Best Ways to Protect Your Heart

Posted by Yardie Luke on August 12, 2011 under Health | Read the First Comment

SOURCE: health.yahoo.net

Many people fail to take the proven steps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The strategies listed below are ranked by the number of heart attacks and strokes they could prevent in American adults over the next 30 years, according to a special report in the July 29, 2008, issue of Circulation. 

Lower your blood pressure 

  • Goal: A systolic (upper) level under 140 and a diastolic (lower) level under 90.  
  • Problems prevented:  6.2 million heart attacks, 7 million strokes. 
  • What you can do:  Get your blood pressure checked at least once a year. If it’s high, cut back on salt, lose excess weight, and exercise more. If drugs are necessary, our CR Best Buy Drugs recommendation for most people is a generic diuretic, especially a thiazide diuretic.

Improve your cholesterol levels

  • Goal: An LDL (bad) cholesterol under 160 for people at low risk of heart attack, 130 for those at intermediate risk, and 100 for those at high risk. (To determine your risk, use our online calculator.)  
  • Problems prevented: 9.6 million heart attacks, 3 million strokes.  
  • What you can do: Men 35 and older as well as women 45 and older with coronary risk factors, such as high blood pressure, should get tested at least every five years. Other adults might consider testing, too. If your levels are high, control your weight, exercise more, quit smoking, and eat a heart-healthy diet. If medication is necessary, our CR Best Buy Drugs recommendations for most people are generic lovastatin, pravastatin, or simvastatin.

Lose excess weight

  • Goal: A body mass index (BMI) under 30 (the cutoff for obesity) and preferably under 25 (the cutoff for being overweight).
  • Problems prevented: 7.1 million heart attacks, 1.1 million strokes.
  • What you can do:  Determine your BMI by multiplying your weight in pounds by 703, then dividing by your height squared in inches. (Or use our online calculator.) Even simpler: Measure your waist. Men with a waistline over 40 inches and women with a measurement over 35 inches should lose weight.

Control your blood sugar level

  • Goal:  A fasting blood glucose level under 110 for people who do not have diabetes, and preferably under 100; an A1C level, a measure of long-term blood sugar control, under 7 percent for people who already have the condition.
  • Problems prevented:  4.8 million heart attacks, 0.6 million strokes. 
  • What you can do:  Consider getting your blood sugar level measured, especially if you’re at high risk for type 2 diabetes because of high blood pressure or cholesterol levels or excess weight. The same lifestyle changes that lower blood pressure and cholesterol can lower blood sugar, too. Our CR Best Buy Drugs recommendation for most people with type 2 diabetes is generic metformin, alone or combined with other drugs.

Stop smoking

  • Goal: Quit—for good.
  • Problems prevented: 3.3 million heart attacks, 1.4 million strokes.
  • What you can do: Talk with a doctor about the best smoking-cessation program for you and be examined for smoking-related illness.

Consider low-dose aspirin

  • Goal: Take a low-dose (81 milligrams) aspirin daily if appropriate. 
  • Problems prevented: 3.4 million heart attacks, 0.3 million strokes.
  • What you can do: Talk to a doctor about your risk of heart attack, stroke, and gastrointestinal bleeding starting at age 45 for men and 55 for women. Use our calculator to see whether the benefits of aspirin outweigh its risks for you.

New Bob Marley And The Wailers Video Highlights Suffering in Africa

Posted by Yardie Luke on August 9, 2011 under Famous Jamaicans | Comments are off for this article

On Tuesday, the Bob Marley estate, Simon Fuller, and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell globally released a new video for Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1973 song “Hide Tide Or Low Tide.”

The video documents the East Africa Crisis that is affecting more than 9 million people dying of starvation.

Edited by Kevin Macdonald, director of “Last King Of Scotland” and the forthcoming “Marley” documentary, the “Hide Tide Or Low Tide” video includes recent footage of expressionless mothers caring for their children, oblivious toddlers playing amidst skeletons of wildlife, and numerous frail, sick babies.

In one of the more poignant images, a mother draws a bucket from a well only to find it filled with dirt and not one drop of water.

It’s fitting that this song from Bob Marley & The Wailers’ debut album would be selected to help raise awareness of the tragedy.

The “High Tide Or Low Tide” lyrics still provoke chills nearly 40 years after the song’s debut. Marley, a late icon, who used his music to encourage social change, sings about one of his mother’s prayers. Continue

home top