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Educate Yourself on Cholesterol!

September is National Cholesterol Education Month. With 65 million American adults with high blood cholesterol, The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s National Cholesterol Education Program has placed an Education Kit online for easy access to the public.

The theme for Cholesterol Month 2006 is “Know your cholesterol numbers—Know your risk—Give yourself some TLC.” All adults should have their cholesterol measured, know their cholesterol numbers and their risk for heart disease, and follow a heart-healthy lifestyle to lower their risk and keep it down. The Cholesterol Education Kit contains a variety of materials that will assist you with this effort. A link to view the kit online or to order information is available through http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/cholmonth/.

Some simple steps suggested by the NHLBI that you can take to help reduce your risk of high cholesterol are listed below:

1. Get a fasting lipoprotein profile to find out what your total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride numbers are.
2. Calculate your risk for heart disease using the assessment tool found in the website.
3. Discuss your risk for heart disease with your physician or other health care provider and take steps to reduce the risk factors that put you at risk.
4. Learn to read a food label! Choose foods that are low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol.
5. Learn more about High Blood Cholesterol and what it means to you.
6. If you have high blood cholesterol, make therapeutic lifestyle changes as recommended on the website.
7. Calculate your body mass index (BMI) with the calculator on the website and see how your weight measures up.
8. Participate in physical activity of moderate intensity—like brisk walking—for at least 30 minutes on most, and preferably all, days of the week. No time? Break the 30 minutes into three, 10-minute segments during the day.
9. Don’t smoke. If you do smoke, contact your healthcare provider to discuss ways in which they can help you quit.

Take advantage of this opportunity to educate yourself on this problem that afflicts so many Americans because you may be one of them!

 

Ann Gasper is the Marketing Director for HSC Medical Center.