Heart disease causes more than 1 in 4 deaths and remains the #1 killer in the United States. Heart disease is driven by high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, tobacco use, inactivity, and poor diet. Although heart related deaths decreased slightly in 2022 after pandemic spikes, risk factors including high blood pressure and obesity are on the rise.
The Tri-state area has several facilities and departments dedicated to improving heart health. Let’s look at what’s available:
Southwest Health – Platteville and Kieler, Wisconsin
“Southwest Health is proud to keep local access to high-quality, specialty care close,” said Abbey Droessler, Director of Marketing and Communications. “Our team is committed to helping our community stay healthy through prevention, education, and personalized care.” Southwest Health offers a variety of heart related services and wants you to be aware of “five significant biometric numbers can help you and your primary care physician determine if you are at risk for heart disease.” The numbers include:
Total Cholesterol or the total amount of the waxy, fat-like substance in the blood, include low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL “good”) cholesterol. A high level of LDL can raise your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Blood Pressure or the amount of pressure of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries which carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body is also an indicator of possible heart problems. High blood pressure can lead to heart disease.
Blood Sugar or blood glucose if allowed to remain high can seriously damage your heart.
Body Mass Index or BMI measures a person’s weight-to-height ratio and determines if a person is obese. Obesity is one of the risk factors for developing heart disease.
Minutes of Exercise measures the amount of time a person spends with an elevated heart rate and directly correlates with the numbers listed above. Regular physical activity lowers the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of activity per week.
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