|
Whenever we hear about someone getting an illness like cancer or heart disease, we always try to justify why it happened. Did they smoke? Were they overweight? Did they have a family history of the disease? If we know why someone got sick, then it seems less random, and we feel like we have more control over our bodies. We don't always know why things happen, but identifying your risk factors, keeping an eye on them, and knowing your healthy numbers can help you avoid heart disease and live a longer life.
There are several risk factors for heart disease including smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, physical inactivity, being overweight, family history, and age. Some of these risk factors we can control; others, like family history and aging, we can't. However, it's important to know how heart disease progresses throughout our lives and what we can do about it.
Heart disease can start developing as early as the teenage years when physical activity levels drop, weight goes up, and peer pressure sets in. When girls become teenagers their level of physical activity drops dramatically. About 14% of young women are physically inactive, and almost 15% of girls ages 6-19 are overweight. To make matters worse, about 30% of girls in grades 9-12 reported using tobacco and about 80% of smokers begin smoking before age 18. It has been proven that this kind of lifestyle when you are young leads to an increased risk of heart disease later in life.
The bad habits we pick up as teenagers can lead to other problems as we age. One of those problems, high blood pressure, usually has no symptoms and is aptly named "the silent killer." High blood pressure forces your arteries to carry blood under greater pressure which, in turn, damages your arteries. This increases your likelihood for heart attack and stroke. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to be tested by your doctor.
Blood pressure is measured by two numbers; systolic (the higher number), which is the pressure in the arteries when your heart beats, and diastolic (the lower number), which is the pressure when your heart is resting between beats. Ideally, your systolic number should be less than 120 and your diastolic number should be less than 80. Many factors can affect blood pressure, such as stress and pregnancy, but in the majority of cases the cause is unknown. If you consistently have high blood pressure readings, your doctor may suggest a special diet or prescribe one of the many blood pressure medications currently available.
If you have been gaining weight over the years, chances are your cholesterol levels are rising too. Our bodies produce cholesterol, which is a fat-like substance that is produced by the liver to help build cell walls, produce some hormones, and aid in fat digestion. Cholesterol travels through the body picking up two proteins, LDL and HDL. HDL is a "good" protein, while LDL is considered the "bad" protein because when there is too much of it, it is deposited on artery walls where it forms a hard substance called plaque.
Plaque can narrow the blood vessels to the heart and cause a heart attack, burst and form a blood clot and cause a heart attack, or block a vessel to the brain and cause a stroke. A simple blood test measures cholesterol levels, with a desirable LDL being less than 200 mg. If your cholesterol levels are too high, your doctor may recommend a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol or even prescribe medication.
As we reach middle age and menopause, our bodies stop producing estrogen, an event that also increases our risk of developing heart disease. Estrogen protects the heart by maintaining healthy levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol. Without estrogen, our blood vessels become less flexible, putting us at more of a risk for blood clots.
Heart disease levels are two to three times higher for postmenopausal women than for younger women, and each year about 88,000 women ages 45-64 have a heart attack. Much has been written about the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), both positive and negative. Do your research and check with your doctor to see if HRT is right for you.
If you are diabetic, you are also at an increased risk for heart disease. When we eat, our bodies turn food into glucose to use for energy, and insulin helps glucose enter the cell. However, people who have diabetes don't make enough insulin, which causes the glucose levels to get too high. This excess glucose can attach to proteins in the blood vessels and alter their normal structure and function.
One effect is that the blood vessels become thicker and less elastic, making it hard for blood to squeeze through. Two-thirds to three-fourths of people with diabetes die of some form of heart or blood vessel disease. Women with diabetes have two to four times the risk of death from heart disease. If you have diabetes, ask your doctor to help you manage this risk.
Two risk factors that are the most controllable are smoking and obesity. Smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature death. The fact is, women who smoke are more likely to die from heart disease or stroke than nonsmokers. What does smoking do? It increases blood pressure, reduces good cholesterol, and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Your risk of heart disease is cut in half one year after you stop smoking and continues to decline eventually to levels of nonsmokers.
Being obese increases your risk of many diseases. If you have too much body fat, you are at risk of getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
There are two recommended ways to estimate your body fat: the waist measurement test and the Body Mass Index (BMI). The waist measurement test simply requires that you measure your waist with a measuring tape. If your waistline is more than 35 inches, then you are at an increased risk for heart disease. To measure your BMI, multiply your weight in pounds by 705, divide by your height in inches, then divide again by your height in inches. BMI values from 18.5 to 24.9 are considered healthy. If your values are too high, see your doctor about devising a weight loss plan that includes healthy eating and at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.
Taking your risks for heart disease seriously can save your life. Keep in mind that once you develop heart disease you will be a heart patient for life. A heart attack or stroke is not like a cold that leaves without a trace…medications, testing, and activity restrictions
can have a drastic impact on your quality of life. Know your numbers and reduce your risk.
Renee Dexter is a feature article writer and partner in Rainmaker Publishing. She is committed to educating women about their risks for heart disease.
|