The Four Critical Cardiovascular Disease Risks That You Can Change
January 29, 2012 by admin
Filed under Cancer Prevention, Healthy Diet, Hypertension, LDL, Lipids, Metabolic Syndrome, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Risk of Death, Weekly Health Update, Weight Loss, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, coronary artery disease, death, diabetes, diet, exercise, health, heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, lifestyle, mortality, myocardial infarction, obesity, smoking, stroke, tobacco, triglycerides
Welcome to Weekly Health UpdateNew research shows that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking account for the vast majority of all deaths caused by cardiovascular disease.
THE FOUR CRITICAL CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISKS THAT YOU CAN CHANGE As I mention in my recent bestselling book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, many of the very same lifestyle and dietary habits that increase our risk of developing cancer also increase our risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease, heart attacks (myocardial infarction), peripheral vascular disease, and stroke. Likewise, adopting an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle can not only cut your cancer risk in half, but can also significantly reduce your risk of developing life-threatening cardiovascular disease as well. A newly published research study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, provides, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of the lifetime risks of developing cardiovascular disease based upon the following four health-related factors: blood pressure, cholesterol (lipid) levels in the blood, smoking status, and diabetes status. Importantly, this huge meta-analysis study, which appears in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, comprehensively analyzes the data from 18 different prior clinical research studies, which included 257,384 adult black and white men and women. These research volunteers were assessed for these four critical cardiovascular risk factors every 10 years, beginning at age 45 and ending at age 75. This enormous group of research volunteers was then closely followed, and the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death rates due to cardiovascular disease were then carefully evaluated and analyzed. When looking at cardiovascular risks factors at age 55 as predictors of future cardiovascular disease risk, and the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, the findings of this extremely large clinical study were striking. In this study, a low-risk profile for cardiovascular disease was defined as total blood cholesterol less than 180 milligrams per deciliter (4.7 mmol per liter), average blood pressure less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), nonsmoker status, and nondiabetic status. Among the 55 year-old men and women who met all of the criteria for a low-risk profile for cardiovascular disease, their lifetime incidence of cardiovascular disease, through age 80, was remarkably lower than for the 55 year-olds who failed to meet two or more of the four low-risk criteria. In fact, the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, through age 80, was only 5 percent among the men who met all four low-risk criteria at age 55, while the men who met only two or fewer low-risk criteria faced a dramatic six-fold increase in the risk (30 percent) of dying of cardiovascular disease by age 80. Among the women volunteers, only 6 percent of the women who met all four low-risk criteria went on to die of cardiovascular disease by age 80, while 21 percent of the women who failed to meet two or more of the four low-risk criteria died of cardiovascular disease between age 55 and age 80 (for a nearly four-fold increase in the risk of death). Fatal and nonfatal coronary artery disease occurred in only 4 percent of the men who met all four low-risk criteria, but occurred in nearly 10 times as many of the men (38 percent) who failed to meet two or more of these four criteria. The women who met all four low-risk criteria faced a less than 1 percent risk of fatal and nonfatal coronary artery disease, while the women who met two or fewer low-risk criteria experienced an 18 percent incidence of fatal and nonfatal coronary artery disease (for a more than 18-fold increase in risk). The risk of fatal and nonfatal stroke was also significantly lower among men and women who met all four low-risk criteria for cardiovascular disease. Among the men who met all four low-risk criteria, the incidence of stroke through age 80 was only about 2 percent, but quadrupled, to more than 8 percent, among the men who failed to meet two or more of the four low-risk criteria. Among the women who met all four low-risk criteria, the incidence of stroke was about 5 percent, but more than doubled, to nearly 11 percent, among the women who failed to meet at least two of the low-risk criteria. The findings of this very large study cannot be overstated in terms of its public health importance, as this is the only study that has prospectively assessed very large numbers of men and women, including both black and white adults, over long periods of time, and that has analyzed the long-term impact of the four most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease on incidence and death rates associated with cardiovascular disease. As with the studies that I discuss in A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, the impact of lifestyle, diet, and other modifiable health-related factors on both cardiovascular disease risk and cancer risk is enormous, particularly when measured over the lifespan of the average adult. The findings of this epic public health research study also add further weight to my strong belief, based upon my review of thousands of research studies, that we, as individuals, hold the key to improving our health, and to significantly reducing our risk of serious illness and premature death, by living evidence-based healthy lifestyles. If your blood pressure is high, change your diet and increase your level of exercise, with the support of your doctor. If diet and physical activity interventions alone do not correct your hypertension, then ask your doctor about medications for high blood pressure. If you have diabetes, you also need to change your diet, increase your levels of physical activity, and safely lose any excess weight. If these lifestyle changes do not completely resolve your high blood sugars, then you may also need to ask your doctor about medications for diabetes. If you smoke, or use smokeless tobacco, stop immediately. Finally, if your LDL and total cholesterol levels are high, then, once again, you need to be more careful about what you eat. (The cancer-preventing foods and diets that I discuss in my book have also been linked to lower levels of blood cholesterol, as well as a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease.) You may also need to increase your physical activity levels, and get your weight down to a healthy level, to improve your LDL and total cholesterol levels. Once again, if these prudent lifestyle measures are not enough, by themselves, to bring your cholesterol levels down into the normal range, then your doctor may need to add a cholesterol-lowering medication as well. The striking results of this important cardiovascular disease prevention study provide all of us with the key to maximally reducing our risk of developing—and dying from—largely preventable cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and stroke. Better long-term health (and a longer and more vigorous life) is within your grasp, and this study, in addition to my book, can show you the way forward. For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books! On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people from around the world who visit this premier global health information website every month. (More than 1.3 million pages of high-quality medical research findings were served to the worldwide audience of health-conscious people who visited Weekly Health Update in 2011!) As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.
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New Research Says that Chocolate DECREASES Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Diabetes
October 2, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer Prevention, Chocolate, Cocoa, Hypertension, Metabolic Syndrome, Nutrition, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Saturated Fat, Weekly Health Update, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes, diet, flavonoids, health, heart attack, heart disease, hyperglycemia, obesity, polyphenols, stroke
Welcome to Weekly Health Update
New research suggests that moderate chocolate consumption can significantly decrease the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. NEW RESEARCH SAYS THAT CHOCOLATE DECREASES CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK AND DIABETES
Cocoa, from which chocolate is made, is known to be rich in flavonol antioxidants, as well as other compounds that appear to reduce the risk of developing the cholesterol plaques that cause coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Cocoa has also been shown to improve the function and health of critical blood vessels in the body, which can lower elevated blood pressure. Moreover, additional research has shown that cocoa may also decrease the risk of diabetes. Milk chocolate contains considerably more fat and sugar than dark chocolate, and these milk chocolate additives are well known to increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, dark chocolate has been more often recommended than milk chocolate as a possibly healthy treat. However, several public health studies have suggested that even milk chocolate may still possess clinically significant cardiovascular health benefits, despite its high fat and high sugar content. A newly published meta-analysis study, which appears in the British Medical Journal, adds weight to the possibility that even milk chocolate might have heart-healthy properties. In this meta-analysis study, seven previously published public health research studies, which included 114,009 research volunteers, were analyzed. This analysis revealed that 5 of these 7 previously published public health studies found that increased chocolate consumption was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Specifically, research volunteers who reported the highest levels of chocolate consumption were observed to be 37 percent less likely to develop heart disease, 31 percent less likely to develop diabetes, and 29 percent less likely to have a stroke when compared to the volunteers who reported the least chocolate consumption. Now, for the (possibly) bad news…. None of these seven public health research studies were randomized clinical research studies. All were so-called “observational” studies, wherein groups of volunteers completed questionnaires regarding their diet and lifestyle habits, and were then observed over time for the development of new health problems. The obvious weakness of observational studies, in general, is their reliance upon the often inaccurate self-reporting by research volunteers on questionnaires designed to assess their dietary and lifestyle habits. The other weakness of these particular research studies is that they did not identify which types of chocolate were associated either with the least or the greatest health benefits (nor is it clear from these studies whether or not there is an optimal amount of chocolate intake necessary to produce the greatest possible health benefits). All of these important disclaimers aside, multiple clinical research studies have previously shown very significant potential health benefits associated with regular chocolate consumption. At the same time, in view of the clear association of increased fat and sugar intake with obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease risk, among other health problems, my recommendation to my patients and readers is to take moderate amounts of dark chocolate, and other lower-fat and lower-sugar chocolates, as part of a heart-healthy lifestyle!
For a comprehensive guide to living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle, order your copy of my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race. For the price of a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, you can purchase this landmark new book, in both paperback and e-book formats, and begin living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle today! For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million,Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books! On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month. (More than 1.2 million health-conscious people visited Weekly Health Update in 2010!) As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can. |
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Lifestyle, Diet and Diabetes Risk
September 11, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Kidney Disease, Metabolic Syndrome, Nutrition, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Risk of Death, Weekly Health Update, Weight Loss, alcohol, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes, diet, exercise, health, heart attack, heart disease, hyperglycemia, obesity, smoking, stroke, tobacco
Welcome to Weekly Health UpdateNew research reveals the profound impact of diet, obesity, and lifestyle factors on diabetes risk.
LIFESTYLE, DIET AND DIABETES RISK Along with the incidence of obesity, the incidence of diabetes has recently skyrocketed in the United States and around the world. The list of health complications associated with diabetes is frightening, and includes heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, kidney failure, progressive blindness, and as I discuss in my book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, an increased risk of cancer. Now, a newly published clinical research study, which included more than 200,000 adult volunteers, sheds important light on the major lifestyle-associated risk factors for this life-threatening disease. Nearly 2 million adults will be newly diagnosed with diabetes this year in the United States, and nearly 80 million Americans are currently living with diabetes at this time. In fact, diabetes has become such a serious public health problem that it is now considered the seventh leading cause of death in the United States! This newly published prospective public health study appears in the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, and was sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Cancer Institute, as part of the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. A total of 114, 996 men and 92,483 women, aged 50 to 71 years, participated in this public health study; and this huge group of research volunteers was closely followed for an average of 10 years. Importantly, none of these research volunteers had diabetes, heart disease, or cancer at the time they initially joined this research study. After evaluating diet, level of physical activity, smoking status, and alcohol intake, this enormous group of research volunteers was assessed for the risk of onset of diabetes according to these lifestyle factors. Altogether, about 10 percent of the men and 8 percent of the women went on to develop diabetes during the 10-year course of this public health study. When compared to men who ate poorly and did not exercise, and who also smoked and regularly consumed alcohol, the men who had very healthy behaviors in these same areas had a 39 percent lower risk of developing diabetes, while the women with healthy lifestyle behaviors experienced a 57 percent lower risk of diabetes when compared to the women with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Even more impressive was the additive role of obesity on diabetes risk. When all of the previously mentioned healthy lifestyle behaviors were combined with the absence of being overweight or obese, men experienced a whopping 72 percent decrease in the risk of diabetes, while women experienced an extraordinary 84 percent reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. Importantly, these dramatic reductions in the risk of diabetes were maintained even among the men and women who had a family history of diabetes or obesity. This huge prospective public health study adds important and helpful information to our understanding regarding the most important risk factors for diabetes, and reveals just how important eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular exercise, abstaining from tobacco use, and minimizing alcohol intake are to the prevention of diabetes. Other large public health studies have also conclusively linked these healthy lifestyle-associated behaviors with a significant reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease (including heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke) and cancer, as well! For a comprehensive guide to living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle, order your copy of my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race. For the price of a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, you can purchase this landmark new book, in both paperback and e-book formats, and begin living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle today! For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million,Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books! On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month. (More than 1.2 million health-conscious people visited Weekly Health Update in 2010!) As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can. |
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Green Tea Significantly Reduces LDL (Bad Cholesterol)
July 31, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer Prevention, Catechins, HDL, LDL, Nutrition, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Statin Drugs, Statins, Tea, Weekly Health Update, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, death, diet, green tea, health, heart attack, heart disease, mortality, stroke
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Mammograms Predict Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
February 10, 2011 by admin
Filed under Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Mammograms, Weekly Health Update, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, health, heart disease, stroke
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Dietary Salt (Sodium) Increases Stomach Cancer Risk
January 9, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Hypertension, Weekly Health Update, cardiovascular disease, diet, health, salt, sodium, stomach cancer, stroke
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Salt (Sodium) Intake, Stroke & Cardiovascular Disease
Welcome to Weekly Health Update“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”
Salt (Sodium) Intake, Stroke & Cardiovascular Disease
Table salt consists of the elements sodium and chloride, both of which are essential for life. There is a great deal of clinical research suggesting that more than 5 to 6 grams of salt intake per day (which is equal to 2 to 2.4 grams of sodium) is associated with a significant increase in the risk of developing high blood pressure which, in turn, is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, in most countries, the average daily salt intake for adults is considerably greater than 6 grams per day. Moreover, in many countries of the world, the average daily adult intake of salt is a whopping 12 grams per day, or almost 5 grams of sodium per day.
In the United States, the American Heart Association (AHA) currently recommends no more than 2.3 grams of sodium intake per day (equivalent to 5 grams, or about one teaspoon, of salt per day). At the same time, the AHA also states that the ideal daily intake of sodium should actually be about 1.5 grams per day but, in an acknowledgment regarding the high intake of salt-rich processed foods in the United States, the AHA considers the 2.3 gram per day dietary sodium target to be more “realistic” for Americans.
There is considerable public health research data suggesting that the reduction of average daily adult salt intake, to 6 grams per day, or less, would result in a significant lowering of blood pressure in both people with and without high blood pressure. Based upon these research findings, some public health experts have predicted that lowering the average daily salt intake below 6 grams per day could reduce the incidence of stroke by almost 25 percent, and the incidence of cardiovascular disease by almost 20 percent. Unfortunately, there have not been any large-scale prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical research trials performed to validate these estimates. On the other hand, there have been multiple short-term prospective public health trials that have followed groups (cohorts) of patients in terms of their dietary intake of salt and the incidence of stroke and cardiovascular disease events. Now, a newly published research study, in the British Medical Journal, has performed a meta-analysis of 13 of these “prospective cohort” studies, encompassing a total of 177,025 patient volunteers, with average durations of patient follow-up ranging from 4 to 19 years. (Meta-analysis is a method of combining the data from multiple different clinical studies into a single “super-study,” in an effort to improve the validity of the resulting data, as well as the conclusions that are reached from such data.)
Among these more than 177,000 patient volunteers, there were 11,000 “vascular events” observed, including stroke and heart attacks (myocardial infarctions). When the incidence of these vascular events was analyzed, along with dietary salt intake, the patients with the highest daily salt intake were observed to experience a 23 percent greater risk of stroke, and a 17 percent greater risk of cardiovascular disease, when compared to the adults who consumed less salt on a daily basis.
The increasing consumption of salt-rich processed foods throughout both the developed and underdeveloped countries of the world has been pushing daily salt intake to ever higher levels, with many Western countries reporting average daily adult salt intake of nearly 10 grams per day. In other countries, and most notably in Asia and Eastern Europe, dietary practices that include a high concentration of heavily salted foods have pushed daily salt intake into the 10 to 12 gram per day range for the average adult.
The World Heart Federation estimates that there are 5.5 million annual deaths from stroke across the globe, and an additional 17.5 million annual deaths from cardiovascular disease. Based upon the increased incidence of stroke and cardiovascular disease predicted by this meta-analysis study, even a rather modest decrease in the average adult daily salt intake, to the World Health Organization’s target of 5 grams per day, should result in 1.25 million fewer deaths per year from stroke and nearly 3 million fewer annual deaths from cardiovascular disease around the world. Needless to say, this is a tremendous potential public health dividend from a rather simple alteration in our dietary habits. (On the surface, reducing our daily salt intake would appear to be a rather simple goal. However, the more complicated reality is that to achieve even the World Health Organization’s rather liberal target of 5 grams of salt per day, our entire food chain would have to be comprehensively reexamined and overhauled.)
The world’s increasing consumption of highly-processed foods, which often contain high levels of salt as a preservative, are largely responsible for the high levels of salt intake in the developed world (in addition to a preference for salt-cured foods in much of Asia and Eastern Europe). In the United States, the sodium content of most processed foods is readily available on food packages. Unfortunately, most restaurants in the United States have not been as forthcoming about the sodium content of the food on their menus (as well as other important nutritional information), and so it continues to be very difficult to determine the actual salt content of much of what we eat here in the United States and, indeed, throughout much of the world.
Note: Weekly Health Update is currently undergoing an extensive upgrade to better serve its tens of thousands of health-conscious readers around the world. Beginning in January 2010, newly archived columns will be available by selecting the “Archives” tab on the right side of your screen (all archived columns prior to January 2010 will continue to be available by selecting the “Archives 2007-2009” tab at the top of the screen.)
Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author
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