In the U.S., we know how to make a difference in weight control, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. For example, the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is the best predictor of heart disease in diabetes. But we don’t know many who need the help!
Undiagnosed obesity: 22.9%. Undiagnosed diabetes: 11.3%. Undiagnosed high blood pressure: 16.1%. Undiagnosed high cholesterol: 37.7%. And that’s using the older, more liberal numbers for cholesterol of the year 2000, according to a new study in Family Medicine.
To know your lab numbers, get them measured: see your doctor, go to a health screening, talk to your pharmacist. Information is power: know your Framingham Risk Score for heart disease. Find out your Body Mass Index (BMI) free. Use a cholesterol-lowering diet, or the Harvard-tested DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) for high blood pressure, and DASH recipes by Dr. La Puma. Take control!