I Believe In Music

December 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Heart disease; no one wants it and if it is diagnosed, there are many ways to make it better, or at least get a handle on it in your life. When heart disease is diagnosed a patient may need surgery. If it is a type of heart disease that can be handled with medicine, the cardiologist will prescribe the proper medication. At the same time your heart doctor will probably recommend a healthier lifestyle. He will tell you to take better care of yourself. Even if you are a person who does take care of yourself, you don’t smoke, you are not overweight, you do not drink and your cholesterol is under control, heart disease can affect you. So you take inventory and decide anything in your life that is not good for your heart may need an adjustment. Cut down on your stress, lighten your work load if possible and slow down.

The medical treatments are obvious, but there are many other ways we can help our bodies stay free of heart disease, or keep it from becoming more serious. Music has been proven an affective way to do just that. Research suggests that music therapy can reduce your blood pressure, a big culprit in heart disease. Music can also slow your heart rate and ease anxiety. A study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine showed that when people listened to joyful music, chosen by them because it made them feel good, their blood vessels dilated and there was increased blood flow to the heart. This is significant in that stricture to the vessels can have the opposite effect, chest pain and even a heart attack.

Choose soothing music, music that makes you feel good. Depressing music will not make you feel better. Take some time for yourself, put on those headphones and soothe your aching heart.

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Understanding Heart Health Numbers

November 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We are all aware of those heart-health numbers that we are all trying to maintain. Those numbers that can help us either maintain or reduce our risks of developing cardiovascular disease. Waist size, cholesterol levels and blood pressure are all numbers that we need to know, and perhaps we need to improve. Even a small improvement in these numbers can drastically decrease the risk for heart disease. So just exactly what do these numbers mean?

Blood Pressure
There are two numbers that make up a blood pressure reading: the systolic pressure and the diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure is the amount of pressure of blood on the walls of your arteries when the heart is pumping blood out. The diastolic pressure measures the same thing when the heart is filling with blood. It is important to note that you need to have both numbers be in the normal range.

Approximately 74 million Americans suffers from high blood pressure and the number of deaths has increased since 1996 by about 48 percent.

Cholesterol
There are three different types of cholesterol: HDL, triglycerides and LDL. When combined together these number produce a lipid profile, but the individual numbers are very important. LDL is the one that most heart specialists’ focus because each time this number decreases you are making an important step in decrease your risk levels.

Waist Size
Measuring your waist is even more important that knowing your body mass index or even your weight. This is due to the fact that waist size is a good predictor of heart disease risks. Women with a waist size of 35 inches or more and men with a waist of 40 or more inches are at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular diseases. Even just a loss of one inch will also create an improvement in all other numbers for heart health.

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Your Heart Health By The Numbers

October 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Do you know the numbers that hold the keys to your heart’s health? You probably have other important numbers such as your phone number or your ATM access PIN or other such numbers memorized. But there are some numbers that you need to be aware of that can potentially become lifesavers.

And believe it or not these are incredibly easy numbers to find — these numbers are the key to heart health and include your waist size, your cholesterol level and your blood pressure. Knowing these numbers can give you an indication of your potential risk of developing cardiovascular disease. And the healthier your numbers the healthier your heart.

You can achieve good heart health numbers by following a healthy lifestyle including eating a healthy diet, following a regular exercise routine and don’t smoke. Even if your numbers are not that good, by following this healthy lifestyle you can change those numbers. And medical professionals agree that even a small improvement in those numbers can reduce your risks.

For instance, raising your good cholesterol or HDL number by even one percent will lower your risk of heart disease by two percent.

It’s important to also examine your goal numbers and keep those in mind; you don’t want to just look at your present numbers. For instance if you measure your blood pressure and it is still below the point of high blood pressure, that’s a positive. But you have to understand that if it has been progressively increasing that is not so positive.

And conversely if you previously had a high level of cholesterol and you have worked to lower that number, give yourself a high five — and of course keep maintaining that lifestyle that lowered that high cholesterol!

Work with your physician in determining your present numbers and the best program to achieve better numbers to maintain your heart health.

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Women and Metabolic Syndrome

August 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Your day-to-day schedule could be putting you at risk. You sit in front of your computer at your desk all day; hours spent behind the wheel shuttling the kids here and there; fast food on the go; and then just collapsing in the evening. If this sounds familiar you are like millions of U.S. women who could develop metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a group of risk factors that could lead to such things as diabetes and heart disease. The word syndrome refers to a group of risks—not a particular disease.
There are a few elements of metabolic syndrome including:
–a “large” waist. For women this is a waist of 35.2” or more; it is 40” for men
–high blood pressure
–low levels of HDL or good cholesterol
–high levels of triglycerides or blood fats
–resistance to insulin
If you have three or more of these characteristics, it is generally believed that you have metabolic syndrome. While health professions don’t understand the causes of this syndrome, they do know that women with it do have a much high risk of dying from heart disease or stroke—up to three times higher. These women also have a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes—nine to 30 times higher.
Unfortunately the combination of a larger waist and the high triglyceride levels puts women at an even high risk—these women have a risk factor five times higher than others to have a heart attack or stroke. Basically overweight woman are automatically at risk. Luckily losing weight and exercise can reduce the risks.
So if you believe you are at risk for metabolic syndrome, visit your physician for a complete physical. Your doctor will be able to correctly diagnose and put you on the correct regime to help you fight this syndrome.

Your day-to-day schedule could be putting you at risk. You sit in front of your computer at your desk all day; hours spent behind the wheel shuttling the kids here and there; fast food on the go; and then just collapsing in the evening. If this sounds familiar you are like millions of U.S. women who could develop metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a group of risk factors that could lead to such things as diabetes and heart disease. The word syndrome refers to a group of risks—not a particular disease.
There are a few elements of metabolic syndrome including:–a “large” waist. For women this is a waist of 35.2” or more; it is 40” for men–high blood pressure–low levels of HDL or good cholesterol–high levels of triglycerides or blood fats–resistance to insulin
If you have three or more of these characteristics, it is generally believed that you have metabolic syndrome. While health professions don’t understand the causes of this syndrome, they do know that women with it do have a much high risk of dying from heart disease or stroke—up to three times higher. These women also have a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes—nine to 30 times higher.
Unfortunately the combination of a larger waist and the high triglyceride levels puts women at an even high risk—these women have a risk factor five times higher than others to have a heart attack or stroke. Basically overweight woman are automatically at risk. Luckily losing weight and exercise can reduce the risks.
So if you believe you are at risk for metabolic syndrome, visit your physician for a complete physical. Your doctor will be able to correctly diagnose and put you on the correct regime to help you fight this syndrome.

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Filed Under: Fitness, Heart Care Tagged With: , ,