•
Franklin Club Apartments is hosting a symposium
for Clergy, Physicians, and Service Center Directors
involved with Senior Citizens and their families.
•
Cholesterol Counts
Continued from preceding page
UPDATE FOR SENIORS
Tuesday, February 6th • 9:30 - Noon
PANEL:
JOYCE HUNT
MEDICARE SPECIALIST
Area Agency on Aging 1-B
Changes in Medicare; Medicare Supplemental Insurance.
STUART WHITE
LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR
Office of Services to The Aging
Alzheimer Information; Home Health Care Assistance
TIM McGUIRE
-
DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY & PLANNING
Area Agency on Aging 1-B
Housing and Transportation Alternatives.
DORIS SCHUCHTER
R.N. OAKLAND COUNTY HEALTH DIVISION
Counseling and Nursing Information,
Hospital Equipment Availability.
GAIL CHECHLOWSKI
CONSUMER INFORMATION REPRESENTATIVE
Older Adult Services, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak
Information and referral.
Services within the community and Beaumont Hospital.
A.A.R.P.
Moderated by the American Association of Retired Persons
Question time from 11:30-Noon.
You can be a part of this information sharing
by contacting
Special Projects Co-ordinator
Barbara Stone 353 - 0212
• •
Reservations Required
b ea
• FRANKLIN
CLUB APARTMENTS
28301 Franklin Road, Southfield, Michigan 48034
(313) 353-2810
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9
I HEALTH
•
take charge of your
cholesterol level is fairly
straightforward — you make
changes in your diet!'
But cutting fat from the
diet is not necessarily an
answer to everyone's
cholesterol woes. "Seventy-
five percent of those with
high cholesterol are diet-
responsive," says Morganroth.
"For the remaining 25 per-
cent, diet won't change
anything. I suspect medica-
tion will be needed in these
cases!' The old standby, he
says, is Cholestyramine,
which can cause flaltulence
or constipation. A new drug
on the market is Lovastatin,
but Morganroth warns that it
can have harsher side effects,
such as liver toxicity and
cataracts.
For most of us, proper diet
is the answer. "I would eat
fish as often as possible," ad-
vises Morganroth. "Studies
show that certain fish,
notably cold water fish, pro-
vide a fatty substance, Omega
3 oil, which may help increase
the blood's high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) — the 'good
cholesterol! "
Indeed, fish is food for
thought, but so are many
other items readily available
on the market, says Brest,
who recommends fish and
fowl without the skin. He ad-
vises the cholesterol-
conscious to cut down on milk
and milk products, avoid fried
foods and reduce meat intake.
Mona Sutnick, a dietician
affiliated with the American
Heart Association, believes
that olive oil is a miracle-
worker because it is high in
polyunsaturated and mono-
unsaturated fats, both of
which are useful in raising
HDL levels. (Polyunsaturated
fats are found in corn,
sunflower and soybean oils;
monounsaturated fats are in
olive and peanut oils.) Be
aware of coconut, palm and
palm kernal oils, warns Sut-
nick, because they are heav-
ily saturated fats that in-
crease low-density lipoprotein
(LDL), the "bad cholesterol!'
Many companies, including
General Mills, Borden and
Pillsbury, are eliminating
coconut, palm and palm
kernel oils from their pro-
ducts. The action followed a
national ad campaign by in-
dustrial magnate Phil
Sokoloff, founder of the Na-
tional Heart Savers Associa-
tion. His full-page ads, which
appeared last year in national
and regional publications,
proclaimed that saturated
fats were poisoning
Americans.
One food everyone seems to
have a fix on is oat bran, a
soluble fiber that has become
the "miracle drug" for reduc-
ing high cholesterol. Indeed,
oat bran consumption has
reportedly doubled since
medical experts first noted its
role in lowering cholesterol
levels. In his best-selling
book,. The Eight-Week
Cholesterol Cure, Robert
Kowalski credits oat bran as
an important source of am-
munition in the battle
against cholesterol.
"It appears that bran traps
fat in the intestines and
doesn't let it go into the rest
of the body," says Horowitz.
"Yet for all the hype, its im-
pact is relatively negligible,
lowering cholesterol by as lit-
tle as 3 percent!"
According to John Albers, a
researcher at the University
of Washington at Seattle,
After consulting
several doctors
and nutritionists, I
learned that you
can have your
cake and eat it too
— within
moderation.
LP(a), a substance that helps
make up cholesterol and is
carried in everyone's body,
can serve as a genetic marker,
indicating which patients are
at greater risk for heart
disease. One reason women
may have fewer heart attacks
is that estrogen may reduce -
LDL, while testosterone in-
creases it.
"Prior to menopause,
women produce regular
amounts of the hormones
estrogen and progesterone,
both helpful in providing pro-
tection against heart disease,"
says cardiologist Marjorie
Stanek of Einstein Medical
Center in Philadelphia.
When estrogen is no longer
produced, the risk of heart
disease among women
increases.
*
*
*
My father suffered seven
heart attacks. And while I
understood that genetics can
count for as much as 50 per-
cent of one's own coronary
prospects, I was determined
to take care of the 50 percent
I felt I had some control over.
Since December 1987, when
I first found out about my
soaring cholesterol count, I
have totally changed my
eating habits and the way I
think about food. No longer is
food the friend I seek out
when I'm frustrated or fed up
with the hassles of everyday
life. I have become more wary
of its potential pitfalls.
Gone are the corned beef
specials, alas, but also gone