Battling Heart and Stroke

As we grow older, our body and its organs deteriorate. Including our heart. Now, is there in any way that we can slow down, even reverse our heart’s aging process?

Researchers at the Washington University at St. Louis may just have found the secret to eternal youth and it’s none of the power pills that you take or the power beverages that you drink. Surprise, surprise - it’s endurance exercise.

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When it comes to stroke rates, Europeans are way better off than Americans, according to a Dutch study.

The researchers looked at data from 2004 on 13,667 Americans and 30,120 Europeans from 11 countries. Their analysis shows that American men have 61% higher likelihood of suffering from stroke than their European counterparts. Also, American women were almost twice more likely to suffer from stroke than European women. This difference in stroke rates in the two sides of the Atlantic is most evident among the poor segment of the two regions’ population but less visible among the rich. More →

In a previous post, I touched on the beneficial effects of laughter and positive emotions on our heart and vascular system. It is very common however, that heart patients, especially those above 60, suffer from depression, thereby further worsening their underlying heart conditions. However, a recent study conducted by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia may just have found a rehabilitation program that seems to greatly benefit heart patients physically as well as psychologically.

The researchers studied 74 patients who had heart failure and have been diagnosed with depression. The patients were split 4 groups, with each group receiving a different type of home-based rehabilitation program for 3 months, as described below: More →

It seems that when it comes to physical exercise and its benefits to the heart, it’s never too early to start. The study Effects of Maternal Exercise on the Fetal Heart shows that exercise during pregnancy can already have a lasting and beneficial effect not only on the mother’s heart but on that of the unborn child as well.

Kansas researchers studied 10 pregnant women, 5 of whom routinely performed exercise and 5 did not. Heart rates of the mothers and the fetuses were recorded using magnetocardiography (MCG) starting on the 24^th week of pregnancy till full term. More →