Why Next Generation In Europe May Lead Shorter Lives?

Life expectancy for Europeans has increased from an average of 73.2 years in 1990 to 76.8 years in 2011, and the region’s levels of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, are reducing by 1.5 percent a year until 2020. However, the rates of obesity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption remain high.

A study published in The European Health Report 2015 showed Europe has the world's highest rates of drinking and smoking, and more than half its people are too fat, putting them at high risk of heart disease, cancer and other deadly diseases. The report is published by the WHO (World Health Organization) and the study was the first of its kind for 3 years covering 39 countries in Europe, including EU member states as well as former Soviet republics.

Differences in health status between European countries, according to the report, are unacceptably high. For instance, there was an 11-year gap between the highest and lowest life expectancy. Average life expectancy for men and women was reported to range from 71 in Belarus, Moldova and Russia to 82 for countries like France, Italy and Spain, according to the latest figures from 2011. The report highlighted that Europeans still smoke and drink more despite the fact that lower rates of smoking and alcohol consumption are seen in many parts of the world.

The total alcohol consumption in Europe was lowered by 10 percent between 2005 and 2010, yet Europe still had the highest rate in the world. Alcohol consumption levels vary greatly ranging from 0.32 to 14.37 liters per person annually. Many EU states have alcohol consumption averages of between 9 and 12 liters per person. Rates are lower in Turkey and former Soviet states, possibly because of a higher number of Muslims living there. On average, 11 liters of pure alcohol are drunk per person each year.

High percentage of male smokers (more than 50 percent of adults) can be found in Russia, Georgia, and Greece, and female smokers can mostly be found in Croatia, Bulgaria, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece (over 30 percent).

Meanwhile obesity is rising, with 59 percent of Europe's population either overweight or obese. Turkey, Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic and Israel were among the nations with the highest rates of overweight and obese adults.

If rates of smoking and alcohol consumption and obesity do not decline, WHO fears that the next generation in Europe may lead shorter lives.

Heart Disease Prevention - What Is Heart Valve Leakage?

Healthy people can have one or more slightly leaky valves, frequently, with no symptoms. But if the heart valve is severe, it might significantly interfere with normal blood flow through the heart. This can cause symptoms of congestive heart failure that include shortness of breath, leg swelling or liquid retention elsewhere in the body. Click the following link for more details:

Heart Disease Prevention - What Is Heart Valve Leakage?

Heart Disease Prevention - New Way To Help Quit Smoking Successfully

The relapse rates for smokers trying to quit can be extremely high, ranging from 60 to 90 percent, within the first year. To refrain from resuming smoking, smokers should perhaps discuss the risks of cigarette smoking with their children. This is because they were at least 50 percent less likely to go back to smoking. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - New Way To Help Quit Smoking Successfully

Would Arthroplasty Raise Heart Attack Risk?

Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as degenerative joint disease, is the most common form of arthritis in the United States. It affects around 13.9 percent of adults aged 25 and older, and 33.6 percent of those over 65. The disease often occurs in the joints of the hand, spine, hips, knees and great toes, and affects the entire joint.

Currently, there is no cure for OA. Noninvasive methods like weight control, physical therapy and medication can mitigate symptoms of most of the OA patients, but patients with severe cases might still need a joint replacement (arthroplasty). Past studies have found around 1.8 million arthroplasty procedures being conducted worldwide every year, the majority of which are total knee and hip replacements.

A paper published online September 23, 2015 in journal ‘Arthritis & Rheumatology’ pointed out that operations to replace a knee or a hip appear to raise heart attack risk in the short term and the risk of blood clots in the long term. Over time, the heart attack risk falls again though blood clot risk is still elevated years later.

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine studied about 40,000 patients age 50 or older, all with osteoarthritis. 13,849 patients who underwent total knee replacement were compared to 13,849 closely matched people who did not have surgery. Meanwhile, 6,063 patients who had hip replacement surgery were also compared to 6,000 who did not.

Within a month after the operations, there were 35 heart attacks among knee replacement patients, compared to 4 in the control group, and there were 13 heart attacks in the hip replacement group compared to 2 in the control group. Heart attack risk was highest in the first month following surgery and declined over time. The heart attack rates had evened out for both the surgery and control groups 3 years after the operation.

Meanwhile, there were 190 patients with knee replacement and 78 patients with hip surgery developed a type of blood clot called venous thromboembolism, compared to only 3 and 1 in the control group. 5 years later, the likelihood of having a venous thromboembolism were still significantly higher in the surgery groups.

Though exact reasons for higher risk of heart attack are still unclear, the researchers suspected that some biological drivers might play a role, like the effects of anesthesia on the cardiovascular system. Changes in medication for OA patients during the surgical period may also contribute to higher heart attack risk. 

Obviously, the risk of heart attack following arthroplasty might have previously been underestimated. As such, further measures to prevent such serious event might need to be considered.

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Long Hours Of TV Viewing Cause Heart Disease?

Research has linked sedentary behavior to incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular death. But different sedentary behaviors might have different effects. Several studies had found that the association between health and TV viewing time was stronger than other kinds of sedentary behaviours. Click for more details:

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Long Hours Of TV Viewing Cause Heart Disease?

Would People Perceive Themselves Overweight Help Them Lose Weight?

Mounting evidence has linked obesity and overweight to development of chronic diseases including hypertension, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. Obviously, overweight or obese people should lose weight to stay healthy.

In the past, it was assumed that if people could correctly identify themselves as being overweight, they would have a greater motivation to change their diet or level of exercise so that successful weight management could be achieved.

However, a study conducted by researchers from University of Liverpool in England revealed that people who perceived themselves to be overweight were at a greater risk of weight gain, irrespective of whether their perceptions were correct. Meanwhile, these people were also more likely to overeat in response to stress. Their findings were published online August 7, 2015 in the ‘International Journal of Obesity’.

By analyzing data from United States National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the United Kingdom’s National Child Development Study, and the Midlife in the United States Study, the researchers found that perceiving oneself as being overweight is associated with a higher risk of future weight gain among United States and United Kingdom adults.

The findings were important since one public health strategy is to ensure people who are overweight are aware of it. But unfortunately, people who believe they are overweight may actually delay their weight loss efforts, according to some clinical psychologists. Many of these people might decide they should begin a diet tomorrow and meanwhile finish the cookies first.

While common belief indicates that people should have strong motivation to lose weight if they really want to do so, many of them feel quite stressful and have difficulty in making healthy choices in their lifestyle. They may just fall into the trap of negative stigmas like inactivity, overeating and depression. Instead of taking the stress, they simply ignore it and just use eating to make them feel better. But once they have finished eating, the stressful feeling is back, and the weight problem has not solved yet.

Some health experts argued that the more a person focuses on weight, rather than health, the more difficult for this person to manage and lose weight and control eating. If people who want to lose weight can let go of the obsessiveness with their weight and instead, relax and focus on health, they can not only lose weight, but also manage their weight relatively mindlessly.

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Counting Calories Help Prevent Heart Disease?

Modern lifestyles such as sedentary and unhealthy diet have been accused to be the culprit to cause such epidemic. Losing as little as 3-5 percent of the body weight can reduce the heart disease risk, according to the American Heart Association. Obviously, losing weight is the only option for people who wish to prevent from getting these diseases. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Counting Calories Help Prevent Heart Disease?

About Half Of American Adults Had Undiagnosed Diabetes!

Globally, according to WHO (World Health Organization), about 1 in 9 adults has diagnosed diabetes, which will be the 7th leading cause of death by 2030. Most of these people have Type-2 diabetes, a condition in which the body cannot properly use or create sufficient amount of hormone insulin to convert blood sugar into energy. Diabetes can raise the risk of heart disease and stroke and if left untreated, it can cause complications like nerve damage, amputations, kidney failure and blindness.

Diabetes is a major cause of death in the United States. A study conducted by researchers from Social & Scientific Systems Inc, Silver Spring and other institutions revealed that about half of American adults have either diabetes (more than 12 percent) or prediabetes (38 percent), and more than a third of the people with diabetes are unaware of their condition. The study was published in the September 8’s issue of the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association’.

After analyzing information from 216,415 American adults who took part in surveys between 1988 and 2012, the researchers reported that the percentage of people with diabetes increased from less than 10 percent in the 1988-1994 period, to more than 12 percent in 2011-2012. The rise was in line with the rise of obesity.

It was also found that diabetes was the most common among older adults: about 1 in 3 adults age 65 and above had the condition in 2011-2012, compared to 17 percent of adults age between 45 and 64, and 5 percent of adults younger than 45. About one-third of whites with diabetes (32 percent) were not aware of the condition, compared to 37 percent of blacks, 49 percent of Hispanics and 51 percent of Asian Americans.

One reason for the high percentage of undiagnosed diabetes among Asian Americans may be that they often develop Type-2 diabetes at a lower BMI (body mass index) than people of other ethnic groups. As such, the doctors may not screen Asian Americans for diabetes when they could be at risk for the disease.

Such findings would certainly lead to a greater need for testing Type-2 diabetes and a need for more education on when to test for the condition.  The researchers hope that future studies could provide more information about which subgroups of people are at highest risk for underdiagnoses.

The average blood sugar levels over the course of several months can be estimated by measuring changes to the hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells. The hemoglobin A1c test measures the percentage of hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen) that is coated with sugar. A reading of 6.5 percent or above would signal diabetes. People with A1c levels between 5.7 percent and 6.4 percent is said to have pre-diabetes, a risk factor for going on to develop full-blown diabetes.