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Archive for the ‘Cardiology’ Category

According to a study at the University of North Carolina in the U.S., children as young as 3 years presented specific markers that would predict cardiovascular disease in adulthood. These findings are very important to try to raise awareness about the relationship between childhood obesity and the onset of heart disease when they become adults.

Children from 3 years earlier presented with obesity high levels of C-reactive protein, a marker that determines inflammation. This marker in adults is an indicator of possible heart disease. Hence the importance of the results obtained in research conducted at the University of North Carolina in the U.S…

Study sample

* Data was performed on 16,335 children in an age group between 1 and 17. They are classified into four groups according to body mass index (BMI): Healthy weight, overweight, obese and very obese.

Results

* Of the total nearly 70% were at a healthy weight, 15% were overweight, 11% were obese and 3.5% were very obese.
* Among very obese children between 3 to 5 years, over 40% had elevated levels of C-reactive protein compared with 17 percent of healthy weight children.
* Among adolescents 15 to 17 years, 83% of very obese had elevated serum C-reactive protein, compared with 18% of those with a healthy weight.

Conclusion

* Weight and inflammatory markers are closely related, even in children as young as 3 years.
* Based on these data is essential to emphasize the importance of controlling obesity during childhood, even at an early age due to complications that may have these children when they become adults.

It is important to set guidelines and healthy diet to help control and reduce the incidence of childhood obesity, without neglecting the essential nutrients for a good development physically, intellectually and emotionally.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published a study on the use of low-fat milk, according to this study the products of such a positive impact in preventing hypertension. On this subject, Tomás Pascual Institute held a roundtable in La Coruña, in the Congress of the Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene.

Among the speakers, Dr. Martínez González stated that “the milk peptides have properties similar to drugs used to treat high blood pressure and act as enzyme inhibitors of angiotensin converting, reducing blood pressure.” Dr. Martinez What we mean is that skimmed milk are beneficial to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Additionally, Dr. Martinez concluded his presentation by saying that “foods such as olive oil and nuts, get better cardiovascular risk pattern”

Further analysis on the same line, such as Dr. Enrique Gomez outlined the advantages of the Mediterranean diet on other cuisines. This time, PREDIMED has conducted a clinical trial in 17 research groups of 8 Spanish regions. The tests reveal and demonstrate scientifically that nuts and olive oil in the Mediterranean diet significantly prevent cardiovascular disease risks.

Moreover, many experts say that soy plays a preventive role on cardiovascular disease in women. For Dr. Haya “there is unjustified myth that cardiovascular disease is a thing of men, not women, when in fact women have more risk of suffering.” Soy is also beneficial to reduce the “climacteric syndrome” in menopause and the prevention of osteoporotic fractures and bone loss.

Vitamin D deficiency and low estrogen levels increase the risk of cardiovascular

Deficiencies in vitamin D and low estrogen levels are independent risk factors for hardening and narrowing of the arteries and weakened bones, according to a study by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions has been made public during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association to be held these days in Orlando (USA).

The study is the first evidence that men long-term adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of estrogen but not testosterone.

Vitamin D is essential for maintaining a healthy body and can be obtained through fortified foods like milk and cereal and through exposure to sunlight. The blood levels below 20 nanograms per milliliter or less of vitamin D are considered harmful to health.

Explains Erin Michos, Study, “Our results confirm a link long suspected and suggested that vitamin D supplements, which are prescribed to treat osteoporosis, might also help to prevent heart disease.” Read the rest of this entry »

Why watch sports on television increases the occurrence of heart attacks, one study found that games that are much stress raise blood pressure among those who have already suffered a heart attack

Chinese researchers report that a lower blood flow to the heart may help explain why men who have suffered a heart attack are at greater risk of another while watching exciting sports events.

The study involved 38 men who survived a heart attack that saw the Olympic Games competitions and other live entertainment programs on television. While men were the programs, we evaluated the blood flow in the coronary artery to the heart through analysis of ST segment through a continuous 12-lead electrocardiography, blood pressure monitoring and heart rate measures.

In general, the flow of blood to the heart was stable. But when men watched an exciting sporting event, increased blood pressure, reduced the heart rate variability and increased platelet aggregation (the basic element of clots). All these factors raise the risk of heart attack.

The study was presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida.