Is Diet Or Exercise More Important For Heart Disease Prevention?

A proper diet and regular exercise should form an indispensable part of a person’s lifestyle should he or she wishes to lower the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. But if he or she has to make only one choice, which of these two should he or she choose? 

Many people have a misconception that they can simply eat whatever they want and they can simply burn off the excess calories by exercising. Sadly, this might be misleading and unscientific.

Regular physical exercise, as shown by research, is no doubt essential for one to live a long, healthy life as physical activity helps prevent heart disease and stroke as well as other diseases including Alzheimer’s. Exercise also protects the joints from arthritis and pain. However, recent report published in the journal “Obesity Reviews” argued that regular exercise alone rarely helps lose weight, and sometimes even results in weight gain.

Numerous studies, on the other hand, have linked diet improvements to weight loss and lower risks of death and disease, regardless of the participants' exercise habits. Several studies tend to show that in terms of weight loss, diet does play a much bigger role than exercise. Nevertheless, people who have lost weight and are able to keep it off do exercise at the same time. In other words, a person’s health goals should include eating a proper diet and have a regular physical activity.

Problem is that for some people, they just do not have the willpower to tackle both at the same time. If this is the case, they should first focus on improving their diet, according to health experts. Imagine this, if a person wishes to reduce, say 500 calories, he or she needs either to walk 5 miles or to just cut a Snickers bar or similar food that is of 500 calories. Obviously, it is much easier for one to watch the diet than to walk 5 miles every day.

Obesity and overweight can lead to many medical disorders including Type-2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and certain types of cancer. Hence, maintaining a healthy weight is important! This can be done by balancing what is eaten with physical activity. If a person is sedentary, he or she should try to become more active. If one is already active, he or she should continue the same level of activity as he or she ages. Remember this, more physical activity is better than less, and any is better than none.

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Energy And Sports Drinks Should Be Consumed With Caution?

Several recent studies in the United States have found the rising popularity of these drinks among youth. For instance, a study published in May 2015 highlighted that about 1 in 5 youth up to 17 years old in the American consumes sports drinks at least once a week. Meanwhile, sales of energy drinks rose by 53 percent from 2007 to 2012 in contrast to decreasing sales for most other sugary drinks. Click the following link for more details:

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Energy And Sports Drinks Should Be Consumed With Caution?

Would Red Wine Cut Heart Disease Risk For Diabetics?

Being responsible for about 88,000 deaths in the United States, excessive alcohol consumption could lead to development of chronic diseases including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and liver disease. This is what CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has been warning the general public.

A recent study, however, indicated that a glass of red wine at dinner is safe and likely to benefit people with Type-2 diabetes. Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev-Soroka Medical Center and Nuclear Research Center Negev, Israel found that people who followed a healthy diet and drank a glass of red wine at dinner had better HDL (good cholesterol) and other good health-related factors than people on the same diet who just drank mineral water. Their findings were published online 13 October 2015 in journal ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’.

In the study, 224 adults with Type-2 diabetes, who aged between 40 and 75, were randomly selected to drink 150 milliliters (about 5 ounces) of either mineral water, white wine or red wine with dinner for 2 years. All the participants were not alcohol drinkers previously, and they also followed a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes plant-based foods, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and healthy fat instead of butter. 87 percent completed the trial, with 80 percent drinking their daily dose of wine.

2 years later, people who drank red wine with dinner had their HDL cholesterol increased, and they also had lower heart disease risk, as indicated by a lower ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. Compared to those who drank mineral water, people in the red wine group had fewer conditions of metabolic syndrome like a large waistline and high blood pressure, which would raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

The researchers, nevertheless, admitted that that except for a subset of participants whose livers processed alcohol relatively slowly, most people in the study did not have any improvements in their blood sugar levels. They also could not confirm those who drank wine at dinner had fewer heart attack or deaths, comparing to those who drank mineral water.

Risks and benefits of consuming alcohol for people with diabetes are indeed controversial. Though the study did suggest possible benefits of moderate drinking, for people with and without diabetes, it is not sure if doctors should ask their diabetic patients to drink.

While some health experts doubted the benefits to cholesterol, metabolic risk factors and blood sugar control were large enough to make a practical difference, they had no objection about adding a glass of wine with dinner. They, however, warned that wine itself might impact people’s blood sugar.

Drinking alcohol with food is always a better idea than drinking alcohol alone. Patient should check before and after meal sugars to see if alcohol is having any immediate impact on sugar control.

Heart Disease Prevention - How To Get Kids Eat More Fruits And Vegetables?

In a recent paper published online August 18, 2015 in the ‘Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’, researchers from the Utah State University in Logan suggested that kids might eat more fruits and vegetables if they are offered cash. According to them, cash prizes might help convince kids to overcome their fear of trying new things. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - How To Get Kids Eat More Fruits And Vegetables?

Would Secondhand Smoke Raise Atrial Fibrillation Risk?

Smoking is bad for the health as it is linked to development of many chronic diseases including lung cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Secondhand smoke, also known as passive smoking, is equally bad for the body. Every year, it causes about 34,000 deaths from heart disease and 7,300 deaths from lung cancer in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).

On September 1, 2015, researchers from the University of California published a paper online in the journal ‘HeartRhythm’ indicating that people exposed to secondhand smoke in the womb or as children are at a higher risk later in life for atrial fibrillation.

Being an irregular heart rhythm, atrial fibrillation has been shown by previous studies to be linked to smoking, but the association with secondhand smoke exposure was unclear. Atrial fibrillation causes the heart's upper and lower chambers to stop working together. The condition is one of the most common causes of stroke, and can cause chest pain and heart failure, too. It affects millions of Americans and it nearly doubles mortality.

The researchers used data from 4,976 people participating in an Internet-based study on heart health to analyze their exposure to secondhand smoke to see if they had atrial fibrillation. 11.9 percent of participants reported having atrial fibrillation.

After accounting for factors that might have affected the participants’ risks for atrial fibrillation, including age, sex, race, other health conditions, and smoking and alcohol use, they found that adults had 37 percent higher chances of atrial fibrillation if either of their parents smoked while the mother was pregnant. The adults had 40 percent higher risks if they lived with a smoker as a child. The risk was even higher among people who did not have other risk factors for atrial fibrillation.

Results of the findings surprised many health, particularly because the risk starts rising even as the baby is developing in the mother's womb. It seems likely that toxins in tobacco smoke could have a direct impact on development of the heart's electrical system.

Parents’ should really think twice of the consequence of the profound effect of their smoking. As such, smokers are encouraged to talk to their doctor about therapies available to help them quit if they plan to have children.

While quitting smoking is never easy, it can still be done. Smokers absolutely must find a way to quit if they want to give their children the best possible chance at a healthy childhood as well as a healthy adulthood.

Heart Disease Prevention - How Text Message Could Help Prevent Heart Disease?

If people can quit smoking, get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and consume 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, their risk of getting heart disease and stroke would be lower. But the challenge is how to persuade people who are at risk of cardiovascular disease to adopt a healthy lifestyle. According to an Australian study... Click the following link for more information:

Heart Disease Prevention - How Text Message Could Help Prevent Heart Disease?

How Well People Recognize And Respond To A Stroke?

Stroke can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of age or sex. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stroke is the 5th leading cause of death and a major cause of disability for adults in the United States. About 800,000 Americans have a stroke and 130,000 of them die. For those who survived, more than two-third will have some kinds of disability.

Prevention of a needless death or permanent disability is possible if stroke symptoms can quickly be recognized. If a stroke victim can get to hospital within 3 hours of the first symptoms, doctors can infuse drugs to break up blood clots (most common cause of stroke). Stroke patients getting the treatment in time are more likely to make a full recovery and have less chance to have lasting disability.

But a new study reported that this type of acute treatment is underused, mainly because stroke victims often delay calling an ambulance. Their paper was published online September 29, 2015 in the journal ‘Stroke’.

Researchers from the University of Stirling and other institutions conducted telephone surveys of 2,500 people in Ingham County, Michigan, in the Midwestern U.S. and 2,500 people in Newcastle upon Tyne in northeastern England. Overall response rate was 27.4 percent, and the mean age of participants was 55 years with 58 percent were female.

The participants were provided with potential stroke scenarios and asked how they would respond. 70 percent of the people in the United States could recognize whether a person was having a stroke, compared to 63 percent of people in the United Kingdom. When people were asked how likely they were to call emergency services in response to a stroke, about 55 percent of Americans and 52 percent of the English said they would call an ambulance.

A quick way to know the signs of stroke is to remember FAST, which stands for Face-Arms-Speech-Time. In general, stroke victims might have Facial drooping or feel numb on one side, might be unable to lift up both Arms, might have slurred or garbled Speech and no Time should be wasted to call emergency services to send someone who shows any of the symptoms mentioned, even if the symptoms go away. Other likely stroke symptoms can include numbness or weakness on one side of the body, confusion, trouble seeing on one side, loss of coordination or balance, or severe headache.

For a person who is alone while having a stroke, it is more difficult for him or her to recognize some of the symptoms like changes in facial muscles or slurred speech. Moreover, the possibility of a stroke can cause one a lot of anxiety. A common response to that anxiety is denial that could lead the individuals experiencing symptoms and their loved ones to dismiss the symptoms as normal or ascribe them to something. Obviously, such acts can only delay treatment.

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Heart Disease Risk Is Assessed By How One Sleeps?

According to a new study, up to one third or one fourth of the general population suffer from inadequate sleep: either insufficient duration of sleep or poor quality of sleep. Previous studies have linked inadequate sleep to an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Heart Disease Risk Is Assessed By How One Sleeps?