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Do You Know Your Heart Numbers?
Knowing your blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat
and even your CRP can go a long way toward
preventing the No. 1 killer!
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
WebMD Feature
Your
PIN number, your password. You can't operate without
them.
Add
high blood pressure, cholesterol, and body fat to
that list, too. You can't live without those numbers
-- literally.
High
numbers = high odds of heart disease, stroke, and
diabetes.
Some
risk is inherited. But much is linked to things you
can change -- like bad diet, smoking, and a
sedentary lifestyle.
"Walking is perfectly fine," Michael Crouch, MD, a
family and community medicine specialist at Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston, tells WebMD.
"Anything is better than nothing, but 30 minutes a
day is what we recommend."
To
better understand your heart numbers, here are the
basics:
C-Reactive Protein
This
is new on the heart numbers list. Researchers have
identified this protein as a marker for heart
disease and stroke -- even in kids.
They
don't fully understand the relationship between
C-reactive protein (CRP) and heart disease, but it's
a sign of inflammation in the blood vessels.
Getting your CRP checked is not yet a routine
recommendation. However, more and more doctors are
using it to help identify people who may be at an
increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
Numbers to worry about:
1.0
and less is considered low risk.
1.0
to 3.0 mg/L is average risk.
Higher than 3.0 is high risk.
"If
you have a family history of heart disease, without
a lot of other risk factors, you may have high
C-reactive protein -- you may have inherited it,"
Crouch says.
Blood Pressure
One
of the strongest markers for heart disease is
measured in two numbers - your blood pressure. You
hear the numbers, but do you know what they mean?
The
first or top number is systolic blood pressure --
the pressure of blood against artery walls during a
heartbeat, when the heart is pumping blood.
The
second number is diastolic blood pressure - the
pressure of blood against artery walls between
heartbeats, when the heart is filling with blood.
Normal blood pressure is 119/79 or below.
Prehypertension is 120 to 139 (systolic) and/or 80
to 89 (diastolic).
Hypertension is 140 or higher (systolic) and 90 or
higher (diastolic)
Experts recommend that people with prehypertension
-- an estimated 45 million men and women -- make
heart-healthy lifestyle changes to reduce their risk
of blood pressure complications, such as heart
disease, stroke, and kidney damage.
Cholesterol
Probably the most familiar heart disease risk
factor, cholesterol is a type of fat that is an
essential nutrient for your body. However, too much
cholesterol - or not enough of the good type of
cholesterol -- floating around in your blood
increases your risk for hardening of the arteries
that can lead to heart disease, heart attack, and
stroke.
Cholesterol is considered abnormal when:
Total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL or higher.
HDL
or "good" cholesterol level is less than 40 mg/dL in
men and less than 50 mg/dL in women.
LDL
or "bad" cholesterol is 160 mg/dL or higher -- with
190 and above being very high. However, the lower
the LDL, the better. An LDL less than 100 is
considered optimal; 100 to 129 is near optimal; 130
to 159 is borderline high.
Those with certain medical risk factors (such as
diabetes or known heart disease, past heart attack,
or stroke) will have stricter cholesterol goals.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
This
is an indicator of your body fat, a quick way to see
if you are overweight. BMI may be overestimated in
people with a lot of muscle mass, such as body
builders.
BMI
uses a person's weight and height to gauge total
body fat. You can use this handy chart to easily
estimate your BMI.
A
BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is ideal.
A
BMI of 25 to 29.9 is overweight.
A
BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity.
A
BMI of 40 or more indicates morbid obesity, which
increases a person's risk of death from any cause by
50% to 150%, according to The Cleveland Clinic.
Type 2 Diabetes
Overweight and too little exercise -- that's what
greatly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. It's
nothing to take lightly because it can lead to heart
disease, stroke, kidney disease, and even blindness.
A
fasting blood sugar test -- after not eating or
drinking anything but water for at least 8 hours --
is most commonly used to diagnose type 2 diabetes.
A
normal fasting blood sugar is less than 100 mg/dL.
Prediabetes is a fasting blood sugar of 100 to 125
mg/dL.
A
fasting blood sugar of 126 mg/dL or greater
indicates diabetes.
"The
bottom line is, take it seriously," says Crouch.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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| "Anything is
better than nothing, but 30 minutes a day is what we
recommend." |
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