PATIENT EDUCATION

 

At CCEM we believe that a smart patient is the best patient!

We want you to be the best educated patients around, so we are helping you study!

 

There is so much information available to patients today, with the Internet making access to bad information just as easy as access to good information. So how do you determine which is which?

 

One of the most important things to remember is to stick with names you know! If you were going to buy a car, you probably wouldn't buy one from the Wind-Up Car Company--you would buy one from a company you have either had experience with or heard good things about. You would do your research. When it comes to your healthcare, you should be even more vigilant about using trusted information. If you have a choice of believing information from The American Heart Association or Sally-Jo's Homespun Medical Blog, common sense would say to trust the AHA. It is important to remember, however, that before making any decisions about medication, exercise or diet that you speak to your doctor, regardless of where the information came from.

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Smoking cessation (also known as quitting smoking or stopping smoking) is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is addictive and can cause dependence. Nicotine withdrawal often makes the process of quitting difficult. It is never too late to benefit from being a non-smoker. If you quit smoking, even for a few hours, your blood pressure and heart rate drop. This can help improve your heartfailure symptoms, such as shortness of breath and fatigue.

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Lower Your Cholesterol

High cholesterol is one of the major controllable risk factors for coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke. If you have other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes, your risk increases even more.

 

You should have less than 200 mg a day of cholesterol. Cholesterol is in foods of animal origin, such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, shrimp, and whole milk dairy products. 

 

Eat plenty of soluble fiber. Foods high in soluble fiber help prevent your digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol. These foods include

• Whole-grain cereals such as oatmeal and oat bran

• Fruits such as apples, bananas, oranges, pears, and prunes

• Legumes such as kidney beans, lentils, chick peas, black-eyed peas, and lima beans

 

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Eat fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Limit salt.  and Limit alcohol.