasing

salt. once you decide you're in that fwrup, and two thirds of all americans have a problem with blood pressure. two thirds over the age of 60. one third of all americans, two thirds over the age of 60. those guidelines were developed in 2004. but half of the people who should be following them are not. so we already have a problem with compliance. the national institute of health and clinical excellence in great britain has not changed to 150 over 90. they're still at 140, and the american heart association has not changed. there, it's still 140. the main point i want to make is this is a decision between doctor and patient. i take care of high blood pressure all the time. it's the number one risk of heart disease in the world. we have a huge problem with heart disease, so we should not rush to medications. david mentioned diuretics. they're a very good medication to consider in elderly people if the higher number is higher. that's called the systolic. if the systolic is up, that

seems to work more. we shouldn't rush to medications. on the other hand, we have to be careful in undermedicated. i'm not a huge fan of overinterpreted guidelines. guidelines are something to put up on the wall. they're not something to follow religiously. what are you risk factors? what about heart failure, what about diabetes, what about people in high-risk groups. >> 140 over 90, talk to your doctor. >> lifestyle changes. >> absolutely. marc brought it up, which is important, is the salt issue. we're consuming about 3500 milligram of salt, which is way over the 2300. look at marc's blood pressure. being in london, his blood pressure is lower, he's more relaxed. i'm glad "sunday housecall" is going global. >> really important issue. >> while he's over there, he might be drinking tea. it's one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world. you might not know all the health benefits provided by tea. dr. siegel is going to talk to us about tea now.

doc. sorry to interrupt you while you're drinking. >> david has made a great point on the show about coffee. four cups of coffee a day. i'm talking about tea today because i changed my lifestyle to some extent since i have been over here, and i have been having afternoon tea and i find it's better on my stomach, and i read the clinic of american nutrition has 11 studies involving tea, and they need better studies. they need the randomized trials we like. but very good for bone health. seems to improve behavior and concentration. decreases risks of certain cancers like that in the gi tract and maybe even the advancing of prostate cancer. it's overall very, very good for you and has a lot of health benefits and it's overall in my field, i notice there are some studies that show it decreases the risk of heart disease. and three cups a day. we say four cups of coffee,

three cups of tea a day show a decreased risk dramatically of stroke. i'm going to have my four cups of coffee and three cups of tea. >> david, is that too much? >> i convert eed one person so that's good news. there's a lot of studies. the three to four cups, you have to get enough antioxidants to get the full effect of what we're talking about, the anti-cancer, the heart protection. now, with tea, especially green tea, it has a lot of flavinoids a lot of antioxidants. the one that's really big and i want people to look into this, is egcg. there are antioxidants and then antioxidants. egcg is a very potent antioxidant you find in tea. we're finding it can slow down the process of alzheimer's. it can reduce your ldl, which is your bad cholesterol, increase your hdl, and the majority of

studies coming out will tell you it's healthy for even cognitive. you have almost neuroogenesis and generation of new nerves as a result of this. >> is that egcg, all teas or just green tea? >> you get it in anything that comes from plants, which is most of the teas you would get this, but it's a very potent one. we want people, unless you have high blood pressure and other issues, you should not be touching coffee or tea, but if you're well, i think this will help you. also, tea reduces cravings. we know at nighttime, people get hungry, they want to eat more. my taking tea, you take away that. i'm a big proponent. and by the way, it's not the caffeine. it's all the vitamin bs and flavinoids. >> speaking of vitamin b -- >> the key hereantioxidants. something called catechins.

they don't do much herbal tea. they stick with the black, the white, and green tea. the green tea has a lot of c catech catechins. but these come from plants. they're getting studies more and more and the results look terrific. >> it's interesting because what marc is talking about is also found where? all the fruits and vegetables. in a sense, if you're not getting enough fruits and vegetables, by drinking tea or coffee if it goes well with you, you're catching up on some of the antiox dnlts. >> doctors are big proponents of coffee and tea. now marc is doing it, too. >> coming up, you're going to want to see this. a rare and personal discussion with former vice president doic chen cheney. he opens up to dr. siegel talking about his decades of living with heart disease. what we can all learn to help our hearts from someone who has lived so long with that. >> well, i would hope that they would take away from it a

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he lived with it 35 years. was able to function 10 years in the house, part of the leadership, led the department of defense during desert storm, served as vice president. so it's doable. and people who got heart problems or serious health problems of some kind, part of the solution is your mental outlook. your attitude about life itself. >> talk to me about the diet and exercise. >> i'm past the one-year mark. i try to eat a healthy diet. i'm restricted from eating raw seafood. that's partly because of the immunosuppressant. that's a small price to pay. i go easy on the desserts.

with respect to exercise i work out on a recumbent bicycle. i try to do that four or five mornings a week. i've been on five hunting trips so far this fall. i'm on the river one day a week with my fly rod. i do everything i want to do. i can't ski. but that hasn't got anything to do with my heart. it's because i have a bum knee. >> my father used to say it's one thing to have a disease. it's another thing to let the disease have you. and heart disease never really had the vice president. >> dr. siegel, really as a message of hope. >> because, eric, he never saw himself as sick. when he had that first heart attack at the age of 37, the first thing he did was quit smoking. that's a message to everyone out there. it's not too late. many people who had big heart attacks in the 1970s are not alive today. and the second big thing he did, is cut through the denial and allowed doctors to help him over the years so the latest

technology that came about he was able to benefit from. implantable defibrillator. the pump has come a long way. and finally the heart transplant. he didn't get vip care. he waited on that 20 months, eric, which is twice as long as people usually wait. he didn't get vip care. of course he got very, very careful care. >> what can we learn from this? >> family history is a big deal when it comes to heart, which is what he did. and he started smoking the first time at the age of 12. and then when he was in politics, almost two to three packs a day. so that's a lot of smoking, which i'm glad that he quit at the age of 37 when he had the first heart attack. what we are learning also is that we should commend his doctors. because the team of doctors that took care of him over the years, we're talking about over three

decades of heart disease. very few people can really last that long. this is the number one killer in the country, eric. and he was at the right time at the right place. five heart attacks. multiple angio grams, multiple stints, and this left ventricular device and a heart transplant. that's a special story which speaks about how wonderful and great the health care system is in this country. we use the technology. and access to health care could be a problem. we're still one of the best were health care systems in the world. we should all be proud of it. but i want to say healthy diets, exercise, and stop smoking is the way to go. >> those are tips from dr. samadi. how about you? >> i agree technology are a key

part and exercise and diet. you know what his number one message is? i said what about 9/11? you were a big shot in congress. you were chief of staff at the age of 34. he said it's an unexpected answer, dr. siegel, i didn't consider myself under stress because i loved what i did. that's a message for all americans out there. you can live with chronic diseases but love your work and love your life. >> this is a man who doesn't take no as an answer. he doesn't let the disease take over him. that's a huge message to patients with cancer and heart disease. other topics now. do you suffer from shortness of breath while you expert yourself? is it just a sign of lack of exercise, or is it something more serious? the doctors are going to tell us about that. should you worry? that's coming up this sunday, just three days before christmas. but no stress. sunday, just three days before christmas, but no stress. [ male announcer ] if you suffer from a dry mouth

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now, should i worry? our segment about everything that worries us. a viewer says, i have difficulty breathing when i run or pick up something heavy. should i worry? >> i would need to know more. is this new? the change in pattern is what i look if. are you overweight? what are your heart risk factors? do you smoke? do you have high blood pressure? i worry most about heart disease. if someone is short of breath when they run i want them on a treadmill and do exercise stress test with the dye study, that is key. you start with x-ray and ekg but

leader, maybe a stress test. in younger people, has is a consideration. interestingly there was a study in 2005 that said a lot of the times it is just deconditioning and people putting themselves future than they should go. if that is happening, you need to see a physician. david, you did not comment on my tweet. i am trying to look like i am a distinguished doctor. >> you look great. don't drink too much tea you will get kidney stones. >> too much, you can get kidney stones. >> this comes up each day before going to the operating room. ask your patient, are you short of breath when you go up the stairs or you exercise and when the answer is "sometimes," that is when we get worried about heart disease, maybe congestive heart failure or a subclinical

heart disease, i want did get basic mood tests, a chest x-ray and make sure there is no pulmonary issue. mark was talking about certain asthma that is induceed from exercise, or wrong california -- or bronchial spasm. heart disease is one of the things to rule out in a patient like this after ekg and then exist x-ray and then a possible stress test. you should be worried. you should look into this because there is no reason to be short of death. >> doctor, obviously? you have this, talk to your doctor. >> sure. the key that i worry about and we do not worry about a lost this, he said just lifting something makes him short of breath so that could be a sign something is going on. >> one of the body's most vital organize gaps but -- organs but

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adt's best holiday offer. for everything that matters most. ♪ adt. always there. and now, one of the biggest medical questions: what does the spleen really do? dr.samadi what is the spleen? >> this is a great segment. it is an organ on the left upper part of our abdomen next to the stomach. it filters all of the old red blood cells. our red blood cells are soldiers that bring the oxygen to our body and carry the co2 and go through the spleen like a filter. it is a big reservoir no white blood cells or the soldier that defend us from infection.

think of spleen as almost like the united states army camp where the soldiers go, they rest up and get ready for the war. all the old red cells that are filtered and the white cells are ready for far and the platelets are there. sometimes as a result of infection or virus or the kissing disease, the spleen can be enlarged. if you have leukemia or a rupture of the spleen it can be removed. can you live without a spleen? the answer is, yes. but you will be at the risk of not having the soldiers ready to fight. you have to get vaccinations and your pneumonia vaccine. any kind of infection can put you into trouble. it is a vital organ. >> dr.siegel all these things we can live without, include in that list the tonsils.

>> actually, the spleen is very hard to examine. internists have a last trouble feeling it. you have to put the patient in exactly the right position so if it is enlargeed, for diagnosing of leukemia it is hard to find. and sickle cell leukemia, you have to have the vaccines. you are in high risk of infection. another point, if you have a traumatic fall, you have to watch out. that is one of the reasons ambulances rush people in because if that spleen bursts you can end up pleading out and that is a surgical emergency. >> the best way to detect it is a cat scan. we try to preserve as much of the spleen as possible and wrap it in the operating room and keep it.

>> thank you. holidays, merry christmas. holidays, merry >> thank you both for joining us for sunday housecall. coming up now is media buzz, all about the media withkurtz. here's howie. >> on the buzz meter this sunday, a&e under fire for suspending the star of "duck dynasty" after he called hoe mow sexuality a sin and compared it with beastlty. now there's a video of phil robertson in which he says this about gays. >> they are infamous arrogant god haters. they are heartless. they have ruthless. >> does the reality show deserve to be sidelined for offensive comments or is this political correctness run amuck? a federal judge's ruling against nsa spying ignites a fierce media debate. is ed snowden a