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Show Fitness Update 40 Million Have Some Heart Disease By DALE O. NELSON Professor at HSU The American Heart Association Asso-ciation reports that more than 40 million Americans have some form of heart disease requiring re-quiring treatment. Also, the report re-port estimates 35 million people peo-ple have high blood pressure, a major risk factor in the development de-velopment of heart disease, our No. 1 killer. WITH THIS information plugged into your computer, you may recall the media has consistently made a big deal of the beneficial effects of drinking drink-ing alcohol (in moderation) for the prevention of heart disease. dis-ease. Yes. it does raise the high density lipoproteins-chulesterol, lipoproteins-chulesterol, which seems to play a favorable role in helping our bodies process the abnormally abnor-mally large amount of unde-sireahle unde-sireahle low density lipopro-teins-cholesterol. But this makes alcohol appear to be a long lost friend rather than what ii really is. In addition to all of the well-known well-known detrimental effects of alcohol on man and society, it also plays a significant role in the onset of high blood pressure. press-ure. According to Dr. Lawrence Lawr-ence J. Beilin of Australia, alcohol consumption ranks close to obesity as a preventable prevent-able cause of hypertension. He and his associates found a direct relationship between alcohol consumption and high blood pressure rise. FOR EACH glass of beer consumed a day (equivalent to one ounce of hard alcohol or one glass of wine), Dr. Deilin measured a one point rise in ! blood pressure. He found that people who drank even minimal minim-al quantities of alcohol had higher blood pressures than teetotalers, and hypertension (defined as blood pressure over 140-90) was four times greater in heavier drinkers than among non-drinkers. Of 260 men in the study who consumed more than three '; glasses of beer a day, 10. 4 per cent had systolic blood press- ; ures (upper number of blood pressure reading) over 140, compared to 2.6 percent of 1 17 nondrinkers. Diastolic pressures press-ures over 90 (the lower number) num-ber) was found in 10 percent of the high alcohol population and only 3.4 percent in the nondrinking group. SINCE WE have highlighted high blood pressure, a glaring heart disease risk factor, let's not lose sight of the American salt problem. In the U.S. today, to-day, the average adult consumes con-sumes two to two and a half teaspoons of salt a day. more than 20 times what your body needs. Dr. Lot Page, chief of medicine medi-cine at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital, says. "The link between be-tween salt and hypertension is as firm as the link between high cholesterol and heart disease." dis-ease." A final reminder, too. smoking and obesity also con-tributed con-tributed to high blood pressure. THE BOTTOM line in the research literature today is that you should adjust your life style toward being a thin, active, ac-tive, nonsmoking, nondrinking nondrink-ing vegetarian. Is there any better time to get started than now '.' |