Soda Clogs Arteries Even in Skinny Women

Sugary drinks create heart risks for women even if they are normal weight. This is the finding of a study presented at the American Heart Association meetings in Florida by Dr. Christina Shay.In this study, 4000 women from 45-84 years of age were followed for 5 years. Women who drank two or more sugar-sweetened beverages…

Up with Potassium, Down with Sodium

Sodium chloride and potassium chloride are both simple salts but they have profoundly different effects in the body. In the blood stream, sodium is high (135 mg/dl) and potassium is low (4 mg/dl) but the opposite is true inside cells where potassium is high and sodium is low.Both sodium and potassium are diet essentials, but…

The World is Killing Itself

For thousands of years humans have fallen to the illnesses served up by nature's villains. Infectious disease such as bubonic plague, malaria and tuberculosis have killed millions. But the tables have turned -- we are now killing ourselves at a higher rate than nature is killing us.The World Health Organization reveals this in the Global…

Strong Bones, but Weak Heart

A reanalysis of just over half of the women in the Women's Health Initiative Calcium/Vitamin D Supplementation Study has found a modest increased risk of myocardial infarction and stoke in those taking calcium supplements with or without Vitamin D.These researchers also found no relation between the dose of supplements being taken, and cited evidence from…

Prevention of Heart Disease in Women

The American Heart Association (AHA) has revised and updated its guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. No longer are the terms "low risk" and "intermediate risk" used. Women are either classified as having "ideal risk," or being "at risk" or "high risk."Think you are at low or ideal cardiovascular risk? Low/ideal risk…

You Can’t Eat Too Many Fruits and Vegetables

Studies that focus on huge numbers of the population are an important scientific tool. When you enroll hundreds of thousands of participants and track them for several years, you collect a mountain of data.The results of large studies covering large geographic areas can be generalized to the entire population. Their findings represent the truth about…

Omega-3 Supplementats Not Beneficial

There is growing interest in the possibility of reducing the risk of heart disease by supplementing with fish-based omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) or plant-derived alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Using a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 4837 older men with heart disease, researchers found during an almost four year follow-up that none of the supplements…

The Triglyceride/Waist Tool

Two simple measurements have been found accurately predict the development of coronary heart disease. One is measuring the distance around the waist at the level of the belly button and the second is measuring blood triglyceride levels.This research was just published based on a study of 25,668 men and women in Norfolk, United Kingdom.

You Have Only One Heart

Our bodies are designed to have a lot of things in twos: two eyes, two ears, two hands, two legs, two feet, two kidneys, two lungs and so on. For many of these body parts, we can live without having both - just one ear or even just one lung.But we only have one heart.The…

Forgiveness as an Indicator of Health: Part 5

This blog is one of a series on forgiveness and its' health benefits. This report is about forgiveness and patients with heart disease.