You can learn a lot about your risk for heart disease from just a few numbers. Here's how some of the more important risk factors are measured.
Fat
One of the simplest statistics is one you probably know already: the size of your waist. There are exceptions, but a waistline of more than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men usually indicates overweight.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
A bit more scientific measure that applies equally to men and women is BMI. This is a highly accurate indicator of the percentage of your body that's fat. The numbers come from body weight (in kilograms) relative to height (in meters, squared).
You needn't do the math. Your doctor or librarian can help you find a lookup table, or you can find easy-to-use calculators on the Web that only require you to know your weight in pounds and your height in feet and inches.
Blood pressure
First, visit almost any shopping mall or drug store and ask where to find their sphygmomanometer. Explain that it's the gizmo that combines a cuff, a pressure registering system and a stethoscope to measure your blood pressure. Most malls and many pharmacies have them around for free check-ups.
This device gives you two numbers:
- Systolic pressure—how much pressure your heart needs to pump blood out to your body, and
- Diastolic—the pressure needed to get blood back into your arteries.
You're hoping for 120/80 or lower. If your first number is over 140 and the second over 90, that's called "hypertension." Make an appointment with your doctor. Remember, if you're diabetic you should aim for 130/80.
Cholesterol
You can't test for cholesterol yourself, but testing requires only a small blood sample, usually drawn by pricking your thumb or finger. You'd like the total number (a measure of the quantity in your blood) to be under 200. A reading between that and 239 puts you in a worrisome zone. Anything 240 or above is definitely high.
You'd also like the LDL's ("bad") cholesterol to be under 130; 160 and above is high. Triglycerides should be low as well. Under 200 is normal.
And there's that one cholesterol number you want high. The HDLs ("good") cholesterol should measure 35 or above; anything under that signals "risk factor."