Heart Health - Salt

People don’t realize how much salt from foods and medications affects their blood pressure. The usual limit is 2300 mg/day of sodium – about one teaspoonful of salt.

People with high blood pressure should limit their sodium intake to 1500mg/day. Most people get double this amount. Many people think they don’t eat much salt because they don’t use the salt shaker, but most comes from prepared foods. One can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup has about 2000mg of sodium, some restaurant meals contain over 5000mg.

Blood pressure is the force that is created when the heart pumps blood into the blood vessels. High blood pressure increases the workload of the heart and adds stress to blood vessels and organs thereby increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease. Lifestyle modifications are helpful in reducing blood pressure as well as other cardiovascular risk factors. Modifications include the following: weight reduction, regular physical activity, sodium reduction, smoking cessation, and moderate alcohol consumption.

Is it a cold, or the flu?

Is it a cold or the flu? While the common cold can be caused by over 200 different viruses, seasonal flu is caused by either influenza A or B. Cold symptoms usually begin with a sore throat, followed by nasal congestion and runny nose. A cough may follow on the fourth or fifth day. Fever is uncommon in adults, but a slight fever is possible. Flu symptoms include sore throat, fever, headache, muscle aches and soreness, congestion, and cough. Symptoms are similar to the common cold except more severe. A common complication of the flu is pneumonia and it is not uncommon to feel run down for over a week when you have the flu.

Heart Health - Aspirin

Which patients should take aspirin to prevent an initial heart attack or stroke?

New recommendations recommend 81mg of aspirin for men age 45 to 79 and women age 55 to 79. The benefits of taking aspirin are different for men and for women. For men, the benefit is to prevent a heart attack. For women, the primary benefit is to prevent as ischemic stroke. There is no evidence that higher doses of aspirin work better, plus they can increase bleeding risk.

Diabetes

Diabetes

November is American Diabetes Month. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, blindness and amputations, and a major cause of heart disease and stroke. Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes and about six million of those don’t even know they have the disease.

Obesity is directly linked to diabetes and as it rises, so do the numbers of diabetics. Type 2 diabetes (also known as adult-onset diabetes) is believed to be largely the result of an increase in obesity levels.

Prevention: Stop eating so much sugar and junk food.

Junk foods are primarily made up of sugar and simple carbohydrates (the body converts carbohydrates to sugar). These spike insulin levels and then quickly drop. When those levels nosedive, your body thinks it must have more sugar which leads to sugar cravings or a sweet tooth, starting the process all over again. This constant rising and falling of insulin levels is what causes diabetes.

What is prediabetes?

Prediabetes is a condition in which an individual has blood glucose (sugar) levels higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. Having prediabetes does not make developing type 2 diabetes unavoidable. It does, however, significantly increase the risk.

Recent studies have shown that people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by losing 5 – 7% of their body weight. This happens by making healthy eating choices and getting regular exercise of at least 20 minutes a day. The term “exercise” here specifically means elevating the heart rate significantly for 20 minutes with vigorous activity.

Diabetes Education and Resources

Control Your Diabetes for Life: http://www.ndep.nih.gov/i-have-diabetes

Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent Type 2 Diabetes: http://www.ndep.nih.gov/am-i-at-risk/index.aspx