Showing posts with label Heart Awareness for Women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heart Awareness for Women. Show all posts

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Why Managing Your Cholesterol Is Important

This post was sponsored by Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. Personal opinions and thoughts are my own.
 
I have such fond memories of my grandmother! She was a southern gal and her meals and desserts were delicious! I remember the words of wisdom she gave to me. I clung to them because she loved me unconditionally and her words were straight from the heart! I'm so glad that I had her all the way until I was in my 20's. She lived until she was 92. I believe she had some great genes, but she also took care of herself and was careful to take her medications, including a daily statin for high cholesterol. 

Statins are not just for the elderly. For example, I have a friend who lights up a room when she walks in! She's so funny, and can tell a story like nobody else! When she gets off work, she likes to unwind by getting social with friends, eating, and staying out late. However, over time she started gaining weight and wasn't taking care of herself. It all went south one night when she had trouble breathing, started sweating profusely, and had intense vertigo. She went to the doctor and got tested. When the results came back, she found that she had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and her liver and kidneys were failing.

The doctor told her that if she didn't lose weight, get her diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol under control, she would be dead in a year. Needless to say, she started working on it. She was given a statin to lower her cholesterol, medication for her diabetes, and was told to lose weight, and to stop drinking and smoking. It has been over a year now and she looks and feels fabulous! She took her doctors' advice and lost 69 lbs. She controls her cholesterol with a statin. Her family has been so grateful that she made these changes and has lowered her risk for heart disease and other illnesses.

I was really surprised to find out that more than a few people I know depend on statins to keep themselves within the safe range for high cholesterol. High cholesterol is a silent killer if not kept under control and statins are true miracle workers if you need them.

More than 100 million American Adults have high cholesterol, a major risk factor for heart disease--the leading cause of
death in America. To lower cholesterol and help prevent heart disease, doctors often prescribe statin medication. Surprisingly, despite the fact that statins are proven to lower cholesterol and fight heart disease, up to 50% of people stop taking their statins within one year of starting it. This is risky because high cholesterol doesn't just go away. The good news is that there are multiple statins available and by talking to your doctor, it is possible to switch to a statin that fits your individual needs. 

To understand why people stop taking their statin, a recent poll of more than 5,000 Americans aged 45+ with high cholesterol took a poll called ACTION: THE Statin Survey, and discovered some interesting findings.

  • Only one third (33%) of people say their healthcare provider explained why that particular statin was being prescribed when they were first prescribed a statin.
  • Just 21 percent of patients say that their healthcare provider told them that there are different types of statins available when first prescribed a statin.
  • Roughly a quarter of patients (24 percent) currently taking a statin say they had challenges with the first statin they took.
  • Only 18 percent of people say they were told that their prescribed statin medicine could potentially interact with other medications and dietary supplements.
I am proud to support a new educational campaign called Take Cholesterol to Heart to help people understand their treatment options for high cholesterol and motivate them to speak up if they are thinking about stopping their statin. Take Cholesterol to Heart provides great tools and strategies to help people "master the cholesterol conversation" with their doctor. As you may know, there are multiple statin medicines, so it's important to talk regularly with your doctor about your treatment plan, including a statin that is right for you!
Regis Philbin, TV legend and heart disease survivor, joined Take Cholesterol to Heart to share his experience having a conversation with his doctor about high cholesterol and finding the right statin for him. Check out his story in this short video:


If you or someone you love takes a statin, please visit TakeCholesterolToHeart.com for a number of helpful resources, including a doctor/patient discussion guide, a quiz on statins and tips for caregivers. 

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. and should not be construed to constitute medical advice. My personal story and opinions are my own. I am not a medical professional and am not qualified to give medical advice. Please talk with your doctor about your individual medical situation

Footnote:

* Harris Poll conducted ACTION: The Statin Survey (Understanding Patient Adherence and Concerns with Statins, and Medication Discussions with Physicians) online on behalf of Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc., within the United States from July 7- August 4, 2017, among 5,014 U.S. adults aged 45 or older, who have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, and have ever used a statin to treat high cholesterol. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Erin Bittner at W2O Group, 212-301-7226.



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Friday, February 5, 2016

Facts About Heart Disease In Women

Yesterday was National Heart Awareness Day For Women or #GoRed sponsored by the National Heart Association! All day we saw women and men dressed in red! What a great excuse to #GoRed for such a great cause! It is a very important thing to be aware of, since 1 in 3 women die of heart disease or stroke and it is 80% preventable.

Since that is such a staggering figure, one needs to ask why has it been so hard to prevent thus far? One of the major things that has emerged, thanks to some very influential women, is that women are different than men, therefore studies need to be done on women for women, instead of the opposite. Previous to this, men had been the majority of test subjects for heart disease for women.
For example, the 1982 Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, one of the first to establish a link between cholesterol and heart disease, involved 12,866 men and no women; the 1995 Physicians’ Health Study, which found aspirin to reduce the risk of heart attack, involved 22,071 men and, again, no women.
This has slowly begun to change thanks to strong and influential advocates like Barbara Streisand, who came out strongly about the above discrepancy and has been a major player and advocate in the women & heart disease discussion. The Barbara Streisand Women's Heart Center is playing a leading role in identifying female pattern heart disease, developing new diagnostic tools, and advancing specialized care for women. It's director, C. Noel Bairey Mertz, MD states, "We are just at the beginning of understanding the difference between the sexes when it comes to heart disease."
We do know that symptoms for heart attacks in women include the following:
1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of the chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and then comes back.
2. Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.
3. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
4. Other signs such as breaking out into a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, a woman's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are more likely than men to experience some of the other more common symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

Do these symptoms smack of other common diagnosis'? Actually, they do. What about an anxiety attack? The flu? Very similar symptoms occur with those. But I would say err on the side of caution. If you are experiencing at least 2 of these symptoms, you need to be alert to the implications and see a doctor as soon as possible.

If you would like to learn more about this too silent of a killer, there are excellent books now being published on the subject that include prevention strategies, as well as early detection methods. I hope that by writing this non-sponsored post, that I will help just one woman live the life she was meant to live and not leave us prematurely!





I received no compensation to write this post. Affiliate links may be used to help support this site. All opinions are 100% my own and are not swayed by sponsor affiliation!