WGTS 91.9 we are Jerry and Summer. Summer question for you, scale of one to ten. How stressed are you today? Ten being most stressed.
Oh, no, I'm okay today. Maybe a four.
Okay. So not bad. That's like a normal mom day.
You know stress is a part of everybody's life. It's time for the Health Minute. We've got Doctor Daisy Lazarous joining us. She's a cardiologist and she's the director of the Women's Cardiovascular Program at Adventist HealthCare. She's here to talk about stress and how it impacts our heart and some of the things that we can do about it.
Okay, so let's just start there. Doctor Lazarous, how does everyday stress impact our hearts?
You know, stress can affect you mentally and emotionally, but also physically. Stress and anxiety can actually, some studies show that increase your risk of heart disease by almost thirty five percent. And as we know, women tend to be more prone to stress and anxiety and depression. So this really affects your risk of having heart attacks and heart disease.
Give us some practical strategies. How do we help reduce stress and protect our heart?
You can start with even simple things like breathing exercises when you're stressed, you know, that really helps you reduce your stress. You can do mindfulness exercises there on everybody's iPhones, and listen to your favorite playlist to calm yourself. And I always say if some things are not within your control, let it go. Just focus on what's within your control and just go for a brisk walk because the American Heart Association tells us that we should walk thirty minutes at least five days a week. Doing these simple things can help you mitigate the stress. Just remember that stress is there in everyone's lives. How you react to that stress is what makes it important.
When do I know I've gotten to the point when I should talk to my doctor?
If you have any risk factors, the ones I just mentioned, either the traditional ones or the non traditional ones we talked about, talk to your primary care physician and ask them if it's time for you to go see a cardiologist. So, risk factors. If you have any risk factors, you should make sure that you talk to your primary care. And I always like to say that you are your own best advocate for your health.
So, you have to be tuned into your health, and I like to say that you have to know your numbers. What do I mean by that? So, simple things like if what is your sugar? What is your cholesterol?
What's your bad cholesterol? What's your good cholesterol? What is your A1C if you're pre diabetic or diabetic? What is your BMI?
What's your weight? What is your waist circumference?
All of these factors are important, and if you see that any of them is out of range, just talk to your primary care doctor and ask them, Do I need to see a cardiologist? And also, if you have any of those risk factors during pregnancy, or if you have a family history of early heart disease, you know, you should go on to see a cardiologist.
Thank you, Doctor Lazarous, so, so much. If you want to listen to that full conversation that we had with her, you can find it at wgts919.com along with other Health Minutes. And as always, a big thanks to Adventist HealthCare for sponsoring today's Health Minute.
