LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

quick death, so you must pay attention to the risk factors that can lead to this sudden, unexpected end.

      Diseases of the heart risk factors

      High blood pressure (hypertension)

      As your heart pumps blood to your body, the degree to which it pumps depends upon the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The work load of your heart becomes greater as the resistance to the flow of blood increases. This puts a strain on your heart.

      In addition, the effect of high blood pressure is to accelerate the process of atherosclerosis.

      The risk for high blood pressure increases as you age and is also increased if you are overweight, or eat a diet too high in salt, or live a sedentary existence.

      Blood pressure that can not be controlled by life-style changes (weight loss, low salt diet, exercise, stress reduction) demands anti-hypertensive medications. Failure to control high blood pressure by life style changes and medication demands a careful search for rare and unusual causes such as adrenal gland tumors or a blocked kidney artery.

      Cigarette smoke (or any tobacco)

      There are 4000 known chemicals in cigarette smoke and many of them are cancer producing agents, but cigarettes cause more heart attacks than they cause lung cancer and emphysema.

      In the year 2000, worldwide there were 1,690,000 heart attacks among smokers. Contrast this statistic with the 850,000 lung cancer deaths due to smoking.

      Tobacco smoke (first and second hand) is well known to cause damage to the inner lining of arteries by facilitating the process of atherosclerosis and promoting blood clots. This is an arterial “double whammy.” No wonder cigarettes are so potent in promoting heart attacks.

      The effect, of course, is the same for all of your arteries, not just your heart. So, if you smoke, do all you can to stop. Seek help if you can’t. Your life may be at stake.

      High blood cholesterol

      Cholesterol is an important part of the artery deposits that form plaque and narrow your arteries.

      Cholesterol can not dissolve in blood, so it combines with protein and then becomes soluble. This combination is called lipoprotein.

      A high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in your blood increases your risk for a heart attack, as LDL, or “bad” cholesterol forms part of the plaque. The level should be under 100, or as low as seventy if you have other risk factors.

      High density lipoprotein level (HDL), or “good” cholesterol helps remove cholesterol from arteries. The level should be higher than forty, but the higher the better.

      Total cholesterol level equals LDL plus HDL plus one-fifth of the triglyceride (see below—this formula is only valid if the triglyceride is less than 400). The total cholesterol should be less than 200. A cholesterol/ HDL cholesterol ratio has been used as a risk factor for heart attack. A ratio of less than four is considered a low risk. Three or two is better. The risk rises with an increasing ratio.

      Knowing these levels of cholesterol in your blood is critically important. If the levels put you at risk, then corrective measures, including diet, exercise and possibly medication must be started.

      Triglyceride

      Triglycerides are derived from ingested fats, or are made in the body from carbohydrates. They are stored in your fat cells and are made available for energy requirements.

      An elevated triglyceride (normal 150 or less) is another of the many risk factors for atherosclerosis, especially when associated with the so-called metabolic syndrome (pot belly, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, diabetes, or a pre-diabetic state). This is why your physician may be interested in your abdominal measurement.

      You are considered at risk if you are a man with an abdominal girth greater than 40 inches, (some put that measurement at 37 inches), or are a woman with an abdominal girth greater than 35 inches.

      Why is this? To understand the reason you need to know that most of your fat is under your skin (subcutaneous fat), but of most concern is the fat that lies in your abdominal cavity called visceral fat—the fat that lies within your omentum, a cover of tissue that hangs down from the intestine and surrounds the organs within your abdomen.

      Ordinarily you should not have more than ten percent of visceral fat, but if you have a pot belly, you may have twenty-five percent or more of visceral fat. The bad news is that there is a distinct correlation between visceral fat and diabetes and heart disease. So, it behooves you to rid yourself of your pot! And researchers have learned that if you eat the proper foods (much less saturated fats replaced by polyunsaturated fats), and get appropriate exercise (one half hour per day), you will lose your visceral fat.

      This message is important regardless of your age, but is increasingly critical as you age, since the older you are the greater your risk for heart disease.

      Exercise programs are also important for heart health, but should be started only with your physician’s approval.

      So, if your triglyceride is elevated you will need to get serious about lifestyle changes:

      If overweight, strive for ideal body weight by calorie reduction—reduce carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

      Stop or greatly reduce your intake of alcohol, since alcohol raises triglyceride levels.

      Eliminate trans fat. They promote hardening of the arteries.

      Reduce saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet. They do the same.

      Exercise for at least thirty minutes every day or as much as you can if approved by your physician.

      Substituting carbohydrates for fat may elevate triglycerides in some people.

      Salmon, sardines, mackerel, lake trout and tuna are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce triglyceride levels. So eat more fish and eat less red meat.

      Diabetes mellitus

      Diabetes is not a single disease. There are three major types:

      Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependant, also known as juvenile diabetes) is an autoimmune disease. Your immune system, instead of protecting you, destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. What triggers this is uncertain. Of all diabetics, ten to fifteen percent have this form. It can appear at any age, most commonly under forty. It is known as insulin dependent diabetes, because, to stay alive, daily insulin injections are required.

      Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as non-insulin dependant diabetes, affects eighty-five to ninety percent of diabetics. This form of diabetes, striking later in life, is characterized by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Diet, oral medication and occasionally insulin injections are required for therapy. The disease is genetic in origin, but its development may be accentuated by overweight, inactivity, poor diet and high blood pressure.

      Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is diagnosed during pregnancy in about seven percent of pregnant women. It disappears after birth, but indicates that the mother is prone to developing type 2 diabetes, especially if overweight, and the baby is at risk for obesity and diabetes later in life.

      Diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease because, if poorly controlled, the atherosclerotic process is accelerated and cholesterol levels rise.

      Lack of exercise

      Inactivity leads to weight gain, which can promote type 2 diabetes. The lack of activity plus the resulting overweight strains your heart by forcing it to pump more blood to an enlarged body. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk for heart and blood vessel disease, and can also help lower blood pressure.

      Obesity

      Overweight may result in diabetes. The more fatty tissue you have the more your cells become resistant to insulin. Obesity leads to inactivity with all its adverse consequences.

      Stress

      Intermittent

Скачать книгу