Today,
unfortunately for you, I'm going to be the kind of teacher I had too
many of back when I was in school. That means, I'm afraid, that I'm
going to be really mean and give you an unannounced spot quiz to test
your knowledge. Before you break out in a cold sweat at this unexpected
turn of events, insisting that you had no time to study for lots of
reasons but mainly because of the NDP government (after all, everything
else is their fault so why not this as well?), relax because unlike
high school, no one will fail this quiz, mainly because you don't
have to hand in anything - it's all on the honour system.
.....
So here's the quiz, and it consists of only one question: what health
problem kills more women than any other health problem?
.....
You have your answers ready? Good, so march to the head of the class,
those who wrote down "heart disease" (I'll also, by the way, grudgingly
accept "cardiovascular disease" from the know-it-all smarty-pants).
But those who answered "cancer" or "breast cancer", I suggest you
hang around for the rest of the column. Actually, everyone should
read on because you can probably all learn a thing or two here.
.....So
let's go back a step and re-state that despite many women's misconceptions
about breast cancer being their number one health threat, the simple
fact remains that for now and for the foreseeable future, heart disease
is going to kill way more women than breast cancer will, and it certainly
kills way more men than anything else does.
.....I
bring up heart disease today for three reasons. First, February is
heart disease month (which reminds me that I've never figured out
who declared that every health problem, with the exception of constipation,
I suppose, should have its own month).
.....Second,
most women (and some doctors) don't seem to realize just what a threat
heart disease is to their well-being. Thus, in many surveys, large
numbers of women list breast cancer as their biggest health threat.
Also, studies show that often women have symptoms that differ from
those we traditionally associate with heart disease, and as a result,
women tend to be under-treated for their failing or blocked coronary
arteries.
.....And
finally, what's most frustrating to |
title because
it finally allowed my mom to brag that I was more than "just a GP"),
is that heart disease is largely preventable. Now I'm sure you all
know the elements long promoted to prevent heart disease, but for
the slower ones, here's a quick review:
1) don't smoke;
2) don't drink too much alcohol
3) get lots of exercise
4) maintain a weight close to what nature intended you to weigh
5) minimize stress in your life
6) eat a diet rich in fruits, veggies, grains, soy, and fiber, while
minimizing your intake of saturated and trans fats
7) keep your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar
levels within normal limits.
.....
All that seems pretty straight-forward and beyond debate. There
is, however, probably lots more at work in raising the risk of heart
attacks, and some of it is controversial.
.....
Take cholesterol levels, for example. As you all know, I believe
very strongly that far too often we've jumped the gun in promoting
the more liberal use of medications long before we knew all the
harm those drugs might lead to. (By the way, the first person to
say "like hormone replacement therapy for menopause, eh?" gets to
be class monitor for a day). So I've been wary about what I considered
the too-free use of cholesterol-lowering drugs because I felt that
not only did we not know enough about the drawbacks of these drugs,
but we also really haven't known how low cholesterol levels can
fall. Well, since I'm not a politician, I have no trouble in saying
that I've changed my mind, so I confess that I now think that way
more of you should be on one of those new statin drugs - Lipitor,
Pravachol, Zocor, Mevacor, and others - because I believe we now
know enough to say that they're not only quite safe, but that they're
also very good at lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes
by lowering LDL ("bad cholesterol") levels, and too many of you
are walking around with LDL levels that are too high. More interestingly,
perhaps, statins may also have other health benefits, such as, for
example, lowering the risk of osteoporosis, colon cancer, and even
Alzheimer's disease.
Continued
on Page 9
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Dr.
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WHERE PEOPLE COME
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