Take Charge of Your Health--You Are In Control

Hi Ladies.

Take charge of your health. Your good health is a matter of compliance. Compliance is a team effort! Achieving desired lipid (fat) levels and sticking to them requires teamwork: from you, your doctor, and her/his staff.

The following are important steps you and your doctor can take together to help you stay on track with your goals to good health:

Maintain regular contact, including follow-up care

Ask questions and discuss concerns

Encourage and seek support from family and friends

Discuss your treatment regimen, focusing on key points and asking your doctor for written and easily understandable information

Begin a weight-loss program and learn more information on self-monitoring

Don’t forget to take the medicine your doctor prescribes. Again, your good health is a matter of compliance. This is especially the case when you don’t feel sick. An ache or a pain is a not-so-subtle reminder that you need your medicine; but that’s not so with heart disease, sometimes called “the silent killer.”

Because there often are no symptoms, what should be a daily routine of taking pills might easily slip off your radar screen. If your doctor has given you a prescription for medication to control your abnormal cholesterol levels, which can contribute to heart disease, it’s very important you take it each and every day. Take charge of your health. You are in control.

Tips for Heart Health:

Take the guesswork out of taking your medications: use pill boxes that have each day of the week labeled. If you need to take medicine at different times each day, look for the pill boxes that include a series for each day; some have compartments in which to store medications that need to be taken in the morning, noon, and night. Take charge of your health. You are in control.

Wear a watch that you can program to sound an alarm or vibrate at the time you should take your medication. Even if you become engrossed in your daily schedule, a reminder will keep you on track to compliance.

Take that reminder system one virtual step further: If you use a computer, you can program it to pop up a note at a specific time or series of times.

Keep a written journal and put it somewhere in the house where you are frequently--a good spot may be the kitchen or near the chair where you watch television--and write down the times you’ve taken your medicine.

Only about half of all people who receive a prescription for a cholesterol-lowering drug are still taking it 6 months later. That rate falls to 30% to 40% after a year. This fact is especially worrisome because it takes 6 months to 1 year before you realize a benefit from your treatment.

Ladies, take charge of your health. You are in control!

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