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Understanding Your Cholesterol Profile
A certain amount of cholesterol is necessary for a number of important body functions. But the cholesterol needed is limited to minute quantities. When too much cholesterol accumulates, it can become quite harmful.
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Homocysteine and Heart Disease
Clinical studies have shown that the concentrated presence of homocysteine in the blood can cause an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, although there is no general consensus at what level homocysteine becomes dangerous.
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Understanding the Impact of Stress on the Heart
For too long, stress has been treated as a mental or psychological concern, without much understanding of its physical implications. Heightened hormone activity during stress causes not only the heart to beat faster to pump more blood, the blood vessels themselves also constrict and become narrower, making the task even harder. This combination spells trouble, especially for those who are already at risk.
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Hypertension – The Silent Killer
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is often called “the silent killer,” because it is a deadly disease that shows no early symptoms. It is the single most significant risk factor for heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.
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Smoking and Your Heart
Smoking is counted among the most significant risk factors for coronary heart disease today. Smoking has a number of adverse health effects, many of which are still being discovered.
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Heart Disease and Sex
Most cardiologists encourage their patients to have sex as soon as they feel up to it. Sexual activity promotes physical fitness, not unlike other forms of exercising. In addition, sex makes most people happy and relaxes them.
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Opting for a Balanced Life
Too often, the serious effects of stress and other detrimental lifestyle factors on the heart are not sufficiently understood. Effective stress management and lifestyle counseling should be routinely included in the treatment of heart disease patients.
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Cutting Back on Sodium – Easier Said Than Done
In its latest update of the Dietary Guidelines (2010), the U.S. government warns explicitly about the health risks of high sodium intake. “Virtually all Americans,” the report says, “consume more sodium than they need.” While sodium in small quantities is an important nutrient to have, too much sodium intake can cause an unhealthy elevation of blood pressure. Chronically high blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure and kidney disease.
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What Women Need to Know About Heart Health
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has been working to raise awareness that heart disease kills one in four women or one woman every minute of every day. The “Heart Truth” campaign slogan is “Heart disease doesn’t care what you wear-it’s the number one killer of women.”
Today, 55 percent of women recognize heart disease, not breast cancer, is their primary risk but less than half know the healthy levels for risk factors such as blood pressure or cholesterol.
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“Eggsonerating” the Egg
The United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) announced last week that eggs are 14% lower in cholesterol than previously thought. And they are also 64% higher in vitamin D. By itself, the announcement is potentially important news, with wide implications for the American diet. My view, though, is that news about less cholesterol is just one reason among several for … “eggsonerating” the egg.
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Cholesterol Down: You Can Do It!
Cardiovascular disease, primarily heart attack and stroke, is the number one killer of American men and women and continues to occur in epidemic proportions, dwarfing all other causes of death, including all types of cancer and diabetes. There are easy ways to take charge of your heart health. Simply adding 9 foods to your diet and a short walk to your day can significantly and quickly lower your “bad” LDL cholesterol level and decrease your risk of developing heart disease.
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Whole Grains and Dietary Fibers – End the Confusion
We’re being urged via health messages and big marketing campaigns to eat more dietary fiber and to chow down on more whole grains. Beyond the messages to achieve these goals, a plethora of new foods greet us in the supermarket aisles. All are aimed at enticing us to grab products off the shelves and drop them into our shopping carts. But, as is common with nutrition messages, confusion reigns.
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Benefits of Drugs Raising HDL (Good) Cholesterol Found Questionable
A recently released study on the benefits of HDL (the “good”) cholesterol-raising drugs has shown disappointing results. While lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol levels plays an important role in the treatment of heart disease, doctors have long believed that taking active measures to increase HDL levels as well would yield additional benefits. These expectations now seem unwarranted. The study shows that a high dose of niacin, a B vitamin credited with the ability to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the bloodstream, taken in combination with statins does little if anything more to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
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The Power of Potassium
Potassium is like a secret weapon. It is present in many of the foods we eat every day and it can strike down sodium and steady high blood pressure. With one third of the population living with high blood pressure or hypertension, it is welcome news that consuming ample amounts of potassium can both significantly lower high blood pressure and your chances of developing it.
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