How to Avoid a Heart Attack
Following up on Bill Clinton's heart surgery and my own obvious interest in this area, Book of Joe points us to a recent extensive study in The Lancet for risk-factors and ways to avoid a heart attack. Joe bullets the information nicely for those of us who fall asleep during the med speak:
The same six factors are the culprits for virtually everyone everywhere, regardless of socioeconomic factors.They are:
�High cholesterol (3.25 x increased risk)
�Smoking (2.87)
�Stress (2.67)
�Diabetes (2.4)
�High blood pressure (1.91)
�Obesity (1.1)
In my case, I just had that top problem--but I was definitely in the extreme for that.
The good news? Joe bullets:
Three things proved to decrease the risk of heart attacks:�Daily consumption of fruits and vegetables (0.70)
�Regular physical activity (0.86)
�Regular alcohol consumption (0.91)
See! Those cocktails are not only tasty--they're for my health. I think I'll have another tonight!
Hey Glen, Terri & I are doing the South Beach diet thing, which Clinton was on and was designed by a cardiologist. There have been news blurbs trying to blame the diet for his heart problems.
My problem is finding the time for that regular physical exercize... I always feel good once I do work up a sweat but getting me to put myself in a position to do so is a strain.
It wasn't the last five years of Clinton's diet that clogged his arteries, but the 20-30 years before. His cholesterol levels when he was President were high, but not extreme. I suspect that was on a better, and controlled, diet when he was in office--I suspect his diet was much worse when he was governor and before. It's my understand that arteries are like your water pipes; the cholesterol builds up like calcium deposits and this happens over years, not all at once.
The whole problem with regular exercise is that, given our work (computer-based), we just aren't encourged in our daily lives to get the ol' heart rate up. Jill and I have been riding bikes again recently, which I was surprised is slightly easier than just simply walking, but that's partly to do with the good bike trails around here which minimize inclines.
I need to get to playing tennis again, too.
Regarding regular exercise: by the end of my work day (which at this time of year also includes coaching), I don't have much energy to spare for the training that I require, and I don't want to miss any more "family time" than I already do. The solution has been to work out (in my case, running) in the morning before reporting to the job. That has meant 4:30 am wakeup, but the workout is done before I have a chance to dread it, and I can relax at home in the evening with my lovely bride and baby instead of pounding the pavement.
During the summer, when neither of us had to be anywhere at any time, Kelly and I would both get to exercise in the morning (with one of us hangin' with Katie). Just "getting out and getting it done" has allowed Kelly to complete four triathlons this summer, plus a few 5K races, and she's lost 35 pounds. [She wants me to get my cholesterol checked. She's pretty sure that I'll have a higher number than she, because of the crap that I eat in order to achieve sufficient calorie intake.]
I won't pretend that exercise (particularly solo exercise) is fun, and I do a lot of it, but it's much more bearable to have gotten it done before you've had a chance to think much about it.