Key Numbers for Heart Health
3 numbers that can change your life.
We live our lives by the numbers: phone numbers, PIN numbers,
stock market numbers.
But do you know the heart health numbers that could literally
save your life? There are three key numbers you need -- including
one surprisingly easy one that could give you a lifesaving
preview of your cardiac risk.
- Your blood pressure
- Your cholesterol levels
- Your waist size
Healthy numbers mean a healthy heart. If you follow a healthy
lifestyle -- eat a balanced diet, get regular exercise, and
avoid smoking -- you can even turn bad numbers around.
Small changes can make a big difference.
"For every point you raise your HDL -- that's the 'good' cholesterol --
you reduce your risk of coronary disease by 2%," "So just raising
HDL by five points cuts your heart disease risk by 10%!" When measuring
your heart health numbers, don't just look at where you are -- look at where
you're going. "Trend lines are important. If your blood pressure is below
the cutoff point for high blood pressure, that's good, but if it's been going
up, it's still a concern." On the other hand, if your cholesterol is high,
but on the way down, pat yourself on the back (and keep working out).
Here's a quick guide to your heart-health numbers:
1. Blood Pressure: Key to Heart Health
Your doctor tells you your blood pressure numbers, or you
hear the doctors on ER shout "pressure's dropping!" Do
you actually know what that means?
Blood pressure consists of two numbers. Your systolic pressure
measures the pressure of blood against artery walls when the
heart pumps blood out during a heartbeat, while the diastolic pressure
measures the same pressure between heartbeats, when the heart
fills with blood. "Both of these numbers are important,
just because one is normal doesn't mean you're off the hook."
- Normal blood pressure is below 120/80.
- Pre-hypertension is 120 to 139 (systolic) and/or 80 to
89 (diastolic).
- Hypertension – also known as high blood pressure
-- is 140 or higher (systolic) and 90 or higher (diastolic).
One in ten adults in India -- has high blood pressure
or pre-hypertension. Between 1994 and 2004, the number of deaths
due to high blood pressure rose by more than30%.
2. Cholesterol: Predictor of Heart Attack
Cholesterol isn't all bad -- it's a type of fat that's actually
a nutrient. But as you've probably heard, there's "good" cholesterol
and "bad" cholesterol. When we measure cholesterol
and blood fats, we're really talking about three different
numbers: HDL, LDL, and Triglycerides. They combine to give
you a "lipid profile" score, but the three individual
scores are most important.
Here are the numbers to strive for:
- Total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or lower.
- HDL ("good" cholesterol) of 50 mg/dL or
higher, if you're a woman, or 40 mg/dL or higher, if you're
a man.
- Optimal LDL is 100 or lower. If you have other major risk
factors, like pre-existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes,
your doctor may want your LDL closer to 70.
- Triglycerides of less than 150 mg/dL.
LDL is the number most doctors and heart health programs focus
on in particular. "Every single point of LDL decrease
makes a difference. If your LDL is at 140 and you get it down
to 130, that's great, even if you haven't reached optimum levels
yet.
Adults 20 and older should get a lipid profile every
five years.
3. Waist Size: The Connection to Heart Disease
If you can only remember one number, your waist size is the
one to know. Why? Because better than your weight or your BMI,
your waist size predicts your heart disease risk. If your waist
size is over 35 inches in women and over 40 in men, it increases
your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic problems,
high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol.It's easy to measure
yourself. Just get a non-elastic tape and measure around your
belly button.
"If patients lose even 1 inch off their waist, we see improvements in
all the other heart health numbers," "Conversely, if they
gain even 1 inch, we see worsening in those numbers. It's a much better indicator
than weight, because you can be gaining weight and still losing waist size
if you're working out and gaining lean muscle mass."
Special Numbers for People With Type 2 Diabetes
If you have type 2 diabetes, there are two other numbers you
need to watch: your blood sugar and your hemoglobin A1c levels.
- A normal fasting blood sugar is less than 100 mg/dL.
- Prediabetes is a fasting blood sugar of 100 to 125 mg/dL.
- You may have diabetes if your fasting blood sugar is 126
mg/dL or greater – and you've gotten that result two
or more times.
But because spot glucose checks can vary dramatically, HbA1c
levels are a better measure of whether your diabetes is under
control. Here, there has been some controversy.
"Doctors like to see a HbA1c level of less than 7. But recent
research has shown that when we're more aggressive with diabetics and get the
number below 6, they actually have more problems. We're still learning -- for
example, aggressive management in a frail elderly person with a lot of medical
problems may not be the best idea, while in an otherwise healthy young person,
it might be. It's important to talk to your doctor as to what's best for you
No matter what your numbers, the most important thing to know
is that they can all be helped by healthy lifestyle choices. "Even
small changes in your physical activity, your nutrition, and
your smoking habits can have a major impact on your heart health.
Coimbatore Branch of IMA is in the Western Zone, in Coimbatore
district,- affiliated to National (Central) IMA through TamilNadu
State Branch.
Indian Medical Association
I.M.A. House
Indraprastha Marg,
New Delhi-110 002
Telephones: 2337 0009, 2337 8819, 2337 8680, 2337 0492, 2337
8428
Fax: + 91-11-2337 9470, 2337 9178
Email: inmedici@vsnl.com
nationalpresident.imahq@gmail.com
