How's Your Heart? — Lifestyle Therapeutix

Each year during Black History Month, i wonder if we really take the time to look at our heart health. So many of us have been impacted by heart disease. And, the science today is giving us so much more hope. We don’t have to have the same diseases and outcomes that our family members have had.

Heart Disease. In the USA, is the leading cause of death. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) about 610,00 Americans die from heart disease each year; over half of that number die from die from coronary heart disease, whites the most common form of heart disease; coronary heart disease costs the US $108.9 BILLION dollars each year; someone has a heart attack every 43 seconds;

If you are African-American the picture is worse. According to the American Heart Association, African-Americans have greater risk factors for the disease (obesity, inactivity, high blood pressure, etc); have greater barriers to diagnosis and care; have death rates that are 33% higher then the overall population in the US; are 2x as likely to have a first stroke and more likely to die from one than white Americans; and according toreports on cardiac care experience disparities in that care.

if you are a woman, according to CDC, you may not even have any symptoms of the disease OR heart attack symptoms may be different (feeling tired, dread, anxiety, flu-like symptoms) than what is “usually” seen in men; almost 64% of women who die suddenly have NO previous symptoms; about 5.8% of all white women, 7.6% of black women, and 5.6% of Mexican American women have coronary heart disease.

Pretty bleak, I would say. But, there is hope if you decide to make some different choices, that can not only reduce your risk, but even reverse coronary heart disease if you have already been diagnosed. Former President Bill Clinton and Samuel L. Jackson are two examples of reversing theirs…..by their choices.

The Mayo Clinic lists the following as Risk Factors for Heart Disease. I’ve added suggestions for choices YOU can make, starting today to recover your health:

-Increasing age, your sex and family history.

-You cannot change any of these BUT as you age, if you are male, and if you have a family history of the disease, be sure to choose things that are health enhancing. You DO NOT have to have the same diseases your family had.

-Smoking

-Don’t start! If you smoke STOP! Smoking constricts blood vessels and makes them more susceptible to hardening and heart attacks.

-Poor Diet

-A diet high in fat, salt, sugar and cholesterol contributes to the development of heart disease. Choose to eat foods that are low in salt, sugar, fat and cholesterol-free. Foods in the plant kingdom are perfect!!

-High Blood Pressure

-When uncontrolled, your (high) blood pressure can harden and thicken your arteries making the vessels narrower and harder for the blood to flow through. Get that blood pressure down through healthy lifestyle choices. Could be as simple as increasing your potassium intake found abundantly in plant foods. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/98-of-american-diets-potassium-deficient/

-Diabetes

-When diagnosed as diabetic, you are now also diagnosed as a heart patient as it increases that risk due to sharing similar risk factors. Get those blood sugars down through healthy lifestyle choices!

High Blood Cholesterol

-Cholesterol and fat are primary components of arterial plaque. Consuming a diet that is low in or free of foods that contain cholesterol and saturated fat reduces the risk. And, eating foods that are low or free of those substances actually helps to strengthen blood vessels.

Obesity/Physical Inactivity

-The more you weigh, the harder your heart has to work. Each pound of fat requires one mile of blood vessels to keep it alive. Get to moving. Choose what you like and do it for 20-30 minutes every day.

Stress

-Can damage your arteries and worsen other risk factors if unrelieved. Practice meditation/worship. Let go of what you cannot change. Practice forgiveness. Learn to say NO! Listen to what Harvard Professor Dr. David Williams has to say about Racism and Your Health. I would agree that it probably plays a very strong role in the disparate health of African-Americans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd-butFSi4Q

While we often hear of the lower incidence of disease among Asians and people who follow the Mediterranean diet/lifestyle, historically Africans on the continent of Africa had much lower incidence of heart disease and other preventable chronic diseases than a lot of other cultures. As they have adopted the western lifestyle and let go of their own traditions, they have increased the incidence, morbidity and mortality of those same diseases.

Seems like the western lifestyle is toxic to people of color. Seems like, if we make a choice to live a life closer to that of our forebears, and what the Creator intended, we might be able to change the numbers. This study, African/African American Diet Swap, though related to cancer, confirms for me that our choices are the most POWERFUL tool we have to changing the direction of our health.

We’re watching it happen in our patients. As they change their choices, their health is restored.

Change Your Choices!! Recover Your Health!! Be the Change You Want to See!! Happy Wellness Wednesday!!

I’m Still Shoutin’ ova Here!!

Donna

“If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” Exodus 15:26

“And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” Acts 3:8

#heartdisease #reverseheartdisease #blackwomenandheartdisease #changeyourchoices #blackhealth #wellness #cookinupgoodhealth #wellnesswednesday