If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Fish Oil Supplements and Your Heart

A recent study in Japan  resulted in EPA (a fatty acid found in fish oil) being approved for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and peripheral artery disease, and in Europe, for reduction of mortality after a heart attacks. Continue Reading »

Chances are if you or a love one take Avandia, you have heard this news. It seems that many of my patients heard this news before I did and called in a panic wanting to stop their medication. It reminded me  of when the Women’s Health Initiative came out saying that Estrogens were dangerous. Women around the country immediately stopped their HRT (and had all sorts of side effects from the abrupt cessation of estrogen).

While no medication is free from potential side effects, let’s stop for a moment and breathe. Let’s look at what we have.

Continue Reading »

A new study was released which showed that women were up to 10% less likely to achieve adequate control of their cholesterol readings than men.

Researchers at the National Committee for Quality Assurance looked at several measures for cardiovascular disease and diabetes prevention, treatment and risk factors among patients in 46 different commercial managed care plans and 148 Medicare plans.

Continue Reading »

Aspirin, which has been recommended by many studies over the years to reduce the risk of heart disease, is now recommended for women who are older and prone to cardiovascular disease.

This latest recommendations comes from researchers at the Nurses Health Study. Started in 1976, the NHS has been one of the longest and most significant studies to date on several aspects of women’s health.

Recent data shows that middle aged and older women who took aspirin had a 25% lower risk of death compared to those who never took it. This included a 38% decrease risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 12% lower risk of death from cancer.

Of course, aspirin (like everything else) is not without side effects, so make sure you speak with your health care provider to see if this is something for you.

 

It’s the first of the year and many people are working on quitting smoking. Here is a surprise resource that my patients alerted me to…Philip Morris!

They have developed a program called Quit Assist. I would imagine is may have to do with damage control…but if it helps you quit…who cares?

You’ll find other resources listed at OlderWiserWomen Quit Smoking Resources

We’ve known for a long time that folic acid is good for pregnant women. And actually, we’ve known for a while that folic acid can lower homocystine levels (which is thought to damage the linings of your arteries) in those whose levels are high. In a recent British study, they looked again at folic acid and found that it can cut an individuals risk of heart attacks by 10-20%. About one in ten are thought to have a genetic mutation which can increase homocystine levels.

So which veggies are high in folate/folic acid? The green leafy ones….bok choy, spinach, kale, mustard and collard greens, Swiss Chard, etc.

Bon Appétit!

Women who say no to carbs, but yes to protein as recommended in the South Beach and Zone diets, do not increase their risk of coronary heart disease, according to researchers here.

And women who consume low-carbohydrate diets that emphasize vegetables rather than animals as the source of protein and fat may be rewarded with a moderate reduction in risk of heart disease.

Read More:No Heart Risk for Women Who Favor Protein Over Carbs

The results of a European study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that virgin olive oil contained more antioxidants that a more refined olive oil. What does this mean to you? More antixoidants may offer more protection against heart disease.

In this study those taking the virgin olive oil had higher levels of polyphenols (a certain class of antioxidants), higher levels of HDL (the good cholesterol that protects your heart) and higher levels of substances that help prevent the oxidantion of the LDL (bad cholesterol). All of this means you may be able to lower your risk of heart disease and strokes by using virgin olive oils over other types of oils in your diet.

How much olive oil? The participants, all men, ate about 1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil per day for three weeks. (Other particpants ate refined olive oil or a mixture of virgin and refined).

Remember when adding fats to your diet to look at your overall fat intake.

This news release points out once again that smoking of any sort is not good for you. Just yesterday I met a young woman who had a four month old baby. She had just quit smoking one week ago. She deserves lots of congratulations as she is going extremely well given many of her challenges. She was rightly worried that her mother continues to smoke, even when caring for the infant. That is rude beyond belief to me.

Second case in point. I saw a woman yesterday who has smoked for many years. Her blood pressure has been creeping up over. When I saw her just weeks before I told her to take her blood pressure and pulse at home BEFORE she had a cigarette, and then again right after. The results were even more dramatic that I suspected they would be. Her blood pressure rose by nearly 40%!!! If you smoke, try this yourself…it will give you that final push to stop smoking for good.
——————–

Any Tobacco Use Raises Heart Attack Risk
08.17.06, 12:00 AM ET

THURSDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) — All types of tobacco use or exposure — smoking, chewing, or secondhand smoke — boost a person’s risk for heart attack, Canadian researchers say.

Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario analyzed data from more than 27,000 people in 52 countries and factored in other lifestyle traits — such as diet and age — that could affect heart attack risk. They found that any form of tobacco use or exposure was harmful.

Publishing in the Aug. 19 issue of The Lancet, they found that moderate and heavy smokers had a three-fold increased risk of a heart attack and light smokers (8-10 cigarettes a day) had a two-fold risk.

The risk decreased with time after a person stopped smoking, the study said. Among light smokers, there was no excess risk 3 to 5 years after they quit smoking. Moderate and heavy smokers still had an excess risk of about 22 percent even 20 years after they kicked the habit.

The researchers also concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke increased the risk of heart attack in both former smokers and nonsmokers. People with the highest levels of secondhand smoke exposure (22 hours or more per week) have about a 45 percent increased risk of heart attack, the study said.

Chewing tobacco doubled the risk of heart attack, the researchers found.

——————–

You’ll find more information about smoking and quiting at the OlderWiserWomen Smoking Cessation page.

People who experience vision of heart disease compared to people who do not get the debilitating headaches, a study said on Tuesday.

The “aura” that immediately precedes a migraine affects sufferers differently, with some combination of dizziness, flashes or spots of light, and temporary loss of vision.

Among the 28 million Americans, mostly women, who suffer migraines, fewer than one-third experience the aura beforehand that was linked in the study to the increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Source: Retuers. Read the rest of the article….