Not only does cigarette smoking damage the lungs, it can cause often hidden damage to the heart that has nothing to do with cholesterol levels. A recent study found changes in the actual heart structure of current smokers. On the plus side, former smokers' hearts seemed to have more of the characteristics of never smokers than of current smokers.
cardiovascular disease
The occupational groups community & social services, and transportation & material moving, had the greatest percentage of workers who met two or fewer cardiovascular health metrics. That means these workers may be at the highest risk of cardiovascular disease as compared to everyone else.
A recent meta-analysis published in BMJ Open journal suggests that LDL, which is commonly known as 'bad' cholesterol, does not increase the rate of death from heart disease. But before dumping your statins, it's important to review key flaws in the data.
Many people are fascinated by those who have the desire and drive to become a triathlete. Namely, what motivates them to push their bodies to extreme levels, and not only in just one sport -- but in three sports consecutively: swimming, biking and running. But since there's a trend where middle-aged men are dropping dead during competition -- and more often during the aquatic portion -- that's a cause for concern.
What everyone "knows" is that dog ownership is good for one's health. But are there data to support that? Yes, a preliminary study from Sweden provides some confirming data.
It seems like every week, there s another study on the health benefits of chocolate getting major news coverage. There s a reason for this people like to eat chocolate, and they re eager to read coverage of health studies that justify their chocolate habit. They ll click on the article with the catchy,
Eating peanuts (which are actually legumes) was associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease and death, according new large study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine. Earlier studies have linked high intake of nuts to reduced risk of mortality, however, most previous studies were conducted among people of European descent and high socioeconomic status.
Coffee seems to be a steaming hot topic in health news these days. Last week we wrote about a study that associated high levels (six cups) of daily coffee intake with reduced risk for multiple sclerosis. And this week, according to a new South Korean study, moderate coffee consumption was associated with a decreased risk of high coronary artery calcium (CAC). Calcium in the walls of the coronary arteries can be an early sign of coronary heart disease.
Vitamin D has been widely touted as a miracle" vitamin having a myriad of health effects beyond its basic function of enabling the absorption of calcium from food. Although vitamin D plays an important role in bone health and should be consumed in the form of
Can you remember what you ate yesterday? Last week? Last month? The answer is probably not, and that s one of the major issues with nutrition research: a lot of studies rely on what is known as the Food Frequency Questionnaire, the most commonly used dietary assessment tool in which participants report the foods they ate over a defined
High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for premature death in the world. Currently, 1 billion people have clinically abnormal blood pressure (hypertension), and most cases are grade 1 (mild) hypertension (defined as systolic blood pressure of 140 to 159 mm Hg and/or a diastolic blood pressure of 90 to 99