Brenda Strong: Still Going Strong

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Brenda Strong knows how to command attention. When the 6-foot-tall TV star and tell-all narrator of the popular ABC series “Desperate Housewives” recently walked into a crowded New York City restaurant to speak with Health Monitor Network, heads turned and conversations stopped. With her shoulder-length brunette hair swept back to reveal sparkling emerald-and-pearl earrings—a Valentine’s Day gift from her husband, Tom Henri—the actress positively radiates vitality. She is confident and put together—her green silk blouse matches the earrings, and tailored slacks show off her long, toned legs.  

 

As she settles into the booth, Brenda leans forward with an enigmatic smile, like she’s about to reveal a fascinating secret. “In 1994, I had a blood test that came back with a high cholesterol count—and found out that put me at risk for a heart attack or stroke,” she says. She had just given birth to her son, John.

 

“I never thought I’d be at risk for heart disease,” she adds, noting that she believed she was doing all the right things to ensure her health. But the desperate-housewife-to-be was, at the time, one of the more than 50% of women in the U.S. who are simply not aware that they are at risk for heart disease and don’t think to have their heart health checked by a physician. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), many people do not know that one in every three women develop heart disease.

 

To her credit—and benefit—Brenda did have her cholesterol checked even though she had good reason for thinking heart disease was not on her health horizon. After all, among the “right things” she did to take care of herself were two lifestyle choices thought to ward off heart disease. “I was practically a vegetarian—I ate very little red meat—and I exercised by practicing yoga religiously,” Brenda states. “So a high cholesterol count couldn’t have surprised me more.”

 

But Brenda’s surprise turned to shock in that same year when her 67-year-old mother, Jean, suffered a devastating ischemic stroke. The most common type of stroke, it is caused by hardening of the arteries—a consequence of having very high cholesterol. Large amounts of cholesterol cause plaque, a sticky substance, to form in the bloodstream and then build up on artery walls. Over time, the plaque can block an artery completely, or it can break away from an artery wall, move on through the bloodstream, and create a clot or blockage in any area of the body.

 

A blood clot caused Jean’s stroke, and it led to serious health complications. She suffered paralysis afterwards that lasted 14 years. Several heart attacks followed. And, in 2009, Brenda’s mom died from complications related to heart disease. The thing is, Jean was an athletic exercise enthusiast, like Brenda, much of her life. And also like Brenda, it is likely that she never saw herself as a candidate for heart disease.

 

“Because my mom wasn’t tested or treated for her high cholesterol, she missed out on being a grandmother,” she states. “What happened to my mother, and then getting my cholesterol results, was my wake-up call.”

That wake-up call extended to her four sisters—all had their blood checked and two found out they also had very high cholesterol. Brenda states, “We realized for the first time that it was part of our family makeup.” 

 

From that point on, Brenda made the prevention of heart disease a focal point of her life. She watched what she ate, exercised regularly, and maintained her ideal weight. And as she had done for more than a decade, she also actively kept chasing down the childhood dream she’d nursed since she first saw the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in her hometown of Portland. 

That was when Brenda first realized that acting was a profession—and it charted the direction of her life. Before her mom’s stroke, Brenda made her TV debut with brief appearances on “Cheers,” “St. Elsewhere,” and “MacGyver.”And before she got the role on “Desperate Housewives,” she already had devoted fans who followed her as the character of Sue Ellen Mischke, the candy heiress who was Elaine’s nemesis in several episodes of “Seinfeld.”

 

Achieving such a measure of success, however, did not distract Brenda from her health goals: She wanted to pull her cholesterol numbers down to a normal count (see sidebar, “Getting Savvy About Cholesterol”). But in spite of adding more elements to her preventive plan—hiking with her husband, adding omega-3-rich fish dishes to her diet—her cholesterol remained high. She recalls, “I felt like a ticking time bomb.”

 

At the same time, her career took flight. In 2004, Brenda’s agent convinced her to read the script for the pilot episode of “Desperate Housewives” and audition for the role of Mary Ellen Young, the deceased narrator who, from beyond the grave, oversees all the action among the fictional inhabitants of Wisteria Lane.

Even though another actress was already cast for the role in the series pilot, Brenda says, “I thought the script was brilliant, so I lined up an audition.” Of course, she got the part—and the pilot was re-shot to cast her as Mary Ellen. Now, nearly five years later, Brenda is still playing Mary Ellen and lives with her husband and 14-year-old son in Los Angeles. 

 

But in spite of all the actress’s efforts to bring her cholesterol count down, she did not succeed until two years ago. Dietary changes that increased fiber helped her reduce cholesterol. “In only a month’s time,” Brenda recalls, “I was happy and relieved—my cholesterol dropped to near normal.”  

 

When increasing fiber in the diet, along with exercising, isn’t enough to help people reduce their cholesterol, medications can help. For Brenda, however, this simple formula is working well for now. 

 

At 48, Brenda is the picture of health. But her mother’s experience has taught her an unforgettable and valuable lesson—one she wishes to share with all women: Get your cholesterol checked if you are at risk for heart disease. “Educate yourself about how to reduce cholesterol. It could save your life,” she advises. “After all, you can look healthy on the outside—but it’s what’s happening inside that counts.”  

This year, “Desperate Housewives” star Brenda Strong became the voice of the “Beautify Your Heart” campaign, a joint effort by WomenHeart, a nonprofit health advocacy group, and Metamucil that was formed in 1999. She is very involved in getting the word out to women about heart health and advises: 

 

* Have your cholesterol checked if you are at risk for heart disease. Risks include smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and a family history of heart disease. You can look and feel healthy and have high cholesterol—symptoms may not show as it begins to clog your arteries. The only way to detect it is by having a blood test. If you think you’re too busy to get checked, do it for your family. You can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself. To find a screening center near you, go to www.beautifyyourheart.com.

 

* Eat a heart-healthy diet. Because your body naturally produces cholesterol from the foods you eat, a healthy restriction of calories can help keep cholesterol in the normal range. You can also consume less saturated fat and include more dietary fiber—that can help you shed pounds, too. Eat more omega-3-rich fish, and fruit and vegetables—all high in fiber and low in calories.  

 

* Get your body moving.Look for little ways to increase exercise, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going for a walk after meals. Find a workout you enjoy—hiking, dancing, jogging, or biking—and do it five times a week.

 

* Tell two friends to get screened if they know they are at risk for heart disease.One in three women die of heart disease, so someone close to you could be at risk—and not know it. But as more women become proactive about their heart health, that statistic will drop, too.