Battling Heart and Stroke

In some parts of the world, children are dying of hunger; in other parts, children are dying from obesity-related health problems. Such irony.

Childhood obesity is becoming a major problem in the developed world. In the US alone, 16.9% of boys and 15.6% of girls aged 6 to 11 years among non-Hispanic whites are overweight. Among non-Hispanic blacks, it’s 17.2% of boys and 24.8%of girls in the same age group. For Mexican Americans, it’s 25.6% of boys and 16.6% of girls. (Source: American Heart Association (AHA)). Obesity is a major risk factor in cardiovascular health as well as type 2 diabetes.

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You could be young, healthy, and fit with no history of hypertension. But suddenly, your blood pressure skyrockets to hypertensive levels. And the main reason is - pregnancy.

Preeclampsia, usually used synonymously with pregnancy-induced hypertension, occurs when the blood pressure of a pregnant woman increases dramatically within a short period of time usually during the second half of her pregnancy. This leads to hypertension, kidney damage, inflammation, preterm delivery and premature babies with low birth weights and presents a serious risk to the mother and to the baby. According to FamilyDoctor.org, preeclampsia commonly occurs: More →

Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a revision of a policy statement from 1 January 1998 regarding lipid screening in children.

The new guidelines recommend early cholesterol screening of children and adolescents with a family history of high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease as well as children who are significantly overweight. Lipid screening should start as early as 2 years old, should be repeated 3 to 5 years later, and shouldn’t be put off beyond the 10^th year of a child’s life.

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What is a coronary calcium scan?

A coronary calcium scan is a diagnostic tool that looks for the calcium deposits in the walls arteries of the heart.

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Is home monitoring by patients with heart disease and/or hypertension a feasible alternative? According to experts and results of recent studies, there’s actually no place like home for monitoring cardiovascular patients.

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