Why Should People Get Married?

People do not get married for numerous reasons. Some are single-at-heart; others do not marry just for the sake of marrying. In reality, marriage is good for the couple and it also provides the optimal condition for bearing and raising children.

It is believed that married couples are healthier, happier and enjoy loner lives than those who are not married. Married people have fewer heart disease problems, too.

A study of more than 3.5 million Americans found that married people were less likely than singles, divorced or widowed folks to suffer any type of heart disease or blood vessel problem. Being presented March 29, 2014 in Washington, DC at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology, the findings were true at any age, for women and for men, and regardless of other heart disease risk factors they had such as high cholesterol or diabetes.

Researchers at New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center claimed that their study was the largest that looked at marriage and heart health. Most of the previous studies either compared married to single people and lacked information on divorced and widowed ones, or just looked at heart attack. The current study looked at many more other things including a full range from clogged arteries and abdominal aneurysms to stroke risks and circulation problems in the legs.

Participants were asked to fill out health questionnaires when they sought various types of tests in community settings around the country from an Ohio company, Life Line Screening Inc. Analysis of data found that married people had a 5 percent lower risk of any cardiovascular disease compared to single people. Compared to married people, widowed and divorced people had a 3 percent and 5 percent greater risk of it.

Meanwhile, marriage seemed to do the most good for those under age 50; they had a 12 percent lower risk of heart-related disease than single people with same age. Smoking, as a major heart risk, was highest among divorced people and lowest in widowed ones. Obesity was most common in those single and divorced, and widowed people had the highest rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and inadequate exercise.

While the researchers insisted that more research is required to better understand the precise reasons why marital status affects risk of heart disease, they suggested that it is possible that married couples look after each other, making sure their spouse eats healthy, exercises regularly, and takes medication as prescribed. A spouse can also help keep doctors’ appointments and provide transportation, making for easier access to health care services.

Heart Disease Prevention - Watch Out Heart Disease Even If You Seem Healthy!

There is a common belief that cardiovascular disease can only happen to older folks who have risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, overweight or obesity and smoking. But in reality, even middle-age adults who have seemingly optimal heart health might be at risk for heart disease later in life. Read more @Heart Disease Prevention - Watch Out Heart Disease Even If You Seem Healthy!

High Cholesterol In Children Should Not Be Ignored!

Being the leading cause of death for men and women, heart disease takes away the lives of about 600,000 Americans every year. According to the Center for Disease Prevention (CDC), the yearly cost of coronary heart disease alone is $108.9 billion, which includes the cost of health care services, medications and lost productivity.

Heart disease would normally strike a person during his or her middle or old age. But several studies, which were presented at American College of Cardiology 63rd Annual Scientific Session & Expo CME held between March 29 and 31, 2014 in Washington, indicated that more and more Americans children and young adults are affected by heart disease. 

One study conducted by researchers from the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston who looked at the screening records of nearly 13,000 children getting routine physical checkup at the hospital’s clinics for more than 2 years. They found that 41 percent of the obese children had abnormal levels of cholesterol, and more than a third of healthy-weight children also had abnormal levels of cholesterol. These kids, according to researchers, are more likely on the road to developing heart disease as adults since high cholesterol has been known to be a risk factor for heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

Kids aged between 9 and 11 are usually too young to take cholesterol-lowering medications, although those kids with very high cholesterol should. Instead, they and their parents should be advised on diet and exercise. Eating more fruits and vegetables, and consuming less fat and sugar can certainly lower cholesterol. Exercise would help, too. Getting kids to start young with healthy lifestyles can help them through life.

While cardiovascular disease in children is rather rare, it is known that atherosclerosis has its beginnings in childhood. Atherosclerosis occurs when arteries are hardening and narrowing. As reported in previous studies, ultrasound examinations of some children as young as 10 have shown that they can have arteries that are already as clogged as some middle-aged peoples'.

Perhaps, the new findings would lend support to recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that all kids aged between 9 and 11 should get cholesterol screening. Meanwhile, it will also push pediatricians to follow the NHLBI (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute) guidelines more closely, watching out for cholesterol abnormalities even in young children.

In 2011, NHLBI recommended in their new guidelines that even children between the ages of 9 and 11 should undergo cholesterol screening, with a follow-up after they turn 17.

Heart Disease Prevention - Prevent Heart Disease By Veggies And Fruits!

Previous studies have found that middle-aged adults whose diet consists of a high proportion of fruits and vegetables are less likely to have a heart attack or stroke, but the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption during young adulthood and heart disease later in life was less clear. Check out more details at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Prevent Heart Disease By Veggies And Fruits!

Why Should Salt Consumption Be Cut?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases including heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of premature death globally. 17 and a half million people died every year because of these 2 cardiovascular diseases, and overuse of salt is blamed to be a major culprit.

Salt contains chloride and sodium ions that are needed by all known living creatures in small quantities. It is involved in regulating the water content or fluid balance of the body, and the sodium ion itself is used for electrical signaling in the nervous system. But consuming too much salt can be bad for the body. Evidence has shown that consuming too much salt can lead or contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure), and significantly raise the risk of heart disease and stroke.

On the World Heart Day held September 29, 2014, WHO is calling on countries to act on the overuse of salt by implementing WHO’s sodium reduction recommendations to cut the number of people experiencing heart disease and stroke, and hence save up to 2 million deaths a year. The target is to cut salt by 30 percent by 2025.

In most countries, 80 percent of salt is consumed through processed foods such as bread, cheese, bottled sauces, cured meats and ready-made meals and it is the sodium in the salt that actually accounts for the health disorders. WHO recommends the population reduce salt consumption to less than 5 grams (about a teaspoon) per day for adults and even less for children aged between 2 and 15 years.

People are currently consuming 10 grams of salt per day on average, and much of the sodium in food is over the limit that people’s taste buds can actually perceive. In fact, the manufacturers of many of these foods could simply cut the sodium levels by around 5 percent and the consumers would not recognize any difference in taste.

The WHO is urging all food manufacturers and retailers to lower the levels of salt in food and beverage products, and to make healthy and low-sodium food available and affordable. 

It also suggests some strategies to reduce salt consumption that include implementing regulations and policies to ensure that food manufacturers and retailers reduce the levels of salt in food and beverage products; fostering healthy eating environments that promote salt reduction in public places such as schools, hospitals, workplaces and public institutions, and ensuring clear food labeling so consumers can easily understand the level of salt in products.

Meanwhile, individuals and families should check salt levels on processed food labels, request less salt in prepared food products, and remove salt-shakers and bottled sauces from dining tables.

Heart Disease Prevention - Has Childhood Obesity Been Declined in America?

Earlier studies have suggested childhood obesity in the United States was beginning to turn around and kids in some places are becoming thinner. In fact, earlier this year, CDC reported obesity was starting to decline among preschoolers. But data from very large surveys showed that all types of obesity are on the rise across the country, and the very fattest children might be getting worse. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Has Childhood Obesity Been Declined in America?

Most Americans Do Not Think They Are Fat!

A recent study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle found that two-thirds of Americans (an estimated 160 million people) are overweight or obese. Meanwhile, another recent Gallup poll also found that 35.3 percent of Americans were overweight and 27.7 percent were obese.

Obesity is a global health issues facing many countries because of the modern lifestyle: unhealthy diet and lack of physical activities. When a person is overweight or obese, the risk of developing certain chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and even cancer is getting higher.

Health authorities and governments around the world including United States are of course working really hard to curb the obesity epidemic. Yet most Americans do not think that they are fat. According to a new Gallup poll, more than half of Americans adults said they do not think they are overweight and are not making an effort to reduce weight.

Although men are more likely to be overweight than women, 60 percent of men reported that they were not overweight and they were not trying to lose weight, compared with 50 percent of women who said the same.

Only about 36 percent of those surveyed described themselves as overweight. Among those people, 18 percent said they were trying to lose weight and another 18 percent said they were not. 

21 percent of women said they were overweight and trying to lose weight, compared with 15 percent of men who said the same. Meanwhile, 10 percent of women said they were trying to lose weight even though they did not consider themselves overweight, comparing to 6 percent of men who said the same. 

Younger adults tended to be more content with their weights. Among those ages 18 to 34, Gallup found that 68 percent reported that they were neither overweight nor trying to lose weight, compared with 47 percent of adults 55 and older who said the same.

The new survey was done via phone interviews with a random sample of 3,066 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 States and the District of Columbia, as part of Gallup's Health and Healthcare surveys from 2011 through 2013.

Obviously, the surveyed results highlighted that importance of perception. In the midst of addressing the obesity crisis in America, it is paramount for the authorities to start first by convincing the overweight Americans that they are indeed overweight before persuading them to lose weight.

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Should Pregnant Women Consume Fish?

FDA, therefore, suggested that consuming at least 8 and not more than 12 ounces per week could maximize the benefits of health and development of a fetus and children while minimizing any potential risk of exposure to significant amounts of methyl mercury. 

But in order to minimize the potential risk of getting too much mercury, pregnant and breastfeeding women and children should avoid 4 types of fish. Find out more by clicking the following link:

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Should Pregnant Women Consume Fish?