I think I'm going to STROKE!

My dear husband had his annual physical this morning. We have officially hit "middle ages" as he is now a subscriber to high blood pressure medication. I still have the misconception that we are in our late twenties over mid thirties. We still are closer to the twenties than forty. So that is reassuring for me. As more and more of our friends are having these chronic health issues such as type II diabetes and heart attacks and high blood pressure, I think wow, they are so young. Or are they???? I consider them young, because yes, I am young!

I browsed the fact sheet for heart disease for men. I can't even post it on here, because sadly, it scares the begeezies out of me. You can read it if you are interested.

"Heart disease is often perceived as an "older woman's disease," and it is the leading cause of death among women aged 65 years and older. However, heart disease is the 3rd leading cause of death among women aged 25–44 years and the 2nd leading cause of death among women aged 45–64 years." CDC

Okay, and that's scary too!

Here are the recommendations for women for prevention of heart disease:

Cigarette smoking cessation
30 minutes physical activity most days
Heart-healthy diet
Weight maintenance/reduction
Evaluation and treatment of depression

I rely heavily on that first one. I don't smoke. :)

Seriously though, you should make sure that you have an annual physical to screen for heart disease. At the Tulsa Health Department, you can have a cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes and anemia screening all for only $12 or you can have each individual screening for $3 each. At the least I would recommend an annual screening for these chronic diseases to prevent dire consequences.