Tag Archives: heart disease

Genes and obesity: Fast food isn’t only culprit in expanding waistlines — DNA is also to blame

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2013Healthadipose, bmi, body fat response, body mass index, brian parks, cancer, control, degree of obesity, diverse mouse population, DNA, elin org, elizabeth nam, emrah kostem, environmental conditions, environmental factors, epidemic, fast food diet, fat, fat tissue, frode norheim, genetic factor, genetics, global gene expression, heart disease, high calorie diets, inbred strains, intestinal bacteria, intestinal flora, jake lusis, level, metabolic response, mice, modeling, obesity traits, sedentary lifestyles, strains, sugar, type 2 diabetes, ucla, weight gain

Researchers at UCLA say it’s not just what you eat that makes those pants tighter — it’s also genetics. In a new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified several genes they say may control those responses.

The study is the first of its kind to detail metabolic responses to a high-fat, high-sugar diet in a large and diverse mouse population under defined environmental conditions, modeling closely what is likely to occur in human populations. The researchers found that the amount of food consumed contributed only modestly to the degree of obesity. (more…)

Americans Have Worse Health than People in Other High-Income Countries

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2013Healthadvantaged american, aids, american, ana diez roux, australia, average, better health, blood pressure, canada, cholesterol level, chronic lung disease, diabetes, die, disability, disease, environmental, factor, gravity, health disadvantage, healthy behaviour, heart disease, high income countries, higher rate, hiv, homicide, injury, Japan, mortality gap, non hispanic whites, obesity, policy factor, rich nation, sexually transmitted infections, steven woolf, teenage pregnancies, united states, university of michigan, western european countries

WASHINGTON — On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

The report finds that this health disadvantage exists at all ages from birth to age 75 and that even advantaged Americans—those who have health insurance, college educations, higher incomes and healthy behaviors—appear to be sicker than their peers in other rich nations. (more…)

Targeted Micro-Bubbles Detect Artery Inflammation, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostJanuary 1, 2013Healthanimals, arterial inflammation, artery inflammation, cardio exercise, cause of death, heart disease, human clinical trials, humans, isabelle masseau, leading, michael davis, pigs, plaque, risk for strokes, targeted micro bubbles, ultrasound, university of missouri, world

Procedure done in pigs could potentially detect heart disease early in humans

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Heart disease is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Doctors say that it is important to detect heart disease early before it becomes too serious. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found a way that they believe could help detect heart disease before it progresses too far as well as identify patients who are at risk for strokes.

In a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Isabelle Masseau, an assistant teaching professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, found that she could use targeted micro-bubbles to detect artery inflammation in pigs. She says that this procedure may help detect patients with heart disease or who are at risk for strokes before those ailments become too serious by monitoring artery inflammation, as that is an early warning sign of health problems. She says this procedure may also help monitor the effectiveness of artery inflammation treatments. (more…)

UCLA Doctors Remove Man’s Heart, Replace it with Total Artificial Heart

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2012Health, Scienceadvanced technology, ali nsair, artificial heart, backpack, bridge, cardiothoracic surgery, chad washington, defibrillator implanted, diseased heart, donor heart, exercise, freedom portable driver, heart disease, heart transplant program, immunosuppressant medications, living without heart, mario deng, nutrition plan, pacemaker, richard j shemin, syncardia, temporary, temporary pump, tick tock, total artificial heart, transplant surgery, transplantation, ucla

Portable power supply allows patient to go home while he awaits new heart

Imagine living without a heart. It is possible — if you have a new artificial heart pumping blood through your body. You can even go to the supermarket, watch your kid’s soccer game or go on a hike.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has performed its first procedure to remove a patient’s diseased heart and replace it with a SynCardia Temporary Total Artificial Heart.

Chad Washington, 35, underwent the seven-hour transplant surgery at UCLA on Oct. 29, led by Dr. Murray Kwon, an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery. (more…)

Medication Beliefs Strongly Affect Individuals’ Management of Chronic Diseases, MU Expert Says

By Guest PostOctober 21, 2012Healthalternative, basel, belgium, blood pressure, bottle cap, chronic condition, chronic disease, electronic, fabienne dobbels, heart disease, high, leuven, life, medication, medication regimen, missouri, objective feedback, patient, pill, pilot study, quality, risk, sabina de geest, salt consumption, shortened lifespan, side effect, stroke, switzerland, todd ruppar, treatment, university

Health practitioners should use behavior-change tactics so patients take medications as prescribed

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Nearly half of patients taking medications for chronic conditions do not strictly follow their prescribed medication regimens. Failure to use medications as directed increases patients’ risk for side effects, hospitalizations, reduced quality of life and shortened lifespans. Now, a University of Missouri gerontological nursing expert says patients’ poor adherence to prescribed medication regimens is connected to their beliefs about the necessity of prescriptions and concerns about long-term effects and dependency.

MU Assistant Professor Todd Ruppar found that patients’ beliefs about the causes of high blood pressure and the effectiveness of treatment alternatives significantly affected their likelihood of faithfully following prescribed medication regimens. In his pilot study, Ruppar focused on older patients’ adherence to medication treatments that control high blood pressure, a condition that affects nearly 70 million adults in the U.S. and can lead to heart disease and stroke. (more…)

Meditation Reduces Loneliness

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2012Health, Sciencealzheimer's disease, brain, chronic inflammation, crp, david creswell, depression, expression, heart disease, helen lavretsky, immune system, infection, inflammation, inflammatory gene, loneliness, mbsr, meditation, meditative technique, michael irwin, mindfulness, natural component, nf kb, pro inflammatory gene, protein marker, risk, tai chi, yoga

UCLA study also finds that mindfulness technique benefits immune system

Many elderly people spend their last years alone. Spouses pass and children scatter. But being lonely is much more than a silent house and a lack of companionship. Over time, loneliness not only takes a toll on the psyche but can have a serious physical impact as well.

Feeling lonely has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and even premature death. Developing effective treatments to reduce loneliness in older adults is essential, but previous treatment efforts have had limited success. (more…)

UCLA Study Looks at Why Heart Attacks Cause so Much More Damage in Late Pregnancy

By Guest PostJuly 8, 2012Healthandrea iorga, blood flow, cholesterol level, diabetes, drug therapy, dysfunction, heart attack, heart disease, heart function, hua cai, ji youn youn, jingyuan li, late pregnancy, mansoureh eghbali, mitochondria, reperfusion injury, risk, risk factor, soban umar, ucla, yibin wang

Heart attacks during pregnancy are uncommon, but the prevalence of heart disease in pregnant mothers has increased over the past decade as more women delay pregnancy until they are older. These women, who are generally less physically active than their younger peers, tend to have higher cholesterol levels and are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.

While research has shown that the heart typically functions better during pregnancy due to a rise in cardiac pumping capacity to meet increased demands, a new UCLA study in rats and mice demonstrates that heart attacks occurring in the last trimester or late months of pregnancy result in worse heart function and more damaged heart tissue than heart attacks among non-pregnant females.

The research is published in the July edition of the peer-reviewed journal Basic Research in Cardiology. (more…)

Can Inflammation Predict Heart Disease and Stroke?

By Guest PostApril 7, 2012Healthanti inflammatory medication, asthma, blood clots, blood test, c reactive protein, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, chronic inflammation, crp, disease, heart attack, heart disease, inflammation, protein, stroke

Can Inflammation Predict Heart Disease and Stroke?

Groundbreaking research may be able to help predict how likely it is that a person will have heart disease or a stroke in the future. Studies have linked inflammation to the risk of cardiovascular disease because of the association between the release of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and heart disease.

What is C-Reactive Protein (CRP)?

The National Institute of Health explains that CRP is a protein that is released when there is inflammation present in the body. The liver produces the protein and a blood test can be done to find out how much CRP is present in a person’s body.

What is inflammation?

John W. Kimball maintains a website describing in depth how inflammation develops in the body. Inflammation develops as a result of injury to the body. It can often be recognized by swelling and redness at the site of inflammation and may be accompanied by pain. Although inflammation often occurs on the surface of the skin, it can also occur internally. (more…)