Nao Takenouchi writes:
1) Mr.O is not in good health. While
he is still relatively young, his blood pressure indicates moderate to
high hypertension, 165-105mmHg. Also his cholesterol tests are not positive:
LDL 173mg/dl; HDL 26mg/dl. Furthermore, he is almost 20kg overweight. He
had once been a heavy cigarette smoker. And it is clear that he doesn't
have physical activity. He hardly gets out of the office to do exercise,
his only exercise is walking across the street from his apartment to his
office and back. Also, his elder brother died of heart disease five years
ago.
2) When he has another heart attack, he should first sit down or lie down.
And he should call his local emergency telephone number, then he can get
to the hospital by ambulance. And he can see a doctor and have treatment.
He must see a doctor, because at least 250,00 people a year die of heart
attack within one hour. These are sudden deaths caused by cardiac arrest,
usually resulting from ventricular fibrillation.
3) Additional risk factors for heart disease are high blood pressure and
smoking. While each individual risk factor increases the likelihood of
developing heart-related problems, the more risk factors you have, the
greater the odds of developing heart-related illness. A person with any
two risk factors has four times the risk of someone without any risk factors.
If you smoke, have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, the
risk factor can be eight times as great of developing heart disease than
for someone who has none of the risk factors. So, first of all, as he has
cut down his smoking from a pack a day to less than half a pack, he had
better quit smoking.
4) It seems that cholesterol is a risk factor of myocardial infarction.
There are two kinds of cholesterol in the blood. HDL (high-density lipoproteins)
-- the good guys -- remove cholesterol from the lining of the arteries
and help maintain good blood flow. LDL (low-density lipoproteins) -- the
bad guys -- deposit cholesterol in the artery wall by forming plaques.
If he has a "high cholesterol" level it usually means there is
an excess of LDL in his blood. Excess cholesterol and unsaturated fat collects
in the linings of blood vessels, forming fatty deposits called plaques.
Over time, blood vessels may become clogged, reducing the blood flow and
oxygen supply to the heart muscle. Without sufficient oxygen to the heart,
this may cause chest pain called "angina", or if the blood supply
is cut off, there is heart muscle injury and a "heart attack,"
possibly resulting in sudden death.
LDL-Cholesterol Categories:
Less than 130 mg/dL = Good or desirable level;
130 to 159 mg/dL = Borderline-high risk;
160 mg/dL or above = High risk.
HDL-Cholesterol Category:
Less than 35 mg/dL = High risk.
After all HDL-cholesterol readings are the reverse of LDL-cholesterol levels.
The lower the HDL level the greater the risk for heart disease.
He should lose weight in the long term. Because being overweight may also
increase your blood cholesterol level. Most overweight people with elevated
blood cholesterol levels can help lower their levels by losing weight.
Therefore, regular physical activity may help control his weight and is
associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and lower blood pressure.
Also, it is necessary for him to eat diet low in cholesterol or unsaturated
fat. The following foods contain high cholesterol or saturated fat: egg
yolks, sausage, kidneys, liver, and whole milk products such as butter,
cheese, yogurt and ice cream.
In the long term, he must be careful with his diet and have regular physical
activity in order to reduce bad cholesterol.
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