There’s a kid’s song that perfectly illustrates how connected everything is in the human body — the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone — and so on. This same concept can be applied to internal systems like your cardiovascular system and metabolic health.
Together, your cardiometabolic health is a good predictor of your overall health, including your risks for serious issues like heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. Unfortunately, only 6.8% of our population qualifies as having optimal cardiometabolic health.
Recognizing the importance of optimal cardiometabolic health, Dr. Satjit Bhusri and the team here at Upper East Side Cardiology have created our own internal Wellness Center, which focuses on improving the cardiometabolic health in our patients.
And to do that, there are five key areas that we focus on when it comes to cardiometabolic health:
The first component of cardiometabolic health is BMI and waist circumference. Your BMI measures your height and weight to figure out what percent of your weight is body ,and the final tally should be below 24.9. (To figure out your BMI, you can click here.)
Your waist circumference is also considered here because carrying a large amount of fat around your middle is unhealthy.
Next up in cardiometabolic health is your blood sugar level. Under ideal circumstances, your pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that delivers glucose from your blood into your cells where they use the glucose for energy. For the 11.6% of the population in the United States who have developed type 2 diabetes, their bodies can’t use the insulin properly.
As a result, people with diabetes have blood sugar levels that are too high, which can lead to serious consequences that range from cardiovascular disease to nerve damage.
When we check a cholesterol panel, we measure a few different things, including high-density lipoprotein levels. HDLs are considered good because they cart off excess cholesterol in your blood so that it doesn't linger and create plaques.
We want to see HDL levels of 40 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher in men and 50 mg/dL or higher in women.
Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your fat cells and blood. In your blood, we want these levels to be less than 150 mg/dL. While researchers are still studying the exact reason why, higher levels of triglycerides (>200 mg/dL) can increase the risk for developing heart disease.
Another key to good cardiometabolic health is a healthy blood pressure, which means numbers below 130/80. Unfortunately, nearly half of Americans have blood pressure readings that are higher than we like to see, which places them at far greater risk for heart disease.
Even though there are five key areas involved in your cardiometabolic health, there’s one approach that can help — GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) medications that help you lose weight and lower blood sugar levels.
Through our wellness center, we’re setting patients up for success through GLP-1 medications, which work best when you combine them with healthy lifestyle changes that include diet and exercise.
So, if you want to take charge of your wellness by improving your cardiometabolic health, we provide the tools, expertise, and oversight you need for success.
To learn more about optimizing your cardiometabolic health, please contact our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan by clicking here, or you can call us at (212) 752-3464.
