Battling Heart and Stroke

When I was growing up in an Asian country in the Pacific, the daily fare was rice, fresh fish, vegetables, and fruit. That was before the fast food invasion. Several decades, the daily diet has drastically changed - burgers, pizza, fries galore.

This is happening all over as globalization proceeds in a very fast pace. With lifestyle changes come changes in diet and physical exercise with consequences on our health. Below are some examples of how lifestyle changes are adversely affecting the cardiovascular health of once primarily healthy populations. More →

How much did you weigh at birth? Your baby/babies? Does it matter?

A new study by British researchers published in the European Heart Journal shows that there is a link between low birth weight and predisposition to hypertension later in life. More →

Cervical cancer is a cancer that affects the tissue of the cervix, the funnel-shaped organ located between the uterus and the vagina. According to estimates by the National Cancer Institute, about 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer have been diagnosed in the US in 2008, and 3,870 cases have resulted in death.

One of the most common forms of intervention for cervical cancer is hysterectomy which is the surgical removal of a woman’s uterus. According to MedicineNet, about 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the US each year and about 50% of these also include bilateral oophorectomy, which is the removal of the 2 ovaries. The reason for removing the ovaries is to prevent the development of ovarian cancer.

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Had a bad day at the office? What about getting a cat to de-stress? Owning a cat may even benefit your heart, according to a 20-year “feline lifeline” study by researchers at the University of Minnesota Stroke Center.

Examining data on 4,435 adults, the researchers found that the relative risk of death from heart attack was 40 percent higher for those who had never owned a cat. Specifically, 3.4 percent of cat owners died from a heart attack during the course of the study versus 5.8 percent of non-owners.

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Poor sleep is associated with increased risk for having type 2 diabetes and heart disease. And when it comes to lack of sleep, women’s cardiovascular health suffer the most. A recent study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center shows that women’s hearts and vascular systems are more sensitive to sleep deprivation than men’s.

The results of the study were based on data gathered from 210 healthy middle-aged women and men. All participants had no history of diagnosed sleep disorders. They were all non-smokers, and were not on daily medications.

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