| It's Women's Heart Health Day
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States. As estrogen levels drop with menopause, women no longer have the same protection estrogen gives them from heart disease and high blood pressure. As a result, women's heart-disease risks parallel those of men. However, men and women do not display the same signs of heart disease. Women often first experience angina - chest pain or discomfort that occurs when your heart muscle does not get enough blood. Additional symptoms can include unexplained heartburn, extreme fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath and reoccurring pain. If you haven't done so already, start protecting yourself today by making heart-healthy choices: Eat a variety of colorful fruit and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and fat-free dairy foods, fatty fish, legumes and other lean protein sources.
People's Pharmacy: Mixing Lipitor, alcohol is risky
Dear People's Pharmacy: My husband is 55 years old, 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. He has been on Lipitor for two years. His LDL (bad cholesterol) is still above 210. He hasn't changed his diet of bacon cheeseburgers, steak, french fries, cookies and ice cream, and has two or three drinks a day because he read that this might help lower cholesterol. I thought alcohol should be limited for someone who is taking Lipitor, but his physician has mentioned neither diet nor alcohol. Can you give him some advice as to a healthy diet and recommended alcohol intake? Answer: Lipitor is a powerful cholesterol-lowering drug but is no substitute for a sensible diet. The manufacturer clearly states that Lipitor is to be used in addition to a low-fat diet, exactly the opposite of your husband's eating habits.
Clintonville author
"Writing is something like having indigestion. Once you get the writer's bug, you have to get rid of it," said Vernon Beall, of Clintonville. "You may have to get up at two in the morning to write something down." Beall, whose historical fiction novel "Escape to Love" was recently published, knows this process well. "Once I get an idea, I sit down to write. Those characters are sitting beside me, telling me that story," he said. "Escape to Love," set in 1724, is the story of Jessica, who was brought to the extreme western frontier by her husband Amos. Beall moved to Clintonville three years ago from Maryland, where he had lived the majority of his life. He enjoyed a long career in banking and finance, working in Westminister, Maryland at a national bank.
Heart-attack letter should stir sympathy, action
Thank you Marilynn Lanig for your recent letter to the editor titled, "Don't Downplay Chest Pain," which advocated everyone to be vigilant when it comes to signs of chest pain. Her son recently died of a heart attack at age 45. By mid morning, at least three comments had been posted online in response to the column; two described additional heart attack victims in their mid 40s.
It's hard to medicine to swallow the fact that heart attacks don't only hit people in their 50s, 60s, 70s; smokers; couch potatoes; and diabetics. They hit young people, old people, nonsmokers, smokers, athletes, couch potatoes, thin folks and heavy folks of both sexes. No one is immune to death due to heart attack.
But there are three things everyone can do to minimize their risk of death due to heart attack.
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