Entries from September 2008 ↓

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association launched different guidelines related to peripheral arterial disease in order to help doctors and all healthcare professionals to treat in a better way this common condition. According to statistics, more than 12 million people suffer from Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) in the United States.

PAD is a really serious illness, since it can cause amputation of the extremities, rupture of an aortic aneurysm, severe hypertension, kidney failure, but also heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death.
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Being the strongest muscle in the body, the hearts purpose is to pump blood through our blood vessels through rhythmic contractions. To regulate blood pressure and volume, the heart secrets “ANF”, which is a very powerful peptide hormone. It affects the regulatory region of the brain, as well as the kidneys, blood vessels, and the adrenal glands.

First off, i would like to clear up a worldwide rumor; the Heart is not located on the left side of your body! Its actual location is found in the center of your chest, just SLIGHTLY of to the left hand side, and underneath the sternum. For protection, the heart is enveloped in a sac called the pericardium, and is surrounded by the lungs. Continue reading →

When the demand for butter exceeded the ability of farmers to supply this desirable fat … the search for a substitute started us on a road to trans fats, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Not until 20 years ago did we finally discover the dangers of trans fats.

How Did Trans Fats Enter our Food Supply?

In the 1860s butter was in great demand and there just wasn’t enough to satisfy everybody. Emperor Louis Napoleon III offered a prize for a substitute … and so, the first margarine was invented by a French chemist. It was created from clarified beef fat.

It wasn’t until 40 years later that the process of hydrogenation was developed … and the door to deadly trans fats was opened. Butter rationing during two worlds wars and the lower cost of margarine … had more and more people switching to this butter substitute — made from cheap vegetable fats. Continue reading →

Even though 73 percent of women know how to prevent heart disease, many of them are unaware of how to treat it when a diagnosis has been made.

In a survey of 1,979 women over age 35, only 55 percent said they understand how to treat heart disease. Respondents frequently wrong named prevention techniques such as exercise and healthy eating as treatment options, and less than 10 percent named actual treatments such as angioplasty and stent placement. Continue reading →