Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "artery"
Monday, Aug 31st, 2009 ↓Exercise beats angioplasty: heart experts →
Aug 31, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Working up a sweat may be even better than angioplasty for some heart patients, experts say.
Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties.
Angioplasty is the top treatment for people having a heart attack or hospitalized with worsening symptoms. It involves using a tiny balloon to flatten a blockage and propping the heart artery open with a mesh tube called a stent. Most angioplasties are done on a non-emergency basis, to relieve chest pain caused by clogged arteries cutting off the heart’s blood supply.
“It’s difficult to convince people to exercise instead of having an angioplasty, but it works,” said Rainer Hambrecht of Klinikum Links der Weser in Bremen, Germany.
Hambrecht published a study in 2004 that found that nearly 90 per cent of heart patients who rode bikes regularly were free of heart problems one year after they started their exercise regimen. Among patients who had an angioplasty instead, only 70 per cent were problem-free after a year.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: exercise heart attack angioplasty cardiovascular physical activity surgery artery chest pain clogged blood flow prevention
Hormone therapy fatal in prostate cancer sufferers →
Aug 27, 2009 (Presstv.com)—Hormone-based medications commonly used to treat aggressive prostate cancer may be hazardous for certain men suffering from heart problems.
Previous studies had reported that drugs which block tumor-fueling surges of testosterone can effectively treat aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
A new study, however, finds radiation therapy added with these drugs increase the mortality rate in men already suffering from heart disease.
According to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, neoadjuvant hormone therapy doubles the risk of death in prostate cancer sufferers with coronary artery disease-induced congestive heart failure (CHF) and myocardial infarction (MI).
Such a high mortality risk, however, was not reported among those with no comorbidity or just a single coronary disease risk factor undergoing the treatment.
Scientists concluded that physicians should prescribe hormone therapy with care in men with serious heart diseases. Such men account for only five percent of the male population.
PKH/AA
Tags: hormone therapy prostate cancer danger risk heart disease cardiovascularr testosterone death coronary artery congestive heart failure heart attack myocardial infarction treatment
High Blood Pressure Linked To Memory Problems In Middle Age →
Aug 26, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—High blood pressure is linked to memory problems in people over 45, according to research published in the August 25, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study found that people with high diastolic blood pressure, which is the bottom number of a blood pressure reading, were more likely to have cognitive impairment, or problems with their memory and thinking skills, than people with normal diastolic readings.
For every 10 point increase in the reading, the odds of a person having cognitive problems was seven percent higher. The results were valid after adjusting for other factors that could affect cognitive abilities, such as age, smoking status, exercise level, education, diabetes or high cholesterol.
The study involved nearly 20,000 people age 45 and older across the country who participated in the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study and had never had a stroke or mini-stroke. A total of 1,505 of the participants, or 7.6 percent, had cognitive problems, and 9,844, or 49.6 percent, were taking medication for high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is defined as a reading equal to or higher than 140/90 or taking medication for high blood pressure.
“It’s possible that by preventing or treating high blood pressure, we could potentially prevent cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to dementia,” said study author Georgios Tsivgoulis, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
Research has shown that high diastolic blood pressure leads to weakening of small arteries in the brain, which can result in the development of small areas of brain damage.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: memory high blood pressure cognitive impairment artery brain dementia damage stroke
Another Danger from High Glycemic Foods: Research Shows They Damage Arteries →
Aug 25, 2009 (NaturalNews.com)— Anyone interested in healthy and nutritious foods has probably heard that whole grains are far better for you than the processed variety like white bread and sugar-laden cereals. There are several reasons for this, including the fact whole foods tend to be richer in fiber and they also have low glycemic indexes. That means they keep blood sugar and insulin levels steady without wide fluctuations. But a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology concludes there’s another important reason to avoid high glycemic foods like white bread and corn flakes. For the first time, scientists have documented how eating these foods can directly damage artery walls and cause cardiac problems.
“It’s very hard to predict heart disease,” Dr. Michael Shechter of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center, said in a statement to the media. “But doctors know that high glycemic foods rapidly increase blood sugar. Those who binge on these foods have a greater chance of sudden death from heart attack. Our research connects the dots, showing the link between diet and what’s happening in real time in the arteries.”
For full article, see link above.
Tags: damage artery cardiovasculat gylcemic food sugar wall heart blood sugar attack diet
Tags: personality risk death peripheral artery disease cardiovascular PAD heart plaque blood stroke heart attack social interaction type d emotion
Tomato Pill Found to Reverse Heart Disease →
Aug 11, 2009 (NaturalNews.com)— A pill made from tomatoes may do more to help treat heart disease and high cholesterol than many pharmaceutical products currently on the market, according to preliminary trials carried out by researchers from Cambridge University.
The pill, known as Ateronon, contains a version of the tomato phytonutrient lycopene, which gives the fruits their bright red color. Lycopene has been shown in a number of studies to help relieve the symptoms of heart disease and to help prevent cancer
The chemical is poorly absorbed by the human body, however, so researchers from a Cambridge spinoff company have refined it into a more accessible form. In preliminary trials, Ateronon reduced the oxidation of harmful fats in the blood to zero after only eight weeks of treatment in 150 people, a more significant result than that observed in statin drugs.
The preliminary study results were announced at the pill’s launch, at a meeting of the British Cardiovascular Society.
“If you think that this can reduce the damage to the arteries, which is the damage that ends up causing heart attacks and strokes — this can potentially extend life but also saves lives on a global basis,” TV doctor Rob Hicks said. “The potential impact is enormous — we might see a fall in the number of people suffering heart attacks, strokes and other problems relating to arterial damage and the clogging up of the arteries. That has to be welcomed.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: tomato supplement heart attack cardiovascular disease blood artery damage cholesterol ateronon lycopene fat oxidation reduce stroke prevention clog
Is There Long-term Brain Damage After Bypass Surgery? More Evidence Puts The Blame On Heart Disease →
Aug 6, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Brain scientists and cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence from 227 heart bypass surgery patients that long-term memory losses and cognitive problems they experience are due to the underlying coronary artery disease itself and not ill after-effects from having used a heart-lung machine.
Researchers say their latest findings explain study results presented last year, which showed that the heart-lung machines – used to pump blood and supply the body with oxygen while the heart is stopped during surgery – did not cause postoperative long-term brain deficits.
“Our results hammer home the message that heart-lung machines are not to be blamed for cognitive declines observed years later in people who have had bypass surgery,” says lead study investigator Ola A. Selnes, Ph.D., a professor in the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience in the neurology department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The new results stand in contrast to the impact of heart-lung machines on so-called “pumphead” syndrome, the temporary memory loss, vision and slurred speech observed right after surgery in many heart bypass patients.
For full article see link above.
Tags: heart disease cardiovascular coronary artery heart-lung machine blood oxygen brain cognitive decline bypass surgery memory vision speech
Heart Disease Patients With Previous Blockages More Likely To Die →
Aug 5, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Heart disease patients with previous atherosclerosis (fat deposits in the walls of the arteries) are more likely to die in the hospital and less likely to be treated with recommended therapies, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers analyzed data from the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines - Coronary Artery Disease database to determine whether compliance with quality of care treatment for heart disease was associated with the extent of prior vascular disease. They examined records from 143,999 patients hospitalized in 438 facilities between 2000 and 2008. Overall in-hospital mortality for all patients was 5.3 percent, but those who had previous artery blockages were more likely to die while hospitalized than those who had no prior vascular disease.
They were also less likely to undergo surgery to clear their new blockages, had longer hospital stays and received cholesterol-lowering drugs, counseling to stop smoking and angiotensin-coverting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors for left ventricular dysfunction less often.
“The results are surprising,” said Emmanouil S. Brilakis, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and director of cardiac catheterization laboratories at Veterans Administration North Texas Healthcare System. “Patients with prior atherosclerosis have a higher risk for complications compared to those without prior atherosclerosis. Therefore, one would expect them to be more likely to receive these evidence-based treatments.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: heart disease cardiovascular coronary artery blockage death die hospitalization surgery cholesterol smoking counseling atherosclerosis risk
How High Carbohydrate Foods Can Raise Risk For Heart Problems →
June 27, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Doctors have known for decades that too much carbohydrate-laden foods like white bread and corn flakes can be detrimental to cardiac health. In a landmark study, new research from Tel Aviv University now shows exactly how these high carb foods increase the risk for heart problems.
“Looking inside” the arteries of students eating a variety of foods, Dr. Michael Shechter of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center — with collaboration of the Endocrinology Institute — visualized exactly what happens inside the body when the wrong foods for a healthy heart are eaten. He found that foods with a high glycemic index distended brachial arteries for several hours.
Elasticity of arteries anywhere in the body can be a measure of heart health. But when aggravated over time, a sudden expansion of the artery wall can cause a number of negative health effects, including reduced elasticity, which can cause heart disease or sudden death.
For full article see link above.
