A new study in the US offers strongest evidence a diet recommended for lowering blood pressure can save people from heart attack and stroke.
Researchers say they pursued more than 88,000 healthy women for almost 25 years, examining their food choices and seeing how many suffered from heart attacks and strokes.
Those who fared best had eating habits similar to those recommended by the government to stop high blood pressure.
The women followed the recommended plan, called the DASH diet, of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and plant-based protein over meat.
Women with those eating habits were 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack and 18 percent less likely to have a stroke than women with more typical American diets, Associated Press reported.
Women in the study were in their mid-30s to late 50s when the research began in 1980. Previous research has shown this kind of diet can help prevent high blood pressure and cholesterol, which both can lead to heart attacks.
People might think, "I don't have high blood pressure, so I don't have to follow it," said Simmons College researcher Teresa Fung, the study's lead author. However, the results suggest, she said, that "even healthy people should get on it."
About 15,000 women in the study had diets that closely resembled the low blood pressure diet. They ate about twice as many fruits, vegetables and grains as the estimated 18,000 women whose diets more closely resembled typical American eating habits.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sleep pattern predicts stroke risk
Scientists have suggested that habitual sleep patterns can predict the risk of suffering ischemic stroke in postmenopausal women.
According to a study published in the Stroke, getting nine hours or more of sleep every night is associated with a 60 percent increased ischemic stroke risk.
Findings also revealed that women suffering from sleep deprivation (less than six hours of sleep), are at a 14 percent higher risk of suffering stroke.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers believe sleep apnea or restless sleep can be the underlying cause of the increased risk; however, the main reason is still unclear.
The study also showed that being retired or unemployed, smoking, being physically inactive or having cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or depression are other factors associated with long hours of sleep.
Related Stories:
Less sleep, higher blood pressure
Women experience "more" sleep disorders
Sleep apnea believed to cause brain damage
Poor sleep causes maternal weight gain
Acute hearing loss linked to strokes
Diet reduces heart attacks, strokes
According to a study published in the Stroke, getting nine hours or more of sleep every night is associated with a 60 percent increased ischemic stroke risk.
Findings also revealed that women suffering from sleep deprivation (less than six hours of sleep), are at a 14 percent higher risk of suffering stroke.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers believe sleep apnea or restless sleep can be the underlying cause of the increased risk; however, the main reason is still unclear.
The study also showed that being retired or unemployed, smoking, being physically inactive or having cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or depression are other factors associated with long hours of sleep.
Related Stories:
Less sleep, higher blood pressure
Women experience "more" sleep disorders
Sleep apnea believed to cause brain damage
Poor sleep causes maternal weight gain
Acute hearing loss linked to strokes
Diet reduces heart attacks, strokes
Poor quality sleep linked to high mortality
People suffering from inability to sleep well -- irrespective of insomnia, sleep fragmentation or nightmares being the problem -- are at a higher risk of death.
According to several studies presented at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, poor sleep increases the risk of several adverse health outcomes as well as death.
The findings of one of these studies found that sleeping for less than 5 hours per night increases the risk of death among elderly women but not elderly men.
Another study similarly showed that insomnia and sleep durations of at least 6 hours are as troublesome as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), indicating that insomnia increases mortality rate five-fold.
Based on the Sleep Heart Health study, sleep fragmentation, transition from being awake to non-REM sleep and from non-REM sleep to being awake, is another risk factor tied to significantly higher mortality.
A US study reported that sleep habits have a significant impact on weight and BMI, indicating that twins who slept between 7 and 8.9 hours each night had a lower mean BMI (25.0 kg/m2) compared to those who regularly slept either more (25.2 kg/m2) or less (26.4 kg/m2) per night.
Other studies also reported that individuals with insomnia and objective short sleep duration are at an increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and mood disorders -- particularly depression.
Related Stories:
Turning in early cuts depression risk in teens
Sleep pattern predicts stroke risk
Poor sleep causes maternal weight gain
According to several studies presented at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, poor sleep increases the risk of several adverse health outcomes as well as death.
The findings of one of these studies found that sleeping for less than 5 hours per night increases the risk of death among elderly women but not elderly men.
Another study similarly showed that insomnia and sleep durations of at least 6 hours are as troublesome as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), indicating that insomnia increases mortality rate five-fold.
Based on the Sleep Heart Health study, sleep fragmentation, transition from being awake to non-REM sleep and from non-REM sleep to being awake, is another risk factor tied to significantly higher mortality.
A US study reported that sleep habits have a significant impact on weight and BMI, indicating that twins who slept between 7 and 8.9 hours each night had a lower mean BMI (25.0 kg/m2) compared to those who regularly slept either more (25.2 kg/m2) or less (26.4 kg/m2) per night.
Other studies also reported that individuals with insomnia and objective short sleep duration are at an increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and mood disorders -- particularly depression.
Related Stories:
Turning in early cuts depression risk in teens
Sleep pattern predicts stroke risk
Poor sleep causes maternal weight gain
Cornflakes linked to heart disease
Adopting a diet rich in carbohydrates interferes with the function of blood vessels, placing the individual at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Previous studies had considered high blood sugar levels after meals as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, not only in patients with diabetes but also in the general population.
High-glycemic meals, such as white bread, cornflakes and instant potatoes, are reported to increase blood sugar levels more than foods with low-glycemic index -- oatmeal, most fruits and vegetables, legumes and nuts.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, a diet rich in high-glycemic food is linked to higher risk of heart disease. High-glycemic foods not only increase postprandial blood sugar levels but also interfere with the function of blood vessels, a key variable in the development of hardening of the arteries and heart disease increasing the cardiac events.
"The main take-home message is that high-glycemic index carbs are dangerous since they reduce or inhibit endothelial function, which is the 'risk of the risk factors,' leading to atherosclerosis and potentially leading to heart disease," said Michael Shechter, the leader of the research team. Scientists therefore urged individuals to substitute high-glycemic carbohydrates with low-glycemic ones with the aim of lowering possible health concerns.
Related Stories:
Overlooked cholesterol ups heart attack risk
New Atkins diet lowers cardiac risk
Tomato pills fight heart disease
Previous studies had considered high blood sugar levels after meals as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, not only in patients with diabetes but also in the general population.
High-glycemic meals, such as white bread, cornflakes and instant potatoes, are reported to increase blood sugar levels more than foods with low-glycemic index -- oatmeal, most fruits and vegetables, legumes and nuts.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, a diet rich in high-glycemic food is linked to higher risk of heart disease. High-glycemic foods not only increase postprandial blood sugar levels but also interfere with the function of blood vessels, a key variable in the development of hardening of the arteries and heart disease increasing the cardiac events.
"The main take-home message is that high-glycemic index carbs are dangerous since they reduce or inhibit endothelial function, which is the 'risk of the risk factors,' leading to atherosclerosis and potentially leading to heart disease," said Michael Shechter, the leader of the research team. Scientists therefore urged individuals to substitute high-glycemic carbohydrates with low-glycemic ones with the aim of lowering possible health concerns.
Related Stories:
Overlooked cholesterol ups heart attack risk
New Atkins diet lowers cardiac risk
Tomato pills fight heart disease
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Laughter, heart medicine for diabetics
Hearty laughter is an effective medicine in diabetes sufferers as it can help reduce their risk of developing possible heart attacks.
Compared to their non-diabetic counterparts, diabetics are two- to fourfold more vulnerable to developing cardiovascular diseases. A new study however considers laughter as a cost-free medication for preventing heart disease in this group.
According to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Physiological Society, laughter improves cholesterol levels in diabetics and subsequently lowers their heart attack risk. Laughing is associated with a 26 percent increase in the HDL (good cholesterol) levels; it also helps reduce C-reactive proteins -- a marker of the inflammatory diseases -- by 66 percent.
Some physicians believe laughter and humor can also help lower the increase in blood glucose that occurs after each meal. Scientists urge diabetics to adopt a healthy diet, exercise, watch their blood sugar, and add a little humor to their life.
Compared to their non-diabetic counterparts, diabetics are two- to fourfold more vulnerable to developing cardiovascular diseases. A new study however considers laughter as a cost-free medication for preventing heart disease in this group.
According to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Physiological Society, laughter improves cholesterol levels in diabetics and subsequently lowers their heart attack risk. Laughing is associated with a 26 percent increase in the HDL (good cholesterol) levels; it also helps reduce C-reactive proteins -- a marker of the inflammatory diseases -- by 66 percent.
Some physicians believe laughter and humor can also help lower the increase in blood glucose that occurs after each meal. Scientists urge diabetics to adopt a healthy diet, exercise, watch their blood sugar, and add a little humor to their life.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Quietly, Worried Villagers Debate Dam Impact
VIENTIANE, April 2009 (IPS) - On the banks of a remote section of the Mekong River in southern Laos, an area known as Siphandone, villagers quietly debate the question, which is more important to Laos: fisheries or building dams?
The debate has been going on ever since a proposal by the Lao government to construct a hydropower dam on this section of the Mekong mainstream, which could have serious impacts on fish stocks that have fed local families for centuries.
It is part of a larger debate underway in the countries through which the Mekong River flows by, about the wisdom of building dams in the mainstream stretches of the river, which flows for 4,880 kilometres from its headwaters in Tibet, then through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The location of the proposed dam is known as Khone Falls, Siphandone in Champasak province where the Mekong River forms a complex network of narrow channels, or ‘hoo' in Lao, at the point at which it flows into Cambodia.
The proposed dam will block Hoo Sahong, the deepest channel on that section of the river and where only few migratory fish can easily pass through at the peak of the dry season, April to May, when the water level of the Mekong is at its lowest.In truth, local people did not intend to offend the government or be misunderstood as being against the construction of the dam, said a fisherman from the Done Sadam village near the proposed dam site, who asked to be called Khampao.
But they fear the impacts it might have on the fisheries sector.The villagers living in the area where the dam will be constructed wonder how it will change their fortunes, particularly if the project blocks traditional fish migration routes.
According to the local authorities in southern Laos, nearly 2,500 people from four villages earn their living directly from fishing in the Hoo Sahong channel.”Our people are not aggressive and we have a tradition of not being against the government's development policies,” said Khamphao. ”We are not against the construction of the dam, but we want the government to study its impacts on our fish stocks. Otherwise the project will only make our lives poorer.”
Another fisherman from the area said fish were very important for the survival of his family and that without fish he would find it difficult to support his household.Khamphao said the money he used to build his house came from selling fish. ”Last year, I earned about 30,000 million kip by selling two tones of fish caught in the Hoo Sahong channel,” he said.Local people say the number of fish in local waters had been declining over the past decade due to the growing population and an increase in commercial fishing.
The Lao government signed an agreement in March 2006 granting the Malaysian engineering firm Mega First Corp. Berhad the exclusive mandate to carry out a feasibility study of the Don Sahong project.In February 2008, the company signed a project development agreement with Vientiane to push ahead with the scheme on a build-own-operate basis.
In a statement to the Malaysian stock exchange, the company said the dam, located in Champasak two kilometers from the Lao border with Cambodia, would be a ”run-of-river” facility with the capacity to generate between 240 and 360 megawatts of electricity to be used within Laos as well as being sold to neighbouring countries.
Villagers believe the problems relating to the dam have occurred as a result of a flawed decision-making process on the part of the government in which public consultation standards were not met.Public opinion has had no place in the decision-making process to this point and most decisions about the dam have been made by a small group of senior leaders in Champasak province and Vientiane.
Community consultation has been rushed, leaving the people of Siphandone feeling ignored by the dam construction company.Despite reports earlier this year that the Lao government had put the project on hold, the Don Sahong dam project appears to be going forward.
This is despite protests from technical officials who have said the project would severely impact the fishery sector, not only in Siphadone, but also upstream in the Lao provinces of Champasak and Savannakhet.
The project, potentially be the first dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River, has generated major concern internationally as well as in Laos' neighbour, Cambodia.Non-government organisations in Cambodia have requested the Lao government abandon the project due to fears of its adverse impact on fishery sector, including on the dwindling numbers of freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins, for which the Siphandone area is a major feeding ground.
The World Fish Centre, an international non-government organisation based in Phnom Penh that carries out fisheries related research, has reported the dam could effectively block dry-season fish movement between the lower Mekong plains and the upstream Mekong Basin.
The head of the environmental and social impact assessment division of the Lao Water Resource and Environment Authority, Bounkham Vorachit, said they had received the results of the feasibility study of the dam conducted by the company, but had yet to issue a final approval of the study.
She said the Don Sahong dam would not cause large-scale flooding, as it would be a run-of-river project.According to the Lao government, about 14 families, 80 people in total, will need to be relocated if the dam is built.Vorachit said she found many parts of the feasibility study to be quite clear, and that only the information related to the potential impact on fisheries was unclear. ”We have told the developers to study in more detail the migration of fish and what types of fish migrate to this area.”She said dam building had both negative and positive impacts.
But the important thing was to mitigate these impacts, so the construction of the dam will affect poor people's livelihoods as little as possible, she explained. ”These people rely on fish to feed their families,” Vorachit said.”If we believe the dam has more negative impacts than positive ones, our division will not approve it,” she assured.
In a recent interview with the Lao media, the deputy director of the energy department of the Lao Ministry of Mines and Energy, Khamchan Phalayok said progress on the Don Sahong project had been slow in recent months due to the global financial downturn.
Khamchan said that Thailand, as the main export market of the electricity produced in Lao dams, had yet to make any decision to buy electricity generated by the Don Sahong project. He added that banks were reluctant to offer loans for the project as well.
Laos has long desired to become the ‘battery' of South-east Asia by exporting electricity to the region, but its goal may be an unreachable dream as its neighbours are also rapidly developing their electricity production capacity.Since early 2006, the Lao government has granted permission to Thai, Malaysian and Chinese companies to conduct feasibility studies for several hydropower dams on the mainstream of the lower Mekong, including the Don Sahong project.
The debate has been going on ever since a proposal by the Lao government to construct a hydropower dam on this section of the Mekong mainstream, which could have serious impacts on fish stocks that have fed local families for centuries.
It is part of a larger debate underway in the countries through which the Mekong River flows by, about the wisdom of building dams in the mainstream stretches of the river, which flows for 4,880 kilometres from its headwaters in Tibet, then through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The location of the proposed dam is known as Khone Falls, Siphandone in Champasak province where the Mekong River forms a complex network of narrow channels, or ‘hoo' in Lao, at the point at which it flows into Cambodia.
The proposed dam will block Hoo Sahong, the deepest channel on that section of the river and where only few migratory fish can easily pass through at the peak of the dry season, April to May, when the water level of the Mekong is at its lowest.In truth, local people did not intend to offend the government or be misunderstood as being against the construction of the dam, said a fisherman from the Done Sadam village near the proposed dam site, who asked to be called Khampao.
But they fear the impacts it might have on the fisheries sector.The villagers living in the area where the dam will be constructed wonder how it will change their fortunes, particularly if the project blocks traditional fish migration routes.
According to the local authorities in southern Laos, nearly 2,500 people from four villages earn their living directly from fishing in the Hoo Sahong channel.”Our people are not aggressive and we have a tradition of not being against the government's development policies,” said Khamphao. ”We are not against the construction of the dam, but we want the government to study its impacts on our fish stocks. Otherwise the project will only make our lives poorer.”
Another fisherman from the area said fish were very important for the survival of his family and that without fish he would find it difficult to support his household.Khamphao said the money he used to build his house came from selling fish. ”Last year, I earned about 30,000 million kip by selling two tones of fish caught in the Hoo Sahong channel,” he said.Local people say the number of fish in local waters had been declining over the past decade due to the growing population and an increase in commercial fishing.
The Lao government signed an agreement in March 2006 granting the Malaysian engineering firm Mega First Corp. Berhad the exclusive mandate to carry out a feasibility study of the Don Sahong project.In February 2008, the company signed a project development agreement with Vientiane to push ahead with the scheme on a build-own-operate basis.
In a statement to the Malaysian stock exchange, the company said the dam, located in Champasak two kilometers from the Lao border with Cambodia, would be a ”run-of-river” facility with the capacity to generate between 240 and 360 megawatts of electricity to be used within Laos as well as being sold to neighbouring countries.
Villagers believe the problems relating to the dam have occurred as a result of a flawed decision-making process on the part of the government in which public consultation standards were not met.Public opinion has had no place in the decision-making process to this point and most decisions about the dam have been made by a small group of senior leaders in Champasak province and Vientiane.
Community consultation has been rushed, leaving the people of Siphandone feeling ignored by the dam construction company.Despite reports earlier this year that the Lao government had put the project on hold, the Don Sahong dam project appears to be going forward.
This is despite protests from technical officials who have said the project would severely impact the fishery sector, not only in Siphadone, but also upstream in the Lao provinces of Champasak and Savannakhet.
The project, potentially be the first dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River, has generated major concern internationally as well as in Laos' neighbour, Cambodia.Non-government organisations in Cambodia have requested the Lao government abandon the project due to fears of its adverse impact on fishery sector, including on the dwindling numbers of freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins, for which the Siphandone area is a major feeding ground.
The World Fish Centre, an international non-government organisation based in Phnom Penh that carries out fisheries related research, has reported the dam could effectively block dry-season fish movement between the lower Mekong plains and the upstream Mekong Basin.
The head of the environmental and social impact assessment division of the Lao Water Resource and Environment Authority, Bounkham Vorachit, said they had received the results of the feasibility study of the dam conducted by the company, but had yet to issue a final approval of the study.
She said the Don Sahong dam would not cause large-scale flooding, as it would be a run-of-river project.According to the Lao government, about 14 families, 80 people in total, will need to be relocated if the dam is built.Vorachit said she found many parts of the feasibility study to be quite clear, and that only the information related to the potential impact on fisheries was unclear. ”We have told the developers to study in more detail the migration of fish and what types of fish migrate to this area.”She said dam building had both negative and positive impacts.
But the important thing was to mitigate these impacts, so the construction of the dam will affect poor people's livelihoods as little as possible, she explained. ”These people rely on fish to feed their families,” Vorachit said.”If we believe the dam has more negative impacts than positive ones, our division will not approve it,” she assured.
In a recent interview with the Lao media, the deputy director of the energy department of the Lao Ministry of Mines and Energy, Khamchan Phalayok said progress on the Don Sahong project had been slow in recent months due to the global financial downturn.
Khamchan said that Thailand, as the main export market of the electricity produced in Lao dams, had yet to make any decision to buy electricity generated by the Don Sahong project. He added that banks were reluctant to offer loans for the project as well.
Laos has long desired to become the ‘battery' of South-east Asia by exporting electricity to the region, but its goal may be an unreachable dream as its neighbours are also rapidly developing their electricity production capacity.Since early 2006, the Lao government has granted permission to Thai, Malaysian and Chinese companies to conduct feasibility studies for several hydropower dams on the mainstream of the lower Mekong, including the Don Sahong project.
Drinking tea can reduce strokes
A new study in the United States has found out that drinking three or more cups of tea per day can reduce the risk of stroke. "By drinking three cups of tea a day, the risk of a stroke was reduced 21%," said Lenore Arab, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine.The professor also said that the more you drink, the better your odds of staving off a stroke. Drinking three more cups can drop another 21%.
The effect was found in tea made from the plant Camellia sinensis, not herbs, Arab said.
Researchers speculate that the anti-oxidant epigallocatechin gallate or the amino acid Theanine in tea may be what helps.
Some studies show anti-oxidants help prevent coronary artery disease, daily news reported Friday. "If we can find a way to prevent the stroke, or prevent the damage, that is simple and not toxic, that would be a great advance," Arab said.
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