The effects can be devastating for patients who can develop features such as muscle wasting and weakness, weight gain, thinning of the bones, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Dr Hassan-Smith said: ‘Looking at this particular enzyme seemed like an intriguing way forward.
‘We knew how it works in relation to Cushing’s Syndrome, which is characterised by similar symptoms, and thought it would be worthwhile applying what we knew to the ageing population.’
HOW MUCH EXERCISE YOU REALLY NEED
6 Seconds
For seniors, every second of exercise counts.
In a new Scottish study, retirement-age subjects were asked to do six six-second sprints on a stationary bicycle with one minute of rest in between. After six weeks, their blood pressure dropped by a respectable 9 percent.
It’s possible these results might translate to younger folks, said Michele Olson, an exercise science professor and researcher at Auburn University in Alabama.
“Even a little activity can increase the efficiency of your heart and lead to more energy overall, no matter what your age,” she said.
Read the entire article at Why 6 Seconds of Exercise Can Be as Worthwhile as 90 Minutes – ABC News.
Test your blood pressure IQ using our new infographic! How many facts about blood pressure did you already know?
HYPERTENSION is classified into two categories according to its cause: essential and secondary.
The vast majority of patients have essential or primary hypertension, while only about 5-10% of patients have secondary hypertension, which are mainly caused by kidney and hormonal conditions like renal artery stenosis, hyperthyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome, and even pregnancy, among others.
The exact cause of essential hypertension is still unknown, although it is certainly the result of a combination of factors, including increasing age, having relatives with high blood pressure (ie family history), a sedentary lifestyle, a poor diet with too much salt, drinking too much alcohol, smoking and too much stress.
English: blood pressure measurement Deutsch: :deBlutdruckmessung (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Says Malaysian Society of Hypertension president and Universiti Malaya Department of Primary Care Medicine senior consultant Prof Datin Dr Chia Yook Chin: “Each factor increases blood pressure by just a little, but when you add them all together little by little, it raises it by quite a lot.”
Despite not knowing the root cause of hypertension, it has been established that there is overstimulation of the sympathetic nerves in people with this condition.
This in turn increases the secretion of certain hormones involved in the regulation of sodium and fluids in the body, called renin, angiotensin, and aldosterone.
The amount of salt and water in our body affects our blood pressure – the more salt and water present, the higher our blood pressure.
These two elements are regulated by our kidneys through the three hormones mentioned above, which are produced by the adrenal glands located on top of the kidneys.
The overstimulation of the sympathetic nerves also results in increased vascular tone, which causes our arteries to become constricted, thus, also raising blood pressure.
From The Star
It’s started finally! Tuesday, March 26, 2013 was DH’s first day in Cardiac Rehab, just over 8 weeks post-op. This was an “intake appointment”, and much longer than the normal ones will be.
We got to choose when the future class would be – either Monday-Wednesday-Friday at 7:00 am or Monday-Wednesday-Thursday at 1:00pm. Anyone who knows me knows that I chose the afternoon class. I just didn’t want to get up that early and have to deal with early morning rush hour each of those days.
Diana, the intake nurse was very nice – in fact, everyone we met was.
First things first – money. We found out that his insurance would pay for most but that there would be a $15 copay each session. However, we did get a parking voucher saving us $5 on the parking garage.
Description unavailable (Photo credit: pennstatenews)
We got a packet of information on all kinds of things, including food guides – what to eat, what not to eat. Hooray!
I noticed a poster showing the image (right) for choosemyplate.gov. I looked at that site when it first came out – and I’m looking again!
Diana was the one who set up the class times, as well.
Next was Claire, a nurse. She checked all the meds and vitamins that DH takes. She said that saw palmetto interfered with one of his prescriptions and she suggested we take the list to CVS so that they can look for other interactions.
She did an EKG, checked pulse in several locations, looked at the scar, checked blood pressure on both arms (sitting and standing), listened to the carotids.
BP was 136/64 right, 112/60 left, 119/70 standing left.
She made an appointment with the dietician for Wednesday April 17 at 2:30, after a rehab class.
Turns out that there are patient meetings on the second Tuesday of each month. We’re getting very busy with patient meetings, Mended Hearts and rehab plus doctor appointments!
They were out of t-shirts his size so we got one that was very large. Another one will be forthcoming…sometime.
These shirts are special because they have a pocket for the portable EKG machine over the heart in addition to the obligatory logo on the back. As luck would have it, DH was wearing a t-shirt with a pocket.
DH was hooked up to the EKG. I gathered that he’ll do that himself in the future.
Next up – Shelly, an exercise physiologist. She talked a bit, asked DH how often he got new shoes. She said that it should be every 6 months. Who knew?
She said to drink water every 15 minutes while exercising.
DH started off slow – Treadmill 5 minutes; Bike 15 minutes; Walked on indoor track for 4 laps
When he was done, we went to the Healthy Heart Cafe for a bit of lunch.
Wednesday, Day 2
We got there in plenty of time. DH turned out to be the only person in this class, at least for now.
He did his exercises but was told he needed to eat breakfast in the future – his blood pressure was too low.
It’s becoming a habit – when he was done, we went to the Healthy Heart Cafe for another bit of lunch.
I had bought him a Groupon for a local garden shop as a Christmas gift. Of course, I had no idea then that he wouldn’t be doing much gardening this year. In any event, it was going to expire on March 30, so we went there after rehab and got a few things 🙂 They may all become house plants – we’ll see!
Absolute exhaustion by the time we got home.
The Salty Six
Eating too many salty foods can create all sorts of health problems, including high blood pressure. But did you know a lot of common foods are packed with excess sodium? It’s not just the french fries and potato chips you need to be careful with.
That’s why the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is increasing awareness of sodium and the “Salty Six” – common foods that may be loaded with excess sodium that can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke.
Sodium overload is a major health problem in the United States. The average American consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day – more than twice the 1,500 milligrams recommended by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. That’s in large part because of our food supply; more than 75 percent of our sodium consumption comes from processed and restaurant foods.
Be sure to keep in mind that different brands and restaurant preparation of the same foods may have different sodium levels. The American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark—whether in the grocery store or restaurant helps shoppers see through the clutter on grocery store shelves to find foods that help you build a heart-healthy diet.
Sodium doesn’t just affect your heart health, but your physical appearance as well. Excess sodium consumption may make your face feel puffy, give you bags under your eyes, increase swelling in your fingers and make your jeans look, and feel, tighter. In fact, from an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association consumer poll, 75 percent of respondents stated that their pants feeling too tight is their least favorite effect of bloating which may be associated with excess sodium consumption.
As you gear up for your next grocery store run or order from the menu, keep the Salty Six in mind. All you need to do to make a heart-healthy choice is to look for the Heart-Check mark. Another helpful tool is the Nutrition Facts label on the package and calorie labeling in restaurants, which together with the Heart-Check mark helps you make wise choices for the foods you and your family eat. Make the effort to choose products that contain less sodium. It’s worth it!
Here’s a quick look at the Salty Six, the top sources for sodium in today’s diet (download the infographic as a pdf)
Article from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Salty-Six_UCM_446090_Article.jsp
No shoveling here! We’ll tough it out somehow.
From Shoveling snow can be hard on the heart
Snow shoveling is a known trigger for heart attacks. Emergency rooms in the snowbelt gear up for extra cases when enough of the white stuff has fallen to force folks out of their homes armed with shovels or snow blowers.
What’s the connection? Many people who shovel snow rarely exercise. Picking up a shovel and moving hundreds of pounds of snow, particularly after doing nothing physical for several months, can put a big strain on the heart. Pushing a heavy snow blower can do the same thing. Cold weather is another contributor because it can boost blood pressure, interrupt blood flow to part of the heart, and make blood more likely to form clots.
Blood pressure check (Photo credit: Army Medicine)
Whether you’re among the 1 in 3 Americans with high blood pressure or have so far avoided this deadly disease, these tips will help prevent becoming a statistic.
Heart disease and stroke rank among the top five causes of death in the U.S. They’re also both commonly caused by one condition: hypertension.
One in three Americans suffer from this often symptom-less condition, also known as high blood pressure and the silent killer.
“You can have it for years without knowing it,” say the National Institutes of Health. “During this time, though, HBP can damage your heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and other parts of your body.”
The ideal blood pressure reading is generally 120/80, with higher readings considered pre-hypertension or, if over 140/90, hypertension.
If you don’t know what your blood pressure is, step one is finding out by checking with your doctor. In the long run, that visit will cost less than letting the problem remain undiagnosed – and uncontrolled. Even if you require medication, it’s cheaper than the long-term costs and complications of untreated high blood pressure.
In some cases, high BP can be managed or prevented by low-cost lifestyle changes alone. So in honor of Heart Month, we’ve rounded them up…
From MoneyTalksNews
This is the first of the timeline posts that I’m actually writing more or less as they happen!
Last Monday, Feb 18 was the first visit with the cardiologist. Getting there was a bit of a problem but the appointment itself went smoothly.
We got into the inner sanctum and a very nice nurse named Lisa took down DH’s info. It worked out well that we hadn’t finished all the paperwork since she had lots of info fron the hospital, anyway.
She took DH’s blood pressure and oxygen levels (both good), then took the bags of meds and vitamins away for cataloging.
The doctor came in and asked some of the same questions as everyone else about how he was eating, sleeping, exercise, swelling, pain. He listened to DH’s heart and lungs and everything sounded good. He checked the legs for swelling…none.
We made 2 more appointments – one for a low-stress treadmill next week and one with him for three months out. There’s also bloodwork to be done before the treadmill. After passing the treadmill test, DH can start rehab. Yea!
When we got home, there was a call from the PCP’s lab. DH called back but had just missed them.
DH slept in the bed and out of the recliner for several hours last night. Another step forward!
DH finally got through to the PCP’s lab and the cholesterol numbers were excellent. Hooray! Other numbers such as liver enzymes were good, too.
DH did some work today, with several naps in between. I got the car taken care of. He got the disher unloaded and reloaded – with resting afterwards.
He decided to start off the night sleeping in bed and made it until about 4:00 am. He said that there was no pain but he would be more comfortable in the recliner.
DH spent most of the morning working (at home) on a proposal, then most of the afternoon napping. Most of the pain seems gone – hooray! Evening there was a short meeting with a nap before and after. Then, dinner and another nap before bed.
He started out for about an hour in bed, then back to the recliner for the rest of the night.
He doesn’t seem to cough nearly as much. Hooray!
Friday through Sunday – lots of napping, trying to sleep or nap in the bed but usually winding up in the recliner.
It was a nice day so we took the dog outside for a very short walk…followed by more napping. DH is looking forward to the treadmill test on Wednesday so he can start the rehab soon.
February 21 at , 1:30 PM
Do you know your numbers? Keeping track of vital stats like your blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels can save your life. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States with about 600,000 people dying from it every year—that’s one in four deaths.
Moderated by Steve Incontrera from dailyRx, this Google+ Hangout will feature a panel of experts from Baylor Health Care System and the American Heart Association to discuss common myths and misconceptions about heartdisease related to these three statistics.
If heart disease runs in your family, is there really anything you can do about it? Can medication alone reduce your cholesterol ? Are the symptoms for a heart attack the same in men and women?
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS
Our panel of experts will address these and many more questions during the Hangout discussion. If you have any questions you would like answered, please submit them in the comments area of the original post, or tweet us at #heartchat.
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