A dark chocolate a day keeps the cardiologist away!

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Health Buzz
• Date: Nov 22,2007

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.

Try dark chocolate bars that are not only delicious, but good for you too. Find the best dark chocolate from around the world.

Broken Heart syndrome - its real!

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Health Buzz
• Date: Nov 22,2007

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
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Stem cells could hold the key to the repair of damaged hearts!

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Health Buzz
• Date: Nov 19,2007

Photo by aussiegall

Stem cells are those cells found the embryo, which have the capacity to transform into all of the different types of cells in our body - even heart muscle cells. They have been the subject of a lot of hype these days as newer techniques are being developed for their use in various fields of medicine.Researchers from Finland and California showed that injecting stem cells to the damaged hearts could boost the pumping power of the heart. This could be a new ray of hope for heart disease victims and may be the beginning of a new technology that may even change the way we look at heart disease. But the day when heart disease is totally curable is still years into the future and more research has to be done to perfect the techniques of stem cell therapy. Till then, its all pray and hope for the best!

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Birth control pills may clog your blood vessels

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Health Buzz
• Date: Nov 19,2007

Long term use of oral contraceptives can increase your risk for heart disease. A study conducted at the Ghent University in Belgium suggests that birth control pill use can lead to the formation of potentially dangerous plaques in the key blood vessels. These can further lead to formation of blood clots and can compromise the blood flow to important organs such as heart or brain, causing a heart attack or stroke.

The research conducted on 1301 women aged 35 to 55 found that for every decade of pill use, the plaque increases at the rate of 20-30%. The scientists suggest that there is no need to abruptly stop the use of the pill, as more research needs to be done on this.

The bottom line is that if you intend to take birth control pills, you have to take care of your other risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking.

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Energy drinks can give your heart a hard time!

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Health Buzz
• Date: Nov 19,2007

Photo by mpich3

Love that kick you get when you drink those energy drinks? Well, research indicates that the boost may pose a health risk to those who have high blood pressure or other cardiovascular diseases. These drinks contain lots of caffeine and also an amino acid taurine which is found to increase heart rate. Youngsters often take a lot of these to enable them to party and stay awake all night. When taken with alcohol, it increases the risk for arrhythmia (disordered rhythm for heart beat) which can be fatal.

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Top ten reasons to quit smoking!

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: top 10 reasons to...
• Date: Nov 13,2007

Photo by YTaP

1.Smoking is the most significant preventable cause of disease and death - quitting smoking enables you to lead a much healthier life!2. Within a year of quitting smoking, your risk for heart disease drops in half

3. You will get to live a longer life

4. You will have fewer wrinkles

5. You will have a better sense of smell (you can enjoy the sweet scent of flowers!)

6. You will have a better taste sense (food will be much yummier!)

7. You can get rid of the persistant cough that’s haunting you

8. You will feel more energetic

9. You get to save some money!

10. You will have more control over your life

Holy smokes! You gave me a heart attack

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: Nov 13,2007

Photo by YTaP

Every 33 seconds, a person dies of heart disease in America. And smokers have upto 400% greater chance of getting heart disease. The negative impact of smoking on health is so great that it is considered as the most significant preventable cause of disease and death in the United States.Recipe for disaster - how smoking forms a substantial part of the equation for heart disease

Photo by Hanona

Cigarette smoke contains nearly 4800 chemicals including nicotine. Nicotine adversely affects the heart and causes:

1. Build up of fatty substances in the blood vessels, leading to their narrowing (atherosclerosis)
2. Decreased amount of oxygen available to the heart and other organs
3. Increased blood pressure
4. Increased tendancy for blood clotting
5. Increased cholesterol level

All these increase the risk of heart disease. Decreased amount of oxygen makes it more difficult for the heart to function. Also with increased blood pressure, the heart has to do more work to pump the same amount of blood. In such a state, if a blood vessel supplying the heart gets blocked (due to vessel narrowing and increased tendancy to clot), it leads to death of that area of the heart, resulting in a heart attack.

The deadly cocktail

Photo by Cayusa

Smoking isn’t the only risk factor for heart disease. Obesity, sedentary lifestyle, diabetes are also major risk factors. When smoking is coupled with the other risk factors, they form a deadly cocktail that is truly devastating for the heart.

What about passive smoking?

Cigarette smoking not only affects smokers, but also those who are frequently near smokers. Passive smoking (also known as second hand smoking) has also been associated with cardiovascular disease and death. The victims are mainly children of parents who smoke. Nearly 40,000 people die from heart disease caused by inhaling other people’s smoke each year in America.

Read about the top 10 reasons to quit smoking.
Ready to start your heart healthy life, read 5 Steps towards a healthier heart

5 Steps towards a healthier heart

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: Nov 12,2007

Sixty-two-year-old Jack Andre says having a heart attack was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. “It brought a lot of things to my attention that I never thought about before,” he says. He was overweight, didn’t exercise, and often ate high-fat foods. But he never connected his lifestyle to his heart.

Heart disease is the single leading cause of death in America. (One in every five people die of heart disease) And over 1,200,000 incidences of heart attacks occur per year. But the good news is thatheart disease is preventable by simple and effective lifestyle modifications.

1. Become active

Photo by malouette

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for heart disease. Exercise improves heart function and strengthens it. It also helps to lower blood sugar and cholesterol level. American Heart Association recommends alteast 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise on most days of the week.

2. Eat a heart healthy diet

Photo by tisay

This advice will make you moan if you are a ‘fast food addict’, but adopting a healthy diet routine goes a long way towards decreasing our risk for heart attack. A heart-healthy diet is one that that’s low in fat, and salt, and high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber. It doesn’t mean that you have to ban icecreams and burgers - having them once in a while won’t do much harm!

3. Watch your weight

Photo by mandj98

 Being overweight can lead to conditions that increase your heart disease risk - hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. We gain weight when the amout of food we eat is in excess of our bodies requirements. How to know if we are overweight? Body Mass index is a good measure of our weight status. Find your BMI by using the BMI calculator. Normal BMI is between 18 and 25. You are overweight if your BMI exceeds 25. But BMI is not perfect as people who are very muscular and physically fit can have high BMI as muscle weighs more than fat. Another measure of weight status is our waist circumference. A waist of over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women are considered overweight.

4. Quit smoking

Photo by greefus

This is the single most important piece of advice which helps to significantly reduce your heart attack risk as smoking is the single most important risk factor for sudden cardiac death. And if you don’t smoke, don’t even think about starting. Even inhaling the smoke given out by others is harmful. Tobacco smoke contains over 4800 chemicals that damage your heart and blood vessels and cause lung cancer too.

5. Get regular health checkups

High blood pressure and high cholesterol are significant risk factors for heart disease. So you should routinely check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and make sure that they stay normal.

Ready to kickstart your heart healthy life? Watch the Start! video by American Heart Association
To better understand the working of our heart, read about Our wonderful heart!

Our wonderful heart!

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: Nov 12,2007

Photo by Heather Garland

The heart is one of the most fascinating organs of the human body. It starts beating when we are still in our mother’s womb and continues to do so till our last breath. It works tirelessly to pump life giving blood to all parts of our body. Did you know that our heart beats about 100,000 times in a day and over 2.5 billion times in a 70 year lifetime!
Just as the case of any machine, our heart will fail to function properly if we do not take proper care of it. In order to keep our heart healthy, it is necessary that we have an idea abouthow our heart manages to do this wonderful feat of constantly pumping blood. So, lets go on a guided tour to unravel the mysteries of our heart and understand how it functions.

The Basics

Our heart is located in the chest between the two lungs and slightly to the left. It is well protected by the rib cage. It’s about the size of our clenched fist and weighs about 300grams. It beat about 60-100 times a minute.

Structure of our heart

1. Right Atrium
2. Right Ventricle
3. Left Atrium
4. Left Ventricle

Also our heart has 4 valves - the tricuspid valve (having 3 flaps) and the mitral valve (having 2 flaps - just like a bishop’s mitre), pulmonary valve and aortic valve. Just as in other pumps, these valves allow flow of blood in only one direction - i.e., from the atria to the ventricle and from ventricle to aorta/ pulmonary artery and prevents the backflow of blood.

Blood flow through the heart

The blood from various parts of our body other than the lungs are brought to our heart through 2 large veins - superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. These bring blood to the right atrium - the upper right chamber. From here, the blood passes to the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. It is then pumped into the lungs via the pulmonary artery(pulmonary = related to the lungs). In the lungs, the oxygen we inhale is mixed with the blood and the carbondioxide in the blood is removed. After this the blood passes to the left atrium and then to the left ventricle through the mitral valve. Finally, the blood is pumped to the different parts our body through the aorta - the largest artery of our body.

Wanna know how to keep your heart healthy? Read up on 5 Steps towards a healthier heart

Oh! I’m too young to die

• Author: Bijoy Johnson
• Filed under: Health Buzz
• Date: Nov 1,2007

Think heart disease and high blood pressure concern only old people? Think again…
New research by Medco Health Solutions, INC indicates that young americans are increasingly being treated for heart disorders. The research shows that between 2001 and 2006, young adults ages 20-44 who were taking medications for high cholesterol has rose to 4.2 million (a 68% increase) and those who took antihypertensives rose to 7.5 million (a 28% increase). So better stop eating all that junk food and get into your jogging shoes soon. As the saying goes - ‘Prevention is always better than cure’.

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