Ray Romano is opening up about some disturbing medical news he’s received.
Though he doesn’t “feel that old” in his head, the actor of 65 admitted his body has been sending “a couple of notices.”
When Ray was experiencing chest symptoms while directing and appearing in the 2022 film Somewhere in Queens, he decided to see a cardiologist.
The Everybody Loves Raymond star revealed his doctor recently warned him he was at risk of a “widowmaker” heart attack due to a 90% clogged artery in his heart during an appearance on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast.
The topic came up when Maron mentioned that he had recently gone vegan to see whether it might benefit his health. He disclosed that he had been reducing his cholesterol with medication but had stopped to try the vegan diet.
“Be careful with that,” Romano cautioned Maron and told him about his admittedly dumb experience with cholesterol.
He disclosed that he and his doctor have engaged in a running dialogue for quite some time.
Romano claimed that his doctor had told him that, while he might have high cholesterol, it didn’t necessarily mean that he was “in danger” as long as everything else had “checked out” and he was otherwise healthy. But he started taking statins.
Statins are used to treat excessive cholesterol and have been shown to reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and strokes.
Once his cholesterol dropped to the still dangerously high range of 220, the actor would “start cheating.”
Eventually, after “15, 16 years,” he had to get the stent put in.
Meanwhile, the “Everybody Loves Raymond” star turned serious, saying, “If I could go back 20 years ago, I would have gotten on the meds, you know?”
In addition to his cholesterol, he also needs to keep an eye on the fact that he is prediabetic.
Romano joked with Maron about his alarm to take his pills. He showed it to him and remarked, “That’s where I’m at right now.”
