This is in accordance with the fact that risk for cardiovascular disorders is much higher among males than females.

For comparison, money spent on oral hygeine was $5.3 billion, mental health $4.1 billion and for musculoskeletal disorder $3.9 billion. The data also showed that expenditure on healthcare was much higher in people aged over 85 years.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/ / CC BY 2.0

A team of scientists, at the Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas; led by Dr. James H. O’Keefe  and found that vitamin D plays an important role in heart health.

The group studied adults and analysed the relation between their intake of vitamin D and their risk for heart disease. The results were alarming. Those who took decreased amounts of vitmin D had higher risk for heart disease, other cardiac events and stroke. The researchers also found that most adults dont get enough vitamin D as part of their daily diet.

The study concluded that increasing the intake of vitamin D can help to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease in humans.

Image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/detroitsunrise/ / CC BY 2.0

When Cynthia Crawford suffered a heart attack, instead of rushing her to the intensive care, her doctors placed her in a inflatable cocoon like pool and sprayed her body with icy cold jets of water, pushing her into hypothermia.

“Like jumping in the North Sea,” said, Dr. Paul McMullan, the cardiologist treating her.

Days later, she recovered without the brain damage she would otherwise have suffered.

Heart attack affects millions of people around the world every year. During a heart attack, the blood flow to the various parts of the body is affected and can produce permanent damage. The medical team at the Ochsner Clinic tired out a radical new procedure which helps limit the extend of damage. The damage does not occur instentaneously. It happens slowly over time. By cooling the body to around 32 degree celsius (90 degree farenehit), the body metabolism rate can be drastically reduced thus limiting the degree of damage to the vital organs, especially the brain.

For years, doctors have tried cooling people to limit damage from head and spinal cord injuries, strokes and even prematurity and birth trauma in newborns. It’s also used for cardiac arrest, when someone’s heart has stopped.

Doctors will be testing a new and dramatically speedier way of doing this for a much more common problem — heart attacks, which strike a million Americans each year.

“It’s extremely appealing” because the cooling system is non-invasive and can be used in an ordinary hospital room,” said Dr. George Sopko of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which is paying for this first-of-a-kind study.

Animal research suggests it will help, “but we need the hard evidence” from human tests to know, he said.

Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kylemay/ / CC BY 2.0

The study was conducted on 809 members of the Old Order Amish community. It involved going to the clinic in Lancaster and drinking a rick milk shake made mosty of heavy cream. Their blood was sampled over the next six hours and the amount of triglcerides – a type of fat –  in their blood stream was assessed.

Most of them responded as expected. The blood level of triglycerides rose for 3-4 hours and then decreased. But nearly 5% of them responded differently. Their triglyceride level started out at a low level and showed hardly any increase.

The researchers have linked this interesting phenomenon, to a mutation in a gene – apoC-III. This is the gene which is responsible for production of the protein APOC3, which slows down the metabolism of triglycerides.

In the individuals with the mutated copy of the gene, the breakdown of triglycerides occured extremely quickly and hence resulted in hardly any increase in the blood level of triglycerides. Also, they had low levels of LDL – the bad cholesterol – high levels of which tends to be bad for the heart. Their HDL – the good cholesterol – was at a higher level too. This coincided with a lower level of arterial plaques – the factor responsible for heart attacks and strokes.

The gene responsible for this was identified after rigorous research led by Toni I. Pollin, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Alan R. Shuldiner, head of the division of endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore suggested that the Amish were ideal for the research as they were an isolated population living in this country for 14 generatoins and they shared many genes. The gene mutation was traced back to a member of the Amish community who lived in the 18th century.

The gene is also influenced by insulin, said Dr. Daniel J. Rader, a heart disease researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and individuals with diabetes have higher levels of APOC3 protein, resulting in high levels of triglycerides and inturn an increased risk of heart disease.

This discovery opens up a new area of research. This could possibily help in decreasing the incidence of heart disease in the population and also for the treatment of heart disease. Clinical applications of this new discovery may take many years to be made available to the public.

Image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyz/ / CC BY 2.0

Photo by Kitt Walker

Scientists  at Bristol University and London’s Royal College of Surgeons found that poor oral hygiene can cause bacteria to flourish in the mouth and enter the bloodstream, potentially causing fatal heart disease.

“The mouth is probably the dirtiest place in the human body.” said Steve Kerrigan of the Royal College of Surgeons. If we dont brush our teeth regularly, our mouth can harbour upto 700 different types of bacteria. This results in increased risk of gum disease and gum bleeding. And when that occurs, the bacteria in the mouth can enter the circulation through the open blood vessels. Within the blood stream, some of these bacteria can cause clumping of platelets, the cells responsible for clotting of blood. The clumped platelets can block blood flow through the blood vessels and if that occurs in one of the blood vessels supplying the heart, it can result in a heart attack. 

So why cant we just give some antibiotics to kill those bacteria? First of all, all of those bacteria in our mouth are not harmful. There are lots of bacteria in our body which are actually useful to us. For example, certain bacteria in our intestines produce vitamins which we use. Secondly, bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics and many of the antibiotics those were effective earlier are pretty much useless nowadays. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics can cause bacteria to develop resistance and can kill the useful bacteria in our body. Also, these bacteria use the clumped platelets as a shield protecting them from the action of antibiotics and even our immune system.

So, what can we do to prevent all this? It’s pretty much simple. Just brush your teeth in the morning and before going to sleep, and floss atleast once a day.

An editorial in The Lancet reminds us that all dark chocolates are not created equal!

A lot of studies have shown that Dark chocolate is good for the heart. This is because they contain lots of flavinoids – antioxidants which helps to reduce the oxidative damage to our body. (For knowing more about the benefits of dark chocolate, read my earlier post – A dark chocolate a day keeps the cardiologist away!)

Photo by karimian

But the truth is that dark chocolate need not necessarily contain flavinoids. As flavinoids taste bitter, some companies remove the flavinoids from dark chocolate to make them taste better. All that remains is fat and sugar and there is no health benefit whatsoever. Most companies do not reveal the content of flavinoids in their products and we have no way for finding out whether they are heart healthy or not. (Unless ofcourse you send them for analysis in a lab!) So the bottom line is, if you cant find a label describing the amount of flavinoids in the chocolate, you better stick to the traditional heart healthy diet – a balanced diet low in sugar, salt and fat, with lots of fruits and vetgetables.

Reference: The Lancet;

Photo by (Tres)

Most people believe that in order to get good exercise, you need to either join the gym or get those fancy (and expensive) exercise equipment. But recent research at the Stanford University shows that $10 is all the investment you need to stay healthy. $10 can get you a simple pedometer – a device that can measure the number of steps taken by a person during a given period of time. Organisations such as American Heart Association and Shape Up America recommends that adults should walk atleast 10,000 steps in one day.

Photo by tellumo

 In recent years, more and more is understood about the health benefits of walking. Nowadays more advanced pedometers are available which can calculate the distance walked and even the calories you have spent. So lets walk towards a healthier life.

Photo by trekkyandy

A recent study published in ‘Circulation’ suggests that eating dark chocolate can decrease your risk for heart attack.

Heart attack is caused by blockage in the blood vessels supplying the heart. High oxidative stress and limited availability of antioxidants lead to the damage of the blood vessels, leading to increased chances for a blood clot. But dark chocolates (which contain 70% cocoa) have lots of flavinoids – potent antioxidants which helps to overcome the oxidative stress present in our body. They also decrease the activation of blood platelets – the blood cells responsible for blood clotting. The study which was conduted by a team of scientists in Switzerland, found that within two hours of eating 40g dark chocolate, the size of the coronary blood vessels increased by 6%.

Photo by ShutterCat7

Can’t you get more flavinoids from other foods? – you may ask. But the fact remains that dark chocolate contains greater amounts of flavinoids than any other food like green tea and blueberries. And companies have perfected their techniqes for the preparation of dark chocolate that upto 95% of flavinoids are preserved!

And before you reach out for that delicious dark chocolate bar, here’s something that you should remember – Although eating some dark chocolate is good for the heart, it’s still full of calories. So you’ve got to cut down on some other food stuffs.

Photo by CarbonNYC

“Oh God! You really gave me a heart attack!” Heard this before? Well, there is more truth in this than you could imagine.Doctors from John Hopkins University have confirmed that the news of the sudden death of a loved one or similar shocking news can really cause a broken heart. ‘Broken Heart Syndrome’ as they call it – is real, reversible and yet potentially deadly. Its a condition in which sudden severe emotional stress can cause extreme heart muscle weakness and heart attack like symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath.

What causes it?
When we hear a shocking news, our endocrine system kicks in and a lot of adrenaline and other proteins are produced. These help us to cope better with the stressful condition. But sometimes adrenaline surge can temporarily damage the hearts of some people. The exact reason for it is not yet known. It is believed to be caused by the decrease in blood supply to the heart due to narrowing of blood vessels. In the weakened state of the heart muscle, a temporary bulging of the apex of the heart occurs and hence its also called stress cardiomyopathy (disease of the cardiac muscle caused by stress).

Is it dangerous?
Broken heart syndrome can be life threatening in certain cases. It differs from the ‘classic heart attack’ in that most of the damage that occurs is reversible. A typical heart attack is caused by blockage in the blood vessels supplying the heart whereas broken heart syndrome is due to temporary narrowing of the blood vessels. With proper and timely medical medical care, most people recover within a few days. Rarely, it can even be fatal.

I have to face a lot of stress everyday. Am I at risk?
Broken heart syndrome is not caused by everyday stresses. It occurs due to a sudden severe emotional trauma. Moreover, most of the people who had this had no prior history of heart disease. It’s interesting to note that women are at greater risk for this than men, the exact cause for which is unknown.

Can people have Broken Heart Syndrome a second time?
Though it’s rare, there is a 10% chance for recurrence. But most people after suffering from an episode of broken heart syndrome went on to lead a healthy and happy life.

To learn more about keeping your heart healthy, read 5 steps towards a healthier heart
If you really like my post, you can subscribe to my full RSS feed