It was a Thursday, actually. Tomorrow marks one year since we officially said good bye to Deanna but to me, today felt the eeriest. Probably because it was a Thursday.
Anyways. That's the day that shit just got real for me. So real that it couldn't be escaped. And in the context of our Team and our pledge to fight cardiovascular disease like a mo-fo, just know that losing your 44 year old sibling to a heart attack is clinically significant. And as real as it gets.
Okay, so check it. Last week or so, the powers that be released new guidelines for the management of cholesterol. And let me just say it's kind of complicated and hard to break down quickly, but the take home message is that now they factor in some things that didn't get factored in before. Such as race. And family history of cardiovascular disease. Uhhh, yeah. So what does this mean? It means that some of us who weren't even thinking about taking a statin drug for cholesterol control now might be recommended to do just that.
Yup.
So now, with regard to heart disease prevention and cholesterol, my race and family history pack an added bit of punch. And yeah, these new guidelines are kind of controversial with some but regardless of all that, they are THE recommendations. Yup. So all you over fortysomething people? Listen up. All you people of color and folks with family members who've had cardiovascular events? I'm talking to you.
Get your cholesterol panel checked. And if you've already had it checked get your doctor to look at it with fresh eyes now that these new guidelines just came out. And if someone asks you why you're asking just tell them:
"Because shit just got real. And I need to know just how much."
***
Total: 163
ReplyDeleteTriglyceride: 139
LDL: 57
HDL: 78
Not the best it's been recently, but I'm keeping it.