I work with Heart!

yeah... that's the theme for this year's World Heart Day peeps. it was more or less the same than last year's except for the additional letter I.


A very important letter that one. coz this time, they are emphasizing people to take care of their OWN hearts. and guessing from that tagline, one can tell that either last year's campaign didn't succeed well or impressive enough coz now they want ppl to be responsible of their OWN health, or they are being obsessive and plain lazy in wanting to treat too many heart cases. either way, you, (yeah, the individual heart owner you!) win both ways. how?


well 1st, if u care enough of your OWN heart, you'll care enough to do something so that you don't get sick and go thru all the horror and pain of getting a heart attack, let say while you're playing golf or showering or even when making love! (imagine having sex and then instead of thinking that your partner is gasping for air from ecstasy, he/she is actually collapsing! probably the mother of all turn-offs that would be huh!). 2ndly, you wouldn't want to be seeing the scarce, tired, angry doctors who had overworked and not getting enough sleep from last night's call, getting all worked up and hysterical at you when you report in at 3am for chest pain now do you? well.. not all of us will get all hysterical lar...just the hype you're made to believe thru tv dramas like Grey's anatomy and ER. but most of the time cool jer. :P

So i've been assigned to give a talk on World Heart Day and its contingency plan in creating awareness to people. to people who don't have time to read about health or care of their existing illnesses. no offense. i would not read much on financial stuff for the fun of it either but i at least i care enough to know my numbers.


Speaking of numbers. there are a few important numbers one needs to know in maintaining a good beating heart and preventing heart attacks. These are in a form of:

• blood pressure reading: <140/80mmHg
• cholesterol level, especially the bad ones called Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and triglycerides (TG); LDL < 3.0 and TG < 150mg/dL
• waist-hip ratio (WHR): women < 0.8 and men < 0.9
• body mass index (BMI) < 23
• fasting blood sugar < 5.5mmol/L     

i'm pretty sure you all know the explaination behind these numbers created. coz i'm assuming with utmost optimism that you all actually CARE about your OWN body. So i will only touch on the WHR (coz it's the simplest! ;p).


Basically, studies found that WHR may be more accurate than BMI, based on the fact that "bad fat" prefers to accumulate around the tummy and hip areas compared to some place else. for instance, take a look at this pic:

             
As you can see, they both have the same height and weight. thus resulting with the same BMI. BMI of 33 will categorize them as BOTH obese. but the difference is that Mr Hulk Hogan on the left is made of lean, healthy muscles from proteins (of course!). all of which are good for you than surrounding your organs with wet, oily fat globules! trust me, i've seen how a fat abdomen looks like under the knife, and it ain't pretty ya'll! so if you notice a bulging belly or have your very own muffin-top, probable diagnosis of your own would be a growing baby (for non-menopausal ladies) or a growing tumor or a growing slush of fat! go figure!


that would be one of the 10 simple steps to caring your heart recommended for this year's theme. others include:

• Healthy food intake - Eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables
• Get active & take heart - at least 30mins for at least 5 days
• Say no to tobacco!
• Maintain a healthy weight - however you wanna do it, but pls don't hurt yourself in the process. coz it'll be more work for us! ;P
• Limit your alcohol intake
• Insist on a smoke-free environment
• Bring exercise to the workplace
• Choose healthy food options - when eating out
• Encourage stress-free moments - of course, i would say this is of utmost importance. as i see it in future, diseases related to the mind manifesting physically, will be much more prevalent than communicable ones. unless, you're in a country that is filled with mostly ignorant ppl, let say they don't empty collected water in old tin cans from their backyard so that dengue virus can grow and infect their neighbours who actually do their part, then you're just that unlucky lar. instead of focusing on one problem in keeping with the advancement of human race, you're stuck with just a tad too many. (selfish? u bet!)

ok. it looks like i was a bit out of topic there, but it was still related to health right? so what the heck. and i agree, i too need to keep my stress level in check in order to stay sane in a place where ppl needs constant reminders. we all ain't that perfect after all are we?


so that's all i have to share for today. till the next gruelling health consultation! ;P


toodles!