Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Blog

Studies Affirm Value of Healthy Lifestyle

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, July 21 – All that heart-healthy advice about eating the right foods, exercising and losing weight pay off in real life for both men and women, two new studies show.

The reports, both originating at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and published in the July 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, focused on different aspects of cardiovascular risk in two large groups: the 83,882 women in the second Nurses' Health Study, and the 20,900 men in the Physicians' Health Study I. Both arrived at the same conclusion: Do the right things, and you get measurable benefits. Read more...

Related support groups: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Health Secrets of Red Wine Uncovered

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, June 11 – Scientists already knew that drinking red wine in moderation is good for your health; now they are figuring out why.

New research is uncovering the disease-prevention secrets of a polyphenol called resveratrol, one of compounds in red wine that seems to improve health. Although the benefits have been touted for years, researchers weren't sure how polyphenols, and resveratrol in particular, worked in the body. Read more...

Related support groups: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Laughter Can Boost Heart Health

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, May 29 – New research lends weight to the old adage that laughter can be powerful medicine, particularly when it comes to your heart.

Two studies presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting in Seattle found that laughter not only can reduce stress, which can damage the heart, it can lead to improved blood flow, which can help ward off high blood pressure.

The first study included a small group of healthy adults who were asked to watch either a comedy or documentary film. They were then checked for activity of the carotid arteries – the main arteries in the neck that bring blood to the brain and face – during the films. Read more...

Related support groups: High Blood Pressure, Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

DASH Diet Has Extra Benefits for Women's Health

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, May 11 – A diet that prevents and lowers high blood pressure has been linked to a reduced risk of heart failure in women, a new study finds.

"The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension [DASH] diet may contribute to prevention of heart failure in some cases because it effectively reduced blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels in clinical trials," wrote Emily B. Levitan, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues.

"This diet features high intake of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains, resulting in high potassium, magnesium, calcium and fiber consumption, moderately high protein consumption, and low total fat and saturated fat consumption," the authors added. Read more...

Related support groups: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

All Blood Pressure Drugs Lower Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, May 7 --Lowering blood pressure is essential for reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke, but which drugs are best has been a matter of debate.

Now, two new analyses attempt to answer that question.

Their conclusions: For heart attacks, all antihypertensive drugs work, with the exception of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), probably because there aren't enough studies to confirm their benefit. For stroke, all antihypertensive drugs were better than placebo, but diuretics, ARBs or calcium channel blockers were significantly better than beta blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. Both reports were presented Wednesday at the American Society of Hypertension's annual meeting, in San Francisco. Read more...

Related support groups: High Blood Pressure, Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis

Work Strife Stresses the Heart

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, April 24 – In tough economic times, work stress might be hard to avoid. But for people in stressful jobs, it's especially important to take steps to manage the stress in order to protect the heart.

That's because stress not only has been shown to increase the risk of a first heart attack, but also a second.

"Work stress is bad for the heart, because it causes your body to be in a state of high arousal all the time," said Dr. Redford Williams, director of the behavioral medicine research center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. Read more...

Related support groups: Heart Attack, Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Myocardial Infarction -- Prophylaxis

Fatty Fish May Cut Heart Failure Risk in Men

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 22 – Men who consume fatty fish and marine omega-3 fatty acids appear to have a reduced risk of heart failure, a new study has found.

Between 1998 and 2004, U.S. and Swedish researchers followed nearly 40,000 Swedish men, ages 45 to 79, recorded details of their diets and tracking their health outcomes. During that time, 597 men with no history of heart disease or diabetes developed heart failure, and 34 of them died from the disorder. Read more...

Related support groups: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Review Confirms Links Between Diet, Heart Health

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 13 – Vegetables, nuts and the so-called "Mediterranean" diet are heart-friendly, while trans fats and foods with a high glycemic index can harm your heart, say researchers who reviewed 189 studies published between 1950 and 2007.

The studies included 146 prospective cohort studies (which examined past habits of participants) and 43 randomized controlled trials (volunteers were randomly assigned to consume a certain kind of diet). Read more...

Related support groups: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Effort Could Lead to Blood Tests for Heart Problems

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 31 – A new project to discover blood markers that could identify people at increased risk for heart disease and stroke has been launched by the Framingham Heart Study.

Researchers taking part in the initiative, called the Systems Approach to Biomarker Research in Cardiovascular Disease, will analyze about 1,000 blood biomarkers to determine which ones are associated with heart disease, metabolic syndrome and related risk factors.

"Imagine having a simple blood test to tell us if a patient is at high risk for a heart attack or stroke," Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said in an institute news release. "We could do so much more to prevent or delay these often debilitating and deadly diseases." Read more...

Related support groups: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Lowest Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Levels the Best

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 23 – The tightest control of the major risk factors for heart disease seems to provide the greatest protection against cardiovascular trouble, a new study shows.

And so the current guidelines for risk factors such as blood pressure and LDL cholesterol might need to be tightened even further, said Dr. Stephen J. Nicholls, an assistant professor of molecular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, and author of the report, which appears in the March 31 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"It is clear that each benefit we have in terms of lowering LDL cholesterol and blood pressure is going to be important, and the lower you get those measurements, the better," Nicholls said. Read more...

Related support groups: High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, Hyperlipoproteinemia Type IIa (Elevated LDL), High Cholesterol - Familial Homozygous, Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, High Cholesterol - Familial Heterozygous, Fredrickson Type IIb Hyperlipoproteinemia