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- Twitter / Your Favorites (view on Google Sidewiki)
Who Is At Risk for a Heart Attack?
Certain risk factors make it more likely that you will develop coronary artery disease (CAD) and have a heart attack. Some risk factors for heart attack can be controlled, while others can't.
Major risk factors for heart attack that you can control include:
* Smoking
* High blood pressure
* High blood cholesterol
* Overweight and obesity
* Physical inactivity
* Diabetes (high blood sugar)
Risk factors that you can't change include:
* Age. Risk increases for men older than 45 years and for women older than 55 years (or after menopause).
* Family history of early CAD. Your risk increases if your father or a brother was diagnosed with CAD before 55 years of age, or if your mother or a sister was diagnosed with CAD before 65 years of age.
Certain CAD risk factors tend to occur together. When they do, it’s called metabolic syndrome. In general, a person with metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone without metabolic syndrome.
"Who Is At Risk for a Heart Attack? Certain risk factors make it more likely that you will develop coronary artery disease (CAD) and have a heart attack. Some risk factors for heart attack can be controlled, while others can't. Major risk factors for heart attack that you can control include: Smoking High blood pressure High blood cholesterol Overweight and obesity Physical inactivity Diabetes (high blood sugar) Risk factors that you can't change include: Age. Risk increases for men older than 45 years and for women older than 55 years (or after menopause). Family history of early CAD. Your risk increases if your father or a brother was diagnosed with CAD before 55 years of age, or if your mother or a sister was diagnosed with CAD before 65 years of age. Certain CAD risk factors tend to occur together. When they do, it’s called metabolic syndrome. In general, a person with metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone without metabolic syndrome."
- Who Is At Risk for a Heart Attack? (view on Google Sidewiki)
What Is Cholesterol?
To understand high blood cholesterol (ko-LES-ter-ol), it is important to know more about cholesterol.
* Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all cells of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work the right way. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs.
* Cholesterol is also found in some of the foods you eat.
* Your body uses cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods.
Blood is watery, and cholesterol is fatty. Just like oil and water, the two do not mix. To travel in the bloodstream, cholesterol is carried in small packages called lipoproteins (lip-o-PRO-teens). The small packages are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and proteins on the outside. Two kinds of lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout your body. It is important to have healthy levels of both:
* Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is sometimes called bad cholesterol.
o High LDL cholesterol leads to a buildup of cholesterol in arteries. The higher the LDL level in your blood, the greater chance you have of getting heart disease.
* High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is sometimes called good cholesterol.
o HDL carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. The liver removes the cholesterol from your body. The higher your HDL cholesterol level, the lower your chance of getting heart disease.
What Is High Blood Cholesterol?
Too much cholesterol in the blood, or high blood cholesterol, can be serious. People with high blood cholesterol have a greater chance of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol on its own does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high.
Cholesterol can build up in the walls of your arteries (blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body). This buildup of cholesterol is called plaque (plak). Over time, plaque can cause narrowing of the arteries. This is called atherosclerosis (ath-er-o-skler-O-sis), or hardening of the arteries.
Illustration of an artery showing normal blood flow through the artery and also showing narrowing of the artery with abnormal blood flow.
The illustration shows a normal artery with normal blood flow (figure A) and an artery containing plaque buildup (figure B).
Special arteries, called coronary arteries, bring blood to the heart. Narrowing of your coronary arteries due to plaque can stop or slow down the flow of blood to your heart. When the arteries narrow, the amount of oxygen-rich blood is decreased. This is called coronary heart disease (CHD). Large plaque areas can lead to chest pain called angina (an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh). Angina happens when the heart does not receive enough oxygen-rich blood. Angina is a common symptom of CHD.
Some plaques have a thin covering and can burst (rupture), releasing cholesterol and fat into the bloodstream. The release of cholesterol and fat may cause your blood to clot. A clot can block the flow of blood. This blockage can cause angina or a heart attack.
Lowering your cholesterol level decreases your chance for having a plaque burst and cause a heart attack. Lowering cholesterol may also slow down, reduce, or even stop plaque from building up.
Plaque and resulting health problems can also occur in arteries elsewhere in the body.
"What Is Cholesterol? To understand high blood cholesterol (ko-LES-ter-ol), it is important to know more about cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all cells of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work the right way. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs. Cholesterol is also found in some of the foods you eat. Your body uses cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods. Blood is watery, and cholesterol is fatty. Just like oil and water, the two do not mix. To travel in the bloodstream, cholesterol is carried in small packages called lipoproteins (lip-o-PRO-teens). The small packages are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and proteins on the outside. Two kinds of lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout your body. It is important to have healthy levels of both: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is sometimes called bad cholesterol. High LDL cholesterol leads to a buildup of cholesterol in arteries. The higher the LDL level in your blood, the greater chance you have of getting heart disease. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is sometimes called good cholesterol. HDL carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. The liver removes the cholesterol from your body. The higher your HDL cholesterol level, the lower your chance of getting heart disease. What Is High Blood Cholesterol? Too much cholesterol in the blood, or high blood cholesterol, can be serious. People with high blood cholesterol have a greater chance of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol on its own does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. Cholesterol can build up in the walls of your arteries (blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body). This buildup of cholesterol is called plaque (plak). Over time, plaque can cause narrowing of the arteries. This is called atherosclerosis (ath-er-o-skler-O-sis), or hardening of the arteries. The illustration shows a normal artery with normal blood flow (figure A) and an artery containing plaque buildup (figure B). Special arteries, called coronary arteries, bring blood to the heart. Narrowing of your coronary arteries due to plaque can stop or slow down the flow of blood to your heart. When the arteries narrow, the amount of oxygen-rich blood is decreased. This is called coronary heart disease (CHD). Large plaque areas can lead to chest pain called angina (an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh). Angina happens when the heart does not receive enough oxygen-rich blood. Angina is a common symptom of CHD. Some plaques have a thin covering and can burst (rupture), releasing cholesterol and fat into the bloodstream. The release of cholesterol and fat may cause your blood to clot. A clot can block the flow of blood. This blockage can cause angina or a heart attack. Lowering your cholesterol level decreases your chance for having a plaque burst and cause a heart attack. Lowering cholesterol may also slow down, reduce, or even stop plaque from building up. Plaque and resulting health problems can also occur in arteries elsewhere in the body."
- High Blood Cholesterol, What Is (view on Google Sidewiki)
Dr. Miller is Director, Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
As we approach the final weeks of the year with family gatherings, office parties and New Year's celebrations, we can still enjoy ourselves while practicing a healthy lifestyle. Listed below are 10 tips to maintain heart health during this holiday season.
1. Hors d'oeuvres anyone? Among the most heart healthy starters are raw vegetables, particularly broccoli and cauliflower because of their high fiber content. Among the most heart healthy dips are hummus, which contains good monounsaturated fats.
2. Carbs beget carbs. Eating simple carbohydrates doesn't make us feel as full as eating fat, so if you are overzealous in avoiding fats you may overindulge in total calories. When snacking, stick with carbs that contain vitamins and fiber (e.g., apples) rather than those without nutritional value (e.g., pretzels). Consider healthy fat sources including avocados, walnuts and almonds.
3. Choose fish over red meat. Include fish in your year-end celebration menus. Cold-water fish contain protective omega- 3s, which have been shown to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death. Among your best choices are wild salmon, sardines and herring (without the cream sauce). Whatever meat you choose, have the gravy or sauce served on the side and limit table salt.
4. Color is everything. The more colorful the vegetable, the more heart-protective antioxidants contained within. Steaming is better than using the microwave for preserving nutrients. However, over-steaming or boiling will remove many of these heart healthy elements.
5. Hold the bagels. The average bagel will cost you more than 200 calories, even before the dousing of an additional 50-100 calories of butter or cream cheese. If you like lox, keep in mind that about 75% of the protective omega-3 fats in salmon are lost when converted into lox by the smoking process.
6. I'll drink to that. Red wine and dark beer contain more protective antioxidants or flavonoids than other alcoholic beverages. You can get maximum heart protection with up to 1 ounce of alcohol daily, the equivalent of two, 4 ounce glasses of wine, a 12 ounce bottle of beer, or 2 shots of spirits.
7. Don't come to the party starving. You'll overindulge. Eating one meal a day slows down the rate at which we burn calories. That is especially important to keep in mind as we age, because our metabolic requirements are reduced by an average of 5 calories daily. Therefore, eat frequently throughout the day but in small to moderate quantities.
8. You can have your chocolate and eat it too! That is, if it's dark. Pure dark chocolate contains a very high amount of catechins (a heart healthy antioxidant). Enjoy it with black grapes and wash it down with a beverage containing natural cocoa powder or tea, additional excellent sources of these heart healthy compounds.
9. Get in your exercise. Try to work off those extra holiday-season calories. While aerobic activity has been emphasized for maintaining cardiovascular health, recent studies show that walking is also quite effective. One fun way to keep track of your daily activity is to purchase a pedometer. There are about 2,000 steps per mile. Take 6,000-10,000 steps daily to maintain heart health.
10. Have a hearty laugh. Very few things in life are better than a good laugh and it turns out that laughing heartily is good for the heart. One recent study even demonstrated that laughing during mealtime reduces the surge in blood sugar levels. May you enjoy the lighter side of life with family and friends this holiday season.
