The Daily Heart Beat — Reliable Information and Commentary by a Doctor/Heart Attack Survivor

Narcissism, Cortisol and Heart Disease

May 29, 2012 Heart Disease

[This is one reason why gratefulness -- rather than entitlement -- is so important...] from the article: Konrath and her team found that people who scored higher on the exploitative aspects of narcissism showed higher levels of cortisol, while those who scored higher on the more positive aspects of narcissism did not. And the trend [...]

The Need for Stress Management: High Cortisol Levels Linked in Increase Risk of Heart Attack

May 29, 2012 Heart Attack

[Emotional stress is often under-rated as major factor in heart disease.] from the article: When divided into three groups based on levels of the stress hormone, the third of study participants with the highest cortisol levels had a fivefold increased risk of dying from cardiovascular causes as the third with the lowest levels. High Cortisol [...]

Heart Nutrition: Green Tea Reduces Mortality

May 29, 2012 Nutrition

[Sitting down and sipping tea five times a day would be relaxing it itself...] from the article: The study was initiated in an attempt to study a possible association between the consumption of green tea and reduced mortality. Investigators in Japan enrolled over 40,000 people in this study, and followed them prospectively for more than [...]

Heart Health: Eating at Home Versus Eating Out

May 27, 2012 Interventions

[Interesting study on how our expectations (eating out makes you happier) versus reality, that people feel better after eating at home.] from the article: The study looked at how food choices influence mood. 160 women reported what they ate for 10 days. They were contacted every two hours to report what they had recently eaten, [...]

The Psychology of Heart Health: One Resolution at a Time….

May 26, 2012 Interventions

[Continuing with the theme of the limits and utilization of will power...] from the article: This helps explain why, after a long day at the office, we’re more likely to indulge in a pint of ice cream, or eat one too many slices of leftover pizza. (In fact, one study by researchers at the University [...]

The Psychology of Heart Health: Will Power and Temptations

May 26, 2012 Adherence

[Most of us know that if we lost weight our hearts would be healthier -- yet the resolution to lose weight rarely works. Strategy based on how the brain works is much more effective than just trying to use will power.] from the article: Below are five strategies to restore your willpower. Sure, they may [...]

Heart Nutrition: Probiotics to Reduce Stress?

May 25, 2012 Nutrition

[We're 90% bacteria and 10% human to start with - may as well have enlist the pros...] from the article: The people in the probiotic group showed a muted response in brain areas involved in processing and sensation, compared with the other two groups. On the flip side, people who didn’t eat any yogurt had [...]

Reducing Heart Attack Risk Through Meditation

May 25, 2012 Breathing

[In the 60's, when meditation become more mainstream. the phrase I would often here is: "If you are too busy to meditate, you are too busy." -- And today the phrase I came across was, "It is important to meditate twenty minutes a day.... If you are too busy to meditate, meditate for an hour [...]

Dr. Fogoros on Low Fat vs. Low Carb Diets

May 24, 2012 Lifestyle

[In my opinion, cardiologist Richard Fogoros provides the best medical information on heart disease on the Web] from the article: At the end of the day, we can state four general rules that all parties – both low fat and low carb – would agree to: 1) Avoid the simple carbohydrates that cause rapid rises [...]

Reducing Inflammation Through Compassionate Meditation

May 24, 2012 Conditions

[There are many different styles and practices of meditation, and many of them have health benefits. Reduction of inflammation is particularly important for heart health...] Eastern and Western medicine unite for mind/body health January 4, 2010 Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD, senior lecturer in the Department of Religion at Emory, and Charles Raison, MD, in [...]

Heart Health: Be Careful of Calcium Supplements

May 24, 2012 Calcium

Calcium supplements ‘double risk of heart attack’, study finds Doctors dispute results but advise people not to take supplements unless required for medical condition Calcium supplements can almost double the risk of a heart attack, according to new research, and should be “taken with caution” and only for medical reasons, such as to prevent bone [...]

New England Journal of Medicine: Coffee Asssociated With Increased Longevity

May 22, 2012 Coffee

From the article: But with so many people, more than a decade of follow-up and enough deaths to compare, “this is probably the best evidence we have“ and are likely to get, said Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, who has researched coffee and health in the past. Two cups of [...]

After a Heart Attack: Living in a Different Country

May 21, 2012 Blogs

[As I have mentioned before, Carolyn Thomas's www.myheartsisters.org is the best heart blog on the Web -- she frequently deals with the the post-heart attack psychological world. Here is an excellent first person narrative of how the world changes after a heart attack.] from the article It means learning how to take naps, or just [...]

Heart Health: Nuts

May 20, 2012 Almonds

from the article: A final word of wisdom: Just because nuts and alcohol (in small amounts) may be good for the heart, it does not necessarily follow that the ideal food is beer nuts. Say Nuts to Heart Disease Adding nuts to your diet may reduce the risk of heart disease By Richard N. Fogoros, [...]

The Importance of Heart Rate Variability

May 15, 2012 Exercise

["Heart Rate Variability, or HRV, is under-appreciated measure of heart health...] Greater Heart Rate Variability The term called “heart rate variability” means that minute-by-minute (or even second-by-second) your heart rate fluctuates depending on internal and external stimulus. If your resting heart rate is 60 beats per minute, it makes sense that your heart would beat [...]

T’ai Chi for the Heart

May 14, 2012 Heart Disease

from the article: Wang found that tai chi did indeed promote balance, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, and strength. In a study comparing it with brisk walking and resistance training, a tai chi group improved more than 30 percent in lower-body strength and 25 percent in arm strength, nearly as much as a weight-training group and more [...]

Heart Health: Moderate Coffee Use May Reduce Stroke Risk

May 13, 2012 Coffee

Summary of article: “The first message is that coffee intake is not associated with a higher risk of stroke,” which he says is reassuring. “Second, the analysis showed that low to moderate intake—one to three cups of coffee per day—was associated with lower risk of stroke in the general population, across a wide range of [...]

“Ten Top Online Influencers” About Heart Disease

May 13, 2012 Blogs

Personally, I like Carolyn Thomas’s blog the best. I find the website listed as #1, the American Heart Association website, to be very ordinary and not very engaging. Carolyn provides much more individualized and personally relevant information…. Top Ten Online Influencers about heart disease

2012 Webby Award for Best Health Website: Medify.com

May 12, 2012 Awards

[Although I find the design of the site a bit complex and slow, it crunches and provides lots of data, and can connect you with other people with similar conditions.]. www.medify.com From their “About Us” Link: We’re a crack team of technologists, advocates, medical advisors, and problem solvers. We believe in the power of knowledge, [...]

After a Heart Attack: Let There Be Light…

May 11, 2012 Heart Attack

[The importance of Circadian rhythms are vastly underrated...] Intense Light Prevents, Treats Heart Attacks, Study Suggests ScienceDaily Apr. 25, 2012 — There are lots of ways physicians might treat a patient after a heart attack — certain resuscitation methods, aspirin, clot-busters and more. Now University of Colorado medical school researchers have found a new candidate: [...]

Heart Attack Risk Factor: Living Next to a Major Highway

May 10, 2012 Heart Disease

[More and more evidence on the relationship between noise, pollution and heart disease] Heart Attack Survivors Living Close to Highways Face Higher 10-Year Death Risk ScienceDaily May 7, 2012 Living close to a major highway poses a significant risk to heart attack survivors, reinforcing the need to isolate housing developments from heavy traffic areas, a [...]

Heart Health: “Humans Are Born to Stroll”

May 10, 2012 Heart Disease

Walking is often under-rated; it is the best and easiest form of exercise. The Surprising Shortcut to Better Health By TARA PARKER-POPE May 4, 2012 For more than a decade, Gretchen Reynolds has been writing about the science of health and fitness. Her weekly column, Phys Ed, is one of this paper’s most popular features, [...]

A New Process for Dealing With Heart Attack Scar Tissue

May 8, 2012 Heart Disease

[Ten years to develop the process? Maybe we could take some of the TSA money and instead put into the real terrorism of illness.] Scar Tissue Turned Into Heart Muscle Without Using Stem Cells ScienceDaily Apr. 26, 2012 Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have shown the ability to turn scar tissue that forms after [...]

How Doctors Deal With Their Own Terminal Illness

May 7, 2012 Heart Disease

Death With Dignity: How Doctors Die Doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. Jacob Sanders Utne Reader May 2012 Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. [...]

The Heart and Art: “There’s More to the Healing Arts Than Just Medicine.”

May 4, 2012 Heart Disease

Art therapy can help those in chronic pain September 17, 2010 Denise Dador LOS ANGELES (KABC) — There’s more to the healing arts than just medicine. Numerous studies show how creative expression through music, writing or art work can break the cycle of chronic pain. The topic was discussed at the For Grace’s 3rd Annual [...]

Last Night as I Was Sleeping

May 4, 2012 Heart Disease

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt–marvelous error!– that a spring was breaking out in my heart. I said: Along which secret aqueduct, Oh water, are you coming to me? water of a new life that I have never drunk? Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt–marvelous error!– that I had a beehive [...]

Heartburn or a Heart Attack?

January 13, 2012 Heart Disease

An important story to read: the misdiagnosis of (a woman’s) heart attack: Heartburn or a Heart Attack? When Carolyn Thomas went to the hospital for chest pain and nausea, doctors diagnosed acid reflux and sent her home — but she was really having a heart attack. Now this Canadian blogger is using her site to [...]

Stem Cells Can Repair Heart Attack Damage

December 5, 2011 Heart Disease

Studies: Stem cells reverse heart damage (CNN) — On a June day in 2009, a 39-year-old man named Ken Milles lay on an exam table at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A month earlier, he’d suffered a massive heart attack that destroyed nearly a third of his heart. “The most difficult part was the [...]

To Stent or Not to Stent: Placing COURAGE in Context

November 11, 2011 Heart Disease

Placing COURAGE in Context: Review of the Recent Literature on Managing Stable Artery Disease 1. Megan Coylewright, MD, MPH, 2. Roger S. Blumenthal, MD and 3. Wendy Post, MD, MS Abstract Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, but prevention and intervention efforts are lowering mortality. This progress [...]

Study Raises Questions About Niacin Use for Heart Disease….

October 20, 2011 Heart Disease

Study Questions Treatment Used in Heart Disease New York Times By GARDINER HARRIS May 26, 2011 WASHINGTON — Lowering bad cholesterol levels reduces heart attack risks, and researchers have long hoped that raising good cholesterol would help, too. Surprising results from a large government study announced on Thursday suggest that this hope may be misplaced. [...]

Using Text Messages and Social Media for Weight Loss…

October 12, 2011 Heart Disease

Text messages help with weight loss By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY College students who used cellphones to monitor calories and physical activity and received personalized feedback about how they were doing dropped significantly more weight than those who didn’t, new research shows. “Cellphones are a powerful intervention tool for weight loss,” says lead author Melissa [...]

Modifying Genes by Eating Vegetables

October 12, 2011 Heart Disease

Fruits and Vegetables Could Modify Gene Linked to Heart Disease By KIM CAROLLO Oct. 11, 2011 Eating a healthy amount of greens could have an effect on genes linked to heart disease, according to a new study. Researchers from Canada’s McMaster and McGill universities found that eating fruits and vegetables may actually change a gene [...]

The Effect of Lack of Sleep on the Body

October 5, 2011 Sleep

Scientists Finding Out What Losing Sleep Does to a Body Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer October 9, 2005> With a good night’s rest increasingly losing out to the Internet, e-mail, late-night cable and other distractions of modern life, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that too little or erratic sleep may be taking [...]

Lack of Sleep: 50% Increase in Heart Attack Risk

October 4, 2011 Risk Factors

Why late to bed, early to rise is a recipe for a heart attack By Daily Mail Reporter February 9 , 2011 It is the stuff of nightmares for those whose hectic work schedule or busy family life means getting up early and staying up late. Sleeping for less than six hours a night greatly [...]

Alcohol Interferes With Heart Rate Variability

September 30, 2011 Heart Rate Variability

Alcohol Interferes With the Restorative Functions of Sleep ScienceDaily Aug. 16, 2011 Large amounts of alcohol are known to shorten sleep latency, increase slow-wave sleep, and suppress rapid eye movement (REM) during the first half of sleep. During the second half of sleep, REM increases and sleep becomes shallower. A study of the acute effects [...]

Cochrane Review: Wholegrain Oats May Reduce Lipids

September 30, 2011 Nutrition

This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011 Issue 9, Copyright © 2011 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN [...]

Binge Drinking Increases Heart Attack Risk 73%

September 30, 2011 Alcohol

“Heavy” Drinking Increases Risk After Heart Attack Even moderately heavy drinking is bad after myocardial infarction By Richard N. Fogoros, M.D. Updated July 04, 2007 Several studies have indicated that light usage of alcohol (one or two drinks per day) may help protect against cardiac disease. However, because alcohol causes so many medical problems, and [...]

It Helps if Your Doctor Tells You That You Are Overweight

September 26, 2011
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