“Women need to learn about the prevention, signs and symptoms, and treatment of heart disease just as much as men do. There is a lot of publicity about breast cancer and fear of this disease gets women to be proactive with the recommendations for surveillance and management. But coronary artery disease is still the #1 killer in women” says Christina Birch, RN, ANP, Adult Nurse Practitioner at Berkeley Cardiovascular Medical Group, Berkeley, CA. That’s why we’ve spent the week talking about the nine ways to reduce your odds of getting heart disease. Today, the final two:

8. Identify stress points and fix them When you know you’re under stress and need some down time, go for a leisurely walk, take a warm bath, or go for a massage.  Whatever you enjoy that relaxes you, find time to do it. If you don’t take care of stresses when they’re small, you could wind up with big problems to fix later on.

9.  Alcohol Consumption In the INTERHEART Study, “Regular alcohol use was defined as consumption three or more times a week.” The study suggests that “advice about alcohol use could be best customized to individuals depending on their social, cultural, and religious backgrounds and the overall effect on their health.”

Drinking too much alcohol can, over time, damage your heartand raise your blood pressure. If you drink alcohol, you should do so moderately. For women, moderate drinking means one drink per day. For men, it means two drinks per day. One drink counts as:

• 5 ounces of wine
• 12 ounces of beer
• 1½ ounces of 80-proof hard liquor

We All Need a Little Help We would also love to hear from you regarding tips and tricks you use to stay healthy. Are you using a mobile app to help you quit smoking?  Track your blood pressure?  Monitor your blood sugars?  Help plan your meals?  Please share your recommendations in the comment section below.

267,000 women die each year from heart attacks — six times as many as breast cancer. The good news is, you can tilt the odds in your favor. Click here to see the #1 and #2 things you can do. Click here to see #3 and #4. On to #5, #6 and #7:

5.  Obesity Are you overweight? Well, if you are, you’re increasing your risk for heart disease. In fact, if you have fat around your belly, that’s a major concern. That belly fat (or abdominal obesity) isn’t healthy. Measure your waist, if it’s over 35 inches, that’s a problem.

6.  Sedentary Lifestyle Ok ladies, there’s no excuse for being lazy. I know, we’re all busy and it’s so easy to make excuses, but stop being inactive and just move. Walking counts!

7.  Poor Eating Habits   Following the Mediterranean diet is a good step towards good health. Lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, fish, and whole grains are good choices.

Track your fruits and vegetables.

The common Mediterranean dietary pattern consists of five characteristics:

• A high consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads and cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds
• Olive oil as a key source of monounsaturated fat (monounsaturated fat doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels the way saturated fat does)
• Dairy products, fish and poultry in low to moderate amounts; little red meat is eaten
• Eggs consumed zero to four times a week
• Wine in low to moderate amounts

Love Your Body, Protect Your Heart Tip: Exercise 30 minutes per day, five days per week.  Find a walking path near you.

There are nine major risk factors that impact heart disease. The good news?  There’s something you can do about each one to help prevent heart disease. Yesterday we talked about smoking and cholesterol. Today, number 3 and four on the list:

3.  High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure.

Ideal blood pressure is less than 120/80.

4.  Diabetes Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. It can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb.

Fasting blood sugar should be below 100.

Love Your Body, Protect Your Heart Tip: Learn how to take your own blood pressure and keep track of it.

Today 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold. That’s nothing compared to the 8 billion, yes 8 BILLION, chalky little “Will You Be Mine” heart shaped candies that will fly off the shelf just in time to tell someone special that they are your sweetheart.

But an even more staggering number is this one — 267,000 women die each year from heart attacks — six times as many women as breast cancer.

A large study, called the INTERHEART Study, showed that there are nine major risk factors that account for heart attacks. The good news that came out of this study — heart disease is preventable.

Over the next few days, we’ll look at those nine factors and how you can love your heart and live longer.

1.  Smoking Ladies, one of the best things you can do to prevent heart disease is to put an end to smoking. According to the INTERHEART Study, even smoking one to five cigarettes daily increases your risk for a heart attack by 40 percent. Second hand smoke should be avoided. Once you decide that you really want to take an actionable step to help keep your heart healthy, that’s good news. There is help for nicotine addiction. There are smoking cessation programs that can help.

2.  High Cholesterol, High Triglycerides Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries. This is called plaque. Plaque can narrow your arteries or even block them.

Know your total cholesterol, your LDL (lousy or bad) cholesterol and your HDL (good cholesterol). Total cholesterol needs to be below 200 mg/dL.

HDL (good) cholesterol should be above 60 mg/dL. (In the average woman, they range from 50 to 60 mg/dL. An HDL cholesterol of 60 mg/dL or higher gives some protection against heart disease.)

LDL (lousy or bad) cholesterol should be less than 100 mg/dL.

Triglycerides should be less than 150 mg/dL.

Triglycerides are a type of fat in the bloodstream and fat tissue. Too much of this type of fat can contribute to the hardening and narrowing of your arteries. This puts you at risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Tomorrow we’ll pick up on the list of nine things you can do to decrease your risk of heart disease. In the meantime, if you were a smoker and were able to quit, how did you do it? Did you go to a support group? Did you use an aid, such as a patch, to help you quit? Did you use a “quit smoking app?”  Was it helpful?  Please share your stories with us in the comment section below.

As the Internet grows, the problem of finding excellent resources isn’t as much of an issue as sorting through all the options to figure out which ones are the best. Here’s a list of my top picks:

General Health Information

• cdc.gov
• fda.gov
• clevelandclinic.org
• mayoclinic.org

Healthcare Empowerment

• The Society for Participatory Medicine
• e-Patient.net
• TheHealthCareBlog.com

Empowered Health Tools

• Medical Information Card
• Microsoft Health Vault
• Google Health
• Keas.com

My Personal Favorites

• HealthIn30.com
• I also love DrGreene.com, too!

What are your favorite resources?

Thanks for joining me this week on this blog. I hope you’ve gained some insight into ways you can be a more empowered health consumer. I look forward to seeing you at HealthIn30.com.

Medical History & Medication Form

Don’t leave home without your list of medications and current medical history & medication form.

Understanding your medications and keeping track of them is critical.  It’s a great idea to have these listed on your personal medical history form that you carry with you at all times.  Just in case you end up in the ER or are directly admitted to the hospital, you will be asked multiple times by multiple staff for a list of your medications, past hospitalizations, if you have any allergies and emergency contact numbers.

There are some sites where you can create a small information card; however some people are on many medications that the small size isn’t sufficient.  For a 6×4 size that you can simply carry in a photo style wallet, I’ve created one for you.  You can download it for free by clicking this link, print, complete and carry.  Moms, this form will fit nicely into the popular 6×4 photo wallets.  Keep a list for you, your kids and spouse or significant other, parents and grandparents. It’s great for college students as well.  Men, simply fold to carry in your small wallet.

Consent to Treat Form

In case of an emergency, having a notarized consent-to-treat form signed by the child’s caregiver will prevent treatment from being delayed.  Of course any life-threatening illnesses or injuries are always top priority, but for a non-critical case having the proper forms will help expedite the process. Find the consent-to-treat form at Emergencycareforyou.org, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) website.

We would love to hear from you.  Do you think you are an empowered health consumer?  What are your tips?

Before you go to an appointment with a doctor or other healthcare professional, write down any questions you may have.  Ask questions about your diagnosis, medications, tests, and follow-ups.  Be in charge and know what’s going on.  Ask for a copy of your test results.

Here are some questions that you may want to ask your doctor:

• What are the causes of my symptoms?
• Will the symptoms go away?
• How long will they last?
• What tests are needed to determine the cause of this condition?
• How is this condition diagnosed?
• What are the criteria for diagnosis?
• What is the treatment?
• Are there alternative therapies?
• What over-the-counter medications would be helpful?
• What prescription medications would be helpful?
• Will my present medications interfere with any of these new medications?
• Should my diet change?
• Are there certain foods that I should be eating?
• What lifestyle changes should be made?

Too many of us have left an appointment only to remember a question we planned to ask. By writing down your questions in advance you won’t leave without the answers you need necessitating a follow-up visit or a string of phone-tag calls with your doctor.

Don’t believe everything you read or hear without questioning it.  Listen to a health report with ears wide open and don’t be afraid to question it.  When searching for health information on the web, check out sites such as cdc.gov, fda.gov, clevelandclinic.org, and mayoclinic.org, but don’t stop there.  There are some other great sites that are not so well known, and offer exceptional information.

“Always read an article with a critical eye. Does what the author say make sense?  Check the facts and get the facts from more than one source”, says Kevin Soden, MD, medical journalist and author.

If news shows aren’t asking the tough questions; go ahead and ask your own questions.  Ask questions when you’re searching for health information on the web or listening to a health report.

When health consumers surf the web for health information, Matthew Holt, founder of thehealthcareblog says, health consumers should, “Check multiple sources. Ask questions in consumer forums and look for multiple answers.”

Gary Schwitzer, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication and is the Publisher of HealthNewsReview’s mission is to review health news coverage every day to make sure news stories are accurate.

There is plethora of health information circulating the web, and network news broadcast serious health information in only a couple of minutes or less.  Since some news health segments may only be a few minutes long, viewers may not be getting all the information they need.

Here’s an example where critical information is missing.

In a recent blog by Gary Schwitzer, “CBS Early Show should read us the health news right out of the paper”, Schwitzer questions the validity of this health report.

“Did it come from a study? Or straight out of the Wall Street Journal? Last week the CBS early show brought on another physician-correspondent to talk about the benefits of coffee drinking. Anchor Harry Smith referred to “this new study.” What new study? None was referenced.

Take a look.  What do you think when you hear a report that refers to a “new study?”  Perhaps at the end of this segment “New Research on Java’s Health Perks” Harry Smith or Dr. Alanna Levine  (Primary Care Physician) perhaps could have said, “For more detailed information on this topic, visit our website…”  Unfortunately, there isn’t any detailed information on CBS’s website.  Here’s what you’ll find, “Coffee: New Health Benefits.”

To be an empowered health consumer you need to question what you read and hear.  It’s important to know the source.  Find out what study the story is based upon and who funded the study.

Do you have any examples of times you’ve found a story to have a different impact once you knew what study the story was base upon or who funded it? I’d love to hear!

Being an empowered health consumer is becoming more and more important. Empowered health consumers know how to take charge of their health and are proactive in their care. Whether they’re surfing the web for health information, visiting their doctor or health care professional, or a patient in the hospital; empowered health consumers know how to question and communicate.

Becoming an empowered health consumer is important for Moms because they are often responsible for championing healthcare for their children, their parents, their mate, and of course, for themselves.

It’s fortunate that Moms are an empowered group of women who band together and typically have no problem speaking up on issues that are important to them.  Moms are thirsty for health information, and are active on the front lines of technology.  They know how to navigate the Internet to obtain health info.  Many are active in social communities and they exchange patient stories and share ideas with each other.

This week I’d like to help Moms become more empowered health consumers. I’ll be discussing Understanding Health News, Questions to Ask, What Moms Should Carry In Their Wallets and Online Resources for Becoming an Empowered Health Consumer.

I look forward to your input!