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 :)
Following:
Navigate
COMING SOON!
Expand all | Collapse all 
Search
Click Tags under Articles
NOTE: SEARCH BY KEYWORD FUNCTIONS BELOW ARE TEMPORARILY MALFUNCTIONING. USE AT OWN RISK.
Or Display Full Article by
Posts tagged "cardiovascular"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Caution on mix of cholesterol-lowering meds →
Sept 1, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Combining a prescription cholesterol-lowering medication with omega-3 supplements may not be the best approach, a new review suggests.
Statins are medications that prevent the liver from producing cholesterol, which can help reduce the risk of heart attacks. Every year, Canadian doctors write more than 12 million prescriptions for statins, making them the most-prescribed drugs in the country. Omega-3’s are heart-healthy oils that some evidence suggests help reduce the risk of coronary disease.
In the Nov. 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Mukul Sharma, medical director of the Regional Stroke Centre at the Ottawa Hospital, and his team reviewed five different cholesterol-lowering medications that can be combined as well as omega-3 supplements sold over the counter. They concluded there is little evidence to support mixing them.
Bad cholesterol increase
In one case, the researchers found taking prescription medication with omega-3 had the opposite effect.
“Your bad cholesterol, the LDL, actually goes up,” Sharma said. “There isn’t a benefit in terms of heart disease, stroke or mortality.”
Most cholesterol patients may be better off taking higher doses of one drug instead of multiple medications, since there may be less chance of side-effects and long-term problems developing, he said. People are also less likely to take their medications the more that are prescribed.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: cholesterol increase risk danger LDL prescription cardiovascular blood heart statin medication liver heart attack prevention coronary disease
Heart Suffers From Just a Few Whiffs of Smoke →
Sept 1, 2009 (Therapytimes.com)—Just a few whiffs of tobacco smoke or dirty air can have a profound negative impact on your heart’s health.
Study results released today by the American Heart Association suggest that exposure to even a small amount of smoke — whether it’s from your own cigarette or someone else’s — greatly increases your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The same goes for breathing in air polluted with carbon monoxide emissions.
“It doesn’t require extreme exposure to have significant cardiovascular effects. Even passive exposures to ambient air pollution and secondhand smoke contribute to significant increases in cardiovascular mortality,” study author C. Arden Pope III, PhD, says in a statement.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: heart cardiovascular risk disease smoke tobacco risk danger exposure cigarette breathing air pollution
How Much Omega-3 Fatty Acid Do We Need To Prevent Cardiovascular Disease? →
Sept 1, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A team of French scientists have found the dose of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that is “just right” for preventing cardiovascular disease in healthy men. In a research report appearing in the September 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, the scientists show that a 200 mg dose of DHA per day is enough to affect biochemical markers that reliably predict cardiovascular problems, such as those related to aging, atherosclerosis, and diabetes. This study is the first to identify how much DHA is necessary to promote optimal heart health.
“This study shows that regularly consuming small amounts of DHA is likely to improve the health status of people, especially in regards to cardiovascular function,” said Michel Lagarde, co-author of the study.
To determine the optimal dose of DHA, Lagarde and colleagues examined the effects of increasing doses of DHA on 12 healthy male volunteers between ages of 53 and 65. These men consumed doses of DHA at 200, 400, 800, and 1600 mg per day for two weeks for each dose amount, with DHA being the only omega-3 fatty acid in their diet. Blood and urine samples were collected before and after each dose and at eight weeks after DHA supplementation stopped. The researchers then examined these samples for biochemical markers indicating the effects of each dose on the volunteers.
“Now that we have a very good idea about how much DHA is just right, the next step is to try it out in an expanded clinical trial that involves many more people,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “Until then, I’ll stick with tasty foods that contain DHA, like fish, rather than getting a quick fatty-acid fix at the local vitamin store.”
Journal reference:
- Nicolas Guillot, Emilie Caillet, Martine Laville, Catherine Calzada, Michel Lagarde, and Evelyne Véricel. Increasing intakes of the long-chain -3 docosahexaenoic acid: effects on platelet functions and redox status in healthy men. The FASEB Journal, 2009; 23 (9): 2909 DOI: 10.1096/fj.09-133421
Tags: omega fatty acid DHA heart cardiovascular supplement disease prevention atherosclerosis diabetes
Secondhand Smoke Worsens Outcome of Acute Coronary Syndrome →
Aug 28, 2009 (Medscape.com)— - Environmental exposure to tobacco smoke - a known risk factor for myocardial infarction and other acute coronary syndromes (ACS) - can also worsen prognosis after ACS, according to a new study.
“These findings suggest that, by reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, smoke-free legislation may not only reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events, but may also improve prognosis in those who suffer them,” Professors Jill P. Pell and Sally Haw write in a featured editorial published with the study in the September issue of Heart.
For full medical article, see link above.
Tags: secondhand smoke cigarette acute coronary syndrome myocardial infarction risk danger cardiovascular smoker
Surprising Rate Of Recurring Heart Attacks, Strokes Globally →
Aug 31, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Despite many medicines and other treatments for patients with vascular disease, a large international study shows these patients have a surprisingly high rate of recurring events such as strokes, heart attacks and hospitalizations as well as mortality.
Also unexpected: patients in North America (including the U.S.) experienced an above-average rate of these events. Patients in Eastern Europe had the highest rate, and those in Australia and Japan had the lowest.
The results from the international REACH (Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health) Registry, presented by a researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined data for 32,247 patients one and three years after they enrolled in the registry. Patients who had symptomatic vascular disease had a 14.4 percent rate at one year and 28.4 percent rate at three years of having a heart attack, stroke, rehospitalization for another type of vascular event or vascular death. Patients with vascular disease in more than one location of the body had the highest event rate at 40.5 percent at three years.
When projected over the global population who would mirror the patients in REACH, this represents millions of serious vascular events occurring every few years, many of which could be prevented.
“We were surprised by the high rate of these recurring vascular events,” said lead author Mark J. Alberts, M.D., professor of neurology at the Feinberg School and director of the stroke program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “We know how to prevent vascular disease and the events that it produces. This points to the need for better prevention, better use of medications and a need to develop more potent medications. These are the number one and two causes of death throughout the world.”
For full article, see link above.
Tags: heart attack cardiovascular blood vessel stroke reoccurance rehospitalization disease prevention risk
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
Whey Protein Improves Heart Health →
Aug 31, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A whey-protein-rich ingredient may improve blood vessel function in healthy individuals, reports a new randomized, double-blind study.
Two weeks of supplementation resulted in a 1.5 percent improvement in blood flow. According to the researchers, the whey protein-derived ingredient may work via an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory activity.
ACE inhibitors work by inhibiting the conversion of angiotensin I to the potent vasoconstrictor, angiotensin II, thereby improving blood flow and blood pressure.
Sources:
NutraIngredients August 5, 2009Nutrition Journal July 22, 2009; 8:34 [Free Full-Text Article]
Tags: whey protein heart cardiovascular blood vessel supplement angiotensin vascoconstrictor flow
Obesity Is A Poor Gauge For Detecting High Cholesterol Levels In Children →
Aug 29, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—With the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States, there is concern that overweight and obese children need to be screened for chronic medical conditions, including high cholesterol levels.
However, body fat is not an effective indicator of high cholesterol in children, according to new University of Michigan research.
Those are the findings of a U-M study led by U-M pediatricians Joyce Lee, M.D., MPH, and Matthew Davis, M.D., MAPP, which will appear in the August 3 edition of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
“We found, actually, that using body mass index to find kids with high cholesterol does not work well. There were many overweight and obese kids who had normal cholesterol, and there were a fair number of healthy-weight kids who had high cholesterol,” says Lee, a member of the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit in the U-M Division of General Pediatrics, and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the U-M Medical School.
For full article see link above.
Tags: obesity weight cholesterol heart cardiovascular disease body fat BMI children child overweight prevention screening risk
Consumers Duped by Trans Fat Labeling →
Aug 28, 2009 (NaturalNews.com)— FDA food labeling rules make it possible for consumers to exceed their maximum recommended daily intake of trans fats even if they eat only foods labeled “zero trans fats” per serving.
Trans fats, also known as hydrogenated oils, are synthetically produced by adding hydrogen atoms to unsaturated vegetable oils. Unlike natural unsaturated or saturated fats, trans fats have no nutritional value. They have been overwhelmingly shown to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, such that several large cities and the state of California have banned their use in restaurants.
The fats are favored by food producers because they have a longer shelf life than natural fats. But growing consumer awareness over the dangers of trans fats has led more and more people to avoid them. According to a recent survey by Greenfield Online, 72 percent of U.S. residents read nutritional labels to make food purchasing decisions, and 61 percent believe that “zero trans fats” is the most important claim for a heart-healthy food.
Yet because the FDA allows nutrient content to be rounded to the nearest half gram, all food producers need to do to make a “zero trans fats” claim is set the serving size low enough that it contains no more than 0.49 grams of trans fats.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: labeling rule FDA transfat fat nutrition diet prevention obesity cardiovascular heart disease food vegetable oil daily intake
AHA limits sugar intake to protect heart →
Aug 27, 2009 (Presstv.com)—While Americans eat more than 22 teaspoons of sugar per day, the American Heart Association urges individuals to limit their sugar intake in order to remain healthy.
“For the first time we’ve created specific recommendations about the amount of sugars that can be consumed in a heart-healthy diet,” said Rachel Johnson lead author of a report published in Circulation.
According to the report, too much sugar not only leads to obesity but also places the individual at a greater risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
The new guidelines revealed that women should eat less than 100 calories (equal to six teaspoons or 25 grams) of added processed sugar per day.
The limit for moderately active women aged 51-55 is as low as 5 teaspoons (80 calories) and for sedentary women aged 71-75 is as low as 3 teaspoons (48 calories).
As for men, the permitted sugar amount is reported to be less than 150 calories, equal to nine teaspoons or 37.5 grams.
The new guidelines recommend active men aged 21-25 to eat less than 18 teaspoons (288 calories) and sedentary men aged 46-50 to eat less than 9 teaspoons (144 calories).
AHA officials say that the guidelines are only for “added sugars” used to make foods and drinks rather than the natural sugar found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or milk.
They therefore urged food and beverage companies to limit the sugar content of their products.
PKH/HGH
Tags: heart disease cardiovascular disease diabetes high blood pressure hypertension stroke diet nutrition teaspoon calorie processed sugar content limit risk
Tags: supplement metabolic syndrome cardiovascular heart blood pressure extract root obesity cholesterol insulin isoflavone kudzu stroke disease
Melon extract linked to cardiovascular benefits: Study →
Aug 25, 2009 (Nutraingredients.com)—Daily consumption of an antioxidant-rich melon extract may lower cholesterol levels and prevent hardening of the arteries, according to a study with hamsters fed a high fat diet.
Consumption of the commercially-available extract Extramel, produced by France’s Bionov, in combination with a high-fat diet was associated with a reduction in cholesterol levels and non-HDL cholesterol, compared to animals fed only the high-fat diet, according to findings published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
“This study provides evidence for the first time that dietary supplementation of a melon juice concentrate rich in SOD protects against diet-induced oxidative stress and atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic hamsters, and no toxicity or evidence of other unwanted pharmacological effects of Extramel was noted at either levels of supplementation,” wrote the researchers, led by Jean-Max Rouanet from the University of Montpellier.
“This indicates that at the low doses used here Extramel is a safe nutraceutical supplement,” they added.
The melon-extract is a rich source of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD). Dubbed ‘the enzyme of life’ when first discovered in 1968, it is the first antioxidant mobilised by the cell for defence. It is thought to be more powerful than antioxidant vitamins as it activates the body’s production of its own antioxidants, including catalase and glutathione peroxidase.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: melon extract supplement antioxidant cholesterol level cardiovascular hardening arteries high fat diet extramel nutrition diet prevention extramel superoxide dismutase vitamin
Acupuncture May Bring Relief For Common Condition In Women, Study Suggests →
Aug 25, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Polycystic ovary syndrome, a common condition among women, can be relieved by the use of acupuncture and exercise. This is the conclusion of a recent study at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Nearly 10% of women of reproductive age have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The syndrome expresses itself as a large number of small immature cysts on the ovaries that cause a disturbance in the production of hormones and an increase in the secretion of the male sex hormone. This means that many women with the condition do not ovulate normally, and the syndrome may lead to infertility. The women run an increased risk of becoming obese, developing type 2 diabetes, or developing cardio-vascular disease.
“We do not know for certain what causes the condition, despite it being so common. We have seen that women with the syndrome often have high activity in that part of the nervous system that we cannot consciously control, known as the ‘sympathetic nervous system’. We believe that this may be an important underlying factor in the syndrome,” says Elisabet Stener‑Victorin, who has led the research at the Sahlgrenska Academy.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: women woman nervous system polycystic ovary syndrome cyst hormone production ovulation infertility obesity risk diabetes cardiovascular disease
More Obesity Blues: Obese People Are At Greater Risk For Developing Alzheimer's, Study Finds →
Aug 25, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Obesity is on a rampage, with the World Health Organization pegging the numbers at more than 300 million worldwide, with a billion more overweight. With obesity comes the increased risk for cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, and hypertension.
Now comes more discouraging news. In the current online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping, Paul Thompson, senior author and a UCLA professor of neurology, and lead author Cyrus A. Raji, a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues compared the brains of people who were obese, overweight, and of normal weight, to see if they had differences in brain structure; that is, did their brains look equally healthy.
They found that obese people had 8 percent less brain tissue than people with normal weight, while overweight people had 4 percent less tissue. According to Thompson, who is also a member of UCLA’s Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, this is the first time anyone has established a link between being overweight and having what he describes as “severe brain degeneration.”
“That’s a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer’s and other diseases that attack the brain,” said Thompson. “But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control.”
Tags: risk danger diabetes hypertension cardiovascular brain obesity structure tissue overweight degeneration cognitive reserve alzheimer's
Diabetes Drug Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Failure →
Aug 24, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Rosiglitazone, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and death among older patients compared to a similar drug (pioglitazone), concludes a study published on bmj.com.
As such, the researchers say it is difficult to advocate continued use of rosiglitazone for most patients.
Rosiglitazone and pioglitazone belong to a class of drugs called thiazolidinediones and are widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. They help to control blood sugar levels, but both drugs can also cause side effects including weight gain, fluid retention and heart failure.
It is unclear whether there are clinically important differences in the cardiac safety of these two drugs, so researchers in Canada compared the risk of heart attack, heart failure and death in patients treated with rosiglitazone and pioglitazone.
Using prescription records, they identified nearly 40,000 patients aged 66 years and older who started treatment with either rosiglitazone or pioglitazone between April 2002 and March 2008.
Data on hospital admission for either a heart attack or heart failure during the six-year study period were recorded and deaths were identified from a national database.
Detailed analysis showed that patients treated with pioglitazone had a significantly lower risk of heart failure and death compared to patients treated with rosiglitazone, but there was no significant difference in the risk of heart attack.
The researchers estimate that, for every 93 patients treated with rosiglitazone rather than pioglitazone, one additional cardiovascular event or death would be predicted to occur annually.
“Our findings suggest clinically important differences in the cardiovascular safety profiles of rosiglitazone and pioglitazone in clinical practice,” say the authors. “Given the accumulating evidence of harm with rosiglitazone treatment and the lack of a distinct clinical advantage for the drug over pioglitazone, it is reasonable to question whether ongoing use of rosiglitazone is justified,” they conclude.
For full article see link above.
