So who wants to get more healthy? I have a hard time believing any right thinking person would ever answer that, “Not me!”

We all cherish our health. The ongoing  debate that is dominating the national political scene right now certainly emphasizes the importance of  this issue for all Americans. But I’m not writing to stir the pot over these broad national concerns, but rather to share some ideas from recent medical reports about how we can affect our own health in a positive way right here at home in Adams County.

Most folks know that the No. 1 cause of death in our country is heart disease which is mainly triggered by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). And most have an idea that abnormal blood fats (dyslipidemia) contribute to the atherosclerosis. This includes high “bad cholesterol,” LDL,  high triglerides (another blood fat) as well as  low “good cholesterol,” HDL.

Having any of these fats out of line is known as a “risk factor,” meaning it increases your risk of atherosclerosis, and therefore heart disease (and stroke, which I won’t mention again). Other well known risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure (hypertension), tobacco use, sugar diabetes, obesity and an inactive lifestyle. Several of these factors  often occur together (for instance, obese people are often relatively inactive), but they all act independently as well (an obese regular exerciser has less chance of a heart attack than an inactive obese person).

These are all modifiable risk factors.  Some things you can’t change are also risk factors, such as your age, sex (not having it, but which one you are) and family genetics.

We Mississippians  are unfortunately at the top of most lists in terms of the modifiable risk factors. Our citizens suffer from the highest or perhaps second highest rates of obesity, diabetes, smoking, abnormal blood fats and sedentary lifestyles compared to all other states in our country. We should not be proud of these lofty places.  But the good news is that these are modifiable — we can change these things.

A recent symposium titled “Cardiovascular Disease Prevention” published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, August 2009, concluded, “Aggressive normalization of cardiovascular risk factors such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, sedentary lifestyle, and tobacco smoking is the most effective means of improving prognosis (outcomes) in the setting of chronic coronary artery disease.”

Another pertinent report just published in the Oct. 12 Archives of Internal Medicine was titled “Neighborhood Resources for Physical Activity and Healthy Foods and the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.”

Remember that diabetes is one of those modifiable risk factors, and one for which Mississippi leads the nation in percentage of our population.

This study showed that in areas where it was easier to participate in active lifestyles as well as obtain healthy food choices the incidence of diabetes was significantly lower.

The authors  concluded that, “Current efforts to foster health-promoting environments, such as … creating parks and attractive green spaces … so that healthier behaviors and lifestyles can be easily chosen may be one of the key steps in arresting and reversing these epidemics.”

So what does this have to do with us here and now? We are nearing a countywide vote  to guide our elected officials on what we desire for our community for recreation facilities.

Do we want to continue as the most unhealthy state in the union, or do we want to modify our lifestyles and seek better health?

With the right environment, we can head in the right direction.

We can all be more healthy. Vote “yes” for recreation, and lets all get more healthy together.

Dr. Kenneth Stubbs is a specialist in internal medicine.