Know Your Risks

I can now scientifically prove what I have been telling people for years.  If you don't want to die from heart disease, take care of your risk factors.  Today, in the New England Journal of Medicine, a study was released showing that nonsmoking people in their 40-50's with normal blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels had a five time lower risk of getting heart disease compared with those with at least two of those risk factors.  I have had patients come in to my office worried about their risk for heart disease, wanting to get some fancy test to see if they are at risk.  I tell them, of course you are at risk.  You smoke, you don't exercise.  Your cholesterol is up.  What they really want is to ignore their risk factors and have some test saying that everything is all right.  They don't want to change.  A test may be normal but that doesn't mean it will stay that way.  I have had patients present with heart attacks six weeks after a normal stress test.

All of these risk factors are modifiable.  They can be changed.  If you smoke, you can quit.  It is hard and you may have to try again and again, but you can quit.  Help is as easy as calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW.  If your blood pressure is up, it can be controlled.  Ideally through diet and exercise but medications may be necessary. More on this later.  Know what your blood pressure is.  It should be checked every year.  The same goes for levels of cholesterol and blood sugar.  If you don't know your levels, you don't know your risk.  You may be in your forties and feel fine.  However, the time to act is now to prevent problems in the future.  Get in to your physician and get checked out.  If you wait till you have symptoms of diabetes or heart disease it will be too late.

The great news is that if your risk factors are controlled you can spend your later years in good health.  You can enjoy yourself, take trips, be with the grandchildren.  No, none of us are immortal, but we all want to enjoy the time we have here in this life.  The human body is an amazing organism.  It is a precious gift from God.  Let's take good care of it.  It is the only one we have.