According to CDC latest report, there are more adults walking but less than half are getting the recommended exercise.


 While more adults are reporting walking at least 10 minutes daily as part of a healthy lifestyle, fewer than half of all adults are getting the recommended weekly amount of physical activity, according to a recent Morbidity and Mortality weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend ≥ 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (e.g. brisk walking), or ≥ 75 minutes/week of vigorous-intensity (e.g. jogging), or an equivalent combination, in periods lasting at least 10 minutes each to gain substantial health benefits. Walking is the most commonly reported physical activity by U.S. adults.


 

CDC assessed that around 62 % of all American adults in 2010 have been walking at least one bout of 10 minutes or more in the last 1 week which is significantly higher prevalence than around 56% in 2005. However one third of U.S. adults report no aerobic physical activity and less than half adults gets the recommended aerobic activity in a week.


It is extremely important that education about Healthy life style is reached to every one. This is where we, Cardiac Center of Texas, are striving hard and strongly committed to reach the general population for better health of our community and nation.


We encourage people to be involved in active and regular exercise. Like physical activity, diet is vital to your cardiovascular health. We recommend the people to be aware of the nutritional values of their diet. We should all be on low calorie, low fat diet and need to increase vegetable and fruit serving and cut back on free sugar intake. We should be reducing everyday red meat intake and increase white meat and fish intake and only be using lean proteins.


“Doing regular exercises does not mean doing strenuous exercises or going over the top but best practice is to do moderate exercise and do it consistently, e.g. may even do brisk walking for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times a week or doing which ever activity which suits you or you love, e.g. dancing, yoga, cycling etc. The key is to love and enjoy what you are doing and continue to keep doing it. It will help as long as you don’t quit exercising and if you do quit for some reason, restart exercising as soon as you can. Do not think that it is too late or it is of no use as it has been a long time. Exercise always helps,” Dr. Khan states.

“It is important to perform regular exercise and not concentrate too much on losing weight. Even if you are not losing weight but doing your exercises, it will help towards your better health substantially,” Dr. Khan always says.

We at Cardiac Center of Texas recommend regular aerobic exercises not just for over all health but also to help reduce the risk of significant Coronary Artery Disease (Heart Disease) in the future.


*Photo credit http://www.naama-ym.com/

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a report summarizing findings from Agency supported research project on women`s health.

-Women are 52% more likely then men to experience a meaningful delay in emergency care.

-Aspirin therapy to prevent heart attack may have different benefits in men and women.

-There is association between heart disease and breast cancer drug like anthracyclines.

-Postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk for CV events.

-Female stroke patients are less likely than men to receive preventive care for subsequent strokes.

M Akram Khan,M.D.,FACC

People who have newly diagnosed heart disease almost always have lots of questions for their physicians. From medications to testing procedures, patients have to absorb a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time.

A cardiologist knows all too well the effect that diet and lifestyle can have on the heart and how important diet and exercise are to overall heart health. Unfortunately, many times physicians simply don’t have the time to explain to patients how to make significant lifestyle modifications to help control or even reverse heart disease.

Frustrated by the limited time he had to help patients understand heart healthy nutrition, Dr. Khan approached a registered dietitian to lead an innovative approach to medical appointments. Dr. Khan’s goal was to help patients truly understand diet and heart health by implementing what he calls “group appointments”.

The group appointments are designed to give patients significantly more time to understand nutrition and its effect on the heart. Topics discussed include, understanding the difference between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, managing cholesterol levels, and what types of foods to include or leave out of your diet. Typically the group appointments last 1-2 hours and are conducted with about 5-10 patients.

Since beginning the program in January, Dr. Khan has gotten tremendous feedback from the participants.

“The dietitian makes difficult nutrition concepts easy to understand, and I am thankful for the extra time I get.” said one recent group appointment attendee.

Dr. Khan also participates in parts of the class, and spends individual time with the patients discussing their specific issues.

“I hope patients learn to make lifestyle modifications that will allow them to lead full, happy and long lives. That’s really what it’s all about.” Said Dr. Khan.

What do you think? Would you find a group appointment valuable?

Watch as Dr. Khan discusses why he implemented Group Appointments….