Heart disease in my family is very prevalent and has been passed down from generation to generation. Most of it is hereditary and other part is due to the nature of the foods we eat. If anyone has watched "My big fat Greek Wedding" that is my family. Everyday and everywhere and every celebration involves food. I mean we are talking about meat, meat and more meat with rice, yogurt, other side dishes, and alot of bread!! We can really eat especially when family and visitors stop by. For that reason, my Grandmother suffered from high cholesterol along with heart disease for years prior to her death. With medication and proper diet, my grandmother lived to 86, pretty long life for such a devastating disease. Now my mother and father suffer from the same issues with my mother suffering from high cholesterol (LDL) and high blood pressure. My father has had 4 surgeries so far to place stents in just due to the blockage that keeps reoccurring over and in other places. As you can see I do not have much to look forward to. Not only do I have to worry about heart disease but also diabetes since both of my grandfathers had it. !!! Back then people just enjoyed life and the culture with no worries but now things have changed. My family has noticed the importance of exercise, diet and just maintaining good health. I personally seem to be the only overweight member in my family, my other siblings are healthy and fit. My mother constantly preaches to me about my weight and that I need to do whatever it takes to get healthy but it is difficult in this culture we live in especially in Texas where food is everywhere and with being a full time worker and full time student there is no opportunity to eat well all the time. But I will vow to make a change soon because I do not want to end up depending on medications and living in poor health, so I will be taking action with the new year...... wish me luck!
Dana Anderson
Dana,
ReplyDeleteI wish you best of luck. I hope that you can begin a healthy life soon. You are right when you say that food is everywhere in Texas, and with a busy schedule it gets very hard to eat a healthy diet. I think eating healthy and exercising is very important. I have a family history of diabetes and I am trying everything I can do eat healthy and exercise. I will be honest it’s not easy but I know I don’t want to live with this chronic illness. Losing weight is really hard for me. Even if I eat healthy I just cannot find a time to exercise. I know everyone is busy and I should not make any excuse. I am still trying to lose my weight that I put on during pregnancy. Ugh! It’s been 4 months and I am still not to my regular size.
Subuk Usmani
Dear Dana
ReplyDeletewhen i read your blog, it is almost a reflexion of my story. i agree with you about Greek and food. I love Gyros. three of my siblings, they used to live in Athens before they came here. They told me about the food festival in Athens. a lot of meat and saturated fat cause all this problem. It build up for several years before it shows any sign and symptoms. I am sorry about your dad he went through all these invasive procedures. I was told, my father has died sudden death from hypertension in Ethiopia and my mother died from stroke. it is run in the family. i wish you a good luck. try your best not to be a victim of heart disease.