Category: Heart disease

Personality Types and Cardiovascular Disease

heart with monitor line
Image courtesy of Oregon.gov

“Type D” Personality

Heart disease researchers have identified a new personality type that can influence your health.  Those with the “type-D personality” are heart disease patients who suffer from psychological distress and are more likely to experience “adverse cardiovascular events.”

The “D” does not necessarily stand for depression, though some of these individuals may exhibit symptoms of depression.  Study leader Dr Johan Denollet (Tilburg University, the Netherlands) tells heartwire “This is the type of patient that tells you everything is okay, that there are no problems, but you can sense that something is going on, something is not quite right.”  He goes on, “On the one hand, type-D people have the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, stress, and so on,” he said. “At the same time, they also score higher [on tests] measuring social inhibition. Type-D patients are more closed in social interactions and are more unlikely to disclose their personal feelings toward others and tend to feel a bit insecure. This combination makes them more liable to chronic forms of psychological distress.”

Constant stress causes increased levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which can lead to future heart attacks.  Stress can also lead to chronic inflammation, which also can contribute to heart problems.

Source: https://www.theheart.org/article/1121787.do

Stifling Anger at Work Doubles Risk

Researchers have substantiated the well understood theory that stress at work is tied to increased risk of heart disease.  In a new study reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists reported that male employees who normally stifle their resentment regarding disagreements with their boss or co-worker were more than two times as  likely to have a heart attack or die of heart disease as those workers who expressed their anger.

Both western and alternative care providers have acknowledged that there is a connection between strong emotions and heart disease.  Chinese medicine takes this a step further to recognize a strong connection between most extremely strong emotions and most diseases.  Traditional Chinese medicine recognizes that emotions play a critical role in development of disease – such as repressed anger impairing the Liver (meridian) which can result in a wide range of illnesses (such as heart disease and migraines) and eye diseases (including glaucoma, dry eyes and eye inflammatory conditions), grief affecting the Kidneys (meridians) and sadness affecting the Stomach/Spleen (meridians).

For more information on lifestyle, diet and vision, go to www.naturaleyecare.com

Positive Emotions Helpful

A 2010 study reported that happy, enthusiastic, content people are less likely to suffer from heart disease than those whose tendency is toward unhappiness and pessimism. The research is the first showing a significant relationship between heart disease and a positive outlook.

Editor’s Note: Having a positive attitude helps boost us maintain a healthy immune system. Cardiovascular disease can be a major contributor to eye disease such as macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Published: European Heart Journal, Feb. 18, 2010

At NaturalEyeCare.com we focus on the importance of managing stress in order to improve your overall health, and, by extension, the health of your eyes.  Please read more about ways in which prevention is the best medicine for ails you.

Help Out Your Heart: Sleep Seven Hours Per Night

A new study suggests that seven hours of sleep is optimal if you want to maintain a healthy heart.  Getting less than five hours per day more than doubles one’s risk of developing angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke.  And while eight hours of sleep is commonly known as the ideal amount, the study out of  West Virginia University says that more than seven hours of shut eye also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In this study of 30,000 American adults the strong link between too much or too little sleep and cardiovascular disease was clear even after screening out those with diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression.  The exact reason for this correlation is still unknown, but researchers point out that sleep duration has an impact on endocrine and metabolic functions.  Also sleep deprivation can lead impaired glucose tolerance, reduced insulin sensitivity, and elevated blood pressure, all of which contribute to a hardening of the arteries.

Hardening of the arteries is called atherosclerosis.  Read more about causes and prevention of heart disease.

Source: The Daily Telegraph

Coffee & tea lower heart disease risk

Scientists in Holland report that moderate intake of tea and coffee lowers heart disease risk.

They reported that tea was more effective than coffee in this regard. People who drank  three to six cups of tea every day were 45% lower risk of heart disease compared to people who drank one cup or less and those who consumed more than six cups — had a 36% lower risk.  The size of the sample was more than 37,000 people over 11 years.

Coffee drinkers, consuming 2-4 cups of coffee daily had a 20% lower risk.  One factor as to why this risk level was not as good for coffee drinks may be that coffee drinkers are more likely to smoke than are tea drinkers.

Published: Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association, 2010

Editor’s Note: We do not recommend drinking large amounts of coffee for a number of reasons including: 1) coffee is a diuretic which results in excess urination and therefore loss of nutrients, 2) coffee generates heat in the body so can contribute to heat related health conditions (glaucoma, palpitations, migraines, etc.), 2) coffee and dark tea is acidic. Excess acidity in the body can lead to excess inflammation, so is bad for people with inflammatory diseases.

Learn more about information on nutrition and heart disease.

Zinc, inflammation & oxidative stress

An article published in the June, 2010 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition describes a clinical trial involving older men and women which found reductions in markers of oxidative stress and inflammation among those who supplemented with zinc.

A 2010  clinical trial looked at indicators of oxidative stress and inflammation in elders which found reductions among the subjects who supplemented with zinc.  These two factors – oxidative stress caused by free radicals and inflammation – are considered risk factors for coronary artery disease.  Zinc deficiencies have been noted for this condition as well as for rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and various cancers.

Editor’s note: There are a range of essential nutrients that reduce oxidative stress in the body and can help reduce inflammation including glutathione, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and alpha lipoic acid for example. Green leafy vegetables contain a great range of antioxidants that have excellent anti-inflammatory properties. as well.

When supplementing with zinc, copper should also be taken. The proper ratio of zinc:copper is 15:1.

Published: June, 2010,  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

 

Added sugar can increase heart attack risk

New study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found those who ate more added sugar were more likely to have higher cardiovascular disease risk factors, including higher triglyceride levels and higher ratios of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein, the “good” cholesterol.

Sugar which is being added in greater amounts and with greater frequency than ever before by food manufacturers in almost all  processed foods and beverages appears to raise the risk of heart disease.

Researchers took a close look at data on  nutritional intake and levels of fat in the blood  in more than 6,000 adults between 1999 and 2006.

They found that those who consumed greater amounts of additional sugar had risks of experiencing heart disease.  This included not only higher triglyceride levels but higher ratios of triglycerides to HD.

Researchers: Miriam Vos, MD, Emory School of Medicine & associates.

Published: Journal of American Medical Association, 2010.

Learn more about natural ways to help prevent heart disease.

Poor Dental Hygiene Tied to Heart Disease Risk

It occurs to us that those who consume more sugar may also be more likely to have poor dental hygiene habits.  Researchers in the following study were looking at brushing and flossing rates – but sugar consumption is certainly tied to dental caries.

Researchers looking at the health histories of more than 11,000 patients in Scotland, have found that those patients who do not brush their teeth twice a day are more likely to have heart disease compared to those who do so.

70% of the subjects brushed their teeth twice a day, and 60% visit the dentist twice a year.  Those subjects with poorer brushing habits had a 70% higher risk of heart disease.

Researchers: University College of London

Published: British Medical Journal (BMJ), May, 2010

Two foods to completely avoid

Avoid trans fats, found largely in commercially prepared baked and fried foods, These fats not only raise “bad” LDL cholesterol, but also lower levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol. High trans-fat intake has been linked to coronary heart disease, in which fatty plaques build up in the heart arteries, sometimes leading to a heart attack.

The food industry has been widely replacing trans fats with interesterified fat, another unnatural fat to completely avoid.

The interesterification process hardens fat, similar to the hydrogenation process, but without producing oils that contain trans fats. The end product, like trans fat, is less likely to go rancid and is stable enough to use to fry foods.

Avoid trans fats, found largely in commercially prepared baked and fried foods, These fats not only raise “bad” LDL cholesterol, but also lower levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.  High trans-fat intake has been linked to coronary heart disease, in which fatty plaques build up in the heart arteries, sometimes leading to a heart attack.

The food industry has been widely replacing trans fats with interesterified fat, another unnatural fat to completely avoid.

The interesterification process hardens fat, similar to the hydrogenation process, but without producing oils that contain trans fats. The end product, like trans fat, is less likely to go rancid and is stable enough to use to fry foods.

However, like hydrogenation which generates unnatural trans fats, interesterification also produces molecules that do not exist in nature.

Studies show that interesterified fat raises your blood glucose and depresses insulin production. These conditions are common precursors to diabetes, and can present an even more immediate danger if you already have the disease (Nutrition & Metabolism 2007, 4:3doi:10.1186/1743-7075-4-3)

Editor’s Note: Stay with healthy fats such as olive oil, and even saturated fats in moderation such as butter or coconut oil.

To round out your healthy fat intake, be sure to eat raw fats, such as those from avocados, raw dairy products, and olive oil, and also take a high-quality source of animal-based omega-3 fat, or if vegetarian, supplement with Krill oil.

Statins Don’t Lower Pneumonia Risk

Taking popular cholesterol-lowering statin drugs does not lower the risk of pneumonia, according to a study published the British Medical Journal.

Taking popular cholesterol-lowering statin drugs does not lower the risk of pneumonia, according to a study published the British Medical Journal.

There was some hope that statins could help prevent certain infections. But the study, which involved 65- to 94-year-olds with intact immune systems, found that pneumonia risk was, if anything, slightly higher in people using a statin than in those not using any.

Researchers emphasized that statins work well for what they were designed to do, such as lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Published 16 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2137
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2137

Editor’s Note: New research continues to show that other factors are greater indicators of heart disease and stroke such as C-reactive protein levels and homocysteine levels.

Learn more about harmful effects of statins.

Soy peptide lunasin has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory properties

Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy
peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing
plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting
leukemia and blocking the inflammation that accompanies such
chronic health conditions as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, heart
disease, and stroke.

Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy
peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing
plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting
leukemia and blocking the inflammation that accompanies such
chronic health conditions as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, heart
disease, and stroke (see also University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign).

In another study, the first to report lunasin’s potential
anti-inflammatory activity, they showed that lunasin blocked or
reduced the activation of an important marker called NF-kappa-B,
a link in the chain of biochemical events that cause inflammation.

Lunasin’s bioavailability in the human body was confirmed by doing a
third study in which men consumed 50 grams of soy protein–one soy
milk shake and a serving of soy chili daily–for five days.

Editor’s Note1: Note that soy flour does contain high concentrations of the peptide.
Editor’s Note2: Chronic systemic inflammation can cause or contribute to many eye conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, macula edema, optic neuritis, uveitis and iritis for example. Chronic inflammation is now considered a major contributor to heart disease as well.

For more information on ways to help manage inflammation nutritionally, Click Here

One’s Own Stem Cells May Be Key to Treating Angina

The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ability to walk. The transplant subjects also experienced fewer deaths than those who didn’t receive stem cells

The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ability to walk. The transplant subjects also experienced fewer deaths than those who didn’t receive stem cells

Out of the estimated 1 million people in the U.S. who suffer from chronic, severe angina which is chest pain due to blocked arteries, about 300,000 cannot be helped by any traditional medical treatment such as angioplasty, bypass surgery or stents.

“This is the first study to show significant benefit in pain reduction and improved exercise capacity in this population with very advanced heart disease,” said principal investigator Douglas Losordo, M.D., the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist and director of the program in cardiovascular regenerative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the lead site of the study.

Elevated Cysteine Levels May Be Important Indicator for Future Heart Disease

In a study of more than 1,200 people undergoing cardiac imaging at Emory because of suspected heart disease, people with high levels of cysteine in the blood were twice as likely to have a heart attack or die over the next few years.

In a study of more than 1,200 people undergoing cardiac imaging at Emory because of suspected heart disease, people with high levels of cysteine in the blood were twice as likely to have a heart attack or die over the next few years.

Cysteine could be a valuable marker of cardiovascular risk, but it also has a direct harmful effect on cells, so reducing it may be a valuable treatment strategy, according to researchers.

Cysteine is itself a short-lived precursor to glutathione, one of the main antioxidants found inside cells. We need to have a continuous supply of cysteine, but it is too reactive for us to have very much at any one time.

Smoking and alcohol consumption are also linked with higher levels of oxidized cysteine.

Editor’s Notes: Current research is showing other indicators to be much more accurate in predicting future heart disease than cholesterol levels including C-Reactive Protein levels, Homocysteine levels and possibly now oxidized cysteine levels.

See more information on nutrition and heart disease.