In today's economic climate cost cutting is the buzz phrase of the decade. Everywhere you look some one of something needs to be cut back. Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others health care costs are being cut as well. But, I often wonder how many people understand just how high health care really cost these days. If you look at just cardiovascular health care costs alone the numbers are staggering each year.
The effects of cardiovascular disease (which high cholesterol is listed under) are painful physically, emotionally and financially. Here are some numbers to illustrate my point.
1. Currently over 69 million Americans have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease.
2. Over four million vascular or cardiac surgeries of some type are performed each year in the U.S. alone.
3. For each person who dies from cardiovascular disease, millions of other people are suffering through various treatments and procedures to help treat their medical conditions. These various treatment procedures cost anywhere from as little as one thousand dollars a year for medication. To between $10,800 to $209,000 for surgery according to Metropolitan Life Insurance company statistical bulletins.
Remember this doesn't include the billions of dollars spent to care for the millions of people who are placed in various medical facilities like assisted living, care homes or skilled nursing rehab centers. They are placed there as a result of becoming disabled because of a stroke or heart attack and unable to return home. Some times they go there on a temporary basis and other times this new location becomes their new home because they are unable to return home.
For too many people (100 million plus) in the U.S. alone high cholesterol has been identified as one of the leading causes for strokes and heart attacks. Cholesterol lowering campaigns come and go all over the country but, people still fail to understand the importance of heeding the advice given. So the cost keep escalating every year as more people are affected by either a stroke or heart attack form clogged arteries in the brain or heart.
What causes so many people to have high cholesterol despite all of the warnings, educational materials and advertisements advising folks like you and I to lower our cholesterol? The reasons are many but; some include genetics, lack of exercise, and poor diet choices. Two of the three listed reasons you can actually do something about if you so chose to travel down those paths. The two choices you pick that can impact you right away are to increase the amount of exercise you do and change your eating.
Changing your eating habits often requires a lot more effort then most people are willing to expend even thou it is not as difficult as you may believe it to be. I often find that most of us one don't have the time to research what's healthy and what isn't. Or we just want to get something that will guide us down the road to a better diet and be done with it.
If either of the points sound familiar eatsmartforhealthyheart.com click here to learn how to improve your diet and how you can prepare healthy meals that both you and the family can enjoy without breaking your food budget in the process. Just remember this quick and easy when it comes to food choices often leads to long and painful health problems down the road. Make the healthy meal choices today and you may just be surprised at how well you feel and how low your cholesterol can go.
Learn more about heart healthy eating habits and meals that help lower your cholesterol at
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