allabouthearthproblems.com

Music – Soothing the Soul (and the Heart Too)

Peter — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:09:12 +0000

The benefits of music has long been accepted to be soothing to the soul and mind and with some of the latest research, a more solid proof of this link has been established by researches from the Cochrane Systematic Review. The study shows that people who are suffering from heart disease are indeed getting soothed, decreasing blood pressure and anxiety in heart patients. This adds credence to the wise adage that music soothes the soul that is now known as more than an old wives tale. From stress reduction to the soothing physiological effects, all are now being used as a viable approach to augment heart disease treatment.
Alleviating stress reduces stress on the heart and circulatory system thus lessening the damage of such diseases. Listening to music is now being suggested to most heart disease sufferers as a result of this study and very good results are being seen and improving conditions can be a new way to approach the management and development of non-invasive techniques for heart disease management.

Depression – More a Threat than other Factors

Peter — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:09:07 +0000

Researchers and heart surgeons have been discovering new details about the workings of heart disease and the factors that leads to it. Surprising results are showing that stress may be more dangerous that environmental or genetic traits that have long been blamed for the many incidents of the progression and even contraction of the disease. This serves to strengthen the link between the mental and physical health, that is now being seen to have more profound effects on each other. Such as in the previous post of music having more than just a mental effect on the body but a soothing effect that alleviates some of disease’s symptoms as well.
Depression is now being looked as being a very huge contributor to the scourge known as heart disease, manifesting itself as more than psychological but physically. The study spanned many years and took on the many veterans that started from the Vietnam era till today where veterans were monitored for links and to get a beter understanding of the many heart problems that plagues people around the world. Veterans offer a very manageable source of information due to the fact they are under constant monitoring and medical check-ups are part of their yearly records. The results are truly surprising for the determination that stress can have a more profound effect on the physiology of the human body is rocking our understanding of the disease from a totally different standpoint.

Importance Of Being Healthy

andrea — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:41:55 +0000

During pregnancy, our physicians thus advise to give importance to the prenatal and early life environment for the sake of an individual’s future health. Parents in general should avoid as much as possible exposure to tobacco or cigarette smoke which can eventually have an impact on the weight of a child. However, vitamins and other safe medications can be prescribed for pregnant women. This will help the child to be healthy aside from the daily nutrients that the mother takes. Also, when the child was born, there are available test that can be conducted to verify or ensure the child’s heart particularly the heart.

MSG and its Aid in Lessening Heart Problems

Peter — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:49:59 +0000

Monosodium Glutamate, also known as MSG, is a food additive that is known to enhance food flavors and make dishes tasty, savory, and meaty. With the addition of this flavor enhancer meals become tastier and people find dishes more appetizing. However, there have been rumors spreading around that MSG is the main cause why many individuals are suffering from obesity, chest tightness, nausea, excessive sweating after eating and even increases the probability of having heart-related health situations. Due to these unverified statements, many dieticians and doctors are claiming that MSG is bad for health.

All of this began when glutamate was introduced in the US in 1947 as a product that goes by the name of Accent Flavor Enhancer. From that moment on, people have been reporting of symptoms like chest pain, flushing, or burning sensations around the mouth whenever they eat something that has MSG. This claim was even more scrutinized when Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine in April 1968 and disclosed some details of what he experienced after eating in a Chinese restaurant in the United States.

Despite these reports however, the US Food and Drug Administration have classified MSG to be “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS), which was certified back in 1959. The effort of proving glutamates as safe was followed with the review made by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in 1970. The research was sponsored by the FDA, contrary to rumors that Ajinomoto, the MSG Company in Japan, has funded the said research. The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) has classified monosodium glutamate in the safest category as an additive with “Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) not specified”.

As a matter of fact, contrary to most claims made against it, MSG can lessen the risks of coronary heart diseases, heart attacks, and diabetes because of its low sodium content, which is 33.33% lower than what is found in table salt. Salt has 39% while MSG only has 12% sodium content. Monosodium glutamate is a great option if you want to lessen salt inclusion in meals while maintaining the taste and rich flavor of most dishes. MSG also works well with food that demand the same deep meaty tang without the need to add excessive fat, which lessens the intake of bad cholesterol that gravely affects the heart.

The Environment

andrea — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:54:30 +0000

Extreme or unseen events can complicate especially if our climate is affected. Other factors that can cause heart problems are the pollution levels emitted by factories and cars as well as natural phenomenon. With concrete skyscrapers and people living in the cities in the near future, our environment will completely change and if it is expected to get worst, it can contribute to heart disease. When lungs become irritated with the airborne impurities, there would also be a bad reaction to the heart. Reason why as early as now there is a campaign warnings to be watchful with our surroundings.

All about hypertension and Alzheimer’s.

editor — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:18:58 +0000

Who would ever think that high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease are connected? Although high blood is not the cause of Alzheimer’s, it can be a contributing factor to the said disease that targets the memory of old people. When a person has high blood, the flow of his or her blood in the brain is greatly reduced. The blood travels to the arteries with great speed (shoots up) and this is affecting the activity of the brain. It is only recently that high blood is being associated with brain ailments. Statistics by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute show that about 50 million Americans suffer from hypertension. That’s something to look at.

Photo taken from http://a.abcnews.com

Metabolite Profiling Key to Detecting Heart Attacks

Peter — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:14:15 +0000

Mild heart attacks can go unnoticed and can be blamed on heartburn but new diagnostic methods using metabolite profiling have been developed to allow a better understanding of how they change the chemical composition of the blood and the metabolites that are contained within. This is why people are advised to seek medical attention to allow better understanding of the mechanisms that researchers have found as promising. There are specific changes to the levels of metabolites or metabolic chemicals hat are released by the body through the blood that signifies trauma to the heart. The heart may be signaling the brain that there is someting wrong and that a sudden release of these metabolites are needed to help it cope.

A lifestyle change to prevent heart problems

Peter — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:01:51 +0000

Heart problems are a very real risk for people who reach middle age. The risk rises with a sedentary lifestyle and a bad choice in diet. The problem is that many people only begin to address the factors that contribute to heart disease when they already exhibit its symptoms.

Prevention is always better than a cure that’s why you should do everything to prevent yourself from developing heart disease. This includes daily cardiovascular exercise and the conscious choice to eat a healthier diet that is low in fat and sodium and high in fiber. By consciously changing your lifestyle you’ll reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

Kids–Can they get heart diseases?

Peter — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 05:30:50 +0000

Normally, kids do not have any symptoms of heart diseases and and blood vessel problems. Parents have to start early, showing their kids how to start with heart-healthy habits right NOW. Kids will be able to decrease their changes of haivng a heart problem, and wl never have to worry about cardiovascular disease.

What should you do now? For one, DO NOT SMILE. Be sure to eat healthy, exercise, and maintain a healthy weight. Your heart and blood vessels will thank you later!

Heart disease prevention: 5 strategies keep your heart healthy

Peter — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:28:37 +0000

You can prevent heart disease by following a heart-healthy lifestyle. Here are five strategies to help you protect your heart.

Heart disease may be the leading cause of death for both men and women, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it as your fate. Although you lack the power to change some risk factors � such as family history, age and race � there are some key heart disease prevention steps you can take.

Take steps to avoid heart disease � don’t smoke, get regular exercise and eat healthy foods. Avoid heart problems in the future by adopting a healthy lifestyle today. Here are five heart disease prevention tips to get you started.

1. Don’t smoke or use tobacco products
“If you smoke, quit,” advises Sharonne Hayes, M.D., a cardiologist and director of the Women’s Heart Clinic at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. “That’s the most powerful, preventable risk factor for heart disease.”

When it comes to heart disease prevention, no amount of smoking is safe. Smokeless tobacco and low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes also are risky, as is exposure to secondhand smoke.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,800 chemicals. Many of these can damage your heart and blood vessels, making them more vulnerable to narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Atherosclerosis can ultimately lead to a heart attack.

In addition, the nicotine in cigarette smoke makes your heart work harder by constricting blood vessels and increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke replaces some of the oxygen in your blood. This increases your blood pressure by forcing your heart to work harder to supply enough oxygen. Even so-called “social smoking” � only smoking while at a bar or restaurant with friends � is dangerous and increases the risk of heart disease.

Women who smoke and take birth control pills are at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke than are those who don’t do either. Worse, this risk increases with age, especially over 35.

The good news, though, is that when you quit smoking, your risk of heart disease drops dramatically within just one year. And no matter how long or how much you smoked, you’ll start reaping rewards as soon as you quit.

2. Get active
You already know that physical activity is good for you. But you may not realize just how good it is for you.

Regularly participating in moderately vigorous physical activity can reduce your risk of fatal heart disease by nearly a quarter. And when you combine physical activity with other lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight, the payoff is even greater.

Regular physical activity helps prevent heart disease by increasing blood flow to your heart and strengthening your heart’s contractions so that your heart pumps more blood with less effort. Physical activity also helps you control your weight and can reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put a strain on your heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. It also reduces stress, which may also be a factor in heart disease.

Federal guidelines recommend that you get at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense physical activity most days of the week. However, even shorter amounts offer heart benefits, so if you can’t meet those guidelines, don’t give up. And remember that things like gardening, housekeeping, taking the stairs and walking the dog all count toward your total. You don’t have to exercise strenuously to achieve benefits, but you can see bigger benefits by increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of your workouts.

3. Eat a heart-healthy diet
Consistently eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products can help protect your heart. Legumes, low-fat sources of protein and certain types of fish also can reduce your risk of heart disease.

Limiting your intake of certain fats also is important. Of the types of fat � saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fat � saturated fat and trans fat increase the risk of coronary artery disease by raising blood cholesterol levels. Major sources of saturated fat include beef, butter, cheese, milk, and coconut and palm oils. There’s growing evidence that trans fat may be worse than saturated fat because unlike saturated fat, it both raises your LDL (bad) cholesterol and lowers your HDL (good) cholesterol. Sources of trans fat include deep-fried fast foods, bakery products, packaged snack foods, margarines and crackers.

Heart-healthy eating isn’t all about cutting back, though. Most people, for instance, need to add more fruits and vegetables to their diet � with a goal of five to 10 servings a day.

“There’s a huge amount of data to suggest that fruits and vegetables are highly effective in preventing not just cardiovascular disease, but cancer and other diseases as well,” Dr. Hayes says.

Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, may decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure. Some fish are a good natural source of omega-3s. However, pregnant women and women of childbearing age should avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish because they contain levels of mercury high enough to pose a danger to a developing fetus. But for most others, the health benefits of fish outweigh any risks associated with mercury. Omega-3s are present in smaller amounts in flaxseed oil, walnut oil, soybean oil and canola oil, and they can also be found in supplements.

Following a heart-healthy diet also means drinking alcohol only in moderation � no more than two drinks a day for men, one a day for women. At that moderate level, alcohol can have a protective effect on your heart. Above that, it becomes a health hazard.

4. Maintain a healthy weight
As you put on weight in adulthood, you gain mostly fatty tissue. This excess weight can lead to conditions that increase your chances of heart disease � high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

How do you know if your weight is healthy? One way is to calculate your body mass index (BMI), which considers your height and weight in determining whether you have a healthy or unhealthy percentage of body fat.

BMI numbers 25 and higher are associated with higher blood fats, higher blood pressure, and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

The BMI is a good but imperfect guide. Muscle weighs more than fat, for instance, and women and men who are very muscular and physically fit can have high BMIs without added health risks. Because of that, waist circumference is also a useful tool to assess abdominal fat. In general, men are considered overweight if their waist measurement is greater than 40 inches. And women, in general, are overweight if their waist measurement is greater than 35 inches.

Even small reductions in weight can be beneficial. Reducing your weight by just 10 percent can decrease your blood pressure, lower your blood cholesterol level and reduce your risk of diabetes.

5. Get regular health screenings
High blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your cardiovascular system, including your heart. But without testing for them, you probably won’t know whether you have these conditions. Regular screening can tell you what your numbers are and whether you need to take action.

Blood pressure. Regular blood pressure screenings start in childhood. Adults should have their blood pressure checked at least every two years. You may need more frequent checks if your numbers aren’t optimal or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Optimal blood pressure is less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury.

Cholesterol levels. Adults should have their cholesterol measured at least once every five years. You may need more frequent testing if your numbers aren’t optimal or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Some children may need their blood cholesterol tested if they have a strong family history of heart disease.

Prevention pays
Heart disease is often avoidable. Following a heart-healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t mean you need to live a life of self-deprivation. Instead, find ways to incorporate heart-healthy habits into your lifestyle � and you may well enjoy a healthier life for years to come.

Source: mayoclinic.com