When a recent study reported that calcium may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, the ensuing wave of concern and controversy was inevitable. For millions of older men and women taking calcium to help maintain bone mass, the study caused undue alarm and a flurry of calls to doctors asking, “Should I stop taking calcium?”

Before you consider tossing your calcium supplements, you should know that there are some serious flaws in the design of this study--even the study authors acknowledge these defects.

Problems with Study Design

As the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) points out, the original study wasn’t designed to measure cardiovascular events. Consequently, confounding factors were not equally distributed across the study groups, which resulted in misleading results.

For example, the calcium supplement group had a population with a greater incidence of high cholesterol at baseline, and also included more smokers who were more likely to smoke for a longer duration. (The association between smoking and heart disease is well-established.)

Also, the data on calcium intakes was incomplete. Study participants did not always provide the supplement brand name or dosage on food questionnaires so calcium intakes from supplements were inaccurate. Also dietary changes over time which affect total calcium consumption were not calculated.

In addition, calcium intake does not equal calcium absorption in the gut. Many factors can affect calcium absorption and utilization—including age, medical conditions and the presence of other nutrients necessary to use calcium in the body. So, drawing any associations between calcium intakes and CVD outcomes without accounting for these factors would be unreliable.

Taken together, these shortcomings in the study design render the association between calcium intake and increased risk of CVD questionable at best.

Inconsistent Results

The flawed study design may explain why the study findings were inconsistent.

Greater dairy calcium intake—that is milk, cheese or ice cream and not supplements—actually had a significantly lower risk of heart attacks. However they found no link between either calcium supplements or food-based calcium intake and strokes or overall cardiovascular disease death. But they did find a link for heart attacks.

Sorting it Out

The bottom line is this: you need calcium at every stage of life, but it is particularly important as you get older as there is a greater risk of falls and fractures due to weak bones. Removing calcium supplements from your diet could put you at an even greater risk for these kinds of problems.

Nutrition experts advise consumers to be aware of how much calcium you get from your diet and then supplement with calcium if needed.

For best utilization, calcium--whether obtained through diet or supplements--should be consumed in small divided doses.

Also, calcium needs other nutrients including vitamins, protein and minerals--primarily magnesium--to be absorbed by your bones. This is why good bone-building supplement formulas contain vitamin D and vitamin K and the correct ratio of calcium to magnesium. The current ratio is 2 to 1 with newer evidence pointing to a 1 to 1 ratio.

If you do take a calcium-only supplement, most medical experts recommend that you take it with meals rather than in isolation.

As with any supplement, speak with your doctor or other healthcare practitioner to determine your own personal needs.

Sources:

Heart

Council for Responsible Nutrition

New Hope 360

Drug Store News

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

If you have psoriasis, recent studies suggest you may also be at risk for several health conditions that contribute to heart disease. Experts recommend that psoriasis patients should be screened for cardiovascular disease.

The studies, which involved more than 4,000 patients, found that the more surface area of skin affected by psoriasis, the more likely a patient is to have metabolic syndrome. This syndrome consists of several conditions associated with an increased risk of heart disease: insulin resistance, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and elevated triglyceride levels.

Research Findings

Researchers uncovered several distinct patterns among psoriasis patients:

• Psoriasis patients have LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol that consists of smaller and denser cholesterol particles, a pattern observed in patients with diabetes. These smaller and denser particles are more likely to promote hardening of the arteries and cause heart attacks.
• Psoriasis patients also have impaired function of HDL (or “good”) cholesterol, which may not allow HDL to remove cholesterol from the cells in the arteries.
• One study found patients with severe psoriasis may die about five years younger than patients who do not have the disease, and 50% of this excess mortality is due to cardiovascular disease.
• More studies have linked more severe cases of psoriasis to higher rates of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks.

While researchers have only found an association between psoriasis and cardiovascular risk, not a cause-and-effect relationship, many experts believe that inflammation may be the common link. Excessive inflammation is a critical feature of psoriasis. Chronic inflammation also plays a role in abnormal cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Tips for Patients with Psoriasis:

• Eat a healthy, balanced diet.
• Lead an active lifestyle.
• Avoid smoking.
• Limit alcohol consumption.
• Maintain an ideal body weight.
• Reduce stress.
• Get routine screenings for cardiovascular risk factors:
  • Blood pressure.
  • Blood sugar.
  • Cholesterol.

Sources:

Health Finder

American Academy of Dermatology

If you have a heart condition, a recent study suggests that exposure to traffic congestion and breathing exhaust fumes can trigger a heart attack for as long as six hours afterwards. The study conducted by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and tropical Medicine and co-funded by the British Heart Foundation isn’t the first study to find a link between cardiovascular disease and traffic pollution.

The British researchers analyzed over 79,000 cases of heart attacks that occurred between 2003 and 2006. All patients lived in England and Wales, in one of 15 different large and small urban settings. The researchers noted the time of day when the patients experienced their heart attacks as well as the relevant time-sensitive regional air pollution data.

Specific pollutants examined were PM10 (particulate matter), nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide. The first two, PM10 and nitrogen dioxide, are primarily the result of heavy use of automobiles in urban areas. The researchers discovered that higher levels of the two chemicals seem to be linked to a short time rise in heart attack risk. Six hours after exposure to traffic pollution, the risk went back down.

An earlier 2009 study in Germany found that exposure to traffic-related pollution tripled the risk of a heart attack in those with pre-existing heart problems. In this study researchers interviewed 1,454 people who survived heart attacks. In the hour before their heart attack, many of the survivors had been in heavy traffic. Traffic appeared to be five times more dangerous to women than to men in the study.

Pollution and Heart Health

While the researchers in these studies were quick to point out that the people who suffered heart attacks already had a heart condition and traffic exhaust merely hastened a likely event, this doesn’t mean that traffic pollution doesn’t contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Researchers  have convincing evidence that pollution can have a major effect on your cardiovascular health. Studies have found that those living near freeways experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away.

Furthermore, it’s not just urban traffic congestion that’s raising our risk of a heart attack, it’s the noise too. Studies have found that people who live in neighborhoods with high levels of noise from road traffic have a 40% higher risk of heart attacks than people in quieter neighborhoods.

When you consider that heart disease is only one in a long list of health problems associated with pollution (like cancer and respiratory problems such as asthma) the need to reduce air pollution is painfully clear.

Oh, and don’t forget light pollution, it can rob you of a good night sleep and your overall health too!

Sources:

Medicine Net

WebMD

BBC News

Live Science

Los Angeles Times

We’ve always known that high blood pressure is one of the major risk factors for heart disease and stroke but new research has quantified the lifetime risk—and it’s not good news. Among the findings, the study reports that almost 70 percent of all men who develop high blood pressure in middle age will experience a cardiovascular disease event by age 85. Cardiovascular events include angina, heart attack and stroke.

By contrast, those who maintained or reduced their blood pressure to normal levels by age 55 had a lifetime risk for CVD between 22 percent and 41 percent.

The study analyzed data from 61,585 participants in the Cardiovascular Lifetime Risk Pooling Project to understand how changes in blood pressure during middle age affected lifetime CVD risk. Previous studies had evaluated risk for CVD based on blood pressure at a given age. In this study, age 55 was considered a mid-point for middle age.

They tracked blood pressure changes from an average of 14 years prior to age 55 and then continued to follow the patients until the first cardiovascular event, death, or age 95.

Researchers also found:

• Women, in general, had higher increases in blood pressure during middle age.
• Women who develop high blood pressure by early middle-age (average age 41) have a higher lifetime risk for CVD (49.4 percent) than those who have maintained normal blood pressure up to age 55.
• At an average age 55, 25.7 percent of men and 40.8 percent of women had normal blood pressure levels; 49.4 percent of men and 47.5 of women had prehypertension.
• When factoring in all blood pressure levels, the overall lifetime CVD risk for people 55 years or older was 52.5 percent for men and 39.9 percent for women.
• The lifetime risk for CVD was higher among Blacks compared with Whites of the same sex, and increased with rising blood pressure at middle age.

Better Risk Assessment

The researchers believe that tracking blood pressure changes over time provides a more accurate estimate for the lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease and can help us predict individualized risk, and thus, individualized prevention strategies.

Since the data suggests that both early elevations and changes over time in blood pressure measurements impact your future risk of CVD, you can take preventive steps early on to reduce your chance of heart attack or stroke.

Do you know your risk?

Have your blood pressure checked by a health care provider at least once a year. Even children should have their blood pressure checked as part of their routine physical exams. Do not rely on drug store measurements as these may not be accurate enough.

Sources:

Science Daily

Cleveland Clinic

The heart health benefits of eating fish and the omega-3 fatty acids it contains are well-documented in over 35 years of research. However, most of these studies focused on men and older people. Now a new study has found that young women can also experience heart-protective benefits from consuming omega-3 rich fish.

Danish researchers found that young women who rarely or never ate fish high in omega-3 had 50% more cardiovascular problems over eight years than those who ate fish regularly.

The risk of cardiovascular disease was also 90% higher for women who consumed little or no fish compared to women who ate fish weekly.

Study Details

The researchers analyzed data from nearly 49,000 Danish pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 49. The women were asked about dietary behaviors and then researchers followed up by checking hospital records for CVD related admissions. Both inpatient and outpatient admission for cardiovascular disease was much more common among women who reported eating little or no fish.

The women who never ate fish had a three-fold higher disease risk compared to women who ate fish every week.

These results were based solely on dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids via fish consumption. Women who took fish oil supplements were excluded from the analyses.

Benefits Now and Later

Encouraging younger generations to eat healthy is a challenge when the benefits may not be evident for 30 or 40 years. However, when it comes to fish and heart benefits, the new study shows that the benefits of omega-3 from fish consumption can be seen in a relatively short time. “We saw a strong association with cardiovascular disease in the women who were still in their late 30's," said lead researcher, Dr Marin Strøm of the Statens Serum Institut, Denmark. Even women who ate fish only a few of times a month benefited, she said.

Women who eat fish should find the results encouraging, but it is important to emphasize that to obtain the greatest benefit from fish and fish oils, women should follow the dietary recommendations to eat fish as a main meal at least twice a week.

Source:

Nutraingredients

If you’re in mid-life and wondering if good health is still possible with each passing year, take heart. Youth isn't everything when it comes to being fit. New research provides statistical evidence that a 50-year-old can be every bit as fit as someone 30 years younger. The key to cheating father time and reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease lies in your exercise routine.

The study conducted by researchers at Norwegian University of Science and Technology's K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine used data from the Nord Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) to examine fitness in adults from all age classes.

The 4,631 healthy men and women in the HUNT study underwent laboratory tests in 2007-2008 to check their peak oxygen uptake, called VO2peak, which is used as a measure of overall fitness. This collection of information represents the largest database in the world of objectively measured VO2peak in healthy men and women aged 20-90 years old.

The information from the database enables researchers to compare measures of fitness with cardiovascular risk factors and other assessments of overall health, giving them the statistical power to confirm what previous studies have suggested – that youth isn't the determining factor when it comes to being fit. Their data also show how those who were least fit also had the worst measures of cardiovascular health, such as higher blood pressures and higher cholesterol levels.

Even small differences in VO2peak were found to be associated with worsening cardiovascular risk profiles.

Keeping active is critical

Maintaining some level of physical activity throughout life is important. The benefit from having been active when young is small if you are inactive now. "Even if you were highly active at a young age, you have to keep being active to get the health benefits from it," says Professor Ulrik Wisloff, Jebsen Center director and principle investigator of the study.

The type of physical conditioning also makes a difference. The researchers found that intensity is far more important than duration in determining peak oxygen uptake. Because of this, they recommend high intensity exercise in the form of interval training -- where four or more short periods (typically 4 minutes) of very high intensity exercise are followed by a similar number of short periods of lower intensity exercise. This approach, called 4x4 interval training, is a quick way to increase your overall fitness.

Other benefits of interval training

• You'll burn more calories. The more vigorously you exercise the more calories you’ll burn— even if you increase intensity for just a few minutes at a time.
• You'll improve your aerobic capacity. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you'll be able to exercise longer or with more intensity. Imagine finishing your 60-minute walk in 45 minutes — or the additional calories you'll burn by keeping up the pace for the full 60 minutes.
• You'll keep boredom at bay. Turning up your intensity in short intervals can add variety to your exercise routine.
• You don't need special equipment. You can simply modify your current routine.

Sources:

Science Daily

Mayo Clinic

As if we needed another reason to eat chocolate, British researchers found that individuals who ate the most chocolate had a 37% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke compared with individuals who ate the least amount of chocolate.

In their analysis of data from seven studies, the investigators did not differentiate between dark, milk, or white chocolate. Chocolate in any form was included, such as chocolate bars, chocolate drinks, and chocolate snacks, such as confectionary, biscuits, desserts, and nutritional supplements. Chocolate consumption was reported differently in the trials but ranged from never to more than once per day. Most patients included in the trials were white, although one study included Hispanic and African Americans and one study included Asian patients.

"These favorable effects seem mainly mediated by the high content of polyphenols present in cocoa products and are probably accrued through the increasing bioavailability of nitric oxide, which subsequently might lead to improvements in endothelial function, reductions in platelet function, and additional beneficial effects on blood pressure, insulin resistance, and blood lipids," conclude Dr. Adriana Buitrago-Lopez and colleagues from the University of Cambridge.

While this study included all forms of chocolate, there are varying amounts of polyphenols among different preparations. Dark chocolate and cocoa have a greater antioxidant capacity and a greater total flavanol, and polyphenol content than milk chocolate. Hot chocolate mixes, due to processing (alkalization) of the chocolate, contain very little.

For more healthy reasons to love dark chocolate, read on.

http://www.cncahealth.com/health-info/general/chocolate-effect-health-facts.htm?c=blog

Source:

Medscape

A new study found that women over 65 with breast cancer are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than from their cancer.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 60,000 women in the United States, aged 66 and older, who were followed for at least 12 years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. By the end of the follow-up period researchers found:

• Nearly half of the women were still alive.
• Those who died lived to an average age of 83.
• More than two-thirds of them died from causes other than breast cancer.
• Cardiovascular disease killed more of the women than breast cancer.
• Women who were most likely to die of breast cancer included those who were diagnosed at a younger age and those with a high tumor grade or estrogen receptor-negative status.

This study may help women look beyond their cancer diagnosis and focus on taking care of the whole person when it comes staying healthy and living longer.

"Cancer is a big killer and is responsible for about a quarter of all deaths. However, breast cancer is not necessarily a death sentence and patients need to take care of their health to reduce their risk of dying from heart disease and other age-related diseases," study author Jennifer Patnaik, of the University of Colorado, said in a journal news release.

Women can help reduce their risk of heart disease, breast cancer and other age-related health conditions by following these guidelines:

• Eat lots of fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains which are packed with antioxidants. Reduce your intake of animal fats and increase your consumption of healthy fats found in fish, olive oil nuts and avocados. The Mediterranean Diet is an example of a healthy diet that, according to researchers, can reduce the risk of heart disease and breast cancer.
• Get regular exercise daily or at least 4-5 times a week and maintain a healthy weight.
• Limit consumption of alcohol, overly processed foods and high-sugar drinks and snacks.

Sources:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

American Cancer Society

Reuters