Hello readers, this section will continue to grow as I read and update this information on chronic diseases. There are many of them out there but Dr. WellnessRx wants to focus on the ailments he knows best and has worked with for more than 25 years. The goal of this page is to provide readers with factual, updated and relevant information on five ailments behavior change strategies can almost always improve upon: Cardiovascular health (heart disease, elevated cholesterol, hypertension and stroke), diabetes, obesity and weight management, tobacco use and finally, Quality of Life issues and aging well.
What exactly is blood pressure?
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time the heart beats(60-70 times a minute at rest), it pumps blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood and this is your systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats your blood pressure lowers and this is your diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is always given as these pressures together. Systolic over diastolic is how it is written, an example would be 120/80 mmHg. Which is said as 120 over 80.
High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher and both numbers are important. If you are being treated for high blood pressure and you now measure in the normal range, you still have high blood pressure. High blood pressure can attribute to a multiple of other health deficiencies including an enlarged heart which can lead to heart failure, small aneurysms to form in blood vessels, blood vessels in the kidney to narrow which may cause kidney failure or amputation of part of the leg, and lastly the blood vessels in the eyes may burst or bleed which may cause vision changes and can result in blindness.
So what causes high blood pressure? While the cause cannot be determined directly there are many factors that have been linked between people who have high blood pressure. These factors include, being overweight, men over 45 and women over 55, family history of high blood pressure,and if you are classified as "hypertensive". Behavioral factors include eating too much salt, drinking too much alcohol, using tobacco products such as cigarettes or chew, not eating potassium, not exercising, taking certain medicines, and stress that is long-lasting and is not managed properly.
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all cells of the body. Your body needs at least some cholesterol to work the correct way and produces all you need. Cholesterol is also found in the foods you eat. Blood is watery and cholesterol is fatty, they do not mix. In order to travel along the blood stream, cholesterol is carried in small packages called lipoproteins. There are two types of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol throughout your body, LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL (high density lipoprotein). It is important to have healthy levels of both. LDL is sometimes called "bad" cholesterol and the higher your LDL levels are the greater your chance for getting heart disease. A high level of LDL is considered to be 130+ mg/dL. HDL is sometimes called "good" cholesterol and the higher your HDL levels are the lower your chance of getting heart disease. A low level of HDL is considered to be 40mg/dL and less. Remember HDL you want to be high!
So, high cholesterol is when you have too much cholesterol flowing through your blood which can start causing build up on the sides of your arteries. The buildup of cholesterol is referred to as plaque. Gradually, over time the plaque builds up more and more narrowing the artery and limiting the amount of blood that can flow through it. This is called atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries".
What causes your cholesterol to be high? There are both things you can and cannot control that could attribute to your high cholesterol. Things like your heredity such as a family history can affect your susceptibility to high cholesterol levels. Age and sex also have a profound affect on your cholesterol levels, men typically have lower levels of HDL but as men and women age their LDL levels rise. Cholesterol is also caused by things that we can control such as behaviors. What you eat, cholesterol is only found in foods that are of an animal origin. Saturated fats and trans fatty acids both tend to raise your cholesterol levels which are ingested. Being overweight is also a factor that increase your cholesterol level, in addition a lack of physical activity can lead to being overweight which in turn increases cholesterol levels. Un-managed stress is also a big factor that contributes to cholesterol. Using tobacco products significantly raises your cholesterol levels in any form, whether it be smoked or chewed.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. People with diabetes have trouble converting food to energy. After a meal, food is broken down into sugar called glucose which is carried by the blood to cells throughout the body. Cells use the hormone insulin, made in the pancreas, to help them process blood glucose into energy. There are three main types of diabetes, type I, type II, and gestational.
Type I - formerly called juvenile diabetes or insulindependent diabetes is usually diagnosed in children, teenagers, or young adults. The beta cells of the pancreas no longer make insulin because the body's immune system attacked and destroyed them.
Type II - formerly called adult-onset, or noninsulindependent diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. People can develop type II diabetes at any age including childhood. This usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which fat, muscle and liver cells do not use insulin properly. At first, the pancreas makes more insulin to keep up with the increased demand. Then in time it loses the ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals.
Gestational - Some women develop gestational diabetes during the late stages of pregnancy. Although this form of diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born, a woman who has had it is more likely to develop type II diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones of pregnancy or a shortage of insulin.
There are several factors that can contribute to the onset of diabetes, some you can control others you can't. You can however manage your factors to the point where you should minimize your chance to have diabetes. If you have a parent or sibling with diabetes, certain ethnicity's run a higher risk, you are overweight, have high blood pressure, your cholesterol levels are far from normal, and you are fairly inactive.
If you would like to find out more information or start reducing your risk for any of these disease you should contact the Doctor immediately and get on the path to being well!