Can a lack of sleep, – or insomnia as it is commonly known, cause premature death amongst males? Well, apparently we’re all supposed to be having between seven and eight hours of sleep per night. This is the golden quantity of sleep that is supposed to assure our health and well-being. Now, one of the [...]
// If you’re male, unfit and are working long hours regularly at the Office, then listen up, because this article is for you! The United Kingdom suffers from the unenviable statistic of having one of the highest heart attack rates per capita in the world – with someone somewhere suffering from one every two minutes, [...]
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol strongly predict cardiovascular death among both persons with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease as per a newly released study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM)........ A study in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP suggests that regularly sleeping for more or less than seven hours per day is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Results show that eight percent of the study population reported sleeping five hours per day or less including naps, and multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that their risk of any cardiovascular disease was more than two times higher than that of people who reported a daily sleep duration of seven hours (adjusted odds ratio = 2.20). Nine percent of participants reported sleeping nine hours or more per day, and they also had an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (adjusted OR = 1.57). Results were adjusted for potential confounders such as age, sex, race, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, physical activity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression........ Lower outdoor temperatures are associated with an increase in the risk of heart attacks, as per a newly released study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). For the study (reported in the British Medical Journal and released online today at bmj.com), the researcher, led by Krishnan Bhaskaran of LSHTM observed that each 1 degree C reduction in temperature on a single day is linked to around 200 extra heart attacks........ The occurence rate of acute myocardial infarction in Italy sharply increased, especially among young women, between the years 2001 and 2005, as per a comprehensive study funded by the Human Health Foundation (HHF), a nonprofit Italian charity for biomedical research and health education in Spoleto, Italy. The results were published in Aging Clinical Experimental Research....... Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified key players in a little-known biochemical pathway that appears to regulate blood pressure. The findings, published in the early online version of Cardiovascular Research, have evolved from studies conducted by Jeffrey S. Isenberg, M.D., Eileen M. Bauer, Ph.D., and their colleagues at Pitt's Vascular Medicine Institute........ A simple new rule can help primary care physicians rule out coronary heart disease in patients with chest pain, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100212.pdf. Chest pain is common, yet it is challenging for primary care physicians to reliably identify serious cardiac disease while protecting patients from unnecessary interventions........ Chaos models may someday help model cardiac arrhythmias -- abnormal electrical rhythms of the heart, say scientists in the journal CHAOS, which is published by the American Institute of Physics. In recent years, medical research has drawn more attention to chaos in cardiac dynamics. Eventhough chaos marks the disorder of a dynamical system, locating the origin of chaos and watching it develop might allow scientists to predict, and maybe even counteract, certain outcomes........ Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients face a two hundred percent increased risk of suffering a Myocardial Infarction (MI, heart attack) versus the general population, which is comparable to the increased risk of MI seen in diabetes patients, as per results of a newly released study presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy........ Obese people without metabolic risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, such as hypertension and cholesterol, do not have the elevated cardiovascular risk typical of obesity, but they represent only a small percentage of the obese population, as per a long-term study. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego........ A study of twins shows that even with genes that put them at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, eating a Mediterranean-style diet can improve heart function, as per research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. Using data from the Emory Twins Heart Study, scientists observed that men eating a Mediterranean-style diet had greater heart rate variability (HRV) than those eating a Western-type diet. Heart rate variability refers to variation in the time interval between heart beats during everyday life - reduced HRV is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and sudden death........ Athletes have been enjoying the benefits of creatine supplements to gain stronger muscles since the 1990s, and the supplement has also proven beneficial among other groups. Could it help cardiac patients regain strength to help with their heart-training workouts as part of rehabilitation? The evidence at this stage suggests not - exercise alone proved a far more powerful tonic for patients in a study out today. The results appear in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, published by SAGE........ University Hospitals Case Medical Center heart specialists have uncovered new research showing an increased risk of cancer with a group of blood pressure medications known as angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs). This class of drugs is used by millions of patients not only for hypertension but also for heart failure, cardiovascular risk reduction and diabetic kidney disease........