According to a study published in August in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported in Reuters Health Online, the veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disorders have a greater risk of heart disease. The link between military-related PTSD and heart disease has been made before, but this is the first time an association has been made with veterans of the current conflicts. In examining behaviors of veterans, the researchers found those with PTSD and other mental disorders such as anxiety disorder are twice as likely to be tobacco users, a well-known risk behavior.
Reuters Health Online article...
Showing posts with label Heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heart. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
CPR, to a Disco Beat
| |
PREVENTION: Chest Compressions, to a Disco Beat
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Well, you can tell by the way he pounds your chest, he’s an E.R. man, and his tempo is best.
That’s right — “Stayin’ Alive,” the song some people might pay to get out of their head, may be just what their heart needs if it suddenly stops.
Researchers say the Bee Gees song, from the 1977 hit movie “Saturday Night Fever,” offers almost the perfect pace for performing chest compressions on people who have had heart attacks. Emergency workers doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation are advised to press down on the chest 100 times a minute. “Stayin’ Alive” has 103 beats a minute.
The findings were presented at a recent conference of the American College of Emergency Physicians by Dr. David Matlock of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.
This is not to say that people would actually be forced to listen to the song.
“We’re not advocating turning on the song in the middle of a resuscitation,” Dr. Matlock said. “If it helps people to sing it out loud, I guess that’s O.K.”
For several years, Dr. Matlock said, emergency workers have been told that compressions done to the tempo of the song are more likely to conform to the recommendations of the American Heart Association. Doing it right can triple the survival rate, the researchers said. But no one had proved that the song actually helped.
For the study, researchers had 10 doctors and 5 medical students practice compressions while listening to the music. When they were retested five weeks later without the song, they did the compressions at an average rate of 113 a minute, within the acceptable range.
“Stayin’ Alive,” by the way, is not the only song found to be helpful. “Another One Bites the Dust,” by Queen, may also work.
“Obviously,” Dr. Matlock said, “ ‘Stayin’ Alive’s a little more appropriate for the situation.”
Friday, October 17, 2008
Women’s Heart Symptoms Blamed on Stress
Women’s Heart Symptoms Often Blamed on Stress
Tara Parker-Pope on Health
NYTimes.com
October 13, 2008, 12:23 pm
Signs of heart disease are more likely to be blamed on stress when the patient is a woman, new research shows.
In two studies, 230 family doctors and internists were shown sample cases of a 47-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman. The ages of the patients reflect an equal risk for heart disease. Half the vignettes included sentences indicating the patient had recently experienced a stressful life event or appeared anxious. The doctors read the case and offered a diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
When the case study involved standard heart symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath and irregular heart beat, there was no difference in the doctor’s advice for the man or the woman. However, when stress was included as a symptom, gender differences emerged. The presence of stress changed the way doctors interpreted a woman’s symptoms, prompting them to suggest psychological factors rather than physical causes. But the presence of stress didn’t change the way men were assessed.
When stress was listed as a symptom, only 15 percent of the doctors diagnosed heart disease in women, compared to 56 percent for men. Only 30 percent of the doctors referred the women to a cardiologist, compared to 62 percent for men, and 13 percent suggested medication for women, compared to 47 percent for men.
The findings, presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific symposium, could help explain why there is often a delay in the assessment of women with heart disease, said Dr. Alexandra J. Lansky, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/just-stress-more-often-diagnosed-in-women/
Tara Parker-Pope on Health
NYTimes.com
October 13, 2008, 12:23 pm
Signs of heart disease are more likely to be blamed on stress when the patient is a woman, new research shows.
In two studies, 230 family doctors and internists were shown sample cases of a 47-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman. The ages of the patients reflect an equal risk for heart disease. Half the vignettes included sentences indicating the patient had recently experienced a stressful life event or appeared anxious. The doctors read the case and offered a diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
When the case study involved standard heart symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath and irregular heart beat, there was no difference in the doctor’s advice for the man or the woman. However, when stress was included as a symptom, gender differences emerged. The presence of stress changed the way doctors interpreted a woman’s symptoms, prompting them to suggest psychological factors rather than physical causes. But the presence of stress didn’t change the way men were assessed.
When stress was listed as a symptom, only 15 percent of the doctors diagnosed heart disease in women, compared to 56 percent for men. Only 30 percent of the doctors referred the women to a cardiologist, compared to 62 percent for men, and 13 percent suggested medication for women, compared to 47 percent for men.
The findings, presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific symposium, could help explain why there is often a delay in the assessment of women with heart disease, said Dr. Alexandra J. Lansky, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/just-stress-more-often-diagnosed-in-women/
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Can a massage cause a stroke?
Q: I have a deep muscle massage every month or so. After my sister had a stroke, I started worrying that my massages could loosen any plaque in my carotid arteries, which could make me have a stroke. Could this happen?
A: As you might have guessed, there aren’t any solid scientific data on this question. But there are a few things we do know that should put your mind at ease. Most atherosclerotic plaques are firmly bonded to the artery wall. It is rare for plaque to suddenly break free, travel through the circulation, and block an artery in the brain. It is far more common for small breaks in the surface of a plaque to cause fragile blood clots that can easily break free.
Can a massage break open a plaque, leading to a blood clot? That isn’t likely. The force of a vigorous massage doesn’t really compare with the constant pounding that plaque faces with each individual heartbeat, or with the increase in blood pressure that occurs when you get out of bed in the morning to brush your teeth. So when it comes to stroke, having a deep muscle massage should be fine.
One caution about massage. The carotid arteries, which run along either side of the neck, have nerve endings that respond to changes in blood pressure. Massaging these sensors can decrease the heart rate, sometimes enough to cause fainting. In some people, the sensors are so sensitive that merely tightening a necktie or turning the head can make them pass out. This is called carotid sinus hypersensitivity.
I know I’m not keen on the idea of someone wrapping his or her hands around my neck. You might want to ask your massage therapist to stay away from that part of your body. — Richard Lee, M.D.
A: As you might have guessed, there aren’t any solid scientific data on this question. But there are a few things we do know that should put your mind at ease. Most atherosclerotic plaques are firmly bonded to the artery wall. It is rare for plaque to suddenly break free, travel through the circulation, and block an artery in the brain. It is far more common for small breaks in the surface of a plaque to cause fragile blood clots that can easily break free.
Can a massage break open a plaque, leading to a blood clot? That isn’t likely. The force of a vigorous massage doesn’t really compare with the constant pounding that plaque faces with each individual heartbeat, or with the increase in blood pressure that occurs when you get out of bed in the morning to brush your teeth. So when it comes to stroke, having a deep muscle massage should be fine.
One caution about massage. The carotid arteries, which run along either side of the neck, have nerve endings that respond to changes in blood pressure. Massaging these sensors can decrease the heart rate, sometimes enough to cause fainting. In some people, the sensors are so sensitive that merely tightening a necktie or turning the head can make them pass out. This is called carotid sinus hypersensitivity.
I know I’m not keen on the idea of someone wrapping his or her hands around my neck. You might want to ask your massage therapist to stay away from that part of your body. — Richard Lee, M.D.
Associate Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
This Question and Answer first appeared in the
January 2008 Harvard Heart Letter,
available at www.health.harvard.edu/heart
Copyright 2008 by Harvard University
This Question and Answer first appeared in the
January 2008 Harvard Heart Letter,
available at www.health.harvard.edu/heart
Copyright 2008 by Harvard University
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Burgers, Fries, Diet Soda: Metabolic Syndrome Blue-plate Special
Do we really need another article telling us how bad fast food diets are for our health? Apparently...
Burgers, Fries, Diet Soda: Metabolic Syndrome Blue-plate Special
ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2008) — Otherwise-healthy adults who eat two or more servings of meat a day -- the equivalent of two burger patties -- increase their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25 percent compared with those who eat meat twice a week, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person's risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
But it's not just meat that adds inches to the waist, increases blood pressure and lowers HDL -- "it's fried foods as well," said Lyn M. Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., co-author of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.
Dairy products, by contrast, appeared to offer some protection against metabolic syndrome.
Steffen said that, "Fried foods are typically synonymous with commonly eaten fast foods, so I think it is safe to say that these findings support a link between fast-food consumption and an increase in metabolic risk factors."
The findings emerged from an analysis of dietary intake by 9,514 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study. ARIC is a collaborative study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Unlike other researchers who have investigated relationships between nutrients and cardiovascular risk, "we specifically studied food intake. When making recommendations about dietary intake it is easier to do so using the framework of real foods eaten by real people," Steffen said.
Researchers assessed food intake using a 66-item food frequency questionnaire. From those responses, they categorized people by their dietary preferences into a Western-pattern diet or a prudent-pattern diet.
In general, the Western-pattern diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.
Prudent diet eating patterns, by contrast, favored cruciferous vegetables (e.g., cabbage, radish and broccoli), carotenoid vegetables (e.g., carrots, pumpkins, red pepper, cabbage, broccoli and spinach), fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, along with low-fat dairy.
Researchers also assessed associations with individual food items: fried foods, sweetened beverages (regular soda and fruit drinks), diet soda, nuts and coffee.
After nine years of follow-up, 3,782 (nearly 40 percent) of the participants had three or more of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome.
At baseline, participants were 45 to 64 years old -- ages at which many people gain weight.
Steffen said that weight gain over the years of follow-up might explain some of the cases of metabolic syndrome. But "after adjusting for demographic factors, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, consumption of a 'Western' dietary pattern was adversely associated with metabolic syndrome," she said.
"One surprising finding was while it didn't increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, there was no evidence of a beneficial effect of consuming a prudent diet either. I had expected to find a beneficial effect because we have seen that in other studies."
When Steffen and colleagues analyzed the results by specific foods, they found that meat, fried foods and diet soda were all significantly associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, but consumption of dairy products was beneficial.
The study did not address the mechanisms involved in the increased risk of metabolic syndrome seen with certain foods, but Steffen speculated that "it may be a fatty acid mechanism since saturated fats are a common link and certainly overweight and obesity are contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome." She also said more research on the relationship between diet soda and its association to metabolic syndrome is needed.
The fact that 60.5 percent of the ARIC population had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study or developed it during nine years of follow-up is troubling, researchers said.
Steffen said the study's results are clear: Too much meat, fried foods and diet soda, do not add up to a healthy life.
American Heart Association dietary guidelines for healthy Americans age 2 and older include:
* Limit saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium in the diet.
* Minimize the intake of food and beverages with added sugars.
* Eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods.
* Select fat-free and low-fat dairy.
* Eat fish at least twice per week.
* Emphasize physical activity and weight control.
* Avoid use of and exposure to tobacco products.
* Achieve and maintain healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
(Article emphases added by J. Davies)
Co-authors are Pamela L. Lutsey, M.P.H., and June Stevens, Ph.D., M.S., R.D.
Adapted from materials provided by American Heart Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
American Heart Association (2008, January 24). Burgers, Fries, Diet Soda: Metabolic Syndrome Blue-plate Special. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 24, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122165624.htm
Burgers, Fries, Diet Soda: Metabolic Syndrome Blue-plate Special
ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2008) — Otherwise-healthy adults who eat two or more servings of meat a day -- the equivalent of two burger patties -- increase their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25 percent compared with those who eat meat twice a week, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person's risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
But it's not just meat that adds inches to the waist, increases blood pressure and lowers HDL -- "it's fried foods as well," said Lyn M. Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., co-author of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.
Dairy products, by contrast, appeared to offer some protection against metabolic syndrome.
Steffen said that, "Fried foods are typically synonymous with commonly eaten fast foods, so I think it is safe to say that these findings support a link between fast-food consumption and an increase in metabolic risk factors."
The findings emerged from an analysis of dietary intake by 9,514 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study. ARIC is a collaborative study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Unlike other researchers who have investigated relationships between nutrients and cardiovascular risk, "we specifically studied food intake. When making recommendations about dietary intake it is easier to do so using the framework of real foods eaten by real people," Steffen said.
Researchers assessed food intake using a 66-item food frequency questionnaire. From those responses, they categorized people by their dietary preferences into a Western-pattern diet or a prudent-pattern diet.
In general, the Western-pattern diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.
Prudent diet eating patterns, by contrast, favored cruciferous vegetables (e.g., cabbage, radish and broccoli), carotenoid vegetables (e.g., carrots, pumpkins, red pepper, cabbage, broccoli and spinach), fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, along with low-fat dairy.
Researchers also assessed associations with individual food items: fried foods, sweetened beverages (regular soda and fruit drinks), diet soda, nuts and coffee.
After nine years of follow-up, 3,782 (nearly 40 percent) of the participants had three or more of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome.
At baseline, participants were 45 to 64 years old -- ages at which many people gain weight.
Steffen said that weight gain over the years of follow-up might explain some of the cases of metabolic syndrome. But "after adjusting for demographic factors, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, consumption of a 'Western' dietary pattern was adversely associated with metabolic syndrome," she said.
"One surprising finding was while it didn't increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, there was no evidence of a beneficial effect of consuming a prudent diet either. I had expected to find a beneficial effect because we have seen that in other studies."
When Steffen and colleagues analyzed the results by specific foods, they found that meat, fried foods and diet soda were all significantly associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, but consumption of dairy products was beneficial.
The study did not address the mechanisms involved in the increased risk of metabolic syndrome seen with certain foods, but Steffen speculated that "it may be a fatty acid mechanism since saturated fats are a common link and certainly overweight and obesity are contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome." She also said more research on the relationship between diet soda and its association to metabolic syndrome is needed.
The fact that 60.5 percent of the ARIC population had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study or developed it during nine years of follow-up is troubling, researchers said.
Steffen said the study's results are clear: Too much meat, fried foods and diet soda, do not add up to a healthy life.
American Heart Association dietary guidelines for healthy Americans age 2 and older include:
* Limit saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium in the diet.
* Minimize the intake of food and beverages with added sugars.
* Eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods.
* Select fat-free and low-fat dairy.
* Eat fish at least twice per week.
* Emphasize physical activity and weight control.
* Avoid use of and exposure to tobacco products.
* Achieve and maintain healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
(Article emphases added by J. Davies)
Co-authors are Pamela L. Lutsey, M.P.H., and June Stevens, Ph.D., M.S., R.D.
Adapted from materials provided by American Heart Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
American Heart Association (2008, January 24). Burgers, Fries, Diet Soda: Metabolic Syndrome Blue-plate Special. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 24, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122165624.htm
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Nutrients in Broccoli May Help Protect the Heart
Do we really need more evidence to confirm the health benefits of broccoli? Apparently so, not sure the rats appreciate their role in the study, though. Be Well! Janis
Broccoli Good for the Heart , Say Scientists Studying Rats By Miranda HittiWebMD Medical News
Jan. 18, 2008 -- Here's another reason to eat broccoli: It may help your heart.
University of Connecticut researchers report that news after studying broccoli and heart health in rats.
The scientists brewed a broccoli extract and fed it to rats for a month in addition to regular rat chow. For comparison, they fed other rats water instead of the broccoli extract in addition to their regular diet.
After feeding the rats broccoli extract or extra water for 30 days, the scientists tested the rats' hearts. Some of those tests deprived the heart of oxygen, similar to a heart attack.
The rats that had eaten the broccoli extract had three heart advantages over the other rats:
- Better blood-pumping ability
- Less heart damage during oxygen deprivation
- Higher levels of heart-health chemicals during oxygen deprivation
Broccoli's key nutrients include selenium and sulforaphane, which may also curb cancer, note graduate student Subhendu Mukherjee and Dipak Das, PhD.
Their findings appear in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
© 2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Stress Breaks Hearts
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Sept. 20, 2007 -- Here's a health fact most of us understand better than our doctors do: Emotional stress really can harm our hearts.
Intense grief, acute anger, and sudden fear can have direct -- sometimes fatal -- effects on the human heart. And long-term emotional stress shortens lives by increasing the risk of heart disease, notes Daniel J. Brotman, MD, director of the hospitalist program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.
"What is intuitive to people is not necessarily intuitive to physicians," Brotman tells WebMD. "Emotional stress, conceptually, is the same thing for cardiovascular risk as physical stress. But a lot of doctors blow that off, because they think emotional stress is a psychological problem, not a physical problem."
To overcome this false impression, Brotman and colleagues reviewed recent studies looking at the short- and long-term effects of emotional stress on the heart. Their resulting report, "The Cardiovascular Toll of Stress," appears in the Sept. 22 issue of The Lancet.
"In the hospital, I see people under all sorts of stress all the time -- and I see what happens to bodies under stress," Brotman says. "Our study illustrates how important the body's stress responses are in precipitating cardiovascular effects."
Heartache, Heart HarmPsychological disorders, personality types, and other psychological stressors are linked to various heart problems:
- People who suffer from depression, hopelessness, or a pessimistic outlook are more likely than others to suffer heart attack and sudden heart death. They are more likely to develop conditions that increase heart risk, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and impaired heart rate.
- People who suffer chronic anxiety are more likely than others to suffer heart attack, atrial fibrillation, and sudden heart death. Their propensity for high blood pressure and impaired heart rate increases their heart risk.
- Emotional trauma -- such as the death of a spouse, mental or physical abuse, or posttraumatic stress disorder -- increases risk of heart attack and heart death.
- People with type D personalities (characterized by pessimistic emotions and inability to share emotions with others) and type A personalities (characterized by anxiety directed outward as aggressive, irritable, or hostile behaviors) are more likely than others to suffer heart attacks.
- People with angry or hostile temperaments are more likely than others to suffer heart death.
- Acute fear, grief, startling, or anger can cause "stunned heart." Wallops of emotion also can cause sudden death due to life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm.
Even when intense bouts of emotion don't kill, they may cause long-lasting heart damage.
"Most people who suffer the death of a loved one are not coming to medical attention, but that does not mean their hearts are not stunned for a period of time," Brotman says. "We doctors only see those with heart failure, or those with already-damaged hearts whose defibrillators fire. But probably, in every body, what stress hormones do today have some impact on how healthy your cardiovascular system will be 20 years from now."
It would seem to be wise for all of us to learn to deal with stressful emotions. But Brotman warns that there does not seem to be any one-size-fits-all way to do this.
"We don't have concrete evidence to suggest that if you manage your stress levels you will reduce your cardiovascular risk," he says. "People are different and have different ways of reducing stress. It is disingenuous to suggest that stress reduction is going to be simple."
Meanwhile, he urges doctors to pay more attention to what their patients are telling them when they talk about stress.
"Real-time physical effects correlate with intense emotional states," Brotman says. "We should think beyond cholesterol, beyond blood pressure, when thinking about what it means to live a heart-healthy lifestyle."
© 2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Rise-and-Shine Cookies, from the American Heart Association
Serves 15; 2 cookies per serving
Cookies for breakfast? Sure—when they are rich in fiber and low in fat and taste like big chunks of granola. Make these ahead of time for a quick breakfast treat.
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Egg substitute equivalent to 1 egg
3 tablespoons canola or corn oil
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking or regular rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, egg substitute, and oil. Stir until well combined. Stir in flour mixture, oats, and wheat germ.
Drop dough by tablespoons about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet. Flatten slightly to a 2-inch diameter with your hand or the bottom of a glass. Bake 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on wire racks. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for one week or in the freezer for several weeks.
| Nutrition Analysis (per serving) | |
| Calories | 116 |
| Total Fat | 4.0 g |
| Saturated | 1.0 g |
| Polyunsaturated | 2.0 g |
| Monounsaturated | 1.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 74 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
This recipe is reprinted with permission from the American Heart Association Quick & Easy Cookbook, Copyright © 1995 by the American Heart Association. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc. Available from booksellers everywhere.
http://www.goredforwomen.com/love_your_heart/recipe_of_the_month.htmlThursday, July 19, 2007
Celebrate National Safety Month by Learning CPR
If you saw someone having a cardiac arrest, would you know how to perform CPR? Most people don't.
CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When performed immediately and effectively after cardiac arrest, it can double a victim's chance of survival. CPR helps save lives by maintaining vital blood flow to the heart and brain until more advanced care can be given.
What better way to honor National Safety Month than by learning this lifesaving skill? Now it's easier and more convenient than ever with the American Heart Association's CPR Anytime kit. It takes just 22 minutes to learn and can be done anywhere.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Women & Heart Disease - “The Healthy Heart Handbook”
Love Your Heart: New NHLBI Resource Helps Women Reduce Heart Disease Risk
20th anniversary edition of “The Healthy Heart Handbook” includes New Statistics, Quizzes, and Charts
20th anniversary edition of “The Healthy Heart Handbook” includes New Statistics, Quizzes, and Charts
A must read for women who want to show their hearts some love, “The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women” is an invaluable and easy-to-use resource every woman should read from cover to cover. A full-color, 122-page booklet from The Heart Truth campaign, it is packed with the latest information on preventing and controlling the risk factors for heart disease — the No.1 killer of women.
“The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women” a publication of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, contains new information on women and heart disease and offers practical suggestions for reducing the risk of heart-related problems. The handbook also describes the warning signs of heart attack and how to get help quickly.
“The Healthy Heart Handbook” is available for $4.00 from the NHLBI Information Center, (301) 592-8573 or (240) 629-3255 (TTY); it is also online at http://emall.nhlbihin.net/product2.asp?sku=07-2720.Friday, April 27, 2007
Reduce Stress the HeartMath way: fast instant relief
We all know we need to reduce stress. We just don't have the time to do what most traditional approaches to stress reduction tell us: RELAX. We need quick stress relief, something we can do 24/7 while we multitask and answer all those emails. We need something we can do that doesn't require a trip to the spa, the beach or a quiet room.
HeartMath's Quick Coherence® Technique is stress reduction for the 21st century: Fast, instant and on demand.
- Heart focus. Focus your attention to the area around your heart.
- Heart breathing. Imagine your breath flowing into and out of your heart.
- Heart feeling. Recall a positive or fun time in your life and attempt to re experience it.
Inner Quality Tip from HeartMath. Copyright 2007 HeartMath LLC. All rights reserved. HeartMath LLC. 14700 West Park Avenue Boulder Creek, CA 95006
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Women & Heart Disease - what to know
Heart disease in women: A Mayo Clinic specialist answers questions
When it comes to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, men have traditionally garnered more attention than women have. You might think this is because men are more susceptible to cardiovascular disease than are women. But in reality, more women than men die of cardiovascular disease each year. Women are six times as likely to die of heart disease as of breast cancer. Heart disease kills more women over 65 than all cancers combined.
Historically, coronary artery disease has been considered primarily a man's disease. But recent statistics have shown that the rate of heart disease has declined in men but not as much in women. This may be due to a combination of biological and social differences.
Cardiologist Sharonne Hayes, M.D., director of the Women's Heart Clinic at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and member of the advisory board of WomenHeart: the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, shares her insights about women and heart disease.
Isn't heart disease just heart disease, whether it's in a man or a woman?
Not necessarily. We have gaps in our knowledge about the prevention and treatment of heart disease in women. For one thing, women historically haven't been included in scientific research studies to the extent men have.
For example, we now know that just because a woman's arteries appear clear on an angiogram (a picture of the heart), it doesn't mean she's not at risk of heart disease. A study by the National Institutes of Health indicated as many as 3 million women previously diagnosed with healthy arteries could actually have an increased risk of heart attack after all.
This study, called the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE), found among other things that the gold standard test for assessing coronary artery disease — the coronary angiogram — may not spot the more diffuse buildup of plaques that often forms in the smaller coronary arteries of women's hearts.
How do heart attack symptoms differ in women and men?
The most common symptom of a heart attack in both men and women is some type of pain, pressure or discomfort in the chest. But it's not always severe or even the most prominent symptom, particularly in women. Women are more likely than men to have signs and symptoms unrelated to chest pain, such as:
* Neck, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort
* Shortness of breath
* Nausea or vomiting
* Sweating
* Lightheadedness or dizziness
* Unusual fatigue
These signs and symptoms are more subtle than the obvious crushing chest pain often associated with heart attacks. This may be due to the smaller arteries involved or because in men, the bulky, unstable plaques tend to burst open whereas in women, plaques erode, exposing the inner layers of the artery.
Differences in symptoms may also relate to a condition called endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction — in which the lining of the artery doesn't allow the artery to expand (dilate) properly to boost blood flow during activity — increases the risk of coronary artery spasm and sudden death.
Ultimately, women tend to show up in the emergency rooms after much heart damage has already occurred because their symptoms are not those typically associated with a heart attack. If you experience these symptoms or think you're having a heart attack, call for emergency medical help immediately. Don't drive yourself to the emergency room.
Davies: For more info also check out: http://goredforwomen.org/ ...take the Go Red Heart Checkup to find out your own risk for heart disease. GRFW is a campaign of the American Heart Association
Are the risk factors different for men and women?
Although the traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease — such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity — are detrimental to both men and women, certain factors may play a bigger role in the development of heart disease in women. For example:
* Metabolic syndrome — a combination of abdominal obesity, increased blood pressure, elevated blood glucose and triglycerides — has a greater impact on women than on men.
* Mental stress and depression affect women's hearts more than men's.
* Smoking is much worse for women than men.
* Low levels of estrogen before menopause is a significant risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease in smaller blood vessels (microvascular disease).
Is heart disease something only older women should worry about?
No. While heart disease is the leading cause of death for women 65 and older, it's the third-leading cause of death for women 25 to 44 and second-leading cause of death for women 45 to 64. All women, of all ages, should take heart disease seriously.
There seems to be an ethnic disparity in heart disease. Why are black and Hispanic women at higher risk of dying of this disease?
It's complicated. Some of it is socioeconomic. Some of it is also the result of medical disparities. They may get fewer health screenings, or they haven't received ethnic-specific health messages. There are genetic differences to consider, too. Black women are more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes, but they actually smoke less than white women do. Other ethnic traditions may put a different emphasis on diet and physical activity.
What can women do to reduce their risks of heart disease?
As for the basics: Be active, maintain a normal weight and don't smoke. Women also need to take their prescribed medications appropriately, such as beta blockers, blood thinners and aspirin, and they need to better manage other conditions that are risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Some women at high risk may also benefit from the use of supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids. These are all things you can talk to your doctor about.
Should I take aspirin?
Guidelines from the American Heart Association urge women to be more aggressive about cutting their heart disease and stroke risks. One of the recommendations is for women over 65 years of age to consider daily aspirin therapy.
The aspirin recommendation comes out of the ongoing Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, the largest study of heart disease risk factors in women. In 2005, the WHI group released a study showing that the most consistent benefit of aspirin for heart attack prevention was observed among women 65 years of age or older. Women in this age group who took aspirin had nearly one-third fewer cardiovascular events (heart attack and stroke) than did women who took a placebo. However, the women taking aspirin had more gastrointestinal bleeding as well.
The key word in these guidelines is "consider." The guidelines recommend that women consider taking aspirin — which means have a discussion with your doctor about the risks and benefits of taking aspirin based on your own individual stroke and heart attack risk. The higher your risk of heart attack or stroke, the more that risk is reduced by taking aspirin, but the higher your risk is of bleeding. So, it's a balance that each woman needs to discuss with her physician.
When you say 'be active,' what do you mean?
Exercise isn't the same as being busy. I have women tell me how busy they are, that they're always running around doing stuff, and they may be tired at the end of the day, but they aren't physically fit. Being active means doing something physical, getting exercise.
In my practice, I give concrete examples of what this means. For instance, it means taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking, riding bikes with your kids. I tell women to get a pedometer and track their steps. The goal is to log 10,000 steps a day, which is about five miles. Don't be discouraged if you can't jog or join an exercise club, even a 30-minute walk every day results in big benefits for your heart.
Can you give an example of how someone you know made some simple heart-healthy changes?
I know a woman who works on the 11th floor. She was overweight and very out of shape. She started exercising by walking up just a few flights of stairs each morning and then taking the elevator the rest of the way when she got tired. One day, she realized she had walked all the way up to the 14th floor without realizing it or getting winded. Now, she walks up to the 18th floor and then back down to the 11th because it feels good and is a great start to her day. I can tell patients with a completely straight face that soon you'll want to do more exercise because you'll feel better.
What's a normal weight? How much weight should I try and lose?
There is no "normal" weight, but a normal body mass index (BMI) is helpful. This calculation helps you determine if you have a healthy or unhealthy percentage of body fat. BMI numbers of 25 or higher are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Remember, though, even losing 10 to 15 pounds can help by lowering your blood pressure and helping prevent diabetes — both of which increase your risk of heart disease.
Is the treatment for heart disease different for women?
In some women, plaques accumulate as an evenly spread layer along artery walls, which is not treatable using traditional methods such as angioplasty and stenting designed to flatten the bulky, irregular, not-so-subtle plaques in men's arteries. In women with these more diffuse plaques, drug treatment — rather than angioplasty or stenting — may be a better option.
We also know that men and women respond differently to certain heart medications, such as clot-busting drugs (thrombolytics). There is also a difference between men and women in the effects of aspirin therapy. In women, aspirin therapy seems to reduce the risk of stroke more than in men, while in men it reduces the risk of heart attack more than it reduces strokes.
What these differences suggest is that if we use the same treatment in women that we use in men without understanding those differences, we may actually increase women's risks of complications.
I've heard something about the connection between depression and heart disease in women. What's that about?
Depression is twice as common in women as in men, and it increases the risk of heart disease by two to three times compared with those who aren't depressed. It's estimated that about one in five women who has a heart attack or is hospitalized with heart failure has evidence of depression. We need to better diagnose and address depression because depression makes it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle and follow recommended treatment.
What's next in the effort to prevent heart disease in women?
Recent studies, especially those giving results for men and women, have helped us begin to identify gaps in our knowledge and will spur researchers to look for answers that will improve care for women. Doctors are becoming more aware of the different signs to watch for that may indicate a woman is having a heart attack — different than what men may experience.
Women and physicians also need to become better educated about heart disease in women. Knowledge helps women feel empowered to ask questions and learn more about how to prevent heart disease.
And as women become more informed about their risks, they'll be better able to follow through with healthier lifestyle habits.
Original Article:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/HB00040
By Mayo Clinic Staff
Apr 3, 2007
© 1998-2007 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "EmbodyHealth," "Reliable tools for healthier lives," "Enhance your life," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
When it comes to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, men have traditionally garnered more attention than women have. You might think this is because men are more susceptible to cardiovascular disease than are women. But in reality, more women than men die of cardiovascular disease each year. Women are six times as likely to die of heart disease as of breast cancer. Heart disease kills more women over 65 than all cancers combined.
Historically, coronary artery disease has been considered primarily a man's disease. But recent statistics have shown that the rate of heart disease has declined in men but not as much in women. This may be due to a combination of biological and social differences.
Cardiologist Sharonne Hayes, M.D., director of the Women's Heart Clinic at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and member of the advisory board of WomenHeart: the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, shares her insights about women and heart disease.
Isn't heart disease just heart disease, whether it's in a man or a woman?
Not necessarily. We have gaps in our knowledge about the prevention and treatment of heart disease in women. For one thing, women historically haven't been included in scientific research studies to the extent men have.
For example, we now know that just because a woman's arteries appear clear on an angiogram (a picture of the heart), it doesn't mean she's not at risk of heart disease. A study by the National Institutes of Health indicated as many as 3 million women previously diagnosed with healthy arteries could actually have an increased risk of heart attack after all.
This study, called the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE), found among other things that the gold standard test for assessing coronary artery disease — the coronary angiogram — may not spot the more diffuse buildup of plaques that often forms in the smaller coronary arteries of women's hearts.
How do heart attack symptoms differ in women and men?
The most common symptom of a heart attack in both men and women is some type of pain, pressure or discomfort in the chest. But it's not always severe or even the most prominent symptom, particularly in women. Women are more likely than men to have signs and symptoms unrelated to chest pain, such as:
* Neck, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort
* Shortness of breath
* Nausea or vomiting
* Sweating
* Lightheadedness or dizziness
* Unusual fatigue
These signs and symptoms are more subtle than the obvious crushing chest pain often associated with heart attacks. This may be due to the smaller arteries involved or because in men, the bulky, unstable plaques tend to burst open whereas in women, plaques erode, exposing the inner layers of the artery.
Differences in symptoms may also relate to a condition called endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction — in which the lining of the artery doesn't allow the artery to expand (dilate) properly to boost blood flow during activity — increases the risk of coronary artery spasm and sudden death.
Ultimately, women tend to show up in the emergency rooms after much heart damage has already occurred because their symptoms are not those typically associated with a heart attack. If you experience these symptoms or think you're having a heart attack, call for emergency medical help immediately. Don't drive yourself to the emergency room.
Davies: For more info also check out: http://goredforwomen.org/ ...take the Go Red Heart Checkup to find out your own risk for heart disease. GRFW is a campaign of the American Heart Association
Are the risk factors different for men and women?
Although the traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease — such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity — are detrimental to both men and women, certain factors may play a bigger role in the development of heart disease in women. For example:
* Metabolic syndrome — a combination of abdominal obesity, increased blood pressure, elevated blood glucose and triglycerides — has a greater impact on women than on men.
* Mental stress and depression affect women's hearts more than men's.
* Smoking is much worse for women than men.
* Low levels of estrogen before menopause is a significant risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease in smaller blood vessels (microvascular disease).
Is heart disease something only older women should worry about?
No. While heart disease is the leading cause of death for women 65 and older, it's the third-leading cause of death for women 25 to 44 and second-leading cause of death for women 45 to 64. All women, of all ages, should take heart disease seriously.
There seems to be an ethnic disparity in heart disease. Why are black and Hispanic women at higher risk of dying of this disease?
It's complicated. Some of it is socioeconomic. Some of it is also the result of medical disparities. They may get fewer health screenings, or they haven't received ethnic-specific health messages. There are genetic differences to consider, too. Black women are more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes, but they actually smoke less than white women do. Other ethnic traditions may put a different emphasis on diet and physical activity.
What can women do to reduce their risks of heart disease?
As for the basics: Be active, maintain a normal weight and don't smoke. Women also need to take their prescribed medications appropriately, such as beta blockers, blood thinners and aspirin, and they need to better manage other conditions that are risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Some women at high risk may also benefit from the use of supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids. These are all things you can talk to your doctor about.
Should I take aspirin?
Guidelines from the American Heart Association urge women to be more aggressive about cutting their heart disease and stroke risks. One of the recommendations is for women over 65 years of age to consider daily aspirin therapy.
The aspirin recommendation comes out of the ongoing Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, the largest study of heart disease risk factors in women. In 2005, the WHI group released a study showing that the most consistent benefit of aspirin for heart attack prevention was observed among women 65 years of age or older. Women in this age group who took aspirin had nearly one-third fewer cardiovascular events (heart attack and stroke) than did women who took a placebo. However, the women taking aspirin had more gastrointestinal bleeding as well.
The key word in these guidelines is "consider." The guidelines recommend that women consider taking aspirin — which means have a discussion with your doctor about the risks and benefits of taking aspirin based on your own individual stroke and heart attack risk. The higher your risk of heart attack or stroke, the more that risk is reduced by taking aspirin, but the higher your risk is of bleeding. So, it's a balance that each woman needs to discuss with her physician.
When you say 'be active,' what do you mean?
Exercise isn't the same as being busy. I have women tell me how busy they are, that they're always running around doing stuff, and they may be tired at the end of the day, but they aren't physically fit. Being active means doing something physical, getting exercise.
In my practice, I give concrete examples of what this means. For instance, it means taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking, riding bikes with your kids. I tell women to get a pedometer and track their steps. The goal is to log 10,000 steps a day, which is about five miles. Don't be discouraged if you can't jog or join an exercise club, even a 30-minute walk every day results in big benefits for your heart.
Can you give an example of how someone you know made some simple heart-healthy changes?
I know a woman who works on the 11th floor. She was overweight and very out of shape. She started exercising by walking up just a few flights of stairs each morning and then taking the elevator the rest of the way when she got tired. One day, she realized she had walked all the way up to the 14th floor without realizing it or getting winded. Now, she walks up to the 18th floor and then back down to the 11th because it feels good and is a great start to her day. I can tell patients with a completely straight face that soon you'll want to do more exercise because you'll feel better.
What's a normal weight? How much weight should I try and lose?
There is no "normal" weight, but a normal body mass index (BMI) is helpful. This calculation helps you determine if you have a healthy or unhealthy percentage of body fat. BMI numbers of 25 or higher are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Remember, though, even losing 10 to 15 pounds can help by lowering your blood pressure and helping prevent diabetes — both of which increase your risk of heart disease.
Is the treatment for heart disease different for women?
In some women, plaques accumulate as an evenly spread layer along artery walls, which is not treatable using traditional methods such as angioplasty and stenting designed to flatten the bulky, irregular, not-so-subtle plaques in men's arteries. In women with these more diffuse plaques, drug treatment — rather than angioplasty or stenting — may be a better option.
We also know that men and women respond differently to certain heart medications, such as clot-busting drugs (thrombolytics). There is also a difference between men and women in the effects of aspirin therapy. In women, aspirin therapy seems to reduce the risk of stroke more than in men, while in men it reduces the risk of heart attack more than it reduces strokes.
What these differences suggest is that if we use the same treatment in women that we use in men without understanding those differences, we may actually increase women's risks of complications.
I've heard something about the connection between depression and heart disease in women. What's that about?
Depression is twice as common in women as in men, and it increases the risk of heart disease by two to three times compared with those who aren't depressed. It's estimated that about one in five women who has a heart attack or is hospitalized with heart failure has evidence of depression. We need to better diagnose and address depression because depression makes it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle and follow recommended treatment.
What's next in the effort to prevent heart disease in women?
Recent studies, especially those giving results for men and women, have helped us begin to identify gaps in our knowledge and will spur researchers to look for answers that will improve care for women. Doctors are becoming more aware of the different signs to watch for that may indicate a woman is having a heart attack — different than what men may experience.
Women and physicians also need to become better educated about heart disease in women. Knowledge helps women feel empowered to ask questions and learn more about how to prevent heart disease.
And as women become more informed about their risks, they'll be better able to follow through with healthier lifestyle habits.
Original Article:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/HB00040
By Mayo Clinic Staff
Apr 3, 2007
© 1998-2007 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "EmbodyHealth," "Reliable tools for healthier lives," "Enhance your life," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
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