Too much sitting linked to heart disease, diabetes, premature death

Like many people, I have a job that involves sitting in front of a computer most of the day. Because I work from home, I don’t have to sit through a long commute, and my dog gets me up out of my chair for walks a couple times a day. Still, a new study about the health hazards of sitting too much (or what researchers call sedentary behavior) has made me more conscious of how much-uninterrupted chair time I’m logging each day.

According to the report, published in this week’s Annals of Internal Medicine, more than half of the average person’s waking hours are spent sitting: watching television, working at a computer, commuting, or doing other physically inactive pursuits. But all that sitting could be sending us to an early grave—even those folks who exercise up to an hour a day, say the Canadian researchers who did the study.

Their findings were gleaned from 47 studies that looked at the health effects of sedentary behavior. The researchers adjusted for other types of activity people did, from leisure-time activities to vigorous exercise. Over the course of these studies, people who sat for prolonged periods of time had a higher risk of dying from all causes — even those who exercised regularly. The negative effects were even more pronounced in people who did little or no exercise.

The health hazards of not moving much are wide-ranging, says Dr. Joanne Foody, who directs the Cardiovascular Wellness Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “While we often think of the dangers of inactivity in terms of worsening cardiovascular health, there are a myriad of negative effects,” she says. The current study documented higher rates of type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cancer-related deaths in very sedentary people. An unrelated study has linked more sitting and less activity with an increased risk of developing dementia.

Exactly how sitting a lot contributes to poor health isn’t clear. But some research suggests that it has harmful effects on sugar and fat metabolism, both of which affect a person’s risk of diabetes and heart disease, says Dr. I-Min Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Fear of an early death doesn’t usually motivate people to change their habits, but losing weight might be an incentive. You burn 30% more calories when you’re standing than when you’re sitting. It’s not a huge amount, but it adds up over time and contributes to weight control, says Dr. Lee.

The authors of the Annals study offered tips for sitting less, such as standing or moving around for one to three minutes every half hour while you’re at work. “There are lots of apps you can use on your phone or computer that will sound an alarm to remind you,” says Dr. Lee. Standing or exercising when watching TV — even just during commercials —is another popular tip, as is standing when talking on the phone. “The key is to make these things habits that you do without thinking about, like brushing your teeth,” says Dr. Lee.

For me, I hope that standing more will be habit-forming. But in the meantime, I think I’ll download an alarm app on my computer, which should help me get up more often than my dog does. I’m also considering creating a standing desk, as one of my colleagues has done.

Reference:https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/much-sitting-linked-heart-disease-diabetes-premature-death-201501227618

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Show Your Heart Some Love With These Exercises

You may recall from last year's post, How to train for a healthy heart, that February is heart month. I provided a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout that was an effective exercise for maintaining heart health. While HIIT style workouts are a great option, this year I want to revisit the basics -- defining what heart exercise actually is, the important factors you need to know and how you can incorporate this type of exercise into your routine.

What is a heart exercise?

Heart exercise, simply put, is aerobic exercise--a form of physical activity that causes you to breathe harder and your heart to pump faster, circulating blood through your veins so oxygen can get to the working muscles -- your heart is a muscle, see the connection?

For your heart to truly reap the benefits of aerobic exercise you must move your whole body for a minimum of 10 minutes at a time, ideally 30 minutes a day, equaling a total of 150 minutes per week.

The key to maintaining good heart health is that you are partaking in aerobic exercise long enough, you're working hard enough and you're doing it consistently enough.

Know your numbers

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, heart disease affects 1.3 million Canadians.

Knowing your numbers is an important part of instilling these heart-healthy behaviors. To get a clear understanding of where your heart health stands it's important to know the following:

Body fat percentage (BF%) - this is the measure of adipose (fat) tissue within the body. It's measured as a percentage and in managing your BF% you want to stay within the normal, healthy range; 18-24% (average) for men and 24-30 % (average) for women.

Resting heart rate (RHR) - this is the number of times your heart beats per minute while at complete rest. RHR will decrease as your heart becomes stronger and a low resting heart rate is an indicator of a healthy heart.

Blood pressure (BP) - the strength of your blood pushing against your vessels as it moves through the circulatory system. If your BP is too high it puts extra strain on your arteries and your heart. A healthy blood pressure measurement for adults is 120/80.

Cholesterol - is a type of fat found in your blood. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is important for cell function but when 'good' called HDL and 'bad' called LDL cholesterol levels are out of balance you are at risk. Ask your doctor for your numbers.

Training heart rate (THR) - The range that defines the upper and lower limits of your ideal training zone. Take 220 and minus your age, then multiply by .60 (lower range) and .80 (upper range). When you exercise aim to work within this training zone to reap cardiovascular fitness benefits.

Knowledge is power, the more you know about yourself and your health the better equipped you are to do what is necessary -- either continuing down a healthy path or adjusting your lifestyle to make necessary changes. In order to properly monitor your numbers, you need to utilize the tools you have access to. Whether this means regular checkups with your doctor, using your gyms scales or blood pressure monitors or investing in a heart rate monitoring device such as the MYZONE, which can measure your heart rate with up to 99.4 percent EKG accuracy. Know what options are available to you and use them to your advantage.

Heart healthy exercises

1. Walking

You literally can walk off heart disease -- every step you take you're on your way to better heart health. No matter your fitness level, you can walk. If you're starting out, walk briskly for a minute then slow for the next minute and continue with this alteration for up to 30 minutes; or to start just walk what you can. You will build your endurance with every walk you take until you are able to power walk for 30 sustainable minutes minimum.

2. Any aerobic activity or sport you enjoy

When you find an activity that you like to do you are more likely to actually do it. So find a sport or Group Fitness Class that you enjoy and incorporate this into your weekly routine. Whether it's swimming, spinning, dancing, skating or something else that will get you moving and your blood pumping your heart will benefit.

During these activities, you can challenge yourself to make it a workout. For instance, if you enjoy skiing challenge yourself to ski the longer and tougher runs.

3. Weights

Strength training is good for your muscles and, as you know, your heart is a muscle. When you lift weights you use whole body movements and your heart rate goes up. A great option when lifting weights is to create a strength circuit -- moving at a quick pace with little recovery time. Note, lifting weights will not create the same direction results for the heart as aerobic exercise but it's still a great option to add into your routine and effective for managing stress (which in itself is key to having a healthy heart).

Try re-visiting the basics for a healthy heart -- it's all it takes to show your heart some love.

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How to spot and treat a heart attack

A heart attack is the death of a segment of heart muscle caused by a loss of blood supply. The blood is usually cut off when an artery supplying the heart muscle is blocked by a blood clot.

If some of the heart muscle dies, a person experiences chest pain and electrical instability of the heart muscle tissue.

This MNT Knowledge Center will cover information about how and why heart attacks occur, how they are treated, and how to prevent them.

Fast facts on heart attacks:

• During a heart attack, the heart muscle loses blood supply and is damaged.
• Chest discomfort and pain are common symptoms.
• The risk of a heart attack increases when a man is over 45 and a woman is over 55.
• Smoking and obesity are big factors, particularly in the at-risk age range.
  

Symptoms

Heart attacks are a serious form of heart disease, with many different causes.

There are clear symptoms of a heart attack that require immediate medical attention.

A feeling of pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching in the chest or arms that spread to the neck, jaw, or back can be a sign that a person is having a heart attack.

The following are other possible signs and symptoms of a heart attack occurring:

• coughing
• nausea
• vomiting
• crushing chest pain
• dizziness
• shortness of breath called dyspnea
• face seeming gray in color
• a feeling of terror that life is ending
• feeling awful, generally
• restlessness
• feeling clammy and sweaty
• shortness of breath

Changing position does not alleviate the pain of a heart attack. The pain a person feels is normally constant, although it may sometimes come and go.

Warning signs

As heart attacks can be fatal, it is vital to recognize the warning signs that an attack is occurring.

While the symptoms listed above are all linked to heart attacks, there are four warning signs listed by the American Heart Association (AHA) as being crucial signs of an attack. These include:

discomfort, pressure, squeezing, or fullness in the chest that lasts several minutes or resolves then returns

pain or discomfort in the arms, neck, back, stomach, or jaw

sudden shortness of breath

Other signs can include a cold sweat, a sick or nauseous feeling, or being lightheaded.

When a person has these symptoms, the emergency services should be called immediately.

Complications

There are two types of complications that can happen following a heart attack. The first occurs pretty much straight away and the second happens later on.

Immediate complications

Arrhythmias: the heart beats irregularly, either too fast or too slowly.

Cardiogenic shock: a person's blood pressure drops suddenly and the heart cannot supply enough blood for the body to work adequately.

Hypoxemia: levels of oxygen in the blood become too low.

Pulmonary edema: fluid accumulates in and around the lungs.

DVT or deep vein thrombosis: the deep veins of the legs and pelvis develop blood clots that either block or interrupt the flow of blood in the vein.

Myocardial rupture: the heart attack damages the wall of the heart, meaning an increased risk of a heart wall rupture.

A ventricular aneurysm: a heart chamber, known as a ventricle, forms a bulge.

Complications that can occur later

An aneurysm: scar tissue builds up on the damaged heart wall, leading to blood clots, low blood pressure, and abnormal heart rhythms.

Angina: not enough oxygen reaches the heart, causing chest pain.

Congestive heart failure: the heart can only beat very weakly, leaving a person feeling exhausted and breathless.

Edema: fluid accumulates in the ankles and legs, causing them to swell.

Loss of erectile function: erectile dysfunction is generally caused by a vascular problem. However, it can also be the result of depression.

Loss of libido: a loss of sexual drive can happen, especially in the case of men.

Pericarditis: the lining of the heart becomes inflamed, causing serious chest pain.

It is important that a doctor monitors a person for several months after they have had a heart attack to check for any of these complications that may occur.

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Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the left side of the heart - the part that pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body - is underdeveloped. Its two chambers called the left atrium and the left ventricle, and their valves may be tiny, blocking the flow of oxygenated blood from the lungs.

The heart consists of four chambers: the two upper chambers called atria, where blood enters the heart, and the two lower chambers, called ventricles, where blood is pumped out of the heart. The flow between the chambers is controlled by a set of valves that act as one-way doors.

Normally blood is pumped from the right side of the heart through the pulmonary valve and the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where the blood is filled with oxygen. From the lungs, the blood travels back down to the left atrium and left ventricle. The newly oxygenated blood then is pumped through another big blood vessel called the aorta to the rest of the body.

Babies with hypoplastic left heart syndrome may seem healthy at birth because the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is still open. The PDA is a blood vessel that connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta, allowing blood to continue circulating directly into the aorta and out to the rest of the body, bypassing the lungs and the defective left side of the heart. Once the PDA closes a few days after birth, blood flows to the lungs and then to the left side of the heart, where it is blocked and can't circulate through the rest of the body.

Without treatment, khttps://heartcongress.pulsusconference.com/call-for-abstracts

afflicted with hypoplastic left heart syndrome can die within the first days or weeks of life. Treatment consists of a heart transplant or a series of operations to restore the function of the left side of the heart. Intravenous medication can keep the PDA open until surgery can be performed, but is not a permanent treatment.

Signs and Symptoms

Babies born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome may seem normal at birth but become severely ill soon after birth. Babies may appear ashen or gray, have rapid and difficult breathing and have difficulty feeding. This heart defect is usually fatal within the first days or month of life unless treated.

• Grayish-blue skin color
• Rapid, difficult breathing
• Poor feeding
• Cold hands and feet
• Lethargy

Babies with this disorder could go into shock if the blood flow between the right and left sides of the heart is blocked because of the congenital defect. Signs of shock are abnormal breathing, dilated pupils and a weak and rapid pulse.

Diagnosis

A diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome is confirmed with an echocardiogram, a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart.

Surgical Treatment

Treatment for hypoplastic left heart syndrome requires either a three-step surgical procedure called staged palliation or a heart transplant. Staged palliation is considered one of the major achievements of congenital heart surgery in recent years. The survival rate for children at age 5 is about 70 percent and most of these children have normal growth and development. This three-step surgery procedure is designed to create normal blood flow in and out of the heart, allowing the body to receive the oxygenated blood it needs.

The three steps consist of the following procedures:

Norwood Procedure

This procedure is performed shortly after birth. It converts the right ventricle into the main ventricle pumping blood to both the lungs and the body. The main pulmonary artery and the aorta are connected and the main pulmonary artery is cut off from the two branching pulmonary arteries that direct blood to each side of the lungs. Instead, a connection called a shunt is placed between the pulmonary arteries and the aorta to supply blood to the lungs.

Bi-directional Glenn Operation

This operation usually is performed about six months after the Norwood to divert half of the blood to the lungs when circulation through the lungs no longer needs as much pressure from the ventricle. The shunt to the pulmonary arteries is disconnected and the right pulmonary artery is connected directly to the superior vena cava, the vein that brings deoxygenated blood from the upper part of the body to the heart. This sends half of the deoxygenated blood directly to the lungs without going through the ventricle.

Fontan Operation

This is the third stage, usually performed about 18 to 36 months after the Glenn. It connects the inferior vena cava, the blood vessel that drains deoxygenated blood from the lower part of the body into the heart, to the pulmonary artery by creating a channel through or just outside the heart to direct blood to the pulmonary artery. At this stage, all deoxygenated blood flows passively through the lungs.

The heart transplant is another option for infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. However, suitable donor hearts for babies are often in short supply.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome sufferers will require life-long cardiac care as well as medication. They also will be more prone to heart valve infections, called endocarditis, and will need to take antibiotics before surgery or dental treatment.

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The Difference Between A Heart Attack, Stroke And Cardiac Arrest

This May Save Your Life: The Difference Between A Heart Attack, Stroke, And Cardiac Arrest

Although rare, there may come a time in your life when you experience a life-threatening event. The more you know about what is happening to your body the better chance you have of saving yourself and knowing when to put yourself into the hands of a medical team. This article defines three major life-threatening events, gives you their symptoms and suggests what to do in each situation. According to research, “Cardiovascular disease is the leading global cause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030.” Death by a stroke is also high on the list of leading causes of death. With a little knowledge, you can greatly increase your chances of survival.

Definitions

Heart attack: a heart attack is an abrupt and sometimes fatal incidence of coronary thrombosis, the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart that restricts blood flow, typically resulting in the death of part of a heart muscle.

Stroke

• a stroke happens when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or severely reduced, which deprives the brain tissue of essential oxygen and nutrients. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die.
• Cardiac arrest
• cardiac arrest is a sudden cessation of the function of the heart. Unlike a heart attack, cardiac arrest involves the whole heart.

Symptoms and First Aid

Heart Attack

According to the Harvard Health Publications of Harvard Medical School, symptoms of a heart attack may include:

• Pain, burning sensation, tightening and/or pressure in the chest
• Hot flash or a cold sweat
• Dizziness
• Sudden weakness or pain in one or both of the arms
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 Bodily Signs A Heart Attack Is Near

When it comes to first aid, Harvard Health Publications advise that if you experience one or more of the above symptoms call 911. An emergency medical technician will rush you to a hospital in an ambulance full of life-saving equipment that can keep you stable if your heart is in trouble.

Stroke

Symptoms may include:

• Trouble walking
• Trouble with speech
• Difficulty understanding
• Vision trouble
• Sudden, severe headache
• Paralysis or a numb feeling in the legs, arms or face, especially on one side of the body.
• Vomiting

The Mayo Clinic instructs that you seek immediate medical attention if you notice any symptoms of a stroke. They also say to utilize the acronym “FAST” and do the following:

Arms: when you raise both of your arms, do both arms rise up or do one struggle?

Speech: when you try to talk, is your speech slurred or strange?

Time: “If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately.”

Cardiac Arrest

Usually, there are no signs of cardiac arrest. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, some symptoms may precede cardiac arrests, such as fainting, blackouts, chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, dizziness, heart palpitations or vomiting.

RELATED ARTICLE: Understanding Coronary Heart Disease

If you experience any of the above symptoms, call 911 immediately. Performing CPR or using a defibrillator is the only way to keep the heart pumping blood to crucial organs of the body.

A heart attack, stroke or cardiac arrest can be deadly, but there are symptoms that can precede them, and with a little knowledge of what the symptoms are and confidence in yourself, you can know when it is time to be safe, not sorry.

In conclusion, heart attack, stroke and cardiac arrest may be top killers, but with advances in medical technology and knowledge, you lower their ability to make you a statistic.

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Teens are getting less sleep, which raises heart disease risk

Teens are getting less sleep these days — and it could make them more likely to have heart disease as adults.

Over the past 20 years, the amount of sleep that teens get has dropped significantly. Only about half of them regularly get more than seven hours of sleep, with older teens sleeping less than younger ones — which, given that the recommended amount is eight to 10 hours, is bad news.

This is bad news for all sorts of reasons. Our bodies need sleep. When we get less sleep, not only are we cranky, we are less able to learn new information, our reaction times are longer, we may have behavioral changes or mental khttps://heartcongress.pulsusconference.com/

 problems — and it affects our health.

In a study just published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers looked at the sleeping habits of 829 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16, with a mean age of 13. They found that a third of them slept less than seven hours every night, and nearly half of them were fully asleep for less than 85% of that nightly sleep time.

But here’s where it gets worrisome. The researchers found that those who got less sleep were more likely to have a high “metabolic risk score.” They were more likely to have belly fat, high blood pressure, and abnormal blood lipids, as well as insulin resistance, something that increases the risk of diabetes.

So not only are sleep-deprived teens more likely to do poorly in school, be depressed, and get into car crashes, they are also more likely to have heart disease when they are adults.

While homework, other activities, and early school start times certainly contribute to teens getting less sleep, the biggest culprit seems to be electronic devices. The blue light emitted from them can wake up the brain, making it harder to fall asleep (the “Night Shift” setting on the phones does not entirely take care of this problem) — but more commonly, teens simply stay up late using them.

This demands action. We can’t just sit back and say that “teens will be teens” when it comes to sleep — not when their future health is at risk.

Here’s what parents can do:
Make a rule that electronic devices get turned off an hour before their teen needs to fall asleep (meaning eight to 10 hours before they need to wake up). It’s best if they are charged outside the bedroom so that there is no temptation to respond to alerts. A second choice is to have phones on “Do Not Disturb,” which quiets all alerts except alarms (although buying an alarm clock is a viable alternative that many people forget about these days).
Enforce this rule.

Prioritize sleep. Sit with your teen and look at how their time is spent, and map out the day so that they can get to bed on time. If their homework and other activities make it impossible to get at least eight hours of sleep, then something needs to give. Physical and mental health needs to be more important than whatever it is they are doing instead of sleeping.
Support community efforts to have later high school start times. Teens are biologically wired to fall asleep late and sleep late, and when we make them get up really early for school, we are only making everything worse.

We want our kids to have a good future. That’s why we talk to them about avoiding tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, about working hard in school and staying out of trouble. And it’s why we need to talk to them about sleep.

Reference: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/teens-are-getting-less-sleep-which-raises-heart-disease-risk-2018062614130

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Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) and Sudden Death

Nowadays, we hear the word heart attack very often around our neighbors. One of the major causes of sudden death is a heart attack, a.k.a. myocardial infarction.

The myocardium (heart muscle tissue) supplies blood and it's where the pressure generated by the heart is greatest. The blood vessel that carries blood under pressure from the heart to the rest of the body is called the artery.

When cholesterol deposits (plaques) form on the inner surfaces of the arteries, it will obstruct the blood flow when the blood clots on the roughened plaques. This condition of the artery is called atherosclerosis and myocardial blockage may cause a heart attack. In addition, myocardial blockage mortality rate is high and even presently, 10-30% of sufferers have died.

When you're suffering from heart problems, it is preferable to perform a Coronary catheterization (crown artery diagnosis) to prevent myocardial blockage from occurring. The possibility of remedy with medicine could be applied in this inspection.

The above statements are commonly known and most doctors advise you not to take fatty foods and take more rest to avoid accumulating cholesterol in the blood. However, our medical studies and my new theory add another important fact to the above statements. What is it?

According to our studies, spasm or convulsion along the blood vessels surrounding the heart are often the cause of heart failures due to stress and fatigue.

Most patients who experienced this phenomenon complained of a toothache, stomachache, shoulder pain, back pain, stiff neck, and ringing in the ears, rather than anything in the heart. Why do I say this? It's because blood tests done by those patients found that their cholesterol contents were normal.

Further studies found that those patients were among white-collar workers rather than blue-collar workers in Japan.

Also, have you ever heard a symptom called "Economy Class Syndrome"? It is medically termed Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and I can tell you that most heart problems we encounter were not due to high cholesterol but to this economy class syndrome. It is more dangerous than any other heart attack.

Your family doctors tell you to avoid fatty foods and eat more vegetable which has fiber contents to reduce cholesterol and prevent high blood pressure. Because of the doctor's advice, entire families were in good condition with low contents of cholesterol in the blood. But suddenly, one collapsed due to a heart attack. Another one was also collapsed and unfortunately died. Both of these incidents showed that their cholesterol contents in the blood were normal. What was wrong with them despite efforts following advises of their doctors? This is what we call Economy Class Syndrome.

During periods of extended inactivity in cramped conditions such as a long plane flight or even a long car ride, normal blood circulation can be restricted. This can cause leg fatigue and discomfort and may contribute to the serious problem of Economy Class Syndrome or DVT. The activity of the calf muscles is needed to contract veins and propel blood from the legs back to the heart. Without this activity, blood can pool in the veins of the leg and form DVT, a blood clot in the legs. The problem may not be obvious until a traveler arrives and begins a normal activity. That's when the clot can dislodge and migrate to the lungs where it can cause a pulmonary embolism, a dangerous and often deadly condition.

How to avoid or escape from such unfortunate incidents? Adequate hydration (drink a considerable amount of water) is necessary. As you have learned during school days, the human body is made up of 60% water. Our body will lose some amounts of water when we stay on the airplane or train for a long period of time. Therefore, blood becomes thick and may cause a blockage. At least half a cup to one cup of water every one hour should be taken diligently as the way of preventing it. Prevent drinking alcohol, even though it's a liquid, it will have an adverse effect since it is diuretic. As a supplement, Vitamin C (500mg or more) is effective for anti-blood oxidization.

Apart from the above preventive measure, moving or massaging your calves, rotating your ankles, or doing rock scissors paper with your toes, are some simple exercises to release the pressure.

    

Our observations and researches show that economy class syndrome or unknown reason of heart attack are more often happening to white-collar workers than to blue-collar workers. This is very obvious that daily exercise is important for us. From today, you may be free from the heart attack.

Unfortunately, PYRO-ENERGEN can do nothing for this kind of heart attack.

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Guess what? Dark chocolate is good for your heart!

A scientific study has found that eating dark chocolate may ward off atherosclerosis by making arteries more elastic and preventing white blood vessels from sticking to their walls.

New research suggests that consumption of dark chocolate lowers the augmentation index, a key vascular health predictor, and reduces adhesion of white blood cells to the vessel wall.

Dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to arteries while also preventing white blood cells from sticking to the walls of blood vessels, researchers have found.

Both arterial stiffness and white blood cell adhesion are known factors that play a significant role in atherosclerosis.

Scientists also found that increasing the flavanol content of dark chocolate did not change this effect.

"We provide a more complete picture of the impact of chocolate consumption in vascular health and show that increasing flavanol content has no added beneficial effect on vascular health," says Diederik Esser from the Top Institute Food and Nutrition and Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

"However, this increased flavanol content clearly affected taste and thereby the motivation to eat these chocolates. So the dark side of chocolate is a healthy one," adds Esser.

Esser and colleagues analyzed 44 middle-aged overweight men over two periods of four weeks as they consumed 70 grams of chocolate per day.

Study participants received either specially produced dark chocolate with high flavanol content or chocolate that was regularly produced.

Both chocolates had a similar cocoa mass content.

During the study, participants were advised to refrain from certain energy dense food products to prevent weight gain.

Scientists also evaluated the sensory properties of the high flavanol chocolate and the regular chocolate and collected the motivation scores of the participants to eat these chocolates during the intervention.

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Heart Congress 2018

#HeartCongress2018 #heart #cardiac #cardiovascular |2nd Global Heart Congress|November 21-22, 2018|Osaka, @japan | #Speakers #abstracts #Registration|

This year Heart Congress 2018 will comprises of 18 major sessions designed to offer comprehensive sessions that address Current issues in the various field of Cardiology. The attendees can find-

Exclusive Sessions and Panel discussions on latest innovations in Cardiology and Heart Incidental Diseases and Procedures.

Poster presentation on all the highlighted topics of the conferences by the young researchers.

• Keynote forums by Prominent Professors, Doctors
• Open Innovation Challenges
• Discussion of the new techniques and medicines in the field of Cardiology and Related Topics.
• Best platform for Global business and Networking opportunities
• Meeting of the editors of refereed journals, Society and Association members across the Globe
• Excellent platform to showcase and share the latest products and formulation ideas in the Cardiac field.

Registration link: https://heartcongress.pulsusconference.com/registration
Conference Link: https://heartcongress.pulsusconference.com/

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How to Stop Heart Palpitations

Heart palpitations. Don’t these two words make you shudder with anxiety?

Well, maybe the words don’t, but the sensations caused by heart palpitations certainly do scare people.

In fact, it’s the main topic of emails that I get from people who contact me with questions.

And given that this anxiety symptom is so common among anxiety sufferers, I thought it would be helpful to do a “how to” article on palpitations.

First, a few basics. A heart palpitation is an abnormal beating of the heart AND your heightened awareness of your heartbeat. Palpitations can cause your heart to beat fast (tachycardia), slow (bradycardia), flutter, or to even have ‘skipped’ heartbeats (PVCs).

Heart palpitations can be caused by electrolyte imbalances, adrenaline, anemia, heart disease, arrhythmias, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and of course, anxiety disorders. There are more causes, but the ones listed are common.

Now, because heart disease could be involved, it’s always a good idea to see your doctor if you’re experiencing new or ongoing heart palpitations.

No need for fear, this is mainly a precaution to safeguard your health and your sanity. When you go to your doctor he/she will run an ECG and take some blood. If the results come back negative, then you can start your efforts to stop your heart palpitations without having to worry about having a heart attack.

How Palpitations Work

When related to anxiety, heart palpitations are triggered by the fight or flight response. If you’ve had problems with anxiety for any length of time then I highly recommend that you get acquainted with this term.

This is because the fight or flight response is the source of much of your misery, and a detailed understanding of it can help you to reduce stress. Because with knowledge comes less guess-work, more facts, and less anxiety.

So then, the fight or flight response is essentially your sympathetic nervous system gone wild. When you become scared, nervous, and worried, your brain will trigger a fear response, which, in turn, causes your body to undergo a few changes, like:

Palpitations

Cold/Hot flashes

Dilated pupils

Urge to urinate

Diarrhea

Tunnel vision

Muscle tension

It’s also important to point out that palpitations are almost always accompanied by anxiety and panic.

Part of what also happens when the fight or flight response is triggered is that the brain signals the body to release stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, in preparation for violent action. But, in your case, there is no action to be taken.

The adrenaline and cortisol however still get injected into your bloodstream, where it acts on the nerves of the heart and causes palpitations. So, in most cases, it’s adrenaline causing all the havoc but, there could also be other causes.

One such cause is an electrolyte imbalance. Electrolytes are electrically charged ions. They include elements like sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, sulfate, phosphate, bicarbonate, and magnesium.

These elements are important in maintaining proper voltage levels in the body and are also critical to muscle function. The heart, as we all know, is a big muscle. If these electrolytes become imbalanced then palpitations can occur.

This is because electricity and contraction are what makes your heart beat and keep a rhythm. If there is a disruption in the electrical impulse or the contraction of your heart muscle, then you get things like a fast, slow, or weak heartbeats.

How to Stop Heart Palpitations

There are several ways to stop palpitations. If you’ve been cleared of heart disease by your doctor the following techniques can be effective.

1. Balancing electrolytes: When it comes to matters of the heart, the four most important electrolytes are potassium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium. If any of these electrolytes become too high or too low then palpitations may result.

A simple blood or urine test will tell your doctor if this is the case. If you have excessive/deficient levels of electrolytes then you can speak with your doctor about how to bring them back into balance.

In general, this would mean taking supplemental vitamins or increasing/decreasing the consumption of certain foods.

List of foods rich in the four major electrolytes include:

Potassium – See the full list here.

Bananas

Apples

Milk

Orange Juice

Potatoes

Raisins

Wheat bread

Calcium – See the full list here.

Dairy Products

Almonds

Beans

Tofu

humus

Vegetables

Fruits

Oatmeal

Sodium – See the full list here.

Meats

Dairy products

Frozen foods

Snack foods

Canned food

Spices

Magnesium – See the full list here.

Nuts

Cooked soybeans

Peanut butter

Yogurt

Milk

2. Diet: Diet is an important part of any anti-palpitation strategy. Here are a few more examples.

Foods that you want to eat more often would include:

Grapes

Guava

Honey

Fresh fruit and Vegetables

Whole wheat foods

Foods and activities that you should try to avoid include:

Foods that contain caffeine like chocolate, soft drinks, etc.

Sugar

Alcohol

Smoking

3. Hydration: Water is a fundamental part of what you are. If you don’t drink enough water then even mild dehydration can create palpitations. You don’t need to go overboard and start walking around with a gallon of water, either. Many of the foods you eat already have water in them, but it’s still a good idea to drink about 5-8 8 oz cups per day.

4. Medication: You may also want to talk to your doctor about medications. Doctors will usually prescribe beta blockers, which block the effects of adrenaline on the body. This would be a good option after experiencing palpitations for a prolonged period of time.

5. Valsalva Maneuver: This technique can be used to stop a fast heartbeat. First, pinch your nose and close your mouth. Next, breath out forcibly. The idea is to strain as if you were trying to defecate while holding your breath. This will cause a quick spike in heart rate, followed by a slowing of the heart rate. If you have heart disease or are advanced in age, please do not try this maneuver.

6. Coughing: Coughing vigorously causes pressure to build in your chest, which “squeezes” your heart back into a normal rhythm. This is not a preventative measure, so do it when you’re actually having a palpitation.

7. Cold Water: Splash cold water on your face. This technique works well for palpitations and panic attacks. The idea behind this is that the cold water shocks your nervous system back to normal. The water should be as cold as possible.

8. Relax: Palpitations can strike at any time, even while you sleep. As a result, they tend to startle you and make you feel as if you’re going to die at any moment.

This is why it’s important to not rush around in a panic, thereby adding stress to your racing heart. It’s best to have a seat, breath deeply from your stomach, and chill out for a moment.

9. Exercise: Exercise might sound like the opposite of what you want to do when you know that palpitations can occur. But after a good workout, your blood pressure and heart rate will generally decrease.

This is why it’s not unusual for highly conditioned athletes – like Lance Armstrong – to have very low resting heart rates. A normal resting heart rate is between 70-80 beats per minute. People that have conditioned bodies, on the other hand, can get their heart rates down in the 50’s or lower.

Let’s not forget that the heart is a muscle, and if it is worked, it will get stronger and more efficient and what it does. So despite the apparent contradiction, exercise is a great way to cope with palpitations absent any heart disease.

Caution: If your palpitations are accompanied by dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain or shortness of breath, then it could be something more serious. The unfortunate reality is that panic attacks and intense anxiety can mimic symptoms of a heart attack.

One of the tell-tale signs of something serious is severity and duration. If you have chest pain or the like continuously for more than a few minutes, and if the pain is severe, you likely have a problem. Always err on the side of caution though and get checked out if you’re just not sure.

If, on the other hand, you’ve already been screened for heart disease and nothing was found, wait. Be patient and wait about ten minutes and the symptoms will usually die down on their own.

I know that heart palpitations can be frightening, but they are usually not dangerous. That’s why I encourage you to see your doctor if you haven’t already. Because once you’re cleared medically, you will have the confidence needed to cope with the fear tied to palpitations.

Understand that heart palpitations are a very normal part of having an anxiety disorder and stress in general. When they happen don’t over think things and start jumping to conclusions. Instead, try some of the techniques outlined above and try the best you can to not shock yourself with fear. I hope this helps.