[Elizabeth]

Heart Disease Risk Factors
Risk factors are habits or traits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. Many of those for heart disease can be controlled. These include:
• Cigarette smoking
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Overweight
• Physical inactivity
• Diabetes
The more risk factors you have, the greater your risk. So take action--take control!
Coronary heart disease is a woman's concern. Every woman's concern. One in ten American women 45 to 64 years of age has some form of heart disease, and this increases to one in five women over 65. Another 1.6 million women have had a stroke. Both heart disease and stroke are known as cardiovascular diseases, which are serious disorders of the heart and blood vessel system.

High blood cholesterol is a condition that greatly increases your chances of developing coronary heart disease. That is because extra cholesterol in the blood settles on the inner walls of the arteries, narrowing them, allowing less blood to pass through them to the heart.
Today, about one-quarter of American women have blood cholesterol levels high enough to pose a serious risk for heart disease. Blood cholesterol among women tends to rise sharply beginning at about age 40 and continues to increase until about age 60.

Types of Cholesterol and Heart Disease Risk
The higher your total blood cholesterol level, the higher your heart disease risk. For all adults, a desirable total blood cholesterol level is less than 200 mg/dL. A level of 240 or above is considered high blood cholesterol. But even levels in the"border line-high" category (200-239) boost the risk of heart disease.

Your level of high density lipoprotein, or HDL, also affects heart disease risk. If your HDL level is less than 35, your risk of heart disease goes up. Ask your health professional to check your total blood cholesterol and your HDL levels once every five years.

Your level of low density lipoprotein, or LDL, also affects risk. An LDL level below 130 is desirable, while levels of 130-159 are "borderline-high." LDL levels of 160 or above mean you have a high risk of developing coronary heart disease. While an LDL measurement is not necessary for your first cholesterol test, your doctor may recommend that you have your LDL levels checked after reviewing your initial test results and your medical history. Lowering LDL-cholesterol is the main goal of treatment.

LOWERING YOUR BLOOD CHOLESTEROL
Reducing your blood cholesterol level can greatly lessen the chances of developing coronary heart disease. Most people can lower their blood cholesterol by changing their diet, losing excess weight, and increasing physical activity.

Changing Your Eating Habits
To lower your blood cholesterol through diet, eat fewer foodshigh in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol.
The total fat in your diet should average no more than 30 percent of your calories. Your "fat allowance" should be divided up this way:
• Saturated fat should make up 8 to 10 percent of total calories.
• Polyunsaturated fat should not be more than 10 percent of total calories.
• Monounsaturated fat should make up 10 to 15 percent of total calories.
In addition, you should eat less than 300 mg of cholesterol per day. If you follow these guidelines for about 6 months and your blood cholesterol does not drop to a goal level set with you by your doctor, you may need to cut back still more on saturated fat and cholesterol.

Fat Finding

Now, let's get practical. Which foods belong to which categories?
Saturated fat is found mainly in foods that come from animals. Whole milk dairy products such as butter, cheese,milk, and ice cream all contain high amounts of saturated fat. The fat in meat and poultry skin is also high in saturated fat. A few vegetable fats--coconut oil, cocoa butter, palm kernel oil, and palm oil--are also high in saturated fat.

Remember: Saturated fat boosts your blood cholesterol level more than anything else in your diet. Eating fewer foods high in saturated fat is the best way to lower your blood cholesterol level.
Unsaturated fat helps to lower cholesterol levels when you use it in place of saturated fat. One type is polyunsaturated fat, which is found in many cooking and salad oils, and in margarine, especially liquid and soft varieties. Another type is monounsaturated fat, which is found in olive and canola oils.
Cholesterol is found only in foods that come from animals. Egg yolks and organ meats (such as liver) are very high in cholesterol.

Now You're Cooking

Planning meals aimed at reducing blood cholesterol doesn't have to be complicated. Here are a few suggestions:
• Choose fish, poultry, and lean cuts of meat, and remove the fat and skin before eating. Eat no more than about 6 ounces per day.
• Broil, bake, roast, or poach foods rather than fry them.
• Cut down on high fat processed meats, including sausage,bacon, and such cold cuts as salami and bologna.
• Limit organ meats such as liver, kidney, or brains.
• Use skim or low fat milk and cheeses, and low or nonfat yogurt.
• Instead of butter, use liquid or soft margarine or vegetable oils high in unsaturated fats. Use all fats and oils sparingly.
• Eat egg yolks only in moderation. Egg whites contain no fat or cholesterol and can be eaten often.
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, as well as cereals,breads, rice, and pasta made from enriched or whole grains (for example, rye bread or whole wheat spaghetti).
• Many packaged and processed foods are high in saturated fats. Get in the habit of reading food labels. Look for the "Nutrition Facts" on the label and choose products that are lowest in fat and saturated fat. Also read product labels for cholesterol content.

Losing Weight
If you are overweight, losing weight also can help to lower high blood cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol, and also may help boost HDL levels. Choose a wide variety of low-calorie, nutritious foods in moderate amounts. If you have a lot of weight to lose, ask your doctor or a nutritionist to help you develop a sensible, well-balanced plan for gradual weight loss. Avoid fad diets and diet pills, because many cause troublesome side effects and none of them works for long-term weight loss.

Getting Physical
Regular physical activity can also help you improve your cholesterol "profile." Even low- to moderate-intensity activity, if done daily, can provide benefits. Examples of such activity are pleasure walking, gardening, yardwork, moderate-to-heavyhouse-work, dancing, and home exercise.
More vigorous exercise can raise HDL-cholesterol levels and also will improve the overall fitness of your heart. This kind of activity is called "aerobic" and includes jogging, swimming,jumping rope, or brisk walking or bicycling.
Regardless of the type of activity you choose, be sure to buildup your activity level gradually over a period of several weeks. Also, check with your doctor first if you have any health problems, or if you are over 50 and are not used to energetic activity and plan a fairly strenuous program.

Medication
If you make the changes in your diet and lifestyle described above and your LDL-cholesterol levels still remain quite high, your doctor may also suggest that you take cholesterol-lowering medications. This recommendation also will depend on whether you have any other risk factors for coronary heart disease.

If you have not yet gone through menopause, you should not be prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs unless your cholesterol level is extremely high, you have heart disease or other risk factors for heart disease or you have a strong family history of early heart disease. If you have gone through menopause, your doctor may prescribe an estrogen medicine to help lower your cholesterol levels before recommending a cholesterol-lowering drug.
If your doctor does prescribe medicines, you must also continue your cholesterol-lowering diet because the combination may allow you to take less medicine. Always try to lower your cholesterol levels with diet and other lifestyle changes before adding medication.

This is continued on another thread-http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/education/hdwmncho.htm

[Naughty Nurse]

Heart disease is a real, and growing problem for women.