Cholesterol education

Whew! I know many of you were involved with the fair last week. It was the first time for me, and I enjoyed meeting community members at the hospital booth. I was impressed by the many volunteer hours that are required to make the fair a success.

Thanks to all for supporting the fair through attendance, volunteering and/or buying animals.

As we move into fall, it is a great time to do a self-assessment of your health. How are you doing on the “five normals”? We could dramatically reduce health costs if we could say “yes” to the five normals. This includes normal blood pressure, normal weight, normal cholesterol, normal hemoglobin (a measure of blood sugar) and not smoking.

This month is cholesterol education month, a great month to get cholesterol levels checked. There are two types of cholesterol, LDL and HDL.

High LDL can be a factor in cardiovascular disease leading to a stroke or heart attack. Diet, exercise and weight loss can all be important in bringing cholesterol down. Eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is the main reason for high levels of cholesterol and a high rate of heart attacks in the United States.

You may also be prescribed medication to help lower your cholesterol. If you would like more information, here is a link to the National Institute on Health on cholesterol:

http://www.nlm.nih. gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html.

An interactive tutorial on managing cholesterol is located near the bottom of the page.

Debbie Glass, CEO

Whitman Hospital and Medical Center