documentary of diana nyad. she is a 61-year-old long distance swimmer who set out to do the impossible. something that people tolder that simply could not be done. she wanted to swim from here in havana and swim all the way to florida. more than 100 miles. no rest. no shark cage. complete exposure to the elements. the swim was planned to take over two days through day and night. more than 60 hours. she had to do this again without any rest whatsoever. what we now know is diana lasted about half that distance. about 50 miles, 29 miles in the water. the currents were rough and the waves big. her shoulders started to bother her. it was no less inspiring to watch her near the end of that swim. the big question on a lot of people's minds, including mine, is what is next for you? that is part of our story today. although we are 100 miles away from florida, we are miles away from the health care system. if you talk about the cuban health care system, prepare for a fight. it is a controversial issue. what i can tell you this, under fidel castro, everyone has access to health care. that is different than other countries. what critics will say that despite the fact they have health care, often times that health care is not as good and patients do not fare as well. they will tell you the resources are limited for doctors and hospitals alike. i came here to try to figure out what the real story was in all of this and get a glimpse to try to show you. consider this, the life expectancy here in cuba is about 77 years. that is comparable to the united states. its infant mortality is among the lowest in the world. the cubans do all of this at 1/14 of what we pay in the united states. how do they do it? we came to find out. you are looking at one of the better community hospitals in the capital city havana. not a lot of flash. not a lot of dazzle. circa in time. 1960s. >> half our scanners are from phillips and they cannot provide service. >> dr. pedro was born in chicago. he did some of his training at nyu and now practices here in cuba. >> i would like to say my commitment is here. i have a job to do. i think the u.s. has plenty of doctors. >> there is a fear here that cuba is losing its doctors. cuba's doctors are not just practicing in cuba. they are practicing all over the world. anywhere between one-fifth and one-third practice overseas. fidel castro spend doctors from angola to haiti. we find another purpose as well. cuba has sent 14,000 doctors to venezuela over the last ten years. in exchange, venezuela has sent millions of barrels of oil. for all that we americans spend on our medical bills, you would think that americans would be much healthier, but we are not. >> one of the things that comes up is the cost per capita here in cuba is much less than the united states. yet, life expectancy is about the same. childhood mortality rates are lower here. how? >> i think it is the way the system is organized. it is the emphasis on prevention. the articulation of primary health care with the family doctor. it is the way we have been forced to use resources. >> here is a key distinction. he is talking about prevention. not just catching problems early. >> for example, if i was telling you about the screening for birth defects. that is 100% of cuban mothers. the vaccination is 100% of kids. the screening for hearing loss. that is all kids at risk. >> why invest in a screening for hearing loss? it is connected to slower emotional development. in order to have truly effective programs, it helps to have a doctor and nurse right in your neighborhood. this is a neighborhood doctor's office. literally. the bottom floor is the doctor's office. the doctor lives above the office here right among the community. there is a focus on preventive care here. that is why the doctor is here to make sure people are getting their vaccinations and general care visits. also to monitor to see if there are outbreaks or threats to the community that are eminent. doctors will make surprise visits checking up on the health of a family. this doctor has worked here for 20 years. she has 784 patients in this neighborhood. she knows everyone by name. many of them she has known since they were babies. the cuban health system demonstrates, prevention is not a passive thing, but if you are curious, a doctor like her makes on average of $20 to $30 u.s. dollars a month. you have to take side jobs to make ends meet because they are not getting paid enough. true? >> yes. >> does that make it hard to actually hard to get people to come into medicine? >> we have economic difficulties. >> to swim across the ocean. >> later in the day, we were filming on the beach and called over to help a man swimming. i was asked to help in any way i could. relax. wiggle your toes. >> is there an ambulance coming? >> the young man turned out to be all right, but the ambulance never came. if it did, the question remains, in a system with scarce resources, could this man have gotten treatment he needed? it is also part of the reality cubans face every day. hopefully that gives you a glimpse into the cuban health care systems. we will show you more in the months to come. i want to talk about something that has become a real american problem. the biggest killer of men and women alike in the united states. it is heart disease. many people believe that this is a lifestyle problem. it is decided by the choices we make in our lives whether or not to have heart disease. i decided i wanted to become heart attack proof. to be convinced i would never have a heart attack. my doctors now say i achieved that. you are probably wondering how. that's next. roper trition get back on your feet.an u three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! build an app for the sales team. and see my family while they're still awake. 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[ male announcer ] new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief. twice as fast. test our fast relief. love it, or get your money back. test our fast relief. distracted driving. it accounts for 25% of car crashes. - ♪ [ dance ] - music, cell phones, food-- the list goes on. this is why safe driving is so important. - correct. - and it's why the best agents... help safe drivers get a lower rate. - oh! - exactly. ♪ another dream but always you ♪ whoa! ♪ it's like a vision-- [ tires squeal ] ♪ [ resumes ] [ man announcing ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ we are back from havana, cuba with the special report for sgmd. i have been taking a close look at heart disease for some time now. i can tell you that the american culture, especially the american diet, has been exported to just about every country in the world. they are starting to pay the price. heart disease is the biggest killer in the united states of men and women alike. now they say about one in three american adults has some version of it. what i think is so remarkable is we know with no new money spent on heart research, no new resources or no new break throughs, right now, we could have a shot at virtually eliminating heart attacks. sounds remarkable, i know. think about it for a second. for example, take a look at the food that you eat. think about that. now think about it again. sharon kinz is 66 years old. a retired private investigator from canton, ohio. a year ago, she had a heart attack after an artery became completely blocked. >> he said for someone who had what you have, the only warning you usually get is death. at that point, i really knew how lucky i was. >> like a lot of women, kintz did not experience the classic chest pain, but fatigue and pain in her jaw. >> he said you will have to have open heart surgery. he said i can fix you today. i can just take you right down in the o.r. and operate on you right now. my son was in there. he was ready to wheel me down to the operating room. he was frantic. >> what kintz did next may surprise you. she turned the surgeon down cold. said no to open heart surgery. decided to take a chance. >> i bought parsnips. >> using food as medicine. >> i love these. they are wonderful. i love these. >> kintz is betting her life on a controversial diet. created by a general surgeon by training. >> you have easy to remember adages of what you should and should not eat. >> we know what they should not eat. oil, dairy, meat, fish and chicken. we want them to eat all of those whole grains for their cereal, bread, pasta. beans, vegetables. yellow, red, green and fruit. what particular vegetables do we want them in particular? bok choy, brussel sprouts and asparagus. i'm out of breath. >> nothing with a mother. nothing with a face. you can imagine the meat, egg and dairy associations think that is a terrible idea. >> incorporating lean beef can help you stick to a healthy diet. >> it is a source of 13 vitamins and minerals. eggs are the gold standard for protein. >> dairy foods are nutrient rich. you get a lot of knnutrients fo every calorie. >> he has no special degree in nutrition, but when it comes to food, as medicine, he is a true believer. >> she had a heart attack. >> yes. >> you know sharon. doctors recommend she had an intervention. is there a down side? could she be putting herself at risk? >> no. in hundreds of patients, the data going back over 20 years and the most recent study over the last decade, once you eat this way, you will make yourself heart attack proof. we know if people are eating this way, they will not have a heart attack. it is a foodbourne illness. none of it is treating the cause of the illness. >> his food-based prescription puts him against conventional wisdom which says diet is only part of a heart healthy lifestyle. if a doctor said heart disease is a foodbourne illness and you follow this diet and in the exchange, you will not have a heart attack. what would you say? >> i would say that is an overstatement. an oversimplification of what we are able to do. although i know there are people who say it. >> i was curious about the science behind his claims. i dug up the peer review journals. patients on the diet and medication had no heart attacks and no coronary events after five years. three-quarter of patients saw the blockages get smaller. a year after her heart attack, sharon says she feels great. check out those moves. before that, simply walking was enough to wear her out. with the diet, you have to ask can she keep it up? i asked sharon to meet me in new york city. cooking at home is one thing, but eating on the road or on the run is another. if her diet can make it here, it can make it anywhere. 46th and broadway. sharon, how are you? when you cook at home, it is more under your control. what is the most difficult thing when you are on the road? >> i see pizza, which is not. i'm sure there is oil in it. and that looks like pepperoni. i see pasta. my question would be when i go in, do you have whole wheat pasta. my second question is can you prepare it without oil? that is not. they have pasta and salad. >> here is another restaurant. i'm going to take advice from you. you look at the menu and tell me what comes to your mind. >> the majority on there i will not eat. >> you focus on salads? >> no. i could have the baby spinach leaves without the chicken and peaches and strawberries. >> is this a restaurant you would come in? >> if i was hungry, you bet. >> you could get a meal here? >> you bet. >> you think this diet will make you live longer? >> i hope so. i hope i get to see you retire. >> i have a feeling that will be a long time. i hope you do. >> i hope i do, too. >> nothing with a mother. nothing with a face. no dairy. no oil. it is not easy to do. i can tell you from personal experience. one person who is giving it a go is former president bill clinton. he was on the verge of a heart attack. it took quadruple bypass surgery to get him to change his mind. he brought his weight down to what it was when he was a teenager. how is he doing it? i sat down with him one-on-one next. ounext g mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. ♪ [ recorded voice ] onstar. we're looking for city hall. i'm sending directions to your car. 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"sgmd." according to the american heart association 40% of americans believe they're in ideal heart health. the real number, fewer than 1%. those numbers starting to ring true in places like havana, cuba, where we are now. former president clinton thought he was in ideal heart health but it took a quadruple heart bypass surgery to save his life. i sat down with him as he is a changed man now, even a vegan. that's right, a vegan. he told me how he did it. >> i was lucky i didn't die. of a heart attack. >> reporter: former president clinton, like too many people, was busy. and for years, he ignored warning signs of his heart. but in 2004, during an exhausting book tour, there was something different. >> i had a real tightness in my chest when i was getting off the airplane and it was the no mapa, but tight, only time i had it unrelated it to exercise. i immediately went down to our local hospital and they did a test and said you got real problems. they hustled me down to columbia presbyterian and they confirmed the determination that i had serious blockage and needed surgery. >> reporter: the doctors immediately knew, options were limited. the 58-year-old clinton needed to have his chest opened, his heart stopped, and surgery performed. >> there's no medical treatment for reversing the obstructions that already formed in his blood vessels. >> so, i got hillary and chelsea there and all i remember it was happening fast and everybody who cared about me was scared and i felt rather serene. >> reporter: on labor day in 2004, mr. clinton had four blood vessels bypassed. >> starting this morning around 8:00, he had a relatively routine quadruple bypass operation. we left the operating room around noon and he is recovering normally. >> it hurt like the devil for about three weeks, it hurt so much i had a hard time even watching movies much less reading. and then when i started again, to exercise, and i forced myself out, i mean like the first day, tried to just walk a half a block, one way or the other, trying to push myself into doing the therapy, there was that period when you're just not sure you can come back. >> how do you know that you're healthy now? would you call yourself healthy now? >> well, i think i'm healthier than i was. i'm -- i lost 20 something pounds and i feel good and i have, believe it or not, more energy. i seem to need -- when i do sleep, i sleep better, but i seem to need less sleep to function at a reasonably high level than i did. >> you've talked about the fact you love to eat. this is -- >> you know, i like the stuff i eat. i like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans, the stuff i eat now i like. i like it. >> do you call yourself a vegan now then? >> well, i suppose i am, if i don't eat dairy or meat or fish, you know. >> you've cut all that out? do you -- >> only thing -- once in a while, literally in well over a year now, at thanksgiving i had one bite of turkey. >> you're doing this for your health? >> yes. >> is that why you're doing it? >> absolutely. >> mr. president. how are you? >> great. >> last time we spoke, a few weeks ago, you said you were going to be really strict on the diet. you were doing a pretty good job, you said? >> i'm more strict now. >> are you? >> uh-huh. >> by the time i have my 65th birthday, i want to weigh what i did when i went home from law school in 1973. >> wow. >> that's what i'm working on. >> that's a grand ambition. how much is that? will you tell us? >> i got down to 185. >> wow. >> i got down when chelsea was married, i weighed about 192. which is what i weighed when i graduate fwrds high school. anything under 195 was my optimum weight my whole life. in the summer of '73 we had a scorching hot summer and i ran three miles a day at the hottest hour of the day which i could do back then in order to make the pounds go off and it was the first time since i was 13 years old that i weighed 185 pounds. i'm going to try one more time to make it. >> much more with former president clinton, also all the studies out there that can potentially make you heart attack proof. that's what doctors have told me i now am. i want to share it with you. come watch our special called "the last heart attack" this sunday, 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern. i'm dr. sanjay gupta reporting to you from havana, cuba. we'll be right back. 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