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Vitamin Deficiency
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Eight Strategies to Reduce Triglycerides
High triglycerides in your bloodstream can be just as much a danger signal for the health of your heart as high cholesterol, according to the Harvard Heart Letter.
Trouble is, people's awareness of the threat of cholesterol, hyped in the media for years, is far greater than that of triglycerides, the most common form of fat in food and the blood. Researchers have determined that the triglyceride danger threshold is 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood. So if your level is above that, the best way to reduce it is to change your lifestyle in the following eight ways. (Read more about Eight Strategies to Reduce Triglycerides)
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Worried Sick? There Might Be Some Truth There
A recent report by health provider BUPA has found that people's worries are damaging their health by causing sleepless nights, loss of sex drive, and erratic eating habits. The 2007 Worry Report demonstrates that almost one in five people constantly worry about numerous things, and more than half feel they worry more now than five years ago. Half of the people surveyed this year, which is 6% more than in 2006, claimed they were more worried about their health and their family's health than about other concerning issues such as climate change or terrorist attacks. The survey finds that almost three quarters of people worry, but around 19% admit to worrying all the time or about a number of things. (Read more about Worried Sick? There Might Be Some Truth There)
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Yogurt Consumption Linked to Healthier Body Weights for Women
Research conducted by The General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition finds that women who eat yogurt frequently are less likely to be overweight and more likely to meet the recommended daily intake of important nutrients, like calcium and vitamin D. The fourteen day study followed the diets of approximately 3,000 women ages 19 and older. Thirteen percent of these women ate three or more servings of yogurt over a two week period. In this group, the women on average had a 15% lower body mass index compared with women who consumed no yogurt. (Read more about Yogurt Consumption Linked to Healthier Body Weights for Women)
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Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems
A Review in The Lancet reveals the importance of healthy lifestyle choices to reduce stressors related to cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore examined records between 1990 to 2006. They observed how stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, impacts physiology, and the effect it has on the cardiovascular system. Lead author, Daniel Brotman, claims "Acute physical stressors such as sugery, trauma, and intense physical exertion are well known triggers of cardiovascular events. Emotional stressors are increasingly recognized as precipitants of such events." (Read more about Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems)
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Prenatal Multivitamins May Reduce Risk of Pediatric Cancers
Moms-to-be, take your multi-vitamins.
It's become widely accepted that mothers taking folic acid during pregnancy can help reduce the risk of several birth defects. But a new study at the University of Toronto finds a correlation between pre-natal multivitamins containing folic acid and the decreased risk of several pediatric cancers: leukemia, brain tumors, and neuroblastoma (a malignant tumor in nerve tissue).
This report in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics found that taking a multivitamin with folic acid before and during early pregnancy could reduce the risk of leukemia by 36%, childhood brain tumors by 27%, and neuroblastoma by 47%. (Read more about Prenatal Multivitamins May Reduce Risk of Pediatric Cancers)
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Health Wrap: Reports on Snoring, Fetuses and Pain, Forgetfulness and Baseball
A new study finds that habitual snoring in women is strongly tied to body mass index—a marker of fatness-- and age.
Overall, 7.6 percent of women snore.
The frequency of snoring reaches its peak in women ages 50 to 59.
Frequent snoring was found to increase with alcohol dependence, smoking and physical inactivity.
-- (Read more about Health Wrap: Reports on Snoring, Fetuses and Pain, Forgetfulness and Baseball)
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Family History
How well do you know your family medical history?
We mean, really know –in the sense of knowing what each parent, brother, sister, grandparent, and great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin has or has had in terms of medical conditions. (Read more about Family History)
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VITAMIN E OVERUSE
There is an important health warning tonight for you and your family. Vitamin E, which had at one point been thought to help promote health and well-being, has been shown to be harmful in several ways.
Yet, many are still taking it in doses deemed potentially dangerous.
Patricia Jordan had high blood pressure and thought taking Vitamin E would be helpful in preventing heart disease. “When I took the Vitamin E I believe it was 600 IUs,” says Patricia. (Read more about VITAMIN E OVERUSE)
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AHA: PLAQUE REMOVER, VITAMIN E DEATH RISK
In data presented at this year’s American Heart Association annual meeting, scientists from the biotech company lipid sciences announced they are able to reverse the build up of fatty cholesterol plaque in heart arteries. (Read more about AHA: PLAQUE REMOVER, VITAMIN E DEATH RISK)
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ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS
Millions of americans take vitamin supplements every day. Antioxidant vitamins are a huge part of the sell--on the belief they can help prevent major diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. But now, the American Heart Association says these vitamin supplements may not do a thing for the cardiovascular system. (Read more about ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS)
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