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A Short Guide to Heart Disease in Women, part 2 of 2
Two years ago, 57-year-old Donna Frey, wife and homemaker, mother of three, and daughter to aging parents, was given a second chance at life.
A routine doctor's appointment revealed that her blood pressure (which she was taking medication for) was 196/148-so high her doctor would not let her leave his office. "The surprise was I felt fine, perfectly capable of walking around and doing what I needed to do. My doctor's extreme concern, however, told me it was time to change my ways," Donna said.
Jump ahead two years and friends who haven't seen Donna for a while are saying, "Donna, is that you?" Donna is 48 pounds lighter. She's eating less meat and a lot more fruits and vegetables. She walks regularly. And her once seriously overworked heart and arteries are once again healthy.
"It's amazing to watch your body heal itself," Donna says. "It really wants to be healthy. Give your body what it needs and it will respond. I'm so passionate about the changes I've made I feel I could be a preacher!"
Donna's close-call story is far more common than most of us realize. According to the American Heart Association, almost a third of women age 45 to 54 have heart disease, but most don't know it. The twist in Donna's story is that before it was too late, she made a commitment to change. By reclaiming the health of her heart, Donna Frey got a second chance at life.
How You Can Ensure Your Heart Health!
In our last Heart Health Report you learned some surprising truths about heart disease. As many women die from heart disease as men. Heart disease is a progressive disease that begins in your youth. Many heart disease risk factors (sedentary lifestyle, smoking and poor diet) are common among girls, teenagers and young adults. And though 62% of all women see cancer as a greater threat, more women will die from heart disease than from all cancers combined.
Now here's another not-what-you-expected heart health fact: Women who lead a healthy lifestyle can lower their risk for heart disease by as much as 82%. In other words, the disease that does the most harm to women is also a disease you can very nearly prevent.
Great news for all the women who are inclined to take a proactive approach to their health. And for those who are reluctant to change their lifestyle, there's still good news: small lifestyle changes, like walking for 20 minutes three times a week, or losing as little as 10 pounds can have a profound impact on the health of your cardiovascular system.
"One of the challenges facing woman with heart disease," says Dana Sturtevant, a dietician with Kaiser Permanente who led the heart health/weight management program that helped Donna Frey, "is that they aren't used to putting their needs ahead of the needs of others. What I try to teach women who are reluctant to make themselves a priority is that when you put yourself at the top of your list, you are actually better able to take care of others."
"Another mistake my patients make is that they take on too many changes all at once. Lasting results happen through small but continuous steps toward your goal. For example, one week you might focus on eating a healthy breakfast. The next week it could be improving your lunches. And don't let the inevitable setback turn into a standstill. Life is full of ups and downs."
So how does one get started? The best place to begin is with some understanding of the health of your heart.
Step One: Learn Your Risk
In the News You Can Use section of this Heart Health Report you'll find a short quiz that will help you assess your risk of heart disease. To complete the quiz you'll need to know the following:
Blood Pressure: This can be checked by your doctor or sometimes in the pharmacy section of your nearby grocery store.
Blood pressure is nothing more than a measurement of your blood's force on your veins. The top number, called systolic pressure, measures your blood pressure during a contraction. The bottom number, called diastolic pressure, measures the pressure when your heart is at rest.
If your blood pressure is high (optimum is 115/76; national median is 129/86), that force is literally gouging holes in your arteries. Remember, high blood pressure has no symptoms. Donna Frey, with critically high blood pressure, felt good enough to walk out of her doctor's office and continue her day. And keep in mind that more than half of women over the age of 45 have high blood pressure.
Cholesterol: It's important to know not only your total cholesterol, but also your "bad" LDL cholesterol, your "good" cholesterol, your homocysteine levels, and your triglycerides. These tests require a blood draw and a visit to your doctor.
Once you know your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, you'll be able to complete the heart health assessment test included in this newsletter.
Step Two: Eat Right for Your Heart
Choosing to eat healthy foods is one of your most powerful tools for keeping your heart in optimum condition. Fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, small portions of meat, chicken and fish, whole grains and high-fiber foods (such as beans, peas and legumes) have many heart healthy benefits: they lower your blood pressure, reduce your LDL (lousy) cholesterol, and help you lose excess weight.
For information about the DASH diet, a diet recommended by physicians and designed to combat high blood pressure, go to DASHdiet.org.
Success Tip: "If you have some weight to lose, the most powerful weight loss tool is a food journal. In an 8-week period those who kept journals lost 17 more pounds than those who did not," says dietician Dana Sturtevant.
Step Three: Nourish with Heart Loving Nutrients
In addition to choosing healthy foods and creating a consistent exercise habit, supplements can also play a strong role in the health of your heart.
Certainly one of the best places to start a supplement program is with a high quality multi-vitamin, multi-mineral supplement such as Solanova's MultiSential Plus which includes the powerful antioxidants vitamins C and E (which are much more powerful together than they are separate); magnesium to help keep the heart rhythm stable; and folate which helps reduce high homocysteine levels (which causes destructive inflammation in your arteries).
Another powerful heart healthy supplement is CoQ10, a vitamin-like enzyme that sparks the energy production process of cells. Your heart, which will beat more than 3 billion times in your life, certainly depends on plenty of energy for optimum health.
Solanova's Q-Gel® products have been clinically proven to be the most effective, absorbable (bioavailable) and fastest-acting form of CoQ10 available versus other forms tested.
You'll find more heart healthy supplements such as Omega-Gel® which conditions your cells for optimum functioning, and the powerful antioxidant TocoSential® E in the Heart Health section of our website.
Success Tip: Supplementation is a way to make sure that your cells are getting the nutrition they need when they need it. Because every cell in your body has a constant need for nutrients, you'll be doing your body a favor if, for example, you split up your daily two softgel serving of MultiSential Plus and take one softgel in the morning and one again in the evening.
Step Four: Stamp Out Smoking
According to the 2000 Surgeon General's Report, smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. Roughly 23% of adults smoke. As that number drops (which it has-it was 42% in 1965) so do the death rates from cardiovascular disease.
For women, smoking is especially dangerous. It triples your risk for having a heart attack and causes early menopause, which lowers the age at which heart disease increases. Of all the risk factors for heart disease, smoking cigarettes is perhaps the most harmful.
Within two weeks of quitting smoking your circulation will improve. Walking will become easier and lung function will increase by as much as 30%. And in a year's time, your risk of coronary artery disease decreases substantially.
More than four in five smokers say they want to quit. And each year about 1.3 million smokers do quit. With good smoking cessation programs, 20 to 40% of participants are able to quit smoking and stay off cigarettes for at least one year. Combining interventions such as physician advice and follow-up with nicotine gum and behavior modification may increase success rates. Smoking cessation programs seem especially helpful for people who smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day.
Step Five: Get Active
Exercise is the foundation of any heart disease prevention program. Exercise reduces many of the risk factors associated with heart disease. Exercise can lower your blood pressure, help you lose weight, even decrease your risk for diabetes.
Exercise helps your heart in many ways. It reduces the amount of adrenaline circulating in your body. It relaxes your blood vessels, resulting in a slower pulse rate and lower blood pressure. It also helps raise your healthy HDL cholesterol and reduce your lousy LDL cholesterol.
Studies show that just three hours of walking each week can reduce a woman's risk of heart attack by 35%.
The key is to make it a part of your daily activities. This may mean setting a dedicated time to workout each day. You'll also want to chose activities you enjoy. A fitness club can be an enormous source of motivation.
Success Tip: "A pedometer is an excellent beginning exerciser's tool. It clips easily on to your belt and keeps track of every step you take. Most people walk 3,000 steps a day. A heart healthy goal is 10,000 steps a day. Once you know your baseline, add 1,000 steps each day until you're at your daily goal," says Dana.
Step Six: Reduce Stress
Some health professionals believe that as much as 90 to 95% of all health problems can be traced to the influence of emotions.
Taking time for yourself should become a priority as you start on your heart healthy way of life. There are lots of ways for you to create a new less stressful environment for yourself. Deep breathing exercises, visualization, meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, music therapy and prayer are just some of the ways for you to let go of the emotions that may perhaps have a negative impact on your total health.
Are You Ready?
"One of the most powerful ways to direct others toward a healthier lifestyle is to ask this simple question, 'If you keep doing what you're doing now, where will you be in five years? In ten years?'"
"When my patients are getting started," says dietician Dana Sturtevant, "it's important for them to understand what success looks like. It's not a straight line down, up or across. It's a line with a lot of ups and down. But over time there is a trend toward your ultimate goal.
"I also counsel my patients to think of this commitment to lifestyle change as they would a marriage commitment. When individuals commit to a marriage they don't give up at the first disagreement. They hang in there. They accept that struggle comes with the turf. If you make the same commitment to healthy living that you do to your marriage, you'll increase your chance for success."
Part 1 of this article appeared in the July Heart Health Report. Click here to view
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