Prevention Beat
September 4, 2008
Did you know...?
September is National Cholesterol Education Month
High blood cholesterol affects over 65 million Americans. Another 40 million have borderline high cholesterol. High cholesterol is a serious condition that increases your risk for heart disease. The higher your cholesterol level, the greater your risk of heart disease. You can have high cholesterol and not know it. Lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens your risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of having a heart attack or dying of heart disease.
National Cholesterol Education Month is a good time to get your blood cholesterol checked and take steps to lower it if it is high. National Cholesterol Education Month is also a good time to learn about lipid profiles and about food and lifestyle choices that help you reach personal cholesterol goals.
Everyone age 20 and older should have their cholesterol measured at least once every 5 years. It is best to have a blood test called a “lipoprotein profile” to find out your cholesterol numbers. This blood test is done after a 9- to 12 hour fast and gives information about your:
■ Total cholesterol
■ LDL (bad) cholesterol – the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries.
■ HDL (good) cholesterol – protects against heart disease because it helps to keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries. The higher your HDL score, the better.
■ Triglycerides – another form of fat in your blood. A high level of triglycerides can raise your risk for heart disease.
If it is not possible to get a lipoprotein profile done, knowing your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol can give you a general idea about your cholesterol levels. If your total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL or more or if your HDL is less than 40 mg/dL, it is recommended that you have a lipoprotein profile done.
What Affects Cholesterol Levels?
A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:
■ Diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat make your blood cholesterol level go up. Saturated fat is the main culprit, but cholesterol in foods also matters. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet helps lower your blood cholesterol level.
■ Weight. Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase your cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise your HDL and lower your triglyceride levels.
■ Physical Activity. Not being physically active is a risk factor for heart disease. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.
■ Alcohol. Alcohol intake increases HDL ("good") cholesterol but does not lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol. It is uncertain whether alcohol also reduces the risk of heart disease. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver and heart muscle, lead to high blood pressure, and raise triglycerides. Because of the risks, alcoholic beverages should not be used as a way to prevent heart disease.
■ Stress. Stress over the long term has been shown in several studies to raise blood cholesterol levels. One way that stress may do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood cholesterol.
Things you cannot do anything about also can affect cholesterol levels. These include:
■ Age and Gender. As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of menopause, women’s LDL levels tend to rise.
■ Heredity. Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.
Know your cholesterol levels and compare to the cholesterol categories below.
Total Cholesterol Level Category
Less than 200 mg/dL Desirable
200-239 mg/dL Borderline high
240 mg/dL and above High
LDL Cholesterol Level LDL Cholesterol Category
Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal
100-129 mg/dL Near optimal/above optimal
130-159 mg/dL Borderline high
160-189 mg/dL High
190 mg/dL and above Very high
If your cholesterol levels are not within the optimal range, schedule an appointment with your personal physician to discuss what plan is best for you to reduce your levels and reduce your risk for heart disease.
To learn more about National Cholesterol Education Month and/or to calculate your 10 year risk for a heart attack by taking an online Heart Disease Risk Calculator tool, visit the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute webpage at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/.
To learn more about preventive services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer (including cholesterol screening) please contact our client services department at (816) 561-2105 (option 1).
The parent company of OHS-COMPCARE has recently opened an urgent care clinic called Adult Quick Care (located at 19000 E. Eastland Center Court, Suite 300, Independence MO 64055). Adult Quick Care will be hosting an Open House on September 23, 2008 from 3-6pm. In
conjunction with the Open House will be a mini-health fair to include cholesterol screening. If you would like to attend the Open House
and get your cholesterol levels checked please RSVP by calling 816-561-2105 (option 1).
To learn more about Adult Quick Care please visit www.adultquickcare.com.
*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*
To view the Tip of the Week in Spanish please visit our Tip of the Week library at http://www.ohscompcare.com/totw/. Please allow a few days for the current Tip of the Week to be translated and placed in to the library.
To learn more about services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services Team at (816) 561-2105 (option 1) or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com. You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.
Why choose us? Because OHS-COMPCARE gets your employee in and out quickly. Throughput standards average 60 minutes for physician visits and average 20 minutes for a nursing or drug screen visit.
OHS-COMPCARE has eight (8) area clinical facilities:
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Blue Springs Clinical Facility |
Independence Clinical Facility |
Johnson County Clinical Facility |
St. Joseph Clinical Facility |
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801 NW St. Mary’s Drive |
19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200 |
10415 Lackman Road |
904 Edmond Street |
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Blue Springs, MO 64104 |
Independence, MO 64055 |
Lenexa, KS 66219 |
St. Joseph, MO 64501 |
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816-224-9121 |
816-478-9299 |
913-495-9905 |
816-233-7702 |
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After Hours Available |
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KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility |
KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility |
Wyandotte County Clinical Facility |
Grandview Clinical Facility |
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1650 Broadway |
6501 East Commerce, Suite 110 |
1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200 |
13830 S Us Highway 71 |
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Kansas City, MO 64108 |
Kansas City, MO 64120 |
Kansas City, KS 66102 |
Grandview, MO 64030 |
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816-842-2020 |
816-483-5550 |
913-596-2774 |
816-761-4664 |