Steering clear of heart disease should be easy and involves taking control of the factors contributing to the nation’s leading cause of death in men and women.
“It is a good time to pay attention to the little things and don’t let the stressors bother you,” Dr. Kian Ehsan told Eunice Rotary Club members Wednesday.
February is American Heart Month and the doctor who practices at Acadian Medical Center was there to talk about keeping a heart healthy.
Diet, exercise, controlling risk factors and understanding your medical condition are details of staying heart-healthy, he said. They all need to be addressed at some point, he said.
“The big one that really matters is your LDL. That’s the bad cholesterol. You want that to be low,” he said.
There are two other major categories of cholesterol besides the low-density lipoproteins — HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and triglycerides.
Besides the factors a person can control, genetics plays a role in heart disease, he said.
Ehsan took aim at cholesterol as a factor that is controllable with statins.
“There is a big link between the bad cholesterol (LDL) and cardio-vascular disease,” he said.
High LDL levels leads to the buildup of plaque, which can result in stroke, blockages, heart attacks, loss of kidney function and leg pains.
“In our practice I’m a little more aggressive than others about the cholesterol stuff. It is that I rather would have someone on cholesterol medicine to prevent,” he said.
The major statins are Crestor, Lipitor, Pravastatin and Simvastatin.
A person won’t know if they have high LDL levels without a blood test, but a doctor may spot signs such as fatty deposits around the eyes.
Ehsan stressed people should have discussions with a doctor about their health.
Another factor in heart disease is blood pressure. A systolic blood pressure reading of 130 used to be OK and now it is considered high. A normal blood pressure reading is 120/80. But only one of the numbers has to be high to put a person at risk of coronary heart disease.
Diet is a important to heart health along with daily exercise, he said. Eat whole wheat, rice grains, fruits, nuts with chicken and fish, he said. Limit red meat to once or twice a week, he advised.
Growing up in Iraq, he said dinner was new to him when his family moved to Canada. The routine in Iraq was to eat a “huge” breakfast usually of breads, nuts and cheese. From there the meals were reduced through the day.
Ehsan prescribed a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day, five times a week. “Walking at work doesn’t count,” he said.
He also noted for those with children, that the kids “watch what we do” and model that behavior.
“Don’t believe everything on Dr. Google,” he said in urging people to talk to their doctor and, if questions remain, to get a second opinion from another doctor.
