Thursday, February 4, 2010

February Wellness Newsletter

For more quick nutrition tips click the link below:
http://projectlacena.blogspot.com/

Heart Health

Why It’s Important
  • Coronary Heart disease is the # 1 killer in America.
  • Responsible for 1 out of 5 adult deaths in America
  • Improved quality of life
Areas you can’t control
  • Genetics
  • Age
  • Gender
Areas you can control
  • Diet
  • Weight
  • Exercise
  • Stress Level
  • Smoking
  • Blood Pressure
  • Too much alcohol
  • Diabetes
Diabetes
  • Diabetes increase the risk of heart disease.
  • High blood glucose level can lead to an increase in fatty deposits in the blood vessels, eventually clogging the vessels, which can cause a heart attack.
  • Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
  • The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with diabetes.
Controlling Diabetes
  • Controlling blood sugar levels
  • Blood pressure
  • Cholesterol
  • Can be achieved through medication, healthy lifestyle and exercise
Preventing Diabetes
  • Active lifestyle
  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Quitting smoking
  • Eating healthy
C-reactive protein (CRP)
  • If your Global Risk Assessment is high you need to have your CRP level checked.
  • http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3003499
  • C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the acute phase proteins that increase during systemic inflammation.
  • High levels of hs-CRP consistently predict recurrent coronary events.
  • Higher hs-CRP levels also are associated with lower survival rates. 

 What is the normal range of hs-CRP level?
  • If hs-CRP level is lower than 1.0 mg/L, a person has a low risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
  • If hs-CRP is between 1.0 and 3.0 mg/L, a person has an average risk.
  • If hs-CRP is higher than 3.0 mg/L, a person is at high risk.
Blood Pressure

140 - 90 - BORDERLINE HIGH
130 - 85 - High Normal
120 - 80 - NORMAL Blood Pressure
110 - 75 - Low Normal
90 - 60 - BORDERLINE LOW
60 - 40 - TOO LOW Blood Pressure
50 - 33 - DANGER Blood Pressure

Acceptable HDL and LDL Levels  
  • HDL Greater than 40
  • LDL Less than 100
  • Total Blood Cholesterol Under 200
  • Cholesterol Ratio
  • Total/HDL
  • Less than 5
  • 3.5 is optimum
Triglyceride Levels

Your triglyceride level will fall into one of these categories:
  •  Normal: less than 150 mg/dL
  •  Borderline-High: 150–199 mg/dL
  •  High: 200–499 mg/dL
  •  Very High: 500 mg/dL
Types of Stroke
  • Clot (Ischemic)
  • Bleeding (Hemorrhagic)
Exercise and Mortality Rates




Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

  • Increased HDL

  • Reduction in LDL

  • Reduction in triglycerides

  • Reduction in insulin resistance

  • Increase in size of the left ventricle

  • Reduced resting HR

  • Increase SV

  • Increased O2 to the tissues

  • Decrease in blood pressure
Benefits of Anaerobic Activity

  • Increased lean muscle mass

  • Increased metabolism
  • Burn more calories at rest (RMR)
  • Burn more when you’re active
Diet
  • Eliminating Trans-fats
  • Increasing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
  • Decrease intake of saturated fat
  • Eating whole grains
  • Increase the amount of dietary fiber