How often should women have their cholesterol checked?
Women should have their cholesterol checked at least by the time of puberty. If it is fine, it should be rechecked at least every five years until age 25. After age 25, annual lipid testing should be standard. Women should have cholesterol evaluated pre and post each pregnancy, as hormone levels can cause significant variations in lipid profiles. Women go through significant hormone variations with puberty, pregnancy, peri-menopause and menopause so it is essential that normal levels be established before these significant events.

If you feel fine is it important to know your cholesterol numbers?
Feeling fine has no bearing on when to check cholesterol, as most women feel perfectly normal right up until the time of a heart attack or stroke. Additionally, many women have cholesterol numbers that appear rather stable and yet may be at tremendous risk so it is essential to get regular medical care. It is also important to realize that many women who have a heart attack or ischemic stroke have symptoms that vary from the classic symptom of chest pain. Specifically, many women report shortness of breath, anxiety, fatigue and inability to sleep. These symptoms are often discounted and ignored, which can have detrimental effects.

My cholesterol results tell me my total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL – which number is important?
Elevated cholesterol is a risk factor and should be taken seriously at any age. It was recently reported from the Women’s Health Study that the total cholesterol (TC) –good cholesterol (HDL) ratio (TC/HDL) is the most predictive cholesterol number. Ideally the ratio of TC/HDL should be less than 3.0. Simply relying on one of the values exclusively is often misleading.

Treating cholesterol with lifestyle and diet can be very challenging – at what point should a woman with high cholesterol consider taking medications to lower her cholesterol?
All women need to maximize their lifestyle for overall wellness. A healthy diet along with a daily exercise routine is the most important health decision we can control. Medication to lower cholesterol should be strongly considered for all women who (1) have atherosclerosis (cholesterol build up in the wall of an artery), (2) have Type 2 Diabetes or (3) cannot achieve the National Cholesterol Educational Panel’s guidelines for LDL or non-HDL levels based on their Framingham or Reynold’s risk score (FRS & RRS). Lifestyle should be initiated during all ages and many medical therapies now have FDA approval for use in the pediatric population. Pregnancy is one area where pharmaceutical intervention should be avoided. Women need to realize the FRS and RRS frequently underestimate their risk.

Additional information
Any female interested in being aggressive with preventing a heart attack or stroke should consider additional screening with the painless relatively inexpensive ultrasound (US) scan of their carotid arteries known as carotid IMT (not the more commonly performed duplex US of the carotids) and having a blood test called Lp-PLA2 drawn. This blood test is the only FDA approved test for stroke and heart attack risk assessment. If any significant issues are discovered, they should seek the advice of health care providers who specialize in preventing heart attacks and strokes.

(Image stock.xhng)

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Q&A: Cholesterol Concerns for Women

The patients were divided into three groups at the start of the study. The high-exposure group was composed of 21,292 patients. They took both medications  (40 milligrams of lovastatin and 20 milligrams of lisinopril) more than half the time throughout the two years. The amount of time they took the medications was determined by a review of pharmacy records. The low-exposure group of 47,268 people took the two medications less than half the time, while 101,464 people did not take the medications and were considered to be no-exposure.

According to a press release issued by Kaiser Permanente,

The researchers found that among the study population as a whole, there were 21 heart attacks and strokes per 1,000 people in 2006. Among the 47,268 people in the group that had low exposure to the drugs, there were 726 fewer heart attacks and strokes than in the no exposure group, equivalent to a reduction of 15 heart attacks and strokes per 1,000 people. Among the 21,292 people in the high- exposure group, there were 545 fewer heart attacks and strokes, equivalent to a reduction of 26 heart attacks and strokes per 1,000 people. The study estimated this effect to be a 60 percent savings of these events.

This is a good finding because it shows that it may be possible to significantly reduce heart and stroke events.

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Image: iStock.com

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2 Low-Cost Drugs May Prevent Strokes

People at highest risk of PAD are those who smoke or have diabetes, but also people who are African American and seniors have a higher risk than most others.

PAD isn’t rare. It’s estimated that about 10 million American live with PAD.

Since PAD doesn’t have any symptoms* until it has been present for a while and is causing problems, finding out if you’re at risk may help you seek help and be diagnosed before it becomes an issue. For this reason, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation recommends that older Americans, smokers and diabetics take its free, online self-assessment quiz.

According to a press release issued by the foundation,

The online quiz at SIRF’s Legs for Life® Web site (www.legsforlife.org) helps assess health, family and lifestyle risks for PAD. The higher one’s score, the more important it is for that individual to discuss the quiz’s results with his or her doctor.

The Legs for Life program is

a community health and public information program of SIR Foundation—began a decade ago because interventional radiologists—vascular experts who treat PAD—recognized that the disease is a major public health problem with a growing incidence, yet awareness among the general public and nonvascular health care providers is low. The primary goals of Legs for Life® are to educate the public, primary care physicians and the medical community; identify patients at risk through screenings; and strengthen collaborative relationships among health care professionals who treat this condition.
Legs for Life® offers a free national screening program dedicated to improving the cardiovascular health of the community with the early detection of PAD during September’s national PAD awareness month. In September, limited free testing is available for PAD at Legs for Life® sites around the country.

Are you at risk? Maybe you should be checked, just to be sure.

*Symptoms of PAD, once it has been present for a while include (MayoClinic.com):

• Painful cramping in your hip, thigh or calf muscles after walking or climbing stairs (intermittent claudication)
• Leg numbness or weakness
• Coldness in your lower leg or foot, especially when compared with the other leg
• Sores on your toes, feet or legs that won’t heal
• A change in the color of your legs
• Hair loss on your feet and legs
• Changes in your toenails

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Images: iStock.com

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Peripheral Artery Disease Risk Quiz

My sister married when I was 8 years old, her husband was like another father to me. Don was my hero he was always so full of life and included me in his mad adventures, with his children.

Don was over six feet three inches tall and weighed about 240, he was always outdoors, his only faults were smoking and eating fatty foods. He was never sick so there was no need to go to the doctor, so he thought.

Imagine our surprise when we found that he was an extremely ill man with diabetes.

He fought a good fight in every way, but he would not give up his smoking. The doctors told him that the medicine that he was taking could not help him if he continued to smoke.

Don died in a nursing home with heart failure, unable to walk; he took a large part of my heart with him.

If you have a loved one that is fighting diabetes please do all you can to help them to give up smoking.

Patient’s with diabetes should have an AIC glucose test twice a year. Diabetics blood pressure should be no more than 130/80mmHg. Their Cholesterol LDL (bad) needs to be below 100 mg/dl their HDL (good) should be above 40mg/dl for men and 50 mg/dl for women. 

Currently, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes in the United States die from a heart attack or stroke. Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes-related complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and amputations. In many cases, medicine is also needed to keep diabetes under control.

For more information click here MSNBC.

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Diabetes Stroke And Heart Attack

There are ongoing lawsuits due to the side effects of the contraceptive which include risks of blood clots, stroke.

You should always research any medications before having them prescribed for you.

Here are a few more side effects of the NuvaRing birth control.

• Deep Vein Thrombosis
• Pulmonary Embolysm
• Heart Attack
• Death

To find more information on this type of birth control click here NuvaRing

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NuvaRing Birth Control

CRP(C-reactive protein) inflammation encourages plaque to form in the blood vessels. This plaque will eventually cause the blood vessels to rupture causing a heart attack or stroke.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is often shortened to CPR. When your health care provider is explaining your disorder they will usually use the term CRP.  You will see CRP in written articles also.

If you are experiencing any health problems related to your heart make an appointment with your health care provider immediately. Be sure to tell them at the time of your appointment, you would like your cholesterol and CRP levels checked.

People who are otherwise healthy but have high CRP levels are more likely than those with low CRP levels to have heart disease and its complications, such as heart attacks, strokes, sudden cardiac death, and peripheral arterial disease (hardening of the arteries in the legs, which causes leg cramps and poor circulation in the legs and feet). In fact, people with high CRP have 2 or 3 times the risk of heart disease compared to people with low CRP levels.

You can find more informative on this site Heart Health.

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CRP Heart Inflammation

Some over the counter drugs can cause problems for a number of people, especially those with heart problems and high blood pressure.

Not everyone can take an aspirin daily due to the fact some people are resistant to them. Women have proven to be more likely to be resistant to the blood-thinning effects of aspirin.

An aspirin daily is used by millions of people to prevent heart attacks. The aspirin breaks up platelets in the blood that could eventually form blood clots.

I found this information on the CNN health, click on the CNN site to view more information. 

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Will Aspirin Work For You

The Chairman of the Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland Ohio has reported that a drug known as Rosiglitazone (Adavandia(TM) raises a patents’ chances of a heart attack and death by 43%. The drug also has the same risk by 64% when compared to other drugs such as placebos and other anti-diabetic therapies.

With 65% of diabetic deaths being caused by heart attacks, these findings are sending up the red flags. 

Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921, and continues to be one of the top hospitals in the United States. Therefore their findings are respected around the world.

If you know someone with diabetes, or if you have type 2 diabetes check this site out on line. Make a copy of the article and give it to those people that do not have a computer. When they have an appointment with their health care provider they can question them about the article.

Rosiglitazone is one of the primary therapies used to lower blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. "However, the objective of lowering blood sugar is the reduction of the complications of diabetes," Dr. Nissen explains. "The effect of anti-diabetic therapy on cardiovascular outcomes is of critical importance because cardiovascular disease represents the overwhelming source of diabetic mortality. Unfortunately, rosiglitazone appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes, heart disease.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/71646.php

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Diabetes And The Heart

There are three major arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. When the blood to the heart is shut off, a heart attack or coronary thrombosis takes place. A person experiencing a heart attack will have severe pain behind their chest bone, often traveling down their left arm.

If you are experiencing any chest pain contact your health care provider at once. You may be placed in the hospital for a series of tests, so that your health care providers can find out what is the exact cause of your chest pain.

In most cases of chest pain a procedure called an EEG or electorcardiogram is preformed. If nothing shows up and you are still in pain, then you may have a thirty minute wait and another EEG will be taken.

Risk factors
Numerous ‘risk factors’ are known to be associated with the development of coronary thrombosis. These include:

- a family history of atherosclerosis
- a high content of cholesterol in the blood
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- smoking
- male gender
- if you suffer from diabetes Type 1 or Type 2
- being overweight
- stress
- lack of exercise.

I found most of my information on the site below.

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/health_advice/netdoctor/archive/000023.html?page=1

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Coronary Thrombosis

In the U.S. 80 percent of suicides are male, and 90 percent of these suicides are Caucasian males over the age of 60.

Men that fall into a depressed state after a heart attack or stroke are more likely to die of heart disease.

If you recognize a change in moods or depression, in a loved one it would be wise to call their health care provider and make them aware of these changes.

But what if you notice that one of your older relatives isn’t quite their old self? That they’re more anxious, more irritable, less joyful or quieter than they once were? That they seem focused on talking about people who have died, or have lost interest in things that they used to enjoy – including holiday traditions and festivities?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/58587.php

A blood test can help identify an elderly person’s risk of having a heart attack within the next 10 years, scientists reported recently in an American Heart Association journal called Circulation.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5289/is_/ai_n24301918

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Depression And The Heart