When my mom passed away, my family made the decision to donate her organs. While going through that process, we learned that many of her organs were not useable (not a surprise considering she was a smoker). What was a surprise was that the doctors had found evidence of a heart attack. Apparently when she was younger, my mother experienced a heart attack but was never treated for it (women are statistically more likely to ignore the signs of a heart attack, which are different for women than they are for men).
This is alarming because (1) my paternal grandmother died from a heart defect (she was 30) (2) my maternal grandfather died from a heart attack (he was 50) and (3) my mother died from a cerebral aneurysm (she was 44). I don't want to be part of the trend of young deaths.
The American Heart Association has lots of great information about how to be heart healthy and has highlighted a few areas also crossover into the whole weight loss/health gain arena:
Mel was quick to point out that "a basic blood test can tell you a huge
amount." And well you need to get your butt to a doctor to get that
blood test. My last physical/blood test was July 2012 (though I did get a pre-operative blood test in Dec. 2012 before my neck surgery, it was incomplete (it didn't include a fasting glucose test)). So I'm going to go ahead and schedule an appointment.
Have you gone to the doctor in the past year for a comprehensive physical and blood test?
Have you discussed with your doctor what your results mean?
5 comments
My appointment is scheduled for next Monday. I love going to the doctor for check ups....so informative. It's important to me, coming from a long line of people who suffered/died from heart attacks, to do everything within my power to keep my heart healthy :)
ReplyWell done Dacia!!!
ReplyHopefully your love of health and metrics can inspire someone else!
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Glad I could inspire such a great post. Don't forget it's also so important to know your family health - not just mum and dad, but grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. A family problem might skip your parent. RIP and love to both our mums xxx
ReplyOur moms had some pretty brilliant daughters, eh?
ReplyThey sure did Robby!!!
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<3 Robby