- December 4, 2024
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September is Healthy Aging Month. How old do you want to be?
You have a choice. The lifestyle choices you make now can help you stay healthier, feel younger and probably live longer.
A blood test with your yearly checkup is your GPS to taking care of yourself. Test results that are outside the normal range are often marked in red. Borderline in yellow. Normal in green. Look at your numbers and don’t be shy about asking your doctor to explain what those numbers mean.
Do you have high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low HDLs, belly fat, high blood sugar?
When you have three or more of these health issues, there’s a good chance you’ve got metabolic syndrome. It’s not a disease. It’s a name for the perfect storm that happens when these conditions interact with each other and make them all worse.
Check out the chart below. Metabolic syndrome increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and premature death. And your risk increases as you age.
A study by the National Institutes of Health found metabolic syndrome is associated with a 68% increase in risk of sudden death.
So how do you fix this?
Severe issues may require medical attention. But these simple but aggressive lifestyle changes will work together to help manage every one of those risk factors.
You can do this. It’s not as hard as you think.
Mirabai Holland is CEO of NuVue LLC. She is a certified health coach, exercise physiologist and wellness consultant for Manatee County government employees and has a private practice. She holds an MFA from NYU and is also an artist who believes creativity enhances health. Email her with your questions at [email protected].