Heart Failure Was Choking Him to Death

Ron knew his poor eating habits and lack of exercise weren’t good for his heart, but he never expected to be diagnosed with heart failure. He went to the doctor complaining that he felt his body was choking him to death. “It turns out my whole body was shutting down” he says, adding that his cardiologist told him his heart was pumping at 3% capacity (healthy hearts beat at about 50%). “Later I found that even my thinking was affected because my heart rate was so low.”