Health Resources

When you learn how to discuss your concerns and questions with your physician, you are taking an important first step. You are not the only person who has problems communicating their concerns to the health care provider who performs your check-ups. But when it comes to heart disease no question should be left unanswered.

Sometimes people hope that the answers to their questions will come out in the process of being examined instead of asking them point blank. HMOs and the busy schedules of doctors with waiting rooms full of patients sometimes do not allow the doctor to spend as much time with each patient as they would like. Women particularly need to speak up, because even though they suffer half the deaths from heart disease, doctors hesitate to discuss this subject with them.

Questions that you should ask your doctor include what your blood pressure is recorded as and what is normal for you. You need to know what your blood cholesterol and glucose levels are and if they are considered normal. Find out from your physician what tests are recommended for your age group presently and in the years to come.

If medication has been prescribed, do not hesitate to ask if there are side effects, what the drug is supposed to do, and should you take other medication, even over the counter, with your prescribed medicine. Also find out if this is a long term medication or temporary. Tests to monitor the effect of the medication you are taking should be conducted at a later date if it is recommended by your doctor. The liver is one organ that most doctors consider testing when a patient is on certain medicines.

If you always get home and remember something that you forgot to ask the doctor, make a “need to know” list and take it with you on your next visit. Do not forget to bring with you the medications that you are presently on as well. If you have more than one health care provider, this is a must.

Add to your list any surgeries or relevant illness that you have had and been treated for in the past few years. This should be in your medical chart so that the doctor can be aware of anything that might cause a problem.

In conclusion, if you think that you may forget what you physician has told you, you can always write it down or record the appointment for later referral. Do not be afraid to check around for a second opinion if you are not comfortable with the treatment that your doctor recommends or if you do not feel that he or she listened to your worries or questions.

More Or Less one quarter of all deaths are attributable to heart disease as a result of thrombosed or ‘furred up’ coronary (heart) arteries, a illness also known as atherosclerosis that is a result of raised blood cholesterol levels. A big factor in heart disease is your life style and what you eat.

Easy actions like sticking with a 7 day detox plan, getting some exercise, losing a few pounds and stopping smoking can have a major impact in improving your chances of heart disease - you could also try using foot detox patches to work on eliminating all those toxins rushing round your blood stream.

Signs of heart disease

If you get heart disease, you are at elevated risk of developing angina (severe chest pain resulting from your heart not receiving enough oxygen), a heart attack; an arrhythmia (which is an irregular heart beat, which can cause breathlessness, vertigo and in many cases death); or heart failure (when the heart can’t pump fully, leading to shortness of breath, fatigue, swollen up ankles, and which eventually might cut short your life expectancy).

Coronary Artery Disease can start in arterial blood vessels in different parts of your body, such as the brain, kidneys, or legs. This may lead to strokes, kidney failure, or bad blood circulation in the legs and even amputation. Other conditions of the heart and circulatory system include excessive blood pressure, heart attacks and varicose veins.

Pretty much all heart problems can be averted, or improved considerably by following some simple steps. To reduce your danger of heart disease, you are advised to follow a healthy diet, do not add an excessive amount of salt to your food, learn how to quit smoking, only drink the recommended amount of alcohol, try an exercise every day, get your weight down (there’s plenty of tips to lose weight to help you), and bring down your stress levels.

Green tea is low in caffeine and high in antioxidants, and is believed to help ward off heart and circulatory disease, and is a great addition to a detox diet. While the evidence for this is inconclusive, drinking green tea looks to be sound, so it might be worth trying as well as other preventative measures.

You would have all heard about cholesterol and the recommendations of changes in diets and prescribe medication associated with it. But the truth is that many people don’t understand cholesterol and its purpose in our body. To control your cholesterol you first need to know how it works.

Cholesterol is a lipid (fatty acid) that resides in the cell membranes of the human body.  Most cholesterol is actually synthesized in the body, but a good proportion of it is ingested as a section of food.

You have good cholesterol and bad cholesterol and the two kinds need to be differentiated between: Bad cholesterol, or LDL, has been associated to cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke if consumed at unhealthy levels.Good cholesterol, HDL,on the other hand, is responsible for important bodily functions.  HDL cholesterol helps to construct and maintain cell walls and performs other cell maintenance.

Controlling Cholesterol Through Diet: What Can You Do About It?

There are quite a few ways you can control your blood cholesterol levels.Cholesterol is not soluble in blood, so it sometimes takes a helping hand.  Most of these are basic routine changes that can have an enormous and helpful result on your cholesterol levels. The first is to look at controlling cholesterol through diet.

The most apparent ways are to select your diet carefully.  Foods that are high in fat have an inclination to lift cholesterol.  Do not cut out fats totally from your diets.  Look at selecting specific foods that are low in saturated fat but have a good amount of unsaturated fat.  The body physically requires a small amount of fat for key body functions.

Lean red meat and fish are both good choices and should be incorporated liberally into your diet.  They are high in protein, which helps to build muscle, and relatively low in fat content.  It’s also simple to choose dairy products that are low in fat, and such an alteration will make controlling your cholesterol much easier.

If after changing your diet or your cholesterol levels are often too high then it is advisable to consult your doctor. There are many drugs that can know control cholesterol avaiable.  And remember that with any new drug, it’s important to notify your healthcare professional about any additional medications that you are taking at the time.

The side effects of controlling cholesterol through drugs tend to be relatively mild, and will generally cease after your body adjusts to the new medication.