America's First Baby Boomer Turns 60 While Fighting Heart Disease
Kathy Kirschling, the Unofficial “Poster Child” for the Can-Do Baby Boomer Generation, Speaks Out for the First Time on the Importance of Being Proactive About Your Own Health.
Kathy Kirschling, born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, is America's first “Baby Boomer.” Along with that dubious title, she's become a voice of the “Never say, ‘never' generation” that encompasses nearly 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964.
Kirschling, a Cherry Hill resident and mother of two, began seeing Emile Mohler III, MD, Director of Vascular Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, several years ago because of her family's history of heart disease. Her younger sister had a heart attack at age 37; her mom died at age 55 from heart disease; and her dad, who had open heart surgery at the age of 50, was a pioneer recipient of bypass surgery in the 1970s. All four of her grandparents died from heart disease. And Kirschling herself had a scare two years ago when her total cholesterol skyrocketed to 380 (normal is 200 and below).
Establish a Solid Relationship With Your Doctor…
She wants others to know that “going to the doctor doesn't have to be a scary experience. I feel very secure being on the medications I'm on to control my cholesterol, because my doctor monitors it and keeps validating everything I'm doing right with my exercise and diet.”
Kirschling adds that Dr. Mohler recognized she wanted to be proactive in her health and ward off a heart attack. Through medication and exercise, they got her cholesterol under control and she now has regular check-ups with Dr. Mohler to continuously monitor her health. “His goal is to keep me as healthy as I can be and not have a heart attack. And he's succeeded so far,” explains Kirschling. “Dr. Mohler and I, together -- we're a team. Our whole goal is to let me stay healthy for as long as I live.”
Emile Mohler III, MD, adds, “Patients like Kathleen are at a point in their life when they realize they are at the same age their parent was when they had a heart attack or a stroke and they could be getting close to the age when their parents died. Baby boomers should go see the doctor now to see how they can continue to live well.”
Mohler adds that, as “Boomers” turn 60, they need to be concerned about cholesterol build-up in the carotid arteries of the neck, for stroke, and in the arteries of the legs for peripheral arterial disease. Any blockages in the leg could mean you're more susceptible to heart attack and stroke.
Baby Boomers to Blaze Yet Another Trail…
Kirschling, who has made a career as a teacher and community health educator, can't help but wonder, “I see so many younger folks who are overweight and I ask myself, ‘Will the baby boomers outlive the next generation?' With excess weight, people are walking around with time bombs.
“I went down after Hurricane Katrina as a disaster instructor; thousands of baby boomers came down to help. We want to stay useful. We have a drive to stay healthy and try to keep the energy up. That's different from our parent's generation,” Kirschling comments. “There are lessons to be learned when it comes to our health. We are the generation that changed the world and we can blaze yet another trail as we enter our old age in a healthy state. Baby boomers are exercising, eating right, and seeing doctors as we enter retirement. We are not entering retirement to sit around in a lazy chair.”
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