Walking Speed Indicative of Cardiovascular Death Risk in the Elderly
Older people who walk slowly are three times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who walk faster, according to research published on bmj.com. The authors say the findings highlight the importance of fitness in preserving life and function during old age.
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Cardiovascular Operations Way Overused, Critics Say
Coronary bypass operations, reaming out arteries with balloon-tipped catheters, and placing drug-coated wire-mesh tubes in blood vessels to keep them open are procedures performed on millions of Americans a year.
But most of these expensive and sometimes risky operations may actually be unnecessary, according to Miami cardiologist Michael Ozner, medical director of the Cardiovascular Prevention Institute of South Florida, because they skip counseling patients about diet, exercise and stress management. Ozner is one of many doctors who are vocally critical of what they see as the overuse of "interventional cardiology," which is lucrative for the physicians and hospitals that perform it, but which may actually be frivolously wasting the country's limited health-care resources.
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Chiropractic Technique Reduces Blood Pressure
A particular chiropractic adjustment has been shown to significantly improve high blood pressure, according to recent research. "This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination," said study leader George Bakris, a medical doctor who is director of the University of Chicago hypertension center. "And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems."
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Why Women Live Longer
Across the globe, women still live 5 to 10 years longer than men. Founder of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University explains why 85% of people over 100 years old are women. One large reason is the large advantage women have over men in terms of cardiovascular disease. Women develop symptoms like heart attacks and strokes usually in their 70s and 80s, compared to men who develop them in their 50s and 60s. Doctors long believed the difference was due to estrogen, but studies show that this may not be the case.
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Compound in Indian Curry Attenuates Strokes
Curry may also be a pharmaceutical. Research that's being conducted at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine is showing that curcumin, the biologically active compound in curry's main spice, turmeric, can diminish the size of blood clots in the brain. These clots form when a blood vessel bursts in the brain, causing a hemorrhagic stroke. These comprise 17 percent of strokes, according to the American Stroke Association. As a bonus, curcumin reduces one's chances of coming down with cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
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Clumsiness and Obesity Intertwined
Children with poor coordination could be at higher risk of obesity later in life. The research published in the British Medical Journal found that youngsters who performed least well in tests assessing cognitive and physical function were far more likely to be obese by age 33. Researchers examined test results from the on-going National Child Development Study involving more than 11,000 people since 1958.
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Four Predictors of Long Life
Evidence is mounting that some rather surprising attributes and habits of a person's life can pretty well foretell whether that man or woman will live to a ripe old age. Here are four of them: -- Having strong legs. Leg strength translates into good flexibility, balance and endurance, which are crucial for avoiding the falls and other accidents that shorten so many seniors' lives. It's good to do squats, lunges and stair climbing to kill two birds with one stone: losing weight and gaining strength.
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As Goes Oral Health, So Goes General Health
Many studies are showing a persistent connection between gum disease and other ailments that afflict corners of the body far afield from the teeth. Specifically, when gingivitis (early-stage gum disease) or full-blown periodontal disease is present, it's often the case that doctors find that a patient has diabetes, kidney disorders, preterm labor, certain types of cancer, osteoporosis or even Alzheimer's disease.
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Decreased Heart Function Linked to Fat Around Organs
Fat collections in different body locations, such as around the heart and the aorta and within the liver, are associated with certain decreased heart functions, according to research from Boston University School of Medicine. Appearing in the journal Obesity, the study also found that measuring a person's body mass index does not reliably predict the amount of undesired fat in and around these vital organs.
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Mechanics of Sleep Apnea Show Why It's Perilous
Sleep apnea – in which a sleeping person repeatedly ceases breathing for intervals – restricts the brain’s blood flow and raises its blood pressure, eventually disrupting the brain’s ability to control these dynamics and shield itself from damage, a recent study showed.
The study, published by the American Physiological Society in the Journal of Applied Physiology, was performed by researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. The results revealed why America’s 18 million sleep apnea sufferers are at much greater risk than others for stroke and for dying in their sleep.
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