As everyone knows the best way to have good heart health is to maintain the proper weight, get plenty of exercise and eat healthy food. Are there any shortcuts to this? In a word, no.
There are some additional things that will help your heart health. From the well known studies on the Eskimos who ate a very high meat diet, we learn that they had little or no heart problems. The reason was the very high level of omega-3 oil in the fish and seals that they ate. You can buy omega-3 fish oil pills at a very low cost. Another low cost supplement that really helps your heart is one of the B vitamins, vitamin B3, also called niacin. Niacin will help clean out the buildup in the arteries.
The key to good heart health is prevention. Most people get lazy, fat and avoid exercise and that increases the risk of getting heart disease. If you want to go that route then read how doctors deal with heart disease for their overweight, non exercising patients with bad eating habits.
Thirty years ago, Eugene Braunwald, MD, Chief of Cardiology at Harvard Medical School, stated in the New England Journal of Medicine, "An industry is being built around this operation (bypass)...(It) is developing a momentum of its own, and as time passses it will be progressively more difficult and costly to curtail it..."
He was right. Between 1979 and 1998, the number of cardiovascular procedures grew by 38%! Yet study after study shows that surgery yields no better benefit than alternative treatments. NONE. But with cardiac procedures making up roughly 45% of the total revenue generated by most hospitals, and bypass surgery starting at $85,000 a pop, it's no wonder doctors and hospitals continue to push patients down this unnecessary, often ineffective, and sometimes very dangerous road.
1998: VEterans Affairs Non-Q-Wave Infarction Strategies in Hostital (VANQWISH) study published. This was designed to determine the best treatment for patients who have had non-Qwave mycardial infarctions (the msot common type of heart attack). It was found that patients who underwent surgery fared more poorly and had increased death rates.
2001: Study related to the VANQWISH study published similar findings, "routine invasive management may be associated with an increased risk of death."
2006: Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that angioplasty done 3 to 28 days after a heart attack did not reduce the rates of death, heart attack, or heart failure, compared to conservative treatment with medications. Worse, during 4 years of follow-up, these PATIENTS HAD AN INCREASE IN REPEAT HEART ATTACKS!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
99,000 DIE YEARLY FROM PREVENTABLE HOSPITAL INFECTIONS
As many as 99,000 Ameicans die yearly from hospital-acquired infections, state laws are finally forcing hospitals to report the infections.
Early data released by CDC today suggest this is cutting infection rates. But the data paint a bigger picture. Despite the huge size of the problem, most hospitals in most states still haven't come to grips with it.
That's going to change, says Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
"All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico recently published state action plans to reduce hospital-acquired infections," Sebelius says in a news release.
Its a good start. But it's been a struggle just to get the starting line, says Lisa McGiffert, who as campaign manager for Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project, lobbies states to pass laws requiring public reporting of in-hospital infections.
"When we started, we thought hospitals knew their infection rates and were keeping them secret," McGiffert tell WebMD. "But they were not tracking them at all. If you are not aware of somethig you can't stop it. Where hospitals have been forced to face this and count it, it has created a sea change. The main thing this means is that the CDC has finally embraced public reporting as a component of prevention Strategies."
Early data released by CDC today suggest this is cutting infection rates. But the data paint a bigger picture. Despite the huge size of the problem, most hospitals in most states still haven't come to grips with it.
That's going to change, says Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
"All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico recently published state action plans to reduce hospital-acquired infections," Sebelius says in a news release.
Its a good start. But it's been a struggle just to get the starting line, says Lisa McGiffert, who as campaign manager for Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project, lobbies states to pass laws requiring public reporting of in-hospital infections.
"When we started, we thought hospitals knew their infection rates and were keeping them secret," McGiffert tell WebMD. "But they were not tracking them at all. If you are not aware of somethig you can't stop it. Where hospitals have been forced to face this and count it, it has created a sea change. The main thing this means is that the CDC has finally embraced public reporting as a component of prevention Strategies."
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Carbs Against Cardio
More evidence that refined carbohydrates, not fats, threaten the heart. Eat less saturated fat: that has been the take home message from the U S government for the past 30 years. But while Americans have dutifully reduced the percentage of daily calories from saturated fat since 1970, the obesity rate during that time has more than doubled, diabetes has tripled, and heart disease is still the country's biggest killer. Now a spate of new research, including a meta analysis of nearly two dozen studies, suggest a reason why: investigators may have picked the wrong culpit. Processed carbohydrates, which many Americans eat today in place of fat, may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease more than fat does-a finding that has serious implication for new dietary guidelines expected this year.
In March the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a meta-analysis-which combines data from several studies-that compared the reported daily food intake of nearly 350,000 people against their risk of developing cardiovascular disease over a period of five to 23 years. The analysis, overseen by Ronald M Krauss, director of atherosclerosis research at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Insitute, found NO ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE AMOUNT OF SATURATED FAT CONSUMED AND THE RISK OF HEAR DISEASE.
The findings joins other conclusions of the past few years that run counter to the conventional wisdom that saturated fat is bad for the heart because it increases total cholesterol levels. That idea is "based in large measure on extrapolations, which are not supported by the data," Krauss says.
One problem with the old ligic is that "total cholesterol is not a great predictor of risk," says Meir Stampfer, a professor of nutrition and epidermiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Although saturated fat boosts blood levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, it also increases "good" HDL cholesterol. In 2008 Stampfer co-authored a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that followed 322 moderastely obese individuals for two years as they adopted one of three diets: a low-fat, calorie-restricted diet based on American Heart Association guidelines; a Mediterranean, restricted-calorie diet rich in vegetables and low in red meat: and a low carbohydrate, nonrestricted-calorie diet. ALTHOUGTH THE SUBJECTS ON THE LOW-CARB DIET ATE THE MOST SATURATED FAT, THEY ENDED UP WITH THE HEALTHIEST RATIO OF HDL TO LDS CHOLESTEROL AND LOST TWICE AS MUCH WEIGHT AS THEIR LOW FAT EATING COUNTERPARTS.
In March the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a meta-analysis-which combines data from several studies-that compared the reported daily food intake of nearly 350,000 people against their risk of developing cardiovascular disease over a period of five to 23 years. The analysis, overseen by Ronald M Krauss, director of atherosclerosis research at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Insitute, found NO ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE AMOUNT OF SATURATED FAT CONSUMED AND THE RISK OF HEAR DISEASE.
The findings joins other conclusions of the past few years that run counter to the conventional wisdom that saturated fat is bad for the heart because it increases total cholesterol levels. That idea is "based in large measure on extrapolations, which are not supported by the data," Krauss says.
One problem with the old ligic is that "total cholesterol is not a great predictor of risk," says Meir Stampfer, a professor of nutrition and epidermiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Although saturated fat boosts blood levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, it also increases "good" HDL cholesterol. In 2008 Stampfer co-authored a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that followed 322 moderastely obese individuals for two years as they adopted one of three diets: a low-fat, calorie-restricted diet based on American Heart Association guidelines; a Mediterranean, restricted-calorie diet rich in vegetables and low in red meat: and a low carbohydrate, nonrestricted-calorie diet. ALTHOUGTH THE SUBJECTS ON THE LOW-CARB DIET ATE THE MOST SATURATED FAT, THEY ENDED UP WITH THE HEALTHIEST RATIO OF HDL TO LDS CHOLESTEROL AND LOST TWICE AS MUCH WEIGHT AS THEIR LOW FAT EATING COUNTERPARTS.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Cancer Fighting Potential of Flaxseed
Flaxseed lignans might offer protection against breast, prostate, colon, and skin cancers while the soluble fiber they contain could help maintain steady blood sugar levels, found a review of research into the seed.
An article, published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, evaluated current research on flaxseed and any poential benefits it may have against diabetes and certain cancers.
Flaxseed has been the focus of increased interest in the field of diet and disease research due to the potential health benefits associated with some of its biologically active components: oil containing approximately 59 per cent a-linolenic acid (ALA) and the presence of plant lignan secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SDG).
SDG once ingested, is conveted in the colon into active mammalian lignans, entreodiol (END) and enterolactone (ENL)which have show promise in reducing gtrowth of cancerous tumors, especially hormone sensitive one such as those of the breast, endometrium, and prostate.
The best way to take flaxseed is to grind it up with a coffee grinder such as one that can be purchased at Walmart.
An article, published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, evaluated current research on flaxseed and any poential benefits it may have against diabetes and certain cancers.
Flaxseed has been the focus of increased interest in the field of diet and disease research due to the potential health benefits associated with some of its biologically active components: oil containing approximately 59 per cent a-linolenic acid (ALA) and the presence of plant lignan secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SDG).
SDG once ingested, is conveted in the colon into active mammalian lignans, entreodiol (END) and enterolactone (ENL)which have show promise in reducing gtrowth of cancerous tumors, especially hormone sensitive one such as those of the breast, endometrium, and prostate.
The best way to take flaxseed is to grind it up with a coffee grinder such as one that can be purchased at Walmart.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Weight Gain Increases Breast Cancer Risk
Women who put on weight as they age are almost twice as likely to develop breast cancer later in life. There is a directly link between obesity and breast cancer.
Fat stored in the body produces hormones and chemicals which can fuel the development of abnormal cells that can lead to cancer.
In research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research found that a five point increase in a woman's Body Mass Index increased the likelihood of breast cancer.
Body Mass Index can calculated quickly by going to the internet and entering in BMI and then enter your height and weight.
Fat stored in the body produces hormones and chemicals which can fuel the development of abnormal cells that can lead to cancer.
In research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research found that a five point increase in a woman's Body Mass Index increased the likelihood of breast cancer.
Body Mass Index can calculated quickly by going to the internet and entering in BMI and then enter your height and weight.
Monday, April 12, 2010
White Bread, Rice, and Other Carbs Boost Heart Disease in Women
Women who eat more white bread, white rice, pizza and other carbohydrate rich foods that cause blood sugar to spike are more than TWICE AS LIKELY TO DEVELOP HEART DISEASE than women who eat less of these foods a new study suggests.
Men who eat lots of these carbohydrates-which have what's known as a high glycemic index-do not have the same increased risk, however, perhaps because their bodies process the carbs differently, the researchers found.
Only carbohydrates with a high glycemic index appear to hurt the heart. Carbs with a low glycemic index-such as fruit and pasta-were not associated with an increased risk of heart disease, which suggest that the increased risk is caused "not by a diet high in carbohydrates, but by a diet rich in rapidly absorbed carbodydrates," says the lead author of the study, Sabina Sieri,of the Fondiazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tunori, a national institute for cancer.
The glycemic index ranks on a scale from 1 to 100 how quickly (or slowly) carbohydrates affect your blood sugar levels. (White bread scores 100) Foods that rank below 55 are considered to have a low glycemic index and produce only small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels: foods that rank above 70 are said to have a high glycemic index and tend to cause unhealthy spikes in blood sugar.
There are many benefits to limiting foods with a high glycemic index, Price adds. People who do so "will find their appetite easier to control, making weight control easier in turn", she says. "They will help to keep energy and mood steady over the day, and they reduce their risk of several chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and cetain cancers."
According to Price, the best low glycemic index foods are whole grain breads, barley, quinoa, beans and chickpeas, low fat dairy products, fruit and sweet potatoes.
Men who eat lots of these carbohydrates-which have what's known as a high glycemic index-do not have the same increased risk, however, perhaps because their bodies process the carbs differently, the researchers found.
Only carbohydrates with a high glycemic index appear to hurt the heart. Carbs with a low glycemic index-such as fruit and pasta-were not associated with an increased risk of heart disease, which suggest that the increased risk is caused "not by a diet high in carbohydrates, but by a diet rich in rapidly absorbed carbodydrates," says the lead author of the study, Sabina Sieri,of the Fondiazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tunori, a national institute for cancer.
The glycemic index ranks on a scale from 1 to 100 how quickly (or slowly) carbohydrates affect your blood sugar levels. (White bread scores 100) Foods that rank below 55 are considered to have a low glycemic index and produce only small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels: foods that rank above 70 are said to have a high glycemic index and tend to cause unhealthy spikes in blood sugar.
There are many benefits to limiting foods with a high glycemic index, Price adds. People who do so "will find their appetite easier to control, making weight control easier in turn", she says. "They will help to keep energy and mood steady over the day, and they reduce their risk of several chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and cetain cancers."
According to Price, the best low glycemic index foods are whole grain breads, barley, quinoa, beans and chickpeas, low fat dairy products, fruit and sweet potatoes.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Seven Foods That Help Prevent Cancer
Before we talk about the seven foods we need to talk about weight. Being overweight not only causes heart disease and diabetes, but it also causes cancer such as breast cancer, edometrial cancer and colon cancer.
GARLIC: STINKY BREATH, BUT SUPER HEALTHY
The same sulfur compounds causing that odor may also stop cancer causing substances from forming in your body, speed DNA repair, and kill cancer Cells. Garlic also battles bacteria, including H. pylori (the one connected to some ulcers and stomach cancer), and it reduces the risk of colon cancer. To get the most benefit, peel and chop the cloves and let them sit 15 or 20 minutes before cooking. That activates enzymes and releases the sulfur containing compounds that have the most protective effect.
BROCCOLI: PHYTOCHEMICAL POWERHOUSE
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kale and cauliflower contain photochemicals called glucosinolates, which produce protective enzymes that are released when you chew the raw veggie, rupturing the cell walls. Broccoli and its cousins are most protective against cancers of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, according to a review of hundreds of clinical studies conducted for the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research.
TOMATOES:POTENTIAL WEAPONS AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER
The red color of tomatoes comes from a phytochemical called lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. To get the most benefit from lycopene, eat cooked or processed tomatoes, including tomato juice and pizza sauce.
STRAWBERIES: RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS
Research shows that all berries especially strawberries and black rasberries protect against heart disease, memory decline as well as cancer. Blueberries, blackberries and cranberries are top cancer fighters and should be included in the diet.
CARROTS: BEST EATEN COOKED
Carrots contain beta-carotene, an antioxidant scientists believe protects cell membranes from toxin damage and slow the growth of cancer cells. Some studies suggest carrots protect against cervical cancer, perhaps because they supply antioxidants that battle HPV (human papilloma virus), the major cause of cervical cancer.
SPINACH: A SUPER CAROTENOID COURCE
Spinach is rich in lutein and zdaxanthin, carotenoids that remove unstable molecules called free radicals from your body before they damage it. You can substitute kale, collard greens, swiss chard or romaine lettuce, but spinach is the best.
WHOLE GRAINS: GOOD FOR THE WHOLE BODY
Whole grains are much superior in preventing disease than white or more processed grains. Whole grains contain more fiber and thus take longer to digest, thus lowering your blood sugar level.
GARLIC: STINKY BREATH, BUT SUPER HEALTHY
The same sulfur compounds causing that odor may also stop cancer causing substances from forming in your body, speed DNA repair, and kill cancer Cells. Garlic also battles bacteria, including H. pylori (the one connected to some ulcers and stomach cancer), and it reduces the risk of colon cancer. To get the most benefit, peel and chop the cloves and let them sit 15 or 20 minutes before cooking. That activates enzymes and releases the sulfur containing compounds that have the most protective effect.
BROCCOLI: PHYTOCHEMICAL POWERHOUSE
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kale and cauliflower contain photochemicals called glucosinolates, which produce protective enzymes that are released when you chew the raw veggie, rupturing the cell walls. Broccoli and its cousins are most protective against cancers of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, according to a review of hundreds of clinical studies conducted for the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research.
TOMATOES:POTENTIAL WEAPONS AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER
The red color of tomatoes comes from a phytochemical called lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. To get the most benefit from lycopene, eat cooked or processed tomatoes, including tomato juice and pizza sauce.
STRAWBERIES: RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS
Research shows that all berries especially strawberries and black rasberries protect against heart disease, memory decline as well as cancer. Blueberries, blackberries and cranberries are top cancer fighters and should be included in the diet.
CARROTS: BEST EATEN COOKED
Carrots contain beta-carotene, an antioxidant scientists believe protects cell membranes from toxin damage and slow the growth of cancer cells. Some studies suggest carrots protect against cervical cancer, perhaps because they supply antioxidants that battle HPV (human papilloma virus), the major cause of cervical cancer.
SPINACH: A SUPER CAROTENOID COURCE
Spinach is rich in lutein and zdaxanthin, carotenoids that remove unstable molecules called free radicals from your body before they damage it. You can substitute kale, collard greens, swiss chard or romaine lettuce, but spinach is the best.
WHOLE GRAINS: GOOD FOR THE WHOLE BODY
Whole grains are much superior in preventing disease than white or more processed grains. Whole grains contain more fiber and thus take longer to digest, thus lowering your blood sugar level.
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