Patrick Stewart is best known for being a legendary actor on Star Trek and more. The talented 83-year-old has been very open about all aspects of his life over the years, including his health issues. He was diagnosed with heart disease, which led to him having a lifesaving surgery, and has dealt with other health issues, like arthritis. He previously admitted to using cannabis for the joint pain after he was examined by a doctor.
“Two years ago in Los Angeles, I was examined by a doctor and given a note which gave me legal permission to purchase, from a registered outlet, cannabis-based products,” he said in an interview with The Mirror in 2017. He also said he uses ointment and spray for his inherited medical condition. “The ointment helps with sleep as the pain was reduced. The spray is much more usable and I spray my fingers several times a day,” he explained. “They have significantly reduced the stiffness and pain. I can make fists, which was not the case before I began this treatment.”
Find out more about Patrick’s health below.
Patrick Stewart Diagnosed With Heart Disease
Patrick was diagnosed with coronary artery disease in the mid-2000s. “I have the strong feeling that, should the time come for me, having had no role in my birth I would like there to be a choice I might make about how I die,” he told The Sunday Times, when discussing his health and how he wants to pass, in 2011. He also admitted to having a procedure done shortly after he was diagnosed.
“A lot of it has to do with my age. I had a heart procedure five years ago,” he explained. “I was 70 last year and there is something about achieving threescore years and 10, isn’t there?”
He also talked about his heart disease diagnosis in a 2022 interview with ITV’s This Morning. “It was a wake-up call,” he said. “I was diagnosed very unexpectedly during my annual physical by my cardiologist.” In 2006, tests revealed he had an 85 percent blockage in his heart and it required a stent insertion.
“In five minutes I was on a gurney [a wheeled stretcher used for transporting hospital patients] giving details of my next of kin,” he added. He also described the situation as “rather dramatic”, but admitted he “didn’t have time to brood on it”.
“What I did know was that I was in the best possible hands I could’ve been in and I was going to be taken care of whatever the outcome,” he also said in 2019.
What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease refers to “several types of heart conditions,” according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outlet also says that the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which was what Patrick had. It can lead to a heart attack, but risks can be reduced greatly through lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medicine.
How Long Has Patrick Stewart Been Sick?
Patrick was first diagnosed with heart disease in 2006. He has been getting treated for it and continues to go through other health struggles, such as his arthritis, as he gets older.
How Is Patrick Stewart Doing Today?
Patrick continues using beneficial treatments for his heart disease, arthritis, and any other ailments. He has been married to his younger wife Sunny Ozell, who is almost 40 years younger than him, since 2013 and they seem to be thriving as a couple. “It was an immediate attraction. When she came over to offer us dessert on the house – because her manager had insisted – we got talking,” Patrick told the Daily Mail about the time he met her for the first time. “She very kindly said she wanted to see Macbeth and then I gave her my mobile phone number.”
Since his surgery, Patrick has also had to see doctors twice a year for multiple tests including an angiogram, which allows doctors to see your heart’s blood vessels.