High blood pressure is easy to control once you know the basic principles. The risk of having high blood pressure has something to do with your eating and drinking habits. You can look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you look good and healthy. You can check your weight and see if you are way above the normal weight for your age. If you are above normal then you are overweight and being overweight is one of the tell-tale signs that you are at risk for having high blood pressure.

You should be careful with what you eat since it is directly concerned with your blood pressure. If you find yourself eating a lot of salty food then you would know that you have a higher blood pressure than those who eat less salty food. The same thing happens when you eat oily foods. Oily foods can contribute to the increase of the pressure exerted by the blood on your arteries and it is harmful if you are unable to control it.

There are natural ways to control high blood pressure and they can even be found in your own kitchen. If you have buttermilk and lemon, then you can make your own home remedy to fight off high blood pressure. Take butter milk daily and add some lemon on your soup or salad to aid in lowering your blood pressure.

You can also lower and control your blood pressure by reducing your intake of alcohol. If it is really hard for you to stop drinking immediately, try lowering your dose to one bottle a day until it is reduced to none. Do light aerobics and exercise everyday to control your blood pressure. Attend regular check ups with your health care provider and discuss about your current blood pressure for you to know your status. Have your checkups along with the whole family so that you will know that the disease is not running amongst your family members. Take extra precaution on these matters to save your family from this dreaded silent killer.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

Women need to know that the most important and effective tool in combating coronary artery disease is to have the proper knowledge and education on how to prevent and treat such condition.

Recent studies shows that alarmingly, though 73% of these women know and understand how to prevent such disease to occur, more than half of them - 55% of them have no idea on how to treat this condition once it has been diagnosed. With that number, it would highly increase the risk of further complicating the condition and thus cause life threatening effects to the women.

A survey was done for 1,979 women who were at the age of 35, usually African Americansand Hispanics in this group had no idea how to treat and manage this condition once knowing they have it. It is a crucial aspect since these individuals are the high risk population for heart diseases. In the survey done, some of them were able to answer correctly on what are the preventive measures that can be done, but still, majority of them still has not enough understanding on the disease process itself. Preventive measures are not treatment measures and they seem to confuse these two.

With the “Healthy from the Heart” campaign which was carried out with the aid of the National Women’s Health Resource Center and Cordis Corp, they geared up to educating and encouraging the women to learn more about treatment options for coronary artery diseases. “The good news is that women are aware that they are at risk for heart disease. The bad news is that they are overly confident in their ability to prevent it and treat it,” says Cindy Grines, a doctor and specifically an interventional cardiologist who works with a hospital located in Royal Oaks, Mich - known as the William Beaumont Hospital .

There are numerous means and methods that exist nowadays that can treat and correct coronary artery disease. One of the most common procedures is the balloon angioplasty with the use of a coronary stent. The angioplasty procedure is done to widen the narrowed arteries with the use of a threading catheter with a ballooon on the tip through the arm or the femoral artery to the occluded artery located in the heart. The balloon is then inflated to compress accumulated plaques in the arterial walls. This would allow better circulation and blood flow.

A drug eluting stent is also used to treat coronary heart disease. It is a tiny mesh that keeps the artery open and at the same time it releases a drug like sirolimus in the interior of the artery to help prevent plaque from forming and recurring again. This would then provide and allow better and improved blood circulation.

An invasive surgical procedure also known as coronary bypass surgery may also be an option. This is usually the opted choice of treatment for those individuals who are not qualified for the use of the stent and angioplasty procedure.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

Students nowadays are gearing up to numerous activities and sports in their school. Be it a soccer game, volleyball, basketball game and cheerleading activities, it allows them to be part of something and at the same time be able to socialize and be physically fit.

However, there is silent killer that stalks those individuals who have heart problems. These conditions are rarely detected especially in teenagers and children but it manifests during physical activity. Sudden cardiac arrest usually occurs and affects about 340,000 American citizens a year, which includes teens and children.

The question is: Are the schools equipped and ready for this life threatening scenario? Studies show that in the occurence of a cardiac arrest, prompt revival of the individual with the use of an AED also known as Automated external Defibrillator increases the chance of survival of an individual having a cardiac arrest.

An AED is a portable device that analyzes the heart rhythm and delivers an electric shock in order to reestablish a regular heartbeat. Having this equipment boosts the survival rate of this fatal condition of about 20% or more. 95% of the individuals die right then and there because revival of the heartbeat was too late.

Proper health education and equipped schools will be able to reduce the risk and chances of having loss of students if they are quick and prompt in these kind of scenarios. Every minute and every second is crucial. Each minute that passes by decreases the risk of survival for about 10%. Prompt CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation with the use of the AED within 3 minutes of the cardiac arrest has the best chances of survival.

However, the schools are not prepared for this. Some of them do not have an AED or are even not informed of this existing heart condition that could likely be fatal. Hence Duracell and Zoll Medical Corp. has teamed up to raise the awareness of parents and schools to help combat and avoid such to happen to their loved ones. With their project campaign, they go from school to school and provide them with necessary equipment and educate them at the same time to prepare them on what to do when this silent killer hits one of their students.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

Cardiovascular disease or CVD is now the number one killing disease in the US targeting everybody of different races. High blood pressure, stroke, and arrhythmias are just some of the diseases under CVD that pose a great threat to many people having them. We think that cancer is the leading cause of death in the country but the truth is, statistics show that one out of four women has CVD.

Risk factors for CVD include obesity, smoking, and high blood pressure. Risks related to the condition often manifest a lot faster when people have these risk factors at a very young age. Lifestyle changes and diet modification are advised for these people to avoid cardiovascular diseases. Examples of lifestyle modifications may include changes such as a change in diet to a low-fat cholesterol free diet, taking in more water, fruits, and vegetables and having proper exercise that is taken on a daily basis.

CVD is known to be a silent killer as they usually exhibit no symptoms. One moment you feel good about yourself and the next minute you are down on the floor. These times occur in unexpected times so if you feel like you are at risk, be sure to know it as soon as possible. You should speak to a doctor if you think you have any of the risks of having CVD so that your health care giver can advise you on what you need to do to delay or eliminate cardiovascular diseases.

Signs and symptoms such as dizziness, blurring of vision, and shortness of breath should prompt anyone to seek medical attention. Complete medical history and physical exam is done to check for any damage done by recent attacks of CVD. Consultation should be done to avoid this dreaded disease.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

CT Style: Funeral Pre-Planning (Funeral Pre Need) - Howard K. Hill

Around twelve million people suffer from PAD or Peripheral Arterial Disease in the United States today. Presently, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association has set up a unique guideline to help doctors and other health care members to treat the condition. Peripheral arterial disease is one of the most dangerous cardiovascular diseases and people who have it need to possess the right information about it.

Peripheral Arterial Disease is a very deadly disease. If left untreated, amputation, aneurysm, hypertension, even heart attack, stroke, and death may occur at unexpected times. This type of disease happens when the arteries that supply blood outside the heart to the rest of the body is blocked and becomes occluded. This blockage hinders the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body and can cause serious damages to important organs such as the kidney and liver. Being able to detect peripheral arterial diseases in its early stages can definitely help a lot to minimize the harmful effects it can do the body.

The new guideline for people with peripheral arterial diseases caters healthcare professionals and patients to make them more aware of the treatment methods for this disease. Some of these guidelines include information on what should be done when an aneurysm is detected. An aneurysm must be treated with surgery or by catheter-based therapy according to the new guideline. The revolutionary guidelines can as well help medical practitioners obtain a chance at finding hidden signs and symptoms of the disease.

Peripheral arterial diseases can become a life-threatening disease if left undiagnosed and untreated. Some people are in denial of having the disease but if we look and base our knowledge on the new guidelines, we can now be aware of what important things we need to know about this disease.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is commonly referred to as just cardio or as CR. To get the most out of your cardiorespiratory fitness routine, you need to be aware of exactly what intensity you are working out at. If you do not know, you could just be running in place and not really accomplishing as much as you thought you were.

Having the basic knowledge as to how to put together an effective cardio workout is the key to getting results. If you do not have the knowledge, you could just be burning a few calories and not getting the full effects you are looking for in your fitness regimen. Knowing how to monitor your heart rate will give you great insight on how effective your workout really is. This is one of the most important things you should go by when building your workout. This way you will know if you are getting the cardio that you need instead of working too hard or not hard enough.

Listed below are some information that will be helpful for you to understand how to monitor your heart rate.

Training Heart Rate or THR is defined as the rate our heart needs to reach in order for our exercise regimen to be effective. According to the United States Army Fitness Experts, there are two methods to help you in determining your THR.

Take note that Training Heart Rate EQUALS Your Desired Workout Intensity.

1. %MHR is your percent maximum heart rate. This is the simplest method to use. To come up with your %MHR, minus your current age from the number 220. 220 is the maximum heart beats per minute.

For Example: If you are 20 years old, you would take your age of 20 and subtract it from 220. 220 - 20 = 200 (200 is the MHR for this situation)

Below is a basic guide to follow:
• An individual, who is considered in less than good shape, is supposed to workout at 70% of his/her maximum heart rate. (Based on a 20 year old, the THR would be 160 BPM. 220 – 20 = 200 x .70 = 160 BPM)
• An individual, who is considered in good shape, is supposed to workout at 80% of his/her maximum heart rate. (Based on a 30 year old, the THR would be 152BPM. 220 – 30 = 190 x .80 = 152 BPM)
• An individual, who is considered in great shape, is supposed to workout at 90% of his/her maximum heart rate. (Based on a 40 year old, the THR would be 126BPM. 220 – 40 = 180 x .70 = 126 BPM)

2. %HRR is your percent heart rate reserve. This is the most accurate method to use. To come up with your %HRR, you must know your basic level of cardio fitness. This usually ranges from 60% to 90%.

To come up with yours, here is a basic guide:
• For an individual in excellent condition, a good place to start would be 85% of his/her HRR.
• For an individual in good condition, a good place to start would be 70% of his/her HRR.
• For an individual in less than good condition, a good place to start would be 60% of his/her HRR.

The basic census is that your workout should be done with your heart rate in between 70% to 75% HRR to achieve or keep up with the level of fitness that you are accustomed to. A person who is in excellent cardio shape may require a higher heart rate range if they are only working out a minimum of 20 minutes. If you workout with a heart rate of around 60%, this is not enough. You will get your heart pumping a little bit, but not enough to maintain good heart, muscle and lung function. If you workout with a heart rate of around 90%, this can be detrimental to your health. Before you push yourself, you need to check your THR. Exercise is wonderful for your body, but too much at a time can be very harmful.

It is important to know how to figure your THR by using your resting heart rate or RHR.
Below is an example of how to achieve this. I am using a 20 year old individual in good shape for the example. You will need to supplement your age and your shape level into the equation.

1. Find your MHR by taking your age and minus it from 220. (MHR = 220 – 20 = 200)
2. Find your RHR in BPM by counting your pulse for 30 seconds and then multiply by 2. Counting your pulse should be done when you are completely at rest. I am using a RHR of 69BPM for the example. It is best to do your count for the complete 30 seconds, but if you wish to do it less, make the adjustments to come to RHR.
3. Find your HRR by taking the resting heart rate and minus it from your estimated maximum heart rate. (HRR = 200 – 69 = 131BPM)
4. Take your THR and multiply it by your HRR with your level of fitness as a percentage and add the resulting HRR. (.70 x 131 = 91.7 then 91.7 + 69 = 160.7)

You would then take the 160.7 and round up, so your number would be 161 BPM.

Once you have been working out for 5 minutes, your heart rate should start to level off. At this point in time, you should find your heart rate to make sure you are in the correct range for you. If you find that your rate is below the THR, pick up the pace. If you find that your THR is above the THR, slow up a bit.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

Sticking to a tight budget can be difficult. You have to do all the grunt work associated with setting one up. You have to organize all your information and have your spreadsheets and accounting software up and ready to go. Applying your plan of action can take a lot of will power that, let’s face it, we would rather not bother. The truth is, it isn’t going to take care of itself and if you are trying to work towards something, like a vacation, you have to work at it to make it happen. How do you keep your budget on track avoid pushing it to the back of your mind?

Below I have compiled some tips to help you reach your budget goals. I hope they help!

• Start out small and build on that. If you set your goals too high to begin with, you will find that you don’t stick to any of them and your budget will fail. Start with cutting back on eating lunches outside home during the week. Give yourself one day a week to be able to go out to lunch with a friend from work and for the other days, pack a lunch. This is a good start. If you are trying to eliminate eating out altogether, go easy on yourself. Pick one night that you and your family can enjoy a night out at a restaurant but make sure you cook meals at home for the rest of the week. By setting limits but allowing some luxury, you will find it easier to stay within your budget.
• Make sure to leave some room for out of the ordinary expenses. Take into account expenses that occur yearly too. These don’t happen all the time, but need to be factored in to your budget or you will be quite off when these happen. Sit down and make a list of all of the “maybe” expenses. Factor all into your budget. If they don’t all happen during the year, then that is more money set aside that you have saved.
• List your budget down and make your budget permanent. It is easy to go off track if it is not written down. Don’t leave it all to memory. With all the frustrations and comings and goings of our daily lives, things get overlooked. Don’t leave it to chance. Take action in writing.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself. Not meeting your budget once in a while is a given event. Getting back on track is the key. If you give up completely, all your hard work will go right down the drain and then you will be back at starting point without a goal. It is going to take work to get what you want. You know the saying: “anything worth wanting, you must work for”. This is true when setting your budget. If you have a bad month, take it in stride and move on to the next month. Look into the future and move on.
• Your budget is a work in process. Some adjustments may need to be made here and there. This is normal. When you notice that you can save more in an area, apply it to your budget. If you notice that one area seems to take up more than another, modify it to so it can be corrected. Whatever you do, don’t get discouraged and give up. Modifications will help you to meet your goals. Work with your budget, not against it.
• Make an appointment once a month to sit down and look over your budget. Keep this appointment each and every month. This will show you how close you are to being on budget or where modifications need to be made. Just make sure you don’t modify things too much to include frivolities. The modification should be for unforeseen expenses. If you do not look over your budget once a month, you might as well not have one. If you don’t take the time to look over it, you won’t take the time to stick to it either.
• Set goals that are realistic. Don’t expect to tackle a credit card that you owe $20,000 overnight. It would not be realistic to say you will have it paid off in a couple of years. That would be way too hard to do. If you set goals out of reach, you are setting yourself up for extreme disappointment and failure. You have to be realistic and work at a pace that is right for you. If you could pay off $20,000 in a couple of years, you wouldn’t need a budget. You would have plenty of money to where you wouldn’t owe that amount to begin with.
• Treat yourself to a reward once in a while. This way you can look forward to staying on budget. Don’t reward yourself with anything extravagant as this would break your budget. Rewards will make you feel you have done a good job and help you see what you have accomplished. This is important if you are going to stick to your budget.
• Make sure you leave room for your investments. Your retirement is important and you must plan for it. Don’t put this on the back burner and think you have plenty of time for it once you get everything else taken care of. The time to plan is now and you must do this above all else. Make sure you leave the room for your retirement fund. Don’t pull the strings too tightly here. You have to have the money to live on once you retire. A budget now with no retirement account will not do you any good in the long run. You can make both of these work.
• Look at your budget as a happy thing. Think of what you will have at the end. Don’t keep thinking of all the restrictions you have put upon yourself and your finances. Think of the benefits. You must think positively throughout this process. If you do not think this way, you up your chances for failure. Just like a lot of people fail on a diet because they restrict themselves too much, this too can happen on a budget.

Following the above mentioned tips can help you stay on track and to reach the success you are after. Just remember, if you have a bad month, don’t give up. Be positive and tell yourself that next month will be better. Good luck and happy budgeting!

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

Monitoring your blood pressure reading is easy with the use of a simple blood pressure monitor. There are many types of blood pressure monitoring devices available in the market today and it is best if you know how to choose wisely. Purchase a blood pressure monitor that suit best for you and one that is durable enough to last a long time. With so many available blood pressure monitors today that come at cheap prices, it is nearly impossible to have difficulty buying one for yourself or for your family.

Keeping track of your blood pressure is vital especially if you are in the pre-hypertensive or hypertensive stage. It is very important for you to record your blood pressure to show the changes of your blood pressure every day. By doing so, the correct approach of treatment can be determined by your health care provider.

Have yourself check by a doctor or ask for a nurse’s help once you have a blood pressure monitor so you will know how to use it. It is important for you to know the normal values of blood pressure and the doctor can teach you this. A reminder though, not everyone has the same normal blood pressure readings. Others are a bit higher than the normal level while some are lower, yet it is still normal for them. There are also instances that at certain times your blood pressure readings are lower than the usual which can also be normal.

To get accurate blood pressure reading results, sit down on a hard surface, relax yourself for a few moments and perform the readings. Remember that you have purchased a blood pressure monitor to check your blood pressure levels so that you can find ways to maintain it at a healthy level.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.

A family’s grocery bill is usually higher than the rest of the family’s budget. Since every single family is unique, there is a huge variation in terms of a family’s preferences on what kind of brand name and how much fruits, meats and vegetables they buy in their groceries.

But the good thing is that we can still save more on groceries by being penny-wise buyers without compromising our shopping lists. Here’s a few simple and efficient ways on how to save a few bucks.

1.) Create a weekly menu plan. It will help you to get what you just need before hitting the grocery stores.
2.) Pay attention for special offers and coupons in stores and include them in your meal plan.
3.) Prepare a shopping list and do not buy any unnecessary item that is not on the list.
4.) Don’t shop when you feel like eating. This will just entice you to buy needless stuff.
5.) Shop by yourself. When a family member is with you, for sure there will be an increase in your grocery bill.
6.) Buy things that are essentially needed. For instance, if a member of your family doesn’t like to eat spinach then there is no need to buy spinach.
7.) Maintain your focus on groceries on lower shelves where the prices are lesser.
8.) Pay money for store brands with the same quality. More often than not, the product is just the same, just in a different container.

It’s very simple to be penny-wise. In time, you’ll appreciate a good deal of money being saved when you’re getting by with these simple steps. File a record of your grocery bills, and you will be able to observe a huge change in the grocery savings you are making.

Howard K Hill Funeral Services -The purpose of our blog articles are to inform, educate and show that we care about our clients and people in our communities. www.hkhfuneralservices.com - Servicing Quality Care for your loved ones in Connecticut communities such as Hartford CT, Bloomfield CT, New Haven CT, West Haven CT, East Haven CT.