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[Odler]

by OdlerRobert Jeanlouie

Sep. 16, 2004

Will you have a heart attack like Bill Clinton almost had two weeks ago? The answer is yes. Or at least: most likely. As likely as flipping a coin that will land on tail.

The vital statistics are clear. Half of all deaths that occur in America, every year, are due to heart and vascular diseases. It is only your choice as to what half you want to die in. Yes, your choice.

Few people who suffer from heart diseases can only do little about them. They are either born with a heart malformation (congenital), or they inherited a condition that will develop later (hereditary).

For the overwhelming majority, heart diseases come from life style related causes that can be altered.

Tobacco hardens your arteries (arteriosclerosis) and alcohol dilates your heart muscle (cardiomyopathy). Eating fast food clogs your arteries, and sitting in front of your computer or TV helps the obstructing plaques grow in your vessels.

If you have hypertension or diabetes, your risk of dying of a heart attack is multiplied. To counter this probability, you need to exercise (walk ½ hour around your block, at least three times a week), and eat right (no red meat, lots of vegetables and fruits).

You mostly need to be compliant to your medications, in case you have been prescribed. Keep your blood pressure 130/85 or lower. Keep your blood sugar between 70 and 110. Keep your cholesterol below 200. And, even when you get there, take your meds as prescribed.

And, by all mean, keep your weight and waist line within the ideal ranges. There are charts to help you out, but you don?t absolutely need one; whenever you are too heavy, you feel it, don?t you? Studies tend to show the thinner the better.

Finally, as Clinton?s case shows, the time is now. Don?t get religion at 50 or 60. Start your lifestyle changes now, at 29. Otherwise, by 40, the damages are done and are irreversible. Dave Letterman got his bypass at 52 (and his first baby at 56, but this is unrelated).

Please, visit http://www.jeanlouie.com/

(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Thursday, September 16, 2004)