February Wellness Newsletter

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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