In the minds of many, low dose aspirin is an inexpensive way to prevent a heart attack or stroke. But it is important to realize that taking aspirin is not without risks. And for some people, the risks outweigh the benefits of aspirin therapy. So is it right for you?

Inner Workings

Aspirin therapy works by reducing the formation of blood clots that can cause a heart attack and the most common form of stroke.

As for the other side of the equation, aspirin comes with a risk of bleeding in the stomach and brain.

Weighing the Odds

The good news is that we have good data on who is most likely to benefit and when the risks may be too high.

In general, aspirin therapy makes the most sense for people who have already had a heart attack. Their benefit to risk ratio is favorable: for every six people it helps (prevents a heart attack) only one person experiences a bleeding problem.

"If somebody already has evidence of cardiovascular disease, there's no question he or she should be on an aspirin regimen unless there are some major bleeding issues or an allergy that prevents taking aspirin," said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of cardiology at the VA Boston Healthcare System.

For healthy people who do not have a history of cardiovascular problems the benefit of aspirin therapy is less pronounced. On average, aspirin only helps two people for ever one person it harms. For this reason, European cardiologists don’t recommend aspirin to prevent heart disease in healthy people.

The decision to take aspirin daily becomes less clear for people who have risk factors for heart disease such as smoking, high blood pressure or high cholesterol or other health conditions. Taking aspirin then becomes a highly individual decision that is best considered with a doctor’s advice.

Sources:

WebMd

Harvard Medical School

Many stroke survivors encounter long-term balance problems, diminished mobility, and an increased risk of falls. Yet health insurance typically covers only six months of post-stroke rehabilitation even though the body’s capacity to heal and improve can continue long after formal rehab ends.

Therefore, many stroke victims could benefit from ongoing individual or community-based therapy.

New research suggests that yoga may be a powerful tool to help restore physical strength, balance and activity as well as lift spirits and depression often experienced by stroke victims.

For the study 47 patients who had suffered a stroke more than six months earlier were assigned to one of three groups:

• one that participated in  group yoga sessions twice a week for eight weeks
• a "yoga-plus" group that met twice weekly and also included a relaxation recording at least three times a week
• standard care group

When compared to patients in the usual care group, those in the yoga groups showed significant improvements in their balance and were less afraid of falling. They also reported higher scores for independence and quality of life.

The researchers noted that the yoga classes were taught by a registered yoga therapist who modified yoga postures to accommodate stroke survivors.

Body/Mind Benefits

The ancient practice of yoga with its combination of mind-body benefits is proving useful as an alternative or supplement to mainstream medicine. Other studies have found that there are many other Benefits of Yoga—No Matter What Your Age.

Sources:

National Stroke Foundation

Health Finder

Would we be healthier or live longer if we were given more information to prevent debilitating health conditions like stroke or dementia? That’s what a group of researchers in Germany set out to determine with a recent study. What they found confirmed the old adage, “knowledge is power.”

For the study, researchers followed almost 4,000 people aged 55 and older living in a rural community. Their family doctors were given brochures summarizing prevention and treatment recommendations for stroke and dementia. The doctors encouraged patients to:

• Get more exercise
• Eat a healthier diet
• Stop smoking
• Reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels

The team compared outcomes among these patients to another 13,000 people in a nearby town who received care that did not focus on the prevention of these health problems.

Over the course of five years, patients treated by doctors focused on reducing risk factors for stroke and dementia saw their need for expensive long-term care drop by about 10 percent compared to the communities that didn't have this intervention. The cost of inpatient treatment for these patients was also reduced.

The researchers also believe that receiving prevention guidance reduced the number of deaths in the intervention group from the expected 2,112 people to 1,939.

"Primary prevention pays off," said the study’s lead author, Horst Bickel. “We found that not only the risk of long-term care dependence was lower, but also that death rates decreased,” Bickel said. “In addition, the cost of inpatient treatment was reduced in the intervention region.”

"At the population level, even simple measures can lead to substantial achievements," Bickel said. "Our results are only one example of how health risks can be reduced through uncomplicated, routine treatment of risk factors in the framework of a real-world setting."

The study's authors noted their results could be applied to the United States and other Western populations that have sedentary lifestyles.

Source:

American Heart Association

There’s more good news for coffee lovers in the health department. A new study says moderate coffee consumption—regular or decaf--can lower your risk of dying by as much as 16%. But before you reach for another cup of joe, know that these results are limited by factors such as age, health and lifestyle. Also, coffee didn’t reduce the risk of death from one big health concern.

Study Specifics

This study followed 400,000 men and women age 50 – 71 enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study between 1995 and 1996. Each participant provided details about their coffee consumption, ranging from zero to a maximum category of six cups a day or more.

None of the participants had a history of cancer, stroke or heart disease when the study started. Then the health of each was tracked through 2008 or until death.

At first, the results indicated that coffee might increase the risk of death. Among those that didn’t drink coffee 13% of men and 10% percent of women died between 1995 and 2008, compared to 19% of men and 15% of women who drank six or more cups a day.

But when the researchers excluded coffee drinkers that also smoked, abused alcohol and ate lots of red meat, they found a completely different picture. Now men who drank two to more than six cups of coffee a day were about 10% less likely to die during the study than non-drinkers. For women, there was up to a 16% reduced risk of death in coffee drinkers compared to non-drinkers.

The protective effect appeared greater among those who drank more than one cup a day, but little difference was seen between two cups a day and six cups a day.

What a Way to Go

The results showed a lower overall risk of dying for specific health concerns: cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, stroke, diabetes, infections, and injuries and accidents.

Coffee drinking was not linked to a reduction in cancer fatalities among women, and had only a marginal protective impact on cancer deaths among men.

Not for Everyone

Study authors recommend talking to your doctor before upping coffee consumption because your personal health history might affect the advice you receive.

Also, pediatricians generally advise against caffeinated coffee for children and recommend limiting coffee in adolescents.  Like many stimulants, coffee can disrupt sleep patterns and become addictive.

Questions Remain

This new study seems to confirm what previous research has suggested: that coffee drinking in moderation is not bad for healthy adults.

But how coffee delivered the apparent benefits in this study remains a mystery. Besides caffeine, coffee contains antioxidants, phytochemicals and thousands of compounds that may hold the answer to that million dollar question.

Sources:

Reuters Health

Health Finder

Live Strong

Unless you know the warning signs of a stroke, you may not get the help you need in time to prevent permanent disability or death.

A clot-busting medication can stop or minimize the damage of a stroke if it's given promptly, generally within 3 hours of the onset of symptoms. But a new study finds that a high number of stroke victims continue to fail to get to the emergency room quickly enough to get the drug.

An analysis of about 115,000 patients who had strokes between 2005 and 2010 found that almost 44 percent didn't get to the hospital until more than 4.5 hours after they first showed symptoms. That’s up from 2005 when only 39% didn’t get treatment in time.

The percentage who got to the hospital within two hours also fell from 40 percent in 2005 to 35 percent in 2010, another sign that more patients may be in danger from not getting prompt care.

Part of the delay in getting to the hospital, say researchers is that patients chose to get themselves to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance.

The percentage of patients who received treatment with tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA), a drug that breaks up blood clots, did grow slightly  from 6.4 to 9.2 percent over the five years, but could be used more often if people reacted quicker to the signs of stroke.

The study authors believe a greater awareness of the warning signs of stroke and what to do is sorely needed. According to the National Stroke Association, stroke symptoms appear suddenly and include:

• numbness or weakness (especially on one side of the body)
• confusion or trouble speaking
• trouble seeing out of one or both eyes
• trouble with walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• severe headache with no known cause.

When any of these symptoms occur, even if you’re not sure, call 911. It is critical that you don't take a “wait and see” approach.

The research noted that people who arrive at the hospital via ambulance are more likely to get treatment in time. They get there quicker, they get seen quicker and perhaps there's more of a sense of urgency, study authors said.

While many more people may benefit from clot-busting drugs if they got to the hospital sooner, it isn't appropriate for all kinds of strokes and there are some risks in using it. Each patient must be evaluated at the hospital and it can take a while to weigh all the factors involved—another reason to get there as soon as you can!

Source:

Health Finder

 

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

 

Do you snore? Even if your answer is “no” or “I don’t know” you may be a silent victim of sleep apnea--a common sleep disorder that can increase your risk of serious health conditions including heart attack and stroke.

With sleep apnea your breathing pauses or becomes very shallow while you sleep. You may stop breathing for over a minute, sometimes hundreds of times an hour during the night. This depletes your brain and other vital organs of oxygen.

Sleep apnea is usually a chronic condition but one that often goes undiagnosed as symptoms can be mild or attributed to other causes. These symptoms include a headache or dry/sore throat upon waking, feeling tired or irritable during the day, having trouble paying attention or remembering and being overweight.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can:

• Increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and diabetes
• Increase the risk of, or worsen, heart failure
• Make arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, more likely
• Increase the chance of having work-related or driving accidents

In addition, sleep apnea can negatively affect performance in everyday activities, such as at work and school, while driving or operating machinery, as well as academic achievement in children and adolescents.

Types of Sleep Apnea

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. In this case, the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud snoring.

Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in people who are overweight, but it can affect anyone—even small children.

Central sleep apnea is a less common type of sleep apnea. This disorder happens if the brain doesn't send the correct signals to your breathing muscles. Central sleep apnea often occurs with obstructive sleep apnea, but it can occur alone. Snoring doesn't typically happen with central sleep apnea.

Central sleep apnea can occur in anyone. However, it's more common in people who have certain medical conditions or use certain medicines.

Who is at Risk?

Sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age but there are some risk factors, including:

• Male gender
• Being overweight
• Being over the age of 40. As many as 1 in 10 people over 65 have sleep apnea.
• Having a large neck size (17 inches or greater for men and 16 inches or greater for women)
• Having large tonsils, a large tongue, or a small jaw bone
• Having a family history of sleep apnea
• Gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD
• Nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies or sinus problems

Diagnosis and Treatment

If you have symptoms of sleep apnea, discuss it with your doctor who may refer you to a specialized sleep clinic for testing. The most common sleep test, called a polysomnogram—or sleep study—records specific physical activities while you sleep. If sleep apnea is diagnosed, you may be asked to return to the lab for further evaluation to determine the best treatment option.

Treatment options vary depending on the severity of the problem but may include: losing weight, avoiding alcohol or sleeping pills, changing sleeping position, stopping smoking, using a breathing or dental device, or having surgery to correct a physical obstruction or abnormality.

Prognosis

Mild forms of sleep apnea (five or fewer episodes during an hour) can often be treated at home with minor lifestyle changes. The most common treatment for moderate to severe sleep apnea, a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, can help you breathe normally but must be used every night or symptoms will return. Current surgical procedures are only used in the most severe cases and may not provide a complete cure. Some patients may still need to use a CPAP machine following surgery.

The important message here is to recognize the symptoms of sleep apnea and speak with your doctor about your concerns. An early diagnosis can improve quality of life now and help prevent serious health problems later.

Sources:

WebMD

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea/

University of Maryland Medical Center

WebMD

 

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

The Food and Drug Administration unveiled the new cigarette health warnings that will be required on all cigarette packaging and advertisements in the U.S. beginning September 2012. The warnings now include graphic images of diseased lungs, mouth cancer, and a corpse among others. (view graphics)

The warnings represent the most significant changes to cigarette labels in more than 25 years. Currently, cigarette packaging is only required to carry a warning in small typeface along one side of the cigarette pack or carton. The new warnings will be more prominent covering 50% of the front and back panels of each cigarette pack.

Each warning consists of an image and text that focuses on a different health risk associated with smoking:

WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive.
WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer.
WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease.
WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby.
WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in non-smokers.
WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.

Public health officials hope that the new labels will renew the nation’s antismoking efforts, which have stalled in recent years.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States. More than 1,200 people a day are killed by cigarettes, and 50 percent of all long-term smokers are killed by smoking-related diseases, which add up to about 443,000 deaths annually. The cost to treat these health problems exceeds $96 billion a year.

What do you think of the new warnings? Do they go too far or not far enough? Join the discussion with CNCAhealth on Facebook and Twitter.

Sources:

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

New York Times

 

 

Stroke is more common in older people, however a new study published in Neurology reports that consuming high levels of olive oil may help prevent a stroke by over 40 percent. The researchers also found that those with the highest levels of plasma oleic acid – a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found at high levels in olive oil – had a 73 per cent reduction in the risk of stroke.

The study followed 7,625 people aged 65 and older with no history of stroke from three cities in France. The participants were categorized by olive oil consumption into one of three groups: ‘no use’, ‘moderate use’ such as using olive oil in cooking or as dressing or with bread, and ‘intensive use’, which included using olive oil for both cooking and as dressing or with bread.

After adjusting their findings for diet, physical activity, body mass index and other risk factors for stroke, the researchers found that those who regularly used olive oil for both cooking and as dressing had a 41 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who never used olive oil in their diet. And, those with the highest plasma levels of oleic acid had a 73 percent reduction of stroke risk.

“Our research suggests that a new set of dietary recommendations should be issued to prevent stroke in people 65 and older,” said the study author Dr Cécilia Samieri, of University of Bordeaux and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Bordeaux, France.  

Dr Sharlin Ahmed of the Stroke Association said, “Olive oil has long been known to have potential health benefits.  However, it's important to note that a person's risk of stroke would only be reduced through consuming olive oil as an alternative to other cooking fats and as part of a healthy balanced diet that is low in saturated fat and salt.”

Sources:

Nutraingredients

 

Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds and every three to four minutes, someone dies of stroke. It is the third leading cause of death in America yet the symptoms are often ignored until it’s too late for the most effective treatments. Would you recognize the signs of stroke or know what to do if you thought someone was having a stroke? Symptoms may be different between men and women:

Common stroke symptoms seen in both men and women:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg
  -- especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause

Women may report unique stroke symptoms:

• sudden face and limb pain
• sudden hiccups
• sudden nausea
• sudden general weakness
• sudden chest pain
• sudden shortness of breath
• sudden palpitations

More...

There are plenty of reasons why you should limit your consumption of soft drinks, among them elevating your blood pressure as well as your pancreatic cancer risks. This latest study about diet sodas increasing your risk of stroke may or may not be one more, however.

Based on nine years of data collected on the health of more than 2,500 patients participating in the Northern Manhattan Study (average age 69), some 560 patients had suffered from a cardiovascular event. (For the record, 900 patients reported drinking no diet soft drinks at all, while 163 drank at least one, if not more, every day.) After taking variables like gender, age, smoking and other lifestyle habits into account, scientists calculated the uptick in vascular health risks associated with drinking carbonated diet soft drinks versus those who didn't amounted to 61 percent.

Or, does it?

Some health experts -- like the Calorie Control Council -- have balked at these results, calling them critically flawed, speculative and preliminary, and not taking into account family histories of cardiovascular problems or absence of other beneficial lifestyle habits.

As someone who drinks A LOT of diet soda every day -- my one remaining vice -- this study hasn't made me give up cold dark liquids filled to the brim with artificial sweeteners… yet. But it's making me think about cutting back A LOT.

LAST DAY! Save $5 on EPAmax Fish Oil (Ultra-Pure) Up to 1000% more EPA and DHA than other brands!

USA Today February 9, 2011

healthfinder.gov February 9, 2011

ABC News February 9, 2011

EurekAlert February 10, 2011

If you were skeptical about the value of walking for your health, this latest follow-up to the Women’s Health Study about the benefits should put any doubts to rest.

Specifically, women who invested at least two hours a week hitting the pavement lowered their overall risk for any stroke by 30 percent, compared to those who didn’t walk at all. And, female patients who walked at a more brisk pace (almost 3 mph) decreased their risks by 37 percent.

The other interesting takeaway from the study sheds some new light on a report we posted in this space about the true health value of walking your dog over joining a gym: The most active female patients lowered their odds of succumbing to any kind of stroke by 17 percent, compared to the least active.

Another reason doing the little things -- like choosing the right foods -- can have such a profound impact on your health.

Stroke April 6, 2010

Medscape April 8, 2010

ScienceDaily April 8, 2010

For far too long, video games have been a popular and all-to-easy punching bag for pop culture critics looking to pin society's failures on (and make excuses for) the lethargy and poor health habits of our nation's kids.

Over the past year, however, the reputation of video games may be turning a corner, thanks to a steadily growing number of studies supporting the use of video games as a fun and easy way to boost a child's activity levels, and, consequently, their health without a whole lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Even better for the collective health of Americans, not all of this recent good news is age-centric. Seniors can use video games -- specifically those made for Nintendo's Wii game console -- to help them fight Parkinson's disease and minor depression.

One report demonstrated how survivors of mild to moderate (ischemic) strokes who used virtual tennis and cooking games for the Wii to relearn their motor skills showed greater improvement (by 30 percent) than a control group assigned to more conventional card or block games.

Another study examined the use of Wii to jump-start the mental and physical health of seniors fighting subsyndromal depression, a common malady linked to functional disability and substantial suffering. More than a third of the patients who played a sports-themed Wii game of their choice on their own during 35-minute sessions three days a week (over two weeks) reduced the symptoms associated with their depression by at least 50 percent. And, many more enjoyed significant improvement in their mental health-related quality of life and greater cognitive stimulation.

More evidence that "youthful" things like the Wii or the iPhone aren't always "wasted" on the young...

Sources:

American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 221-226, March 2010

ScienceDaily February 28, 2010

American Heart Association February 25, 2010

BusinessWeek February 25, 2010

Image source: Nintendo of America

Cancer isn't the only serious health problem worsened by the presence of obesity. The more pounds you pack on, the more you elevate your risk of stroke, a problem that occurs across race and gender lines, and regardless what unit of measure (waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio or BMI) is used, according to a new study.

Over the course of the 19-year study, researchers tracked the health of some 13,500 middle-aged patients living in four American cities who were cancer-free and had no cardiovascular problems at the outset.

At first, the numbers seem a bit misleading, because the rate of risk varied greatly by ethnic group and gender, with black men and women experiencing a greater incidence of stroke overall. For example, the rate of stroke among black women in the lowest and highest BMI categories was more than three times greater than that of white women.

What didn't change, however, was the correlation between the increased incidence of stroke and bigger waistlines. Generally, the risk of stroke among men and women in the highest obesity category nearly doubled in comparison to those in the lowest BMI group.

Stroke January 21, 2010

Medline Plus January 21, 2010

EurekAlert January 21, 2010