Category Archives: Cardiovascular Health

Adding Sugar Increases Cardiovascular Events

February is National Heart Health Month. In honor of heart health, and Valentine’s Day, this post is about cardiovascular disease

In this study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014 researchers looked at the effect of added sugar in the American diet and its relationship to cardiovascular disease. Participants who consumed 17-21% of calories from added sugar had a 38% higher risk of cardiovascular mortality, compared to those who only consumed 8% of calories from added sugar. For those who consumed 21% or more of calories from added sugar, the relative risk was doubled.

Much of the added sugar in the American diet is from soda, other sources include desserts, fruit juices and candy. Just one soda a day constitutes 7% of the total calories of a 2000 kcal/day diet.

The reason for increased cardiovascular risk with increasing sugar intake is probably due to several causes, such as obesity, increased blood pressure, worsening cholesterol, and higher inflammation in the body.

This is a robust study which looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) which is felt to be a nationally representative sample of US adults. It provides more solid evidence of the harms of sugar and simple carbs to cardiovascular health. Happy Valentine’s!

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”  Confucius

(Source- JAMA Internal Medicine, April 2014, Volume 174, Number 4)

Chocolate May Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke

February is National Heart Health Month. In recognition of heart health, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, this post is about research on chocolate, specifically chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

For this study, researchers from the United Kingdom (UK) enrolled a group of nearly 21,000 healthy men and women. The participants chocolate consumption was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. This group was followed for over 11 years, with the clinical outcomes of interest heart attacks, stoke, and angina monitored during this period.

The researchers found that higher chocolate consumption was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of angina, heart attack, and stroke.

Interestingly, the chocolate consumed in the UK is generally of the high fat and sugar variety, not dark chocolate. In general it is felt that dark chocolate offers more benefits than milk chocolate.

So on Valentine’s Day enjoy some chocolate with those you love. You might want to make it dark chocolate to get the best heart benefits. Happy Valentine’s!  

(Source- Heart 2015)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

Let’s Help Prevent Diabetes in Women-Just Say No to Soda for 2018 Part 3

On Wear Red Day 2018, we will review a recently published study that examined the relationship between beverages, both artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened, and subsequent development of diabetes, in a group of menopausal women. This is our third recent post regarding the ill effects of drinking soda.

The research group examined data from the Women’s Health Initiative, a massive study of more than 90,000 women spread out at over 40 clinical centers throughout the US. Nearly 65,000 women were eventually part of this prospective observational study, with over 8 years of follow-up on average.

Participants were queried about their intake of artificially sweetened beverages, sugar-sweetened beverages, and plain water, via questionnaires. Subjects were assessed for diabetes at enrollment, and at annual follow-up.

Even when researchers controlled for other risk factors such as body mass index or total energy intake, their analysis showed both artificially sweetened beverages and sugar-sweetened beverages were associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes, in this group of post-menopausal women.

Both artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages showed a dose-dependent increase risk of diabetes. The more soda one drank, the higher the risk of developing diabetes.

One of the most interesting “take-home messages” from this study was that while the risk of developing diabetes was a bit lower in the artificially sweetened group, compared to the sugar-sweetened group, there still was an increased risk. This casts doubt over whether or not artificially sweetened beverages are a safer alternative to the sugar-sweetened ones. Both should be avoided.

Data from the American Heart association show that adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease than those without diabetes. In addition, of those 65 and older with diabetes, 68% will die from some sort of heart disease. So on Wear Red Day 2018 let’s take a step in avoiding diabetes and heart disease by eliminating or avoiding entirely soda, both the artificially and sugar-sweetened varieties.

(Source- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2017; 106)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Just Say No to Soda for 2018- Part I

As 2018 begins a common inquiry from patients at the start of a new year is what can be done to improve health going forward. Often these questions fall into discussion about proper diet or exercise regimens, or some combination of these. The onset of a new calendar year gives us another opportunity to reflect on what we can do to improve our overall health status.

One area of diet that offers a fairly simple and painless way to better health is to limit or eliminate soda (aka soft drinks), both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened.

A study from 2016 supports the limiting of sodas. Korean researchers looked at the association of both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages with the risk of development of hypertension. The research group identified six studies, with over 246,000 participants, for their analysis of sugar-sweetened beverages and hypertension. For artificially sweetened beverages and hypertension, a total of 4 studies involving over 227,000 subjects were identified. Most of the studies were conducted in the US, while one was conducted in Spain. Most of the studies included were considered to be of “high quality”.

The age at initiation into the study ranged from 18 to 84 years, while the duration of follow-up ranged from 4 to 38 years. Both men and women were included. Food frequency questionnaires were used for dietary assessments.

What the researchers found was a positive association between both sugar-sweetened beverages and hypertension, and artificially sweetened beverages and hypertension as well. More telling, when the lowest intake groups for sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially sweetened beverages were compared to the highest intake groups, it was found that each additional serving of sugar-sweetened beverage per day was associated with an 8% increased risk of hypertension, while each additional serving of an artificially sweetened beverage per day was associated with a 9% increased risk of hypertension. When researchers analyzed the groups based on gender, body mass index, and duration of follow-up period these positive associations continued to hold.

Recent figures indicate Americans consume an average of nearly 500 cans of soda each year. The US is second only to Argentina in per capita soda consumption. 500 cans of soda per year is a staggering total. Cutting back or going soda-free may be a great first step in making 2018 a healthier year for you.

(Source- Archives of Cardiovascular Disease (2016) 109)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create an physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Walnut Oil Lowers Cholesterol in Diabetics

May 17th is National Walnut Day, and in recognition of this today’s post will review recently published research on walnut oil.

A group of researchers in Iran designed a study to examine the effects of walnut oil on lipids in a group of patients with Type 2 diabetes. Compared to other tree nuts such as almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and pecans, walnuts are particularly high in essential fatty acids, such as linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid. Because of favorable nutritional qualities such as this walnuts have been the subject of research in regards to potential health benefits. China is the largest producer of walnuts in the world, while the U.S. is the largest exporter of walnuts.

The researchers completed a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial, enrolling 45 diabetic patients in the walnut oil group, and another 45 patients in the placebo group. Those in the walnut oil group ingested four capsules of walnut oil three times each day. Those in the placebo group ingested similar capsules which contained simply water.

Labs were drawn at the start of the study and again at the conclusion after three months. The primary outcome measure was change in total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL (“bad cholesterol”) and HDL (“good cholesterol”).

After 90 days researchers found that the participants in the walnut oil group had a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL. There was also a trend towards higher HDL. The walnut oil preparation was well tolerated, with no significant side effects. 

Walnuts may be part of a low-risk diet strategy for primary prevention in a high risk population of diabetic patients.

 (Source- Nutrition&Diabetes (2017) 7, 259)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

More Health Benefits of Tea

April 21st is designated National Tea Day in the UK, and in recognition of this our posts today will address some of the possible health benefits of tea.

Tea is derived from the leaves and buds of the evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis. It is the most widely consumed drink in the world, other than water.

Chinese researchers recently published results of a meta-analysis of several prospective cohort studies, examining the relationship between tea consumption and mortality of all cancers, as well as tea consumption and cardiovascular disease.

The researchers identified 62 published articles, and then narrowed this down to 18 studies. These studies involved thousands of subjects, with a follow-up period ranging from 3 to 28 years. The studies encompassed both black and green tea.

A dose-response analysis was performed which showed that a one cup unit of green tea per day was associated with a 5% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, while a one cup per day increment of black tea was associated with a 8% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality.

The inverse association between green tea consumption and cardiovascular mortality was more apparent in women than men. The reason for this is not clear.

In looking at tea consumption and all-cause mortality the dose-response analysis showed that a one cup per day increment of black tea was associated with a 3% lower risk of all-cause mortality, whereas a one cup per day unit of green tea consumption was associated with a 4% lower risk of all-cause mortality.

Given these possible health benefits of both black and green tea, let’s have a cup in honor of National Tea Day!

 

(Source- British Journal of Nutrition, 2015, 114)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Black Cumin Helps With Symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome

blackcumin1

Today’s post is about metabolic syndrome and lipids, another in our series of blogs for Cholesterol Education Month.

Black cumin (Nigella Sativa) is an annual flowering plant found in southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa. The black cumin seeds have long been used as a spice in both Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Written references to black cumin appear in ancient texts, and the Book of Isaiah (28: 25,27) references cumin seeds. Modern research has focused on the pharmacologic properties of black cumin.

A group of researchers in Pakistan recently performed an interesting study in which they looked at black cumin to treat the symptoms of metabolic syndrome (also known as insulin resistance). There are five metabolic risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome, these include large waistline, high triglyceride level, low HDL (“good cholesterol”), high blood pressure, and high fasting blood sugar. Having at least three of these five symptoms is considered to be a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. Recent data estimates from 2011-2012 show that 35% of all U.S. adults and 50% of those 60 years and older meet the criteria of metabolic syndrome. As metabolic syndrome is very often a precursor to diabetes this is a national health issue of first order.

The researchers enrolled 159 subjects into the study, of which there was a black cumin supplemented group, and a non-supplemented group. All subjects were recently diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, and the study included both men and women, ages 25-65 years.  All subjects were on a standard treatment regimen for metabolic syndrome, including pharmaceutical medicines such as atenolol, clopidogrel, enalapril, metformin, and simvastatin. In addition the black cumin group took Nigella seeds in a capsule form 250 mg twice daily. The study ran for six weeks.

Several clinical parameters of metabolic syndrome were measured, both at the start of the study and then again at conclusion. These included body mass index (BMI), circumference of the abdomen and hip, body weight, waist-hip ratio, blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL (“bad cholesterol”), triglycerides, and HDL.

At the conclusion of the six-week trial the clinical parameters were again measured. There were improvements in all parameters, both in the standard treatment group as well as in the black cumin supplemented group, as one would expect. In addition, in the black cumin seed group, there was a statistically significant improvement in fasting blood sugar, LDL and HDL, over the standard treatment (non black cumin seed supplemented) group. To see a statistically significant improvement in just six weeks is profound.

Metabolic syndrome is a serious health issue, not only in the U.S., but world-wide. Proper diet and exercise are a mainstay of treatment, as well as medications. Part of the solution may well be use of ancient or traditional foods, such as black cumin.

(Source- African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 11948), June 2012).

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Pantothenic Acid Helps Lower Cholesterol

vitaminB

September is designated as Cholesterol Education Month. Several of our blogs this month will address issues related to cholesterol.

Pantothenic acid, also known as vitamin B5, is an essential nutrient and water-soluble vitamin. Pantothenic acid is found in many foods, including meats, nuts, whole grains and vegetables such as avocados and broccoli. Pantothenic acid is converted in the body into a related compound called pantethine, which is more biologically active.

A recent study by a multi-national research team looked at using pantethine in a group of subjects who were considered low to moderate risk for cardiovascular disease. This group would ordinarily be considered candidates for statin medications to lower their cholesterol.

This was a randomized placebo controlled trial. Both the placebo group and the pantethine treatment group started the study with four weeks of dietary therapies. After four weeks, patients were placed at random into either a placebo group or a pantethine treated group. Labs were checked at the start of the study, then at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, and finally at week 16, at which time the study was concluded.

Participants in the pantethine group received 600 mg/day from week 1 through week 8, and then 900 mg/day from week 9 to week 16. Subjects received the pantethine in the form of a pharmaceutical grade proprietary product.

At conclusion, the participants who received pantethine had a 6% decrease in total cholesterol and a 11% drop in LDL, compared to baseline levels. In addition, hs-crp an inflammatory marker dropped over the 16 week study period. In general, there were few significant side effects with the pantethine therapy.

This study demonstrates that the commonly available substance pantethine present in a variety of food sources or as by supplement such as used in this study was helpful in lowering cholesterol and appears to be well tolerated.

(Source- Vascular Health and Risk Management 2014:10)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Run For Your Life

Running1

As the Rio Olympics wind down, track and field events have entered center stage. Therefore today’s post will look at the relationship between running and cardiovascular risk.

Research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology shows the health benefits of running, even at slow speeds and at short distances, on cardiovascular health and mortality.

The study looked at over 55,000 adults, both men and women, ages 18 to 100 years, with an average age of 44 years. The amount of exercise in the study group was assessed by a medical history questionnaire, with a mean follow-up period of 15 years.

Runners were found to have lower risk of mortality including cardiovascular mortality compared to non-runners. Runners had 30% lower risk for all-cause mortality, and 45% lower risk for cardiovascular mortality.

Interestingly, even modest amounts of running such as 5-10 minutes/day and at slow speeds (greater than 10 minutes/mile) yielded significant mortality benefits. Not surprisingly, for those runners who were persistent in their efforts there was a stronger association with reduced mortality.

Given these health benefits, perhaps you may consider adding some running or jogging to your exercise routine.

Source- Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 64, No. 5, 2014)

“Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think of what it might be. In running the mind flees with the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.”          Joyce Carol Oates

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

You Have Time To Exercise

cycling1

Every four years the Olympics inspire not only a new generation of athletes to pursue their Olympic dreams, but also gives encouragement to the less physically active to incorporate some exercise into the daily schedule. Unfortunately already overloaded schedules and time commitments end up causing many if not most to quit the new exercise or activity, or even discourages them from starting in the first place.

Can you spare 30 minutes a week for exercise? This is 30 minutes per week total, broken up into ten minute sessions, three times each week? Even the busiest of us can probably find 30 minutes in the course of a week to commit to exercise.

Researchers from McMaster University in Canada enrolled sedentary men ages 19-37 and placed them into one of three different groups- a sprint interval training (SIT) group, a moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) group, and a control group.

The training protocols were straightforward. The sprint interval training protocol involved a two-minute warm-up on the stationary exercise bike, followed by three “all out” cycling efforts of twenty seconds each, separated by two minutes of low intensity cycling, and finally a two-minute cool-down, for a total of ten minutes. This was done three times each week.

The moderate intensity continuous training protocol consisted of a two-minute warm-up on the exercise bike, followed by 45 minutes of continuous cycling at 70% of maximum heart rate, and finally a three-minute cool-down, for a total of 50 minutes. This was also done three times each week.

A 12 week training program then followed. Researchers measured plasma glucose and insulin, and performed muscle analysis, among other measures.

What the researchers discovered was profound- the sprint interval training group (aka the 30 minute per week group) had comparable improvements in cardiopulmonary fitness, insulin sensitivity, and skeletal muscle mitochondrial content to the moderate intensity continuous training group (aka the 150 minute per week group) over the 12 week training program.

Another way to consider this is that the sprint interval group, with only 1/5 of the time commitment of the moderate intensity group, had equal cardiometabolic benefits.

McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario is one of the leading centers of research in High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This recent paper adds to the growing body of research on this topic.

So you can you spare 30 minutes a week?

 

(Source- PLOS ONE, April 26, 2016)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone, Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.