Tips for Having a Healthy Heart

Having a healthy heart is very important for a number of reasons, but many people ignore their heart health until there is an actual problem. This is particularly true with younger males in their late twenties or thirties because they think they are immune to heart problems regardless of their diet. However, especially if you don’t eat properly or workout regularly, your heart can actually be a ticking time bomb that will add endless complications and expenses to your life. Having an unhealthy heart can manifest itself in several different ways, but typically you will see high blood pressure, poor circulation, and eventually even heart disease, a heart attack, or a stroke.

Before I start giving you my tips for having a healthy heart, I would like to give you a bit of background on my personal experience. When I was in my late twenties, I went into the doctor for something completely unrelated to my heart only to find that I had extremely high blood pressure. Now, I didn’t have the healthiest diet, and since I worked for a company offering wedding sparklers for sale online, I wasn’t very active either. I was told by my doctor that I needed a drastic lifestyle change or I would need to get on blood pressure medications, and these are the steps that I used to get my blood pressure under control.

Sodium Intake

One of the most effect things I found for reducing your blood pressure in a very big hurry is to reduce the amount of sodium you eat each day. In fact, most people eat over a whopping 4000mg of sodium each day, which is about 1600mg more than the recommended amount of 2400mg per day. But here’s where it gets really bad; I calculated that I was eating over 6000mg per day on average. The biggest problem was that I was eating fast food a few times per week, and when I ate at home it way usually processed foods that came from a can, box, or out of the freezer. By simply paying attention to the amount of sodium I was putting into my body, I was able to drop my blood pressure over 15 points in under a month.

Exercise

The next part of the puzzle was getting some exercise, which has many other benefits besides just lowering your blood pressure. As I said before, I work in front of a computer most days so exercise was a foregone conclusion to me. Be just getting up and walking about an hour per day, I visibly see my body improving and I started feeling better in just a few short weeks. Now I’m in the best shape of my life, and once you get addicted to exercise you can’t stop because of how great your body feels. You also end up feeling more energized and well-rested, so you actually get more done in a day.

Dietary Supplements

The last thing I did to get my blood pressure down to normal levels and solidify my mission for a healthy heart was to start taking omega 3 fatty acids. In nature, Omega 3 is found in fish and flax seed and has been shown to improve heart function, but eating enough of either of those two items naturally would be a tall order indeed. Instead, you can get fish oil pills or CO-Q10 which have large amounts of all the omega 3 fatty acids you need to give yourself the healthiest heart possible.

Good news for getting older! Studies say 72 is the new 30. Learn why! Then, LA’s tuberculosis outbreak. Are you at risk? Plus, see a new, high-tech colon cancer test that could save your life. And, The Docs celebrate Dr. Travis' birthday. Join the party!!!! 

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Hearts and Minds: Open heart surgery at the Wellcome Institute

Cancer Kids

1. Unfortunately, for some children the battle with cancer doesn't end in the word "remission" or "cure", but in death. In one sense, these brave little warriors have lost their battle with the cancer monster. Yet in another sense, they have actually been granted the ultimate victory by being given angel wings. We are honored to pay tribute to these children through theCancer Kids Wall of Memory.
   I hope that you will take a little bit of time to peruse this web site. Read some of the stories of courageous children who are literally fighting for their lives. There are stories of heartache and pain, and there are also stories of victory! In these stories you will find inspiration, courage, and warmth. In these stories you will find frustration, struggle, and uncertainty. You will laugh, you will cry, you will get angry -- and you will probably find yourself falling in love with some precious children and young people from whom you will learn important lessons about life.
   
   

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters)

The study revealed that middle-aged men who use antidepressants more likely to have shortness of blood vessels, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokesStroke compared to other who do not take these drugs.
A study on the number of twins is evidence of hardening of the arteries to measure the thickness of the internal carotid artery, regardless of the type of antidepressant used.
... The study found that the use of antidepressants cause an increase of 37 microns in thickness of the carotid artery, or about five percent. The study included 500 twin men average age 55 years and presented at the Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Cardiology in New Orleans.
And between each twin of twins among 59 taking an antidepressant, one without the other. Research has shown that dealing with the drug than has the thickness of the inner lining of the carotid artery an average of 41 microns.
WPM that every year more than ten microns thickness of the artery are the arteries of the brother who take the drug four years more than those of its twin.
Previous studies have linked depression and increased risk of heart disease, but the study was not considered strong evidence of depression on the hardening of the arteries.
Dr. Amit Shah, a fellow of Cardiology at Emory University in Atlanta, who presented the study "because we have not seen the relationship between depression itself and narrow the carotid artery that could support the argument that it is very likely that antidepressants and not depression the actual may be the cause of this relationship."
Shah added, "The study reminds us that the drugs have side effects often do not feel it and we have always said that we take that into account. These drugs provide many benefits, but should be dealt with case by case basis."
Shah and likely to be increased levels of certain chemicals in the brain such as serotonin and Albafraz by the use of antidepressants may cause constriction of blood vessels, leading to a lack of blood flow to the members and high pressure, which increases the risk of atherosclerosis.
Shah said, "because it was a study of twins we had a careful analysis compares the two brothers Michabihn genetically by no means a rate ranging between 50 to a hundred percent, and grew up

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contre le Cancer

Le 5 june  prochain aura lieu à Paris le 2ème défilé de mode organisé par l’association Défil’Cancer *. Au cours d’une grande soirée caritative, Défil’Cancer montrera son engagement renouvelé auprès des femmes en soutenant une cause qui leur tient tout particulièrement à cœur : le cancer du sein.

Il convient de rappeler que le cancer du sein touche 1 femme sur 8 à l’heure actuelle, et reste la 1ère cause de mortalité chez les femmes de 35 à 65 ans. Véritable fléau, cette maladie tue près de 42000 femmes par an dans le monde, 11 000 femmes en France.L’originalité de cette soirée réalisée en partenariat avec différentes écoles (IESEG, IBSM, école de coiffure et de maquillage,…) réside dans l’attention toute particulière donnée à la mise en avant de la féminité à travers les différentes séquences : défilé de mode, exposition de photographies et d’un court-métrage sur le thème de la féminité, témoignages de patientes et de leur entourage, et enfin une conférence animée par des professionnels de la santé. 

En mettant la beauté de la femme à l’honneur, Défil’Cancer montre que l’on peut préserver sa féminité malgré la maladie, et souhaite insister sur l’importance d’un dépistage précoce et du suivi psychologique régulier pour le patient et ses proches.

Un appel au don se fera à l’issue du cocktail, et la totalité de ces dons seront reversés à la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer.

What is High Blood Pressure?

What is High Blood Pressure?
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Blood pressure measures the force pushing outwards on your arterial walls

The organs in your body need oxygen to survive. Oxygen is carried through the body by the blood. When the heart beats, it creates pressure that pushes blood through a network of tube-shaped arteries and veins, also known as blood vessels and capillaries. The pressure --- blood pressure --- is the result of two forces. The first force occurs as blood pumps out of the heart and into the arteries that are part of the circulatory system. The second force is created as the heart rests between heart beats. (These two forces are each represented by numbers in a blood pressure reading.)


The problems from too much force

Healthy arteries are made of muscle and a semi-flexible tissue that stretches like elastic when the heart pumps blood through them. The more forcefully that blood pumps, the more the arteries stretch to allow blood to easily flow. Over time, if the force of the blood flow is often high, the tissue that makes up the walls of arteries gets stretched beyond its healthy limit. This creates problems in several ways.


Vascular weaknesses
First, the overstretching creates weak places in the vessels, making them more prone to rupture. Problems such as strokes and aneurysms are caused by ruptures in the blood vessels.
Vascular scarring
Second, the overstretching can cause tiny tears in the blood vessels that leave scar tissue on the walls of arteries and veins. These tears and the scar tissue are like nets, and can catch debris such as cholesterol, plaque or blood cells traveling in the bloodstream.
Increased risk of blood clots
Trapped blood can form clots that can narrow (and sometimes block) the arteries. These clots sometimes break off and block vessels and the blood supply to different parts of the body. When this happens, heart attacks or strokes are often the result.
Increased plaque build-up
The same principle applies to our blood flow. Cholesterol and plaque build-up in the arteries and veins cause the blood flow to become limited or even cut off altogether. As this happens, pressure is increased on the rest of the system, forcing the heart to work harder to deliver blood to your body. Additionally, if pieces of plaque break off and travel to other parts of the body, or if the build-up completely blocks the vessel, then heart attacks and strokes occur.
Tissue and organ damage from narrowed and blocked arteries
Ultimately, the arteries and veins on the other side of the blockage do not receive enough freshly oxygenated blood, which results in tissue damage.
Increased workload on the circulatory system
Think of it this way: In a home where several faucets are open and running, the water pressure flowing out of any one faucet is lower. But when pipes get clogged and therefore narrow, the pressure is much greater. And if all the household water is flowing through only one faucet, the pressure is higher still.

When the arteries are not as elastic because of the build-up of cholesterol or plaque or because of scarring, the heart pumps harder to get blood into the arteries. Over time, this increased work can result in damage to the heart itself. The muscles and valves in the heart can become damaged and heart failure can result.

Damage to the vessels that supply blood to your kidneys and brain may negatively affect these organs.

You may not feel that anything is wrong, but high blood pressure can permanently damage your heart, brain, eyes and kidneys before you feel anything. High blood pressure can often lead to heart attack and heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health consequences.