by Dan | May 31, 2012 | Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Wellness/Health
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the United States, and includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), hypertension, and peripheral vascular disease (claudication of the legs).
An estimated 6 million people in the US have coronary heart disease, 2 million have cerebrovascular disease, and 58 million people have hypertension. The American Heart Association estimates that 63,290,000 people in the US have cardiovascular disease. So, nobody out there can say that they either do not suffer with it themselves, or that they do not nobody somebody directly who deals with this disease.
The chance of an American male developing coronary artery disease before age 60 is one in 5.
The American Heart Association estimates that 4,740,000 Americans alive today have a history of a heart attack, angina (chest pain), or both.
The even scarier statistic: Sudden death is the presenting symptom in 1 out of every 5 coronary attacks.
I could go on and on with statistics. For many of us, it is really not thought about until it affects either someone close to us, such as family, friends, or even ourselves, before we get the wake up call. There are many risk factors that go into this as well, some of which we can control, and others we cannot. These can range from our age/sex; smoking history; cholesterol levels; race; family history; obesity; hypertension itself; diabetes. We have to be able to control the factors that we can as much as possible. We need to be starting now, not after an event happens.
As I go forward on this topic, I will talk about what things can be done to test and evaluate for some of these problems, and what we can do to try and change our risk factors going forward. For a lot of these risk factors, we are “the drivers in control”. The more we know about our individual risk factors, the more we can do to change them, or at least improve our odds.
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1708
by Dan | May 26, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This was the common question going around in Fargo the day of the half marathon and marathon. Everybody asking “How ya doin’?” following the race. They want to make sure everybody is recovering, and nobody having any health issues following the race. I had to keep asking myself this same thing during the race, and wondering whether I really was or not. When the fatigue starts setting in, your mind starts playing tricks on you, and you have to try and convince yourself that you are OK. At least I did not have to worry about my latest training partner, Steve. I knew he was at the finish line waiting. As I mentioned in the last several posts, he had been having some issues with his heart that were brought more to light several weeks before the marathon day.
Here he is pointing at me, and congratulating me after finishing, and breaking the 4 hour mark. I was happy to have him there, and I am holding my finisher medal over his chest/heart. I wanted him running that day too, but it was much safer for him not to. I would rather have a friend forever, than to have a running partner for 4 hours that day. Having him be safe was far more important than some race. He was with me that day, and especially those last few miles. I kept telling myself: “What would Steve be telling me now? Steve, Carletta, and Sarah are waiting for me at the finish line…keep moving, one foot in front of the other.” Things are improving, and hopefully soon we will be running together on some long runs again. Initial plans and talks may be involving the Walt Disney World marathon in mid January. Some people might think that doing this is just plain “Goofy”, but when you are a runner, or you exercise regularly, you understand. If you don’t have goals in your life, then things just kind of stagnate. You have to be willing to push yourself (as long as it is safe!), in order to really experience life to its fullest. Life brings us challenges everyday, and we deal with it. Knowing that some of these challenges you create for yourself are attainable, it makes some of the everyday challenges we deal with so much easier.
I am going to discuss more over the next several weeks issues in relationship to heart disease, and how it impacts all of us, either directly or indirectly. Exercise is still very important, and very helpful in controlling heart disease, high blood pressure, and all the ramifications thereof, but you have to listen to your body. You have to be aware of the risks involved, and you have to get those risks under control. Once this is done, you can move on and enjoy life much more, and hopefully, it will be a long life.
Keep moving everybody, and be safe!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1703
by Dan | May 24, 2012 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Getting ready for the marathon last saturday. Getting my garmin ready for the start of the race so I can also keep track of my pace and the distance. I was very nervous that morning. My training partner was there to cheer me on, but would have liked it better to have him in the race with me. Even though I was worried how I was going to do this on my own, I would have been more worried had he been in the race with me.
Once I got into the starting area, I started calming down a little more. With almost 2000 people, I guess I was not running alone. Here I am in the middle, with the white cap. As I was coming between mile 24 and 25, one runner collapsed towards me coming around a corner, and I helped get him to the side. Before I even realized, there were 3 medical personnel there to help him, and telling me to go on running, that they had things under control. That last 1 1/2 miles I did even more thinking, glad who I had trained with was waiting at the finish line, and this was not happening to him. I will elaborate a little further as the next posts will discuss issues with heart disease, and what it could me for all of us. For now, everybody keep moving.
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1701
by Dan | May 20, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This was a busy weekend. Friday night in Fargo was the 5k run, with close to 10,000 people, then saturday morning started out with a 10k at 7AM, a half marathon at 7:30, and a full marathon at 8:15. There was a good representation of Watertown up in Fargo this weekend. They even had a 4 person relay team to cover the marathon distance as well. There were around 5,000 people in the half marathon, and almost 2,000 in the marathon. Sarah did the half, and I did the marathon. It was 95 degrees the day before, and we were worried what saturday would bring. Saturday morning was 53 degrees!!!
Here Sarah and I are with our finishers medals. Wiped out! Sarah wanted to finish under 2 hours, and was just over 1:56 minutes. I wanted to finish in under 4 hours, and came in at 3:58:57. Talk about cutting it close. Those last 6 miles were tough…but there were tons of people cheering us on! Making plans again for next year, but hope to have my other marathon training partner back by then too. It was a good day for personal achievements. I will post some other pictures fromt his weekend as this week goes on. Keep moving everybody.
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1697
by Dan | May 13, 2012 | Exercise, Family, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there. I hope you have a great day. It is a day you have earned, and deserve. We all appreciate everything you do, even if you are not always told. I spent the last few days in SF telling my mom this, now it is time to spend the day telling Sarah this as well. I made her breakfast in bed, gave her some gifts, and then we went for a 4 mile walk. Later this afternoon we are going to spend time outside getting some things done. It just goes to show, you can spend time together, and be active.
Here Sarah is with the kids taking a break for a picture while we were climbing Harney Peak a few years ago. You have to stay in shape just to keep up with your kids. What better way to get your point across than to lead by example. Don’t just say “you have to exercise”. Do it with them. We all had a good time on this trip. Of course, you can always make it a little more competitive, and create more fun at the same time. Here Sarah shows them just how tough she can be.
Remember, lead by example. Nothing says it better than that. Happy Mothers day Sarah, and to all you moms out there. I hope your day is wonderful. You deserve it! Stay active everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 1690
