Hospital highlights

Cholesterol Education month

As we move into fall, it is a great time to do a self-assessment of your health. How are you doing on the “5 normals”? We could dramatically reduce health costs if we could say “yes” to the 5 normals. This includes normal blood pressure, normal weight, normal cholesterol, normal hemoglobin A1c (a measure of blood sugar) and NOT smoking.

This month is cholesterol education month. Do you know your numbers? If not, this is a great month to get your 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 your 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 on cholesterol go to this site:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html. There is an interactive tutorial on managing your cholesterol near the bottom of the page.

Debbie Glass, CEO

Whitman Hospital and Medical Center