For his part, Regis understands this all too well. About 14 years ago, he was shooting a commercial for Carnival on one of their cruise ships when he felt what he describes as “heaviness around the heart area.” Regis went to the ship’s doctor who immediately did an electrocardiogram, but didn’t find anything.

Heart problems for Regis

The next day, after docking back in Miami, Regis went to Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, where one of his arteries was found to be clogged. It was the source of his pain.

“The doctors asked, ‘Should we give you an angioplasty?’ (An angioplasty is a procedure where a tiny balloon is inserted into the blocked artery, inflated and then removed—to open a blocked artery). I said, ‘Sure, go ahead.’ They did it and I felt pretty good after it was done.”

However, about six months later, the pain returned.

“I began feeling the pain again and it was becoming more intense,” Regis continues.  “My producer, Gelman, drove me to New York Hospital. The doctors put a stent in where I had the angioplasty six months earlier. I’ve been pretty good ever since.”

Keeping heart healthy

While a large part of Regis’ good health can be ascribed to his positive attitude, he still has to work at it.

“I still love all the bad stuff—ice cream, Italian bread and butter, steak—but I try to eat everything in moderation,” he says. “I concentrate on the vegetables and fruits. That is the way you remain slim. All those things that we’ve been told about for years—and I’ve ignored for some of those years—are true and I am doing the best I can with those right now. So that’s how I keep trim and that’s how I stay in shape.”

Physical activity also plays a large role in Regis’ everyday routine. He likes to run on the outdoor track at his gym several times a week at the Reebok Sport Center near his studio in New York.

“I can see the skyline of the city as I go around and I always find that it just elevates my spirits. I do as many laps as I can for my cardio. I also work out with weights to keep the other parts of my body fit.”

A legendary TV star

Ask anyone who sees him, Regis is in good shape. He has to be to keep up with his nonstop schedule. He took his daytime success to prime time with "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and "Super Millionaire." Earlier in 2006, he returned to prime time with the hit summer program, "America's Got Talent."

Regis has won numerous Emmy awards, both personally and as part of his show. In 2006, he broke his own Guinness World Record for Most Hours on Camera, setting a new mark of 15,662 hours accumulated over his illustrious career.

In 2001, Regis received a TV Guide Award as Personality of the Year and a Broadcasting & Cable Lifetime Achievement Award. Philbin was a 2006 inductee into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and was recently inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.

Now in its 19th season in national syndication, "Live" originated in 1983. In 2001, Regis was joined by Kelly Ripa and the program entered a new era as "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Take care of your heart!

Regis also does what he can to help educate others about health-related issues. (He recently had a flu shot while on the air). When he had the stent put in, Regis invited his doctors onto the show to explain what had happened and how to avoid a similar situation.

“I hope that helped people and I think it did,” Regis says. “I got a lot of mail after that saying, thank you. I’ve been suffering with that pain, afraid to go and I found out it’s as simple as you said it was.”

Even before he started “Live!,” Regis was using television to help people. In the early days of cable television, Regis hosted a show on the Cable Health Network. It was a variety show that centered on health-related issues. He had on everyone from weightlifters to heart surgeons.

This past summer, Regis lent a helping hand to a heart health gala at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center which was celebrating all of its successful artificial heart transplants. He was joined by Dr. Robert Jarvik—inventor of the artificial heart—as well as the first recipient of the artificial heart, who is still alive today.

“It’s important to remember that we only have one heart and we really must do our best to take care of it,” Regis says. 

Learn more about heart health at  www.walgreens.com/hbp