Feb is Heart Disease Awareness Month!!

We have got to do something to reduce our risk of the number 1 killer of Americans – heart disease! It’s kind of hard to live a healthy life if your ticker isn’t working properly, so I thought I’d give a few tips on how to keep our hearts healthy!

Get your blood work done for the year

• If anything, it will give you a baseline. You don’t need much, just a
• CBC (complete blood count) – this takes a look at your red blood cells, checking for anemia, and your white blood cells, which can verify if there is any type of infection going on.
• CMP (comprehensive metabolic panel) – this looks at your electrolytes and other markers and reflects on how your kidneys and liver are doing. This also shows you your blood sugar, so you want to try and do this one after fasting (nothing but water) for 12 hours to make sure you’re not becoming diabetic.
• Lipids – this is really important to keep an eye on your heart health. ALWAYS do this after fasting for 12 hours for proper results. This will show you your cholesterol – good and bad, and your triglycerides, which can be a sign of too much sugar or carbs in your diet. Many people go by the total cholesterol number in general, but the most important thing is the ratio between the good (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterol. If that is in check, there should be no reason to go on medication (though I personally think the statin or cholesterol-lowering drugs are useless).
• If you do have a history of heart disease, or if your same-sex parent has a history, it might be good to also check some inflammatory markers – these include C-Reactive Protein (CRP), homocystiene and fibrinogen. You can ask your doc to add these on to the above blood tests. It’s good to know if these get out of whack, because it gives you a chance to do something about it before it results in disease.

Go in for a check up

• This will give your doc an opportunity to listen to your heart and to check your blood pressure. Blood pressure is the number one risk for stroke (not to mention other conditions such as erectile dysfunction), so you want to keep it in check. If your blood pressure is over 120/80, you should keep a log and take it each time you go to the grocery store or pharmacy, so you can bring your log in with you on your visit to the doc. Sometimes people are nervous in the doctor’s office, and their blood pressure reflects that – but if we see that when you take it yourself, and it’s within normal range, then we know you’re doing ok.

Eat right

• Some fruit, some whole grains, some meat (preferably cold-water fish), but mostly veggies is the best way to get your health on! And I ain’t talkin’ peas, carrots, corn and potatoes as veggies! I mean every color of the rainbow you can get in one day, with a good amount of dark, leafy greens! Think of your dinner plate as a Micky Mouse head…one ear is meat/protein, one is whole grains, and the head itself is veggies!
• If you don’t eat a lot of fish, talk to your doc about incorporating fish oil into your supplement schedule. It is important to get a high quality fish oil that has been tested by a third party for heavy metals, so don’t just go out an get one! I have a few brands that I recommend on my Amazon recommendations page, but check with your doc to make sure it’s ok first. Fish oil is a blood thinner, so you want to be careful if you’re already on a blood thinner like Coumadin.

Exercise every day

• It’s been proven that those who wear a pedometer each day, tend to walk their 10,000 steps per day much more than those who don’t wear a pedometer. It’s also been proven that three 10-minute walks in a day benefit the heart more than one 30-minute walk. So next time you get a break, walk! Preferably outside, so you can get your vitamin D at the same time! …walking does not mean with a cigarette!
• Try to think of things nearby that are already part of your routine – like that morning coffee you get from the shop down the street, or the post office. I have a patient that goes to Dairy Queen twice a week and is having a hard time giving it up – when I found out it was 10 blocks away from her house, I made a deal with her that if she went, she’d have to walk. Now she either goes less, or at least gets her exercise in before that ice cream!
• Also, if you don’t have a walking partner and are an animal-lover like me, think about adopting a dog so you have a willing partner and protector!

So, let’s come together and battle heart disease! If you worked 24/7, you’d want to be treated right too!