Heart Disease News, Articles & Information

A study published this month in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine has found that high doses of vitamin C may reduce an individuals LDL cholesterol levels and subsequently lower their heart disease risk.

The research, conducted by Marc McRae of the National University of Health Sciences in Illinois, involved the analysis of results from 13 trials on the effects of vitamin C on cholesterol levels. The minimum dosage of vitamin C taken across the studies was 500mg/day for a period of between 3 and 24 weeks.

Women with an under-active thyroid, known as hypothyroidism, are at a greater risk of heart disease according to a recent study published in the April 28 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. The results of the study indicated that even women with low but clinically normal thyroid function are at an increased risk of heart disease.

The study, conducted by Norwegian researchers involved the study of around 25,000 people from Norway who were initially free of heart disease, diabetes, and thyroid problems.

Several studies indicate that brisk walking may be just as good for your heart as more vigorous exercise such as jogging, running, or swimming.

One of the largest studies on the effects of exercise on heart disease prevention was published in The New England Journal of Medicine in August of 1999. The study consisted of 72,488 females from the Nurses Health Study (NHS). The participants were 40 to 65 at the beginning of the study in 1986. The study continued for eight years during which 645 coronary events (475 deaths from heart attacks and 170 from other coronary heart disease) were observed.

Most scientific studies have found a small but significant inverse relationship between height and the risk of coronary heart disease that persists even after adjusting for other heart disease risk factors. Studies have typically found that a 1cm increase in height is associated with around a 2% decrease in the risk of heart disease.

One of the largest studies on the relationship between heart disease and height was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1995.

Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in cardiovascular health. The chemical is produced in the inner lining of the blood vessels (the endothelium). Numerous enzymes in the endothelium play a role in converting the amino acid arginine and oxygen into nitric oxide through a series of intermediate steps.

Nitric oxide signals the smooth muscle in the blood vessels to relax which improves blood flow throughout the body. Nitric oxide has beneficial effects on many heart disease risk factors.

Individuals who consume high fiber diets have as much as a 30% reduced risk of heart disease and other forms of cardiovascular disease according to recent evidence.

One study, published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine in February 2004, looked at data from 10 previous studies in order to determine the effects of dietary fiber intake on the risk of heart disease.

Women with a normal body mass index (BMI) but a waist size greater than 88 cm (35 inches) have three times the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than women with a waist size less than 88 cm according to a recent study published in the journal Circulation.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard Medical School in Boston analyzed 44,636 women who were part of of the Nurses Health Study. At the beginning of the study in 1976, the average age of the women was 50. The participants were followed up every two years for the duration of the 16 year study.

Vitamin D deficiency may be associated with more than a two-fold increase in coronary heart disease risk according to a recent study funded by the American Heart Association.

The researchers looked at data from 1,739 offspring of the Framingham Heart Study with an average age of 59 years. The participants had their blood levels of Vitamin D recorded in 1996, as well as their blood pressures, current smoking habits, diabetes status, cholesterol levels, and physical activity levels.

While most people know that cigarette smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer cancer, what many people don’t know is that smoking causes many more premature deaths due to coronary heart disease than lung cancer. It is estimated that 20% of all deaths from heart disease are attributable to cigarette smoking.

Smoking has many effects on the body that lead to increased coronary heart disease risk. First, toxic substances in cigarettes such as carbon-monoxide, nicotine, and aromatic hydrocarbons lead to

A new study published in the journal Internal Medicine by researchers at the University of Northern Carolina has found that young adults with metabolic syndrome, which is known to raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and strokes, were five to six times more likely to have had low aerobic fitness and physical activity levels as children.

The data from the study came from children aged 7-10 years who were part of the Cardiovascular Health in Children and Youth Study

High levels of LDL cholesterol and a high ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol are both considered to be strong risk factors for heart disease. Several studies have found that pectin, a complex carbohydrate found in many fruits, can lower LDL cholesterol levels and therefore reduce a persons risk of developing heart disease.

In 1987, a group of scientists at the University of Florida studied the effects of pectin on serum cholesterols in a group of 27 individuals who were at a moderate to high risk of heart disease.

According to several recent studies, a persons waist size may be a better indicator of heart disease risk than their body mass index (BMI).

Most doctors recommend individuals maintain a body mass index of between 18.5 and 25, however body mass index does not take into account a persons body composition. An athlete or body builder for example may carry little body fat and yet have a BMI of over 25.

Recent scientific evidence has shown that a persons emotional state can have a significant effect on their likelihood of developing coronary heart disease. Emotions from anger, hostility, stress and happiness all play a role in either reducing or increasing heart disease risk. Researchers believe that in individuals that have none of the traditional risk factors associated with heart disease, emotions may be responsible for up to half of all heart attacks.

Several studies have shown an association between baldness and an increased risk of heart disease. Furthermore, known heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure appear to interact strongly with the presence of baldness in men, further raising the probability of heart problems.

One of these studies, the Physicians Health Study, involved following 22,071 male doctors from the United States. Over half the respondents reported some hair loss by the age of 45 with a third reporting some degree of hair loss on the top of the head.

Homocysteine is an amino acid that is becoming an increasingly important risk factor for coronary heart disease and strokes. Homocysteine is believed to degrade and inhibit the formation of the major components of arteries - collagen, elastin & proteoglycans leading to increased rates of arterial decline and conditions such as atherosclerosis

Several studies have demonstrated the link between elevated homocysteine levels and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The Hordaland homocysteine study is a Norwegian study involving over 18,000 individuals.

Cholesterol is a lipid that can be both manufactured by the body and ingested in food. It should be noted that dietary cholesterol is not the same as cholesterol found in the blood (serum cholesterol) and that dietary intake of cholesterol actually has little impact on blood cholesterol levels.

Are high levels of cholesterol in the blood harmful? In short, yes, a number of studies have found a correlation between coronary heart disease and high levels of serum cholesterol.

The above table shows the combined results of three finish studies from 1972, 1977 and 1982 for men aged between 30 and 59.

A British study has provided evidence that stressed workers are significantly more likely to develop heart disease.

The research, which was conducted at the University College London (UCL) suggests that stressed workers may be up to 68 percent more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than other workers. The research forms part of the Whitehall II study which has involved following over 10,000 workers in London since 1985.

People with higher blood sugar levels , particularly women, run a higher risk of heart disease according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The study which included over 4,000 men and women found that the higher a persons blood sugar levels, the more likely they were to develop heart disease, Furthermore at a given blood sugar level, women had a higher risk of developing diabetes and heart disease than men.

People who consume two alcoholic drinks a day may be at up to a 30% lower risk of heart attack than non-drinkers according to a recent Danish study published in the European Heart Journal.

The study included 12,000 men and women and spanned a period of almost 20 years. Researchers tracked participants exercise levels and alcohol consumption.

A recent US study published in the Journal of Circulation Research has suggested that very fine particles emitted from vehicles can trigger plaque build up and hardening of the arteries leading to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The five week study involved exposing mice to ultra-fine particles sourced from a Los Angeles freeway. These mice experienced a 55% increase in atherosclerosis when compared to mice breathing filtered air free of the particles.