“We can make a commitment to promote vegetables and fruits and whole grains on every part of every menu. We can make portion sizes smaller and emphasize quality over quantity. And we can help create a culture – imagine this – where our kids ask for healthy options instead of resisting them.”
Michelle Obama
Archive | November 2013
MEN VS. WOMEN REGARDING HEALTH IN AMERICA & 6 Top Men Diseases in America.
More males than females are born in America each year. Still regarding health to both genders through research and just living the experience of being an RN over a quarter of a century in numerous fields (primarily of adults to geriatrics) it shows women are more healthier than men (even starting from infancy).
Out of the 15 leading causes of death, men lead women in all of them except Alzheimer’s disease, which many men don’t live long enough to develop in many cases. Although the gender gap is closing, men still die five years earlier than their wives, on average. Through WebMD experts have told them the reason for this is that they are partly biological, and men’s approach to their health plays a role too, of course. “Men put their health last,” says Demetrius Porche, DNS, RN, editor in chief of the Americ.an Journal of Men’s Health. “Most men’s thinking is, if they can live up to their roles in society, then they’re healthy.” Not always the case especially when age keeps creeping up on a male with his priorities of life changing with new love or even peeps that come on board in a man’s lifetime. In most cases living healthy normally happens when are age is younger but then due to work to families to expectations leaves little room for healthier habits in the week but even 30 minutes a day could make a tremendous change to all systems of the human body preventing certain diseases/illnesses, especially those due to poor diet, eating habits and overall health habits (Ex. as simple as getting 8 hours for sleep a day). Men go to the doctor less than women and are more likely to have a serious condition when they do go, research shows. “As long as they’re working and feeling productive, most men aren’t considering the risks to their health,” says Porche. Like a lot of men say “I don’t have to time to think about it.”. But even if you’re feeling healthy, a little planning can help you stay that way. One is through preventions measures before secondary have to start, meaning ending line your now with a disease or illness, that may have been prevented completely if you lived a healthier life. One way of preventing disease and illness is good eating or diet, with balancing out the 4 food groups (to get all nutrients from minerals to vitamins to enzymes to proteins and more). The top threats to men’s health aren’t secrets: they are commonly known and often preventable. WebMD consulted the experts that came up with for you this list of the top health threats to men, and how to avoid them.
Heart disease and stroke are the first and second leading causes of death worldwide, in both men and women,” says Darwin Labarthe, MD, MPH, PhD, director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the CDC. “It’s a huge global public health problem, and in the U.S. we have some of the highest rates.” In cardiovascular disease, cholesterol plaques gradually block the arteries in the heart and brain. If a plaque becomes unstable, a blood clot forms, blocking the artery and causing a heart attack or stroke.
One in five men and women will die from cardiovascular disease, according to Labarthe. For unclear reasons, though, men’s arteries develop atherosclerosis earlier than women’s. “Men’s average age for death from cardiovascular disease is under 65,” he says; women catch up about six years later.
Even in adolescence, girls’ arteries look healthier than boys’. Experts believe women’s naturally higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL) are partly responsible. Men have to work harder to reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke. How do you go about this? Take a guess. Yes, again through your diet, eating, the 4 food groups in your diet, activity or exercise (at least 30 minutes a day or 1 hour every other day) and practicing daily good health habits.
Lung cancer is a terrible disease: ugly, aggressive, and almost always metastatic (spreads somewhere in the body). Lung cancer spreads early, usually before it grows large enough to cause symptoms or even show up on an X-ray. By the time it’s found, lung cancer is often advanced and difficult to cure. Less than half of men are alive a year later. So … are you still SMOKING?
Tobacco smoke causes 90% of all lung cancers. Thanks to falling smoking rates in the U.S., fewer men than ever are dying of lung cancer. But lung cancer is still the leading cancer killer in men: Again due to many still practicing poor habits which could have prevented many of the lung cancer cases. Anyone who QUITS smoking at any age reduces the risk for lung cancer. Few preventive measures are as effective as stopping smoking and nothing is as challenging, like any addiction (whether mental or physical)
Prostate Cancer: A Leading Cancer for Men
This is one health problem men can lay full claim to — after all, women don’t have prostates. A walnut-sized gland behind the penis that secretes fluids important for ejaculation, the
prostate is prone to problems as men age.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men other than skin canceHYPERLINK “http://www.webmd.com/melanoma-skin-cancer/default.htm”r. Close to 200,000 men will develop prostate cancer this year in the U.S.
But while one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, only one in 35 will die from it. “Many prostate cancers are slow-growing and unlikely to spread, while others are aggressive,” says Djenaba Joseph, MD, medical officer for cancer prevention at the CDC. “The problem is, we don’t have effective tests for identifying which cancers are more dangerous.”
Screening for prostate cancer requires a digital rectal exam (the infamous gloved finger) and a blood test for prostate specific antigen (PSA).
But in fact, “Screening has never definitively been shown to reduce the chances of dying from prostate cancer,” according to Joseph. That’s because screening finds many cancers that would never be fatal, even if undetected. Testing then leads to aggressive treatment of relatively harmless cancers, which causes problems like impotence and incontinence.
Should you get screened for prostate cancer? Some experts say yes, but “the best solution is to see your doctor regularly and talk about your overall risk,” says Joseph. “All men should understand the risks and benefits of each approach, whichever you choose.”
Depression and Suicide: Men Are at Risk
Depression isn’t just a bad mood, a rough patch, or the blues. It’s an emotional disturbance that affects your whole body and overall health.
In effect, depression proves the mind-body connection. Brain chemicals and stress hormones are out of balance. Sleep, appetite, and energy level are disturbed. Research even suggests men with depression are more likely to develop heart disease.
The results can be tragic. Women attempt suicide more often, but men are more successful at completing it. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death among all men; for young men it’s higher.
–Diabetes: The Silent Health Threat for Men
Diabetes usually begins silently, without symptoms. Over years, blood sugar levels creep higher, eventually spilling into the urine. The resulting frequent urination and thirst are what finally bring many men to the doctor.
The high sugar of diabetes is anything but sweet. Excess glucose acts like a slow poison on blood vessels and nerves everywhere in the body. Heart attacks, strokes, blindness, kidney failure, and amputations are the fallout for thousands of men.
Boys born in 2000 have an alarming one-in-three chance of developing diabetes in their lifetimes.
Overweight and obesity are likely feeding the diabetes epidemic. “The combination of diabetes and obesity may be erasing some of the reductions in heart disease risk we’ve had over the last few decades,” warns Labarthe.
Exercise, combined with a healthy diet, can prevent type 2 diabetes. Moderate weight loss — for those who are overweight — and 30 minutes a day of physical activity reduced the chance of diabetes by more than 50% in men at high risk in one major study.
—Erectile Dysfunction: A Common Health Problem in Men
Erectile dysfunction may not be life threatening, but it’s still signals an important health problem. Two-thirds of men older than 70 and up to 39% of 40-year-old men have problems with erectile dysfunction. Men with ED report less enjoyment in life and are more likely to be depressed.
Erectile dysfunction is most often caused by atherosclerosis — the same process that causes heart attacks and strokes. In fact, having ED frequently means that blood vessels throughout the body are in less-than-perfect health. Doctors consider erectile dysfunction an early warning sign for cardiovascular disease.
You’ve probably heard more about the numerous effective treatments for ED than you ever cared to just by watching the evening news. Treatments make a fulfilling sex life possible despite ED, but they don’t cure the condition. If you have erectile dysfunction, see your doctor, and ask if more than your sex life is at risk.
So what’s the key to decreasing these diseases or illnesses in men live a healthier life so men in America can decrease the chances of developing these diseases or if with one of these diagnoses already it will surely help decrease the impact of the disease or illness compared to living an unhealthy life. So if you need guidance I have direction, I surely did for my habits and diet.
Various lifestyle factors have been associated with increasing the risk of stroke. These include lack of exercise, alcohol, diet, obesity, smoking, drug use, and stress. Guidelines endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health recommend that Americans should exercise for at least 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity on most, and preferably all, days of the week. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown a U-shaped curve for alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease mortality, with low-to-moderate alcohol consumption associated with lower overall mortality. High daily dietary intake of fat is associated with obesity and may act as an independent risk factor or may affect other stroke risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cardiac disease. Homocysteine is another important dietary component associated with stroke risk, while other dietary stroke risk factors are thought to be mediated through the daily intake of several vitamins and antioxidants. Smoking, especially current smoking, is a crucial and extremely modifiable independent determinant of stroke. Despite the obstacles to the modification of lifestyle factors, health professionals should be encouraged to continue to identify such factors and help improve our ability to prevent stroke, decrease cancers caused by smoking, decrease coronary artery disease which decreases your chance with Obesity, ED, stroke, & hypertension and more. Learn healthy habits or healthier habits, broaden your knowledge on the 4 food groups in what is lean or leaner or leanest with each group, increase your activity 30 minutes a day and learn what a healthy diet actually is through Dr. Wayne Scott Anderson’s book “Dr. A’s habits of health” and even if you need to lose weight we can show you the way to do it healthy. It’s not a diet for 3 months or even 6 to a year but it is learning how to get to your body mass index in the ideal weight range for your height and you decide how low you want to go. We can show you through the book and those having more difficulty can buy our foods for 6 months or even a year or in my case I started almost a year ago and I use both their healthy foods as well as healthy foods from the store. You decide the choices, no one else. If you are interested go to my website healthyusa.tsfl.com and peek at what we offer for no prescription, no charge, no donation and no hacking. If you like what you see join me and so many others trying to get America healthier and in time decrease our population in diseases or illnesses primarily impacted by health habits, diet, and weight. Wouldn’t you and the future want to get better in mind and body to impact our health care system that includes our insurance and most importantly lives of citizens in the USA in how they live (which would be more active). It is your choice and I hope you decide to come aboard to my website healthyusa.tsfl.com and I know if I could do it so can too. It just takes discipline and the drive to want to stay healthy or get in a better state of heath. Hope I have helped someone out there in broadening your knowledge regarding how to keep or reach a healthier life.
QUOTE FOR THE WEEKEND
Heart disease continues to be the number one killer; cancer, the number 2 killer, not far behind. The tragic aspect of these deadly diseases is that they could all be cured, I do believe, if we had sufficient funding.
Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was a United States Senator from Pennsylvania.
WEEKEND’S ARTICLE: An eye opener on Heart Disease that should be rare & lower in percentage of cases in the US.
It is still the number one killer even greater than cancer in both men and women today. This disease should be rare do to a lot of cardiac disease is inflicted upon humans through being overweight through just bad healthy habits practiced. Obesity can cause diabetes II, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more. High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because it often has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people don’t realize they have it. That’s why it’s important to get your blood pressure checked regularly. The good news is that you can take steps to prevent high blood pressure, or to treat it if it is already high.
What we can do is make some changes in our living. We westerners create an increase in diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. AMERICA WE NEED TO WAKE UP AND MAKE A CHANGE. TO THE MAIN CULPRITES we are talking about sugars and fat (OUR DIET). GLUCOSE and LIPIDS!. The typical American diet is consisted and loaded with sugar and fats. Lack of exercise and stress doesn’t help the situation. Get peace of mind through again making changes in your life if you are striving to become healthier. Let’s look at cholesterol = 2 types HDL and LDL. LDL is the bad cholesterol. Know if your LDL is type A or type B. If you have a high HDL level and a low LDL that is good but ask your doctor to see if you can get a blood test checking both type A and type B of your cholesterol that will give you the knowledge if you need to take an action. Go to CDC.org to see the different number ranges of both men and women on their levels and more. Just knowing your cholesterol level isn’t enough but does give the doctor some direction. Knowing if your type A or type B LDL helps even more with knowing your risk of heart disease.
Cholesterol only becomes a problem if the LDL gets too high with high pattern type B which is worse with stress and smoking and processed foods in high amounts eaten. Particles called lipoproteins carry cholesterol in the blood. There are two kinds of lipoproteins you need to know about: LDL and HDL. The plasma lipoprotein particles classified under high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoproteins enable fats to be carried in the blood stream.
-Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol make up the majority of the body’s cholesterol. LDL is known as “bad” cholesterol because having high levels can lead to a buildup in the arteries and result in heart disease.
-High-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol absorb cholesterol and carry it back to the liver, which flushes it from the body. High levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) is the major protein of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and apoB is among the major proteins of very low-, low- (LDL), and intermediate-density lipoproteins. Because of their associations with the respective lipoproteins, apoA1 is inversely and apoB is positively associated with cardiovascular risk (2). In fact, evidence suggests that apoA1 and apoB are better predictors of heart disease risk than are HDL and LDL cholesterol levels (3-5). Apolipoproteins may also offer advantages over lipoprotein cholesterol measurements because they are direct measurements, whereas LDL, for example, is calculated from other lipoproteins from a fasting blood sample.
You can take several steps to maintain a normal cholesterol level.
Get a blood test.
Eat a healthy diet.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Exercise regularly.
Don’t smoke.
Treat high cholesterol.
Heart disease what is it? Your arteries can get stretched in high blood pressure and it puts the arteries at risk for an auto immune response which allows LDL particles to go in these stretched out areas causing build up of bad cholesterol in the arteries and imbeds fat causing the placque build up = narrowing of the arteries.
We need to reduce inflammation in the arteries. To prevent, reduce, and treat heart disease if already diagnosed with. Reduce all sugars, cut back on fatty foods, exercise daily, increase of your whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables. We need to use all 4 food groups but eat the healthy ones in the right portions. Which I can provide to you later how to go about this.
In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which leads many to heart attacks. You can greatly reduce your risk for CAD through lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medication. CAD consists of cholesterol and placque build up, even tar if a smoker, that can be deadly in time with blocking the arteries called atherosclerosis. This in time left untreated can lead to a heart attack or even silent heart attack. CAD also is the brittling of the arteries causing narrowing of the arteries called arteriosclerosis. Here it is the ending result is the blood supply is affected in not getting enough oxygen throughout our body to our tissues.
Coronary artery disease can cause a heart attack. If you have a heart attack, you are more likely to survive if you know the signs and symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately, and get to a hospital quickly. People who have had a heart attack can also reduce the risk of future heart attacks or strokes by making lifestyle changes and taking medication. Don’t put off the chest pain or discomfort in the chest or pain down the L arm for if your right you want to prevent the heart attack before it occurs and if you already had an attack the sooner treated the better. Reperfusion of blood to the heart is the KEY in treatment. Chest pain to the heart is lack of oxygen getting to the heart tissue=ischemia. We alone can’t treat it but we can prevent it before CAD even sets in through good health practices daily, healthy dieting daily and balancing rest with exercise daily.
Look at our diet alone in America:
Take the elements that are in our food=Sugars or Carbohydrates or Fats. Simple CHO likes bread, rice, pasta along with fats and complex sugars all convert to simple sugars in the stomach and when it goes through digestion and the simple sugar reaches the blood stream filling it up with sugar which first does get utilized to our tissues and cells but if still extra sugar in the blood stream that sugar has to go somewhere which is by filling up the liver with it. In the liver the glucose gets converted from active sugar=glucose to glycogen=inactive sugar that stores in this organ. This is so if and when the body needs extra sugar for energy in our body and we don’t eat the inactive glucose glycogen will get released back into the blood stream and change to glucose and be used. Since we eat so much in America it usually isn’t the case. Obesity is so large in our country and this is why. When it reaches full and can’t store anymore still this glucose extra glucose in the blood stream has to go somewhere. So now the glucose gets stored in our fatty tissue=weight gain. This is what you see with eating through on a regular basis day in & day out too much food compared to the activity or exercise you get for the day. If no daily exercise then your fat storage build up is high=weight gain.
How do we go about preventing CAD and getting healther. Well see if this makes sense to you, it did to me. First, genetic abnormalities contribute to the risk for certain types of heart disease, which in turn may lead to heart failure. However, in most instances, a specific genetic link to heart failure has not been identified. SO THE KEY TO PREVENTION OF CAD IS TO LIVE AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR ROUTINE HABITS, YOUR DIETING OF THE 4 FOOD GROUPS, MAINTAINING YOUR WEIGHT IN A THEREPEUTIC RANGE (look as calculating BMI online for free to find out what your weight range for your height is), and BALANCING REST WITH EXERCISE TO HELP DECREASE THE CHANCE OF GETTING HEART FAILURE. Go to healthyusa.tsfl.com to learn what Dr. Anderson through his book of “Dr. A.’s Healthy Habits” and me as your health coach could provide you within a reachable cost. To just view what can be offered to you for no price with no hacking go to healthyusa.tsfl.com and take a peek. You may just like what you see;)
QUOTE FOR FRIDAY
“There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.“
P. J. O’Rourke (American political satirist and author)
AGING AND HEALTH IN AMERICA TODAY!
Heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes continue to be leading causes of death among older adults, based on the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (saving lives and protecting people…CDC). They also provide the following:
Baby Boomers for the next 25 years equating to over 70 million people can live longer lives with them combining to double the population of older Americans in the next quarter of a century. Baby Boomers can take steps to live long and healthy lives as opposed to a lot of their parents who died much younger. Living healthier will play a positive impact on the health care system. Starting a step towards prevention or treatment (Rx) of a present disease that you can improve is a mission we Americans owe to ourselves, our young ones, and to our nation’s future.
Through healthy dieting and behaviors (Ex. activity, nutrition, staying in your therapeutic body mass index, controlling stress both physically and mentally, oral health and dealing with any disability reaching the optimal health level you can reach) you can reach a healthier way to living. If the majority of our nation lives healthier, shows progress in promoting prevention, improving the health and well-being of older adults with reducing behaviors that contribute to premature death and disability will increase a healthier population in the U.S.
Baby boomers should do the following with diet and exercise:
Get Screened
Get screened including flu vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, colorectal cancer screening, and mammography for women.
Mammography is the best available method to detect breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stage before it is big enough to feel or cause symptoms. Women aged 50 and over should get mammograms every two years.
Colorectal cancer screening tests can find precancerous polyps so that they can be removed before they turn into cancer. They can also detect colorectal cancer early, when treatment works best. Older adults should be screened for colorectal cancer by having a fecal occult blood test during the past year or a colonoscopy within 10 years.
Get Vaccinated
Flu and pneumonia is the seventh leading cause of death among adults 65 years or older, despite the availability of effective vaccines. Older adults should get the flu vaccine every year and get the pneumonia vaccine at least once.
Be Physically Active
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things older adults can do for their health. Physical activity can prevent many of the health problems that may come with age, including the risk of falls.
How Much Activity Do Older Adults Need?
2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking) every week and muscle-strengthening activities for 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.
OR
1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., jogging or running) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.
OR
An equivalent mix of moderate and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity and muscle strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.
Eat Fruits and Vegetables Daily
Diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of some cancers and chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Quit Smoking
Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. For help visit www.smokefree.gov.
Take Medication for High Blood Pressure and Diabetes
High blood pressure & Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it’s one of the leading causes of illness and death among older adults. More than ½ of Americans don’t have their blood pressure under control. Complianceis so essential in treating HTN, Diabetes or any disease including what your M.D. feels you need as a medication, if needed. The only way to find out is by seeing your health care providers, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, who can track their patient’s blood pressure, prescribe once-a-day medications, and give clear instructions on how to take blood pressure & diabetic medications.
Patients should take the initiative or responsibility to monitor their blood pressure and sugar levels (finger sticks) between medical visits and know what abnormal values to report to their MD. Including taking their medications as prescribed, tell their doctor about any side effects, and make lifestyle changes, such as eating a low-sodium/low-calorie diet, exercising, and stopping smoking.
Do you want a better body, or a healthier society making our country America better overall?, than go no further and click onto healthy usa.tsfl.com. that will give you the direction to reaching both a better body and society if enough do it. Healthyusa.tsfl.com provides you with information that you get to decide in choosing whether or not to use. We provide through Dr. Anderson and his book “Dr. A’s healthy habits” and even provided your own private health coach me (an RN 25 years plus). This is no donation site, no hacking website, just a site providing information on how to live a healthier life. I hope I hear from you at my website and America gets healthier without a government having to decide what we can eat or drink but we as responsible citizens have to take care of our country in one taking care of ourselves with controlling disease better in our nation. THE FDA is planning to band trans fats.
QUOTE FOR THURSDAY
“The medical literature tells us that the most effective ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and many more problems are through healthy diet and exercise. Our bodies have evolved to move, yet we now use the energy in oil instead of muscles to do our work.”
David Suzuki (born March 24, 1936) is a Japanese Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001
*Prevention of Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)*
There are 2 types of strokes:
1-Hemmoragic-a blood vessel that bursts in the brain causing lack of oxygen to be supplied to the area of the brain (a lobe) where the vessel ruptured. Lack of oxygen to any area of the body tissue=starvation to the tissue; where in this case is the brain=a stroke.
2-Blockages-These blockages caused by the following: blood clots, athero-sclerosis, a common disorder, it happens due to fat, cholesterol, with even tar from smoking, or other substances that build up in the walls of the arteries forming hard structures called plaque and in time creating a blockage in the vessel interfering with blood supply providing oxygen to tissue and if blocked in the brain=high probability of a stroke occurring if not taken care of.
“Recommended related to Heart Disease” by Web MD which states that atherosclerosis is the key cause of heart attacks & strokes including it’s the number one killer in the United States. Risk Factors for atherosclerosis include high blood pressure (b/p)=arteriosclerosis, blood level of high bad cholesterol (LDL), blood level of low good cholesterol (HDL), smoking, diabetes, and history of heart attacks in your nuclear family. Definitely a healthy diet, having exercise in your life, and your weight within the therapeutic body mass index level will help prevent, if not treat, atherosclerosis.
The Risk Factors of this disease, especially due to diet & sedentary lifestyle:
1. High Blood Pressure (b/p)-This is also known as the diagnosis hypertension. In understanding how hypertension works let’s use a metaphor: Think of a blood vessel as a long thin balloon and if we stand on it the pressure will increase inside the balloon causing the diameter of the balloon to swell up. If you continue to step on the balloon adding additional pressure this causes it to finally reach it’s total amount of pressure or when you exceed the total level of pressure this results in popping the balloon. Similar concept with high b/p, that’s if the pressure keeps rising in our blood vessels due to blockage or vasoconstriction (which is making the vessels diameter more narrow=increased pressure in the vessels) sooner or later a vessel bursts somewhere in the body due to the b/p passing it’s total level in the amount of pressure that it can handle in the circulatory system which can result into a burst of an artery, like in the brain causing a stroke or in a vessel near the heart causing a myocardial infarction (but this is another topic some other day). Think of food, a human being not eating leads into starvation, well for blood cells lack of oxygen=starvation to the cells. This causes in both situations or cases a lack of nutrition (the tissue is lacking oxygen). With a stroke, not enough oxygen is getting to the brain resulting from either a hemorrhage (loosing too much blood=loosing to many cells=oxygen (food for tissue) or a blockage preventing 02 getting to the area. Though many people have increased b/p due to only 2 things diet leading them to obesity, and lack of exercise due to a sedentary lifestyle, which could be changed and resolve the problem in most cases. Increased b/p can also be due noncompliance- like continuing to smoke, or not following the healthy regimen the M.D. ordered for you as a patient. The overall healthy regimen for a person with hypertension would be a low sodium diet (preventing further vasoconstriction), even low in cholesterol/fat/1800-2000 calories a day (preventing obesity or further weight gain), balancing rest with exercise and the b/p medications taken as prescribed, by their M.D. So for many Americans hypertension can be controlled just by diet with balancing exercise with rest. For others it might take a little more like doing which is what I just mentioned with following your medication regimen as ordered and going to your doctor having your b/p monitored, as your M.D. prescribes. ________________________________________________________________________________________
2. 2. Smoking-For starters, this unhealthy habit puts you at risk for high blood pressure since it causes vasoconstriction (narrowing) of the vessels in our body due to the nicotine. The answer to this risk factor is simply quit this unhealthy habit. Smoking adds to the plaque building up in the vessels. Centers for Disease state that in 2010 the leading cause of death was heart disease followed by cancer than to chronic respiratory disease and lastly stroke. Over time a healthy diet balanced with exercise daily or every 2 days for 30minutes would help decrease the cardiac disease and stroke. The American Lung Association states that smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.
Among adults who have ever smoked, 70% started smoking regularly at age 18 or younger, and 86% at age 21 younger.
Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, and is a main cause of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema). It is also a cause of coronary heart disease (CAD), stroke and a host of other cancers and diseases.
So let’s take a car for instance, if the transmission is bad and not repaired by a mechanic the engine will be effected and soon fail completely. Now let’s take the lungs, if they are bad and you don’t go to a doctor to help treat the problem the heart will be effected at some point to failure in function and vice versa. If a smoker doesn’t quit it causes COPD=Emphysema (this does take over years) and it will affect the heart in time to not function as effectively with someone who has healthy lungs. Worse, if you don’t quit smoking you increase the risk of getting CAD (coronary artery disease) and add to the problem atherosclerosis if you already have the diagnosis which is caused by fatty materials (lipids), fibrous tissue with tar (from the smoking) causing blockages in the vessels. You also have a risk at lung cancer.
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3. High Cholesterol-The National Stroke Association states the following about cholesterol:
Cholesterol is a soft, waxy fat (lipid) that is made by the body. It is found in the bloodstream and in all of your body’s cells. The body needs cholesterol to form cell membranes, some hormones and vitamin D.
Cholesterol is also found in some foods, such as seafood, eggs, meats and dairy products.
Because cholesterol does not dissolve in the blood on its own, it must be carried to and from cells by particles called lipoproteins. There are two main types of lipoproteins: low-density lipoproteins (LDL)=the bad cholesterol and high-density lipoproteins=the good cholesterol (HDL).
LDL can cause plaque build-up. Plaque is a thick, hard substance that can clog arteries. Recent studies show that high levels of LDL and triglycerides (blood fats) raise the risk of ischemic stroke. Plaque can also increase risk of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) where
stroke symptoms go away within 24 hours. Stroke verses TIA=Nonreversible verses Reversible. Stroke is scarring to the brain where TIA doesn’t. Like Heart Attack verses Angina, Heart Attack is scarring to the heart verses no scarring to the heart with Angina. Both Angina and TIA are just lack of oxygen to the heart and the brain, causing the symptoms due to lack of oxygen=ischemia. Both heart attack and stroke are both a lot worse than just ischemia. They both get to the point where there in no oxygen causing actual permanent damage to the organ since the problem never reversed=scarring to the heart and brain.
The second main type of cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein (HDL), often called the “good” cholesterol. High levels of HDL may reduce stroke risk.
High cholesterol levels or plaque build-up in the arteries can block normal blood flow to the brain and cause a stroke. High cholesterol may also increase the risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis, which are both risk factors for stroke.
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Many things can affect the b/p levels & cholesterol levels. Some can be changed and some cannot.
We can change 3 things. You can change, anyone can change, it’s up to you in deciding whether to do it or not and being able to discipline yourself with having the power to do it. They are:
1-Diet – Foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol can increase cholesterol levels.
2-Weight — Being overweight can increase your cholesterol levels.
3-Exercise — People who are not active tend to have higher cholesterol levels.
These 3 things can prone you to high blood pressure (B/P), a stroke, & cardiac disease and even other diseases. I just had a dear friend who I’ve known almost 35 years that survived coronary artery bypass surgery over 55 y/o, with 5 blockages (2 100% blocked and 3 at least 80% blocked). That was a set up for a silent heart attack if he didn’t have the surgery but he was lucky in getting symptoms of chest pain and fatigue/lethargy due to these blockages. This made him go the doctor. He stopped smoking the day before the surgery. His life had taken a 360 turn and stopped in his daily routine and life schedule. It had begun all over again at almost 60. Without controlling your blood pressure therapeutically or ending your smoking or eating healthy with living healthy habits the heart at first will be able to compensate with living unhealthy habits but over time the heart may find it so hard to function or work that the heart starts to fail in doing its job effectively (it decompensates causing failure if no changes are made). Again, let’s take the car, you do maintenance to the vehicle it will operate and last longer, well the exact principle with the human body. Pretty simple isn’t it.
If you don’t eat a healthy diet, keep your weight in a therapeutic range, properly exercise than expect a high odds they will be leaning more towards a shortening of your life span. You can control your diet, weight and your exercise the right way with a little direction. We are here for just direction in helping you maintain a good diet including weight and giving you guidance through Dr. Anderson’s book called Dr. A’s healthy habits in giving you knowledge about routine exercise, all 4 food groups and how to eat them in healthy proportions. It explains how the metabolism works with 3 meals as opposed to 6 meals with how the body works regarding the foods you eat. It tells you so much more. It allows you to know the information for changes that you may need to take to lessen risks of certain diseases occurring in your life through modification with diet and healthy habits. This allows you to make the choice on your life where you can make it more enjoyable and less restricted now and at retirement by sticking to a good health diet and healthy habits, not for 3 or 6 months but for life. You make all the decisions in what you want to do with your body with what’s acceptable. Join me in living a healthier life with starting a spread throughout America for a healthier country. Go to healthyusa.tsfl.com. and take a peek it doesn’t cost a dime.