Be in the Know!

We welcome this guest blog post from:

Gavin Pritchard, RD, CDE, CD-N

Dietitian-Chef

Population Health and Prevention

Stamford Hospital 

Did you know that what you don’t know can hurt you?  Awareness of what the risk factors for heart disease and stroke are, and where you stand with them personally, is the courageous first step to take in maximizing your heart health. 

Risk factors are conditions or behaviors that increase your chance of developing heart disease and stroke.  Some risk factors we can’t change, like age, gender, and family history.  But others are within our power to control, like high blood pressure, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity and being overweight, high cholesterol, and diabetes. 

Small, simple changes in lifestyle can be really effective in improving these modifiable risks.  For example, slowly increasing your activity level by taking a daily walk of moderate intensity, and eating healthier by simply adding healthy ingredients like frozen or fresh vegetables, beans and lentils, and whole grains like barley, to your current recipes, can make a difference. 

So if you haven’t checked your risk profile in a while, or haven’t ever checked, take the important first step in preventing the number one killer of women, and contact your physician now! 

The American Heart Association's online risk assessment tool is available at www.mylifecheck.org .