Sachio Makino writes:
Patient A and patient B have some similarities and some differences regarding their lifestyle habits, diet and cholesterol levels. Patient A and patient B are similar in that they have some risk factors for coronary heart disease in their lifestyle and in that they like diets which contain a lot of saturated fats and cholesterol.
Patient A has a high blood cholesterol
level and does not do enough exercise. Patient B is overweight, smokes
a little and has a family history of diabetes. These are important risk
factors. Also, patient A likes ice cream, eggs and fatty meats and patient
B likes cheese. These foods contain cholesterol and saturated fats which
raise the cholesterol level in the blood and lead to the danger of heart
disease.
However, patient A and patient B differ in their levels of LDL-cholesterol
and in their daily habits of taking exercise. Patient A's LDL-cholesterol
level is 165 mg/dL which is too high and patient B's LDL-cholesterol level
is 125 mg/dL which is a desirable level. People who have more than 160
mg/dL of LDL-cholesterol have a high risk of heart disease. Also, patient
A does little or no exercising every day, but patient B rides her bicycle
on weekends.
Patient A and patient B need some suggestions to reduce the risk of heart
disease and related deaths. For patient A, he needs to limit his diet and
take exercise. He must limit foods like ice cream and eggs because they
are high in cholesterol or saturated fats. He must not eat eggs more than
3 times a week. He must eat lean cuts instead of fatty meats, too. Also,
he should take exercise every day because it may help raise his HDL-cholesterol level. (HDL-cholesterol -- the "good" cholesterol -- reduces the
unhealthy cholesterol levels in our blood.) For patient B, she needs to
change or limit her diet and quit smoking and lose weight. She could replace
white bread with whole-grain breads and cereals because whole-grain breads
and cereals are rich in fiber. Fiber helps reduce cholesterol levels and
it also helps in the case of losing weight by making us feel full.
In sum, healthy foods, enough exercise and no smoking are important factors
for living a happy, healthy life.
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