From the monthly archives:
Whac-a-Mole From the article: Call it “Whac-a-Mole Cardiology:” yes, an angiogram or ultrasound may identify a series of blockages, but we still can’t predict which one will pop its head up out of the hole so we can bang it over the head with a stent. More evidence about just how important it is to [...]
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From the Mayo Clinic 96 Minutes and Counting… Marathon CPR Saves a Life! March 4, 2011 Joel Streed After a workout, Howard Snitzer stopped to pick up groceries for dinner and instead fell to the sidewalk with a massive heart attack. The volunteer response in Goodhue, Minnesota and the surrounding community was remarkable. More than [...]
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When I was recovering from a severe heart attack, I desperately wanted to be fixed. I read everything I could about what to do — nutrition, exercise, supplements, meditation, visualization, stem-cell therapy — it may all have been useful, but it didn’t get to the core of the matter. The best books I read during [...]
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from the article: My philosophy about primary care is that the only person who has changed anyone’s life is their mother. The reason is that she cares about them, and she says the same simple thing over and over and over.” So he tries to care, and to say a few simple things over and [...]
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From the article: Research is indicating that mindfulness practices (exercises that increase present-moment awareness) are very beneficial to health and well-being, influencing a wide range of physiological and subjective states including: * Boosting the immune response in cancer and HIV patients. * Reducing pain in chronic pain patients, including sufferers of arthritis, back pain, and [...]
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From the article: A 2005 government survey found that just 11 percent of psychiatrists provided talk therapy to all patients. Even though research shows that medical costs are reduced if you have accompanying mental health treatment, the medical world continues to shift to drugs as the solution to life problems. Why am I suddenly thinking [...]
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Conclusion: Eat both Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Health & Prevention Two Sources of Omega-3 Benefit the Heart – In Different Ways In a small study supported by the California Walnut Commission, diets containing walnuts or fish both derived cardiovascular benefit – although each diet had a different effect on lipid parameters. Twenty-five adults with [...]
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Scientists Link 13 New Gene Regions to Heart Disease Risk March 6 (HealthDay News) – In what may be the largest global investigation of its kind, scientists have implicated 13 new gene regions in the onset of heart vessel plaque build-up, a condition that often leads to fatal heart attacks. The discovery doubles the number [...]
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Doctor’s Lounge 9th January, 2006 Use of amino acid supplement following a heart attack may be harmful according to the VINTAGE MI clinical trial. Use of the amino acid supplement L-arginine following a heart attack does not improve certain cardiac functions and measurements and may be associated with an increased risk of death, according to [...]
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from the article “Levels of non-fasting triglycerides should be included in stroke prevention guidelines which currently focus on total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels”. High Triglycerides Tied To Stroke Risk 23 Feb 2011 Medical News Today Higher levels of non-fasting triglycerides are linked to an increased risk of ischemic stroke in men and women, while [...]
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The research article below suggests that by repetitively visualizing a food you are craving you can reduce the consumption of the food. This is a strategy that is a combination of “flooding” and visualization. (College students, of course, are not normal people and generalizing from this population to the population as a whole is problematic). [...]
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In the last week, the most frequently e-mailed New York Times article was the one below on self-compassion and weight loss. Clearly, it hit an important nerve in the struggle to lose weight. Yes. Compassion at all levels is important, and the article has some useful suggestions. However, the ability to treat one’s self compassionately [...]
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This is particularly good news for fruit flies. If I were a fruit fly I would want to live longer too. Medical News Today An Apple A Day Keeps The Grim Reaper Away March 4, 2011 Scientists are reporting the first evidence that consumption of a healthful antioxidant substance in apples extends the average lifespan [...]
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From the article “Research underscores the relationship between consuming tomatoes and reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. Tomatoes, The New Superfood Medical News Today 02 Mar 2011 – Eating more tomatoes and tomato products can make people healthier and decrease the risk of conditions such as cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, according [...]
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This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post, which was a media review of this article. It is a frustrating summary to read. (The full text costs $31.50. Hmm. A bit of capitalism here for public health. Clearly it is better to make money than save lives…). It does emphasize just how large a risk factor [...]
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What is wrong with this research? Here are the increased risk factors listed: Cocaine: 23% Air Pollution: 7.4 % Physical Exertion: 6.2% Coffee: 5% Alcohol: 5% Negative Emotions: 3% Heavy Meal: 2.7% Positive Emotions 2.2% Having Sex: 2.2% Smoking Marijuana: 1% Clearly,the safest thing to to is to smoke dope. Just because an event preceded [...]
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I am certainly hopeful that the research mentioned below is true, about 30% hopeful. However, once again “Correlation is not cause and effect.” Because heart patients who respond optimistically to these kinds of questions live longer does not mean that being, or trying to be, consciously optimistic is the cause of their living longer. Maybe, [...]
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