Health

At the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions (November 13, 2023), researchers presented the results of the 11,255 patient ESPRIT trial of patients who also had diabetes and/or a past history of a stroke. When they were treated very aggressively for three years to drop their high systolic blood pressures below 120 mm Hg (compared to the old standard of 140 mm Hg), they had a 12 percent lower incidence of heart attacks and a 39 percent lower incidence of deaths from heart attacks.

A study of 44,000 Swedish adults, 64 to 99 years of age, followed for up to 35 years, found that 2.7 percent (1,224) lived to their 100th birthday (Geroscience, Nov 4, 2023). Among the 1,224 centenarians in this study, 84 percent were women. The researchers wanted to find out which blood tests (measures of metabolism, inflammation, liver function, kidney function, anemia, and nutritional status) would appear to predict longevity.

Researchers from Harvard recently showed that aspirin could help to treat people with fatty liver disease (Meeting of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, November 10, 2023). Eighty patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were randomly assigned to receive either low doses of aspirin (81 mg/day) or placebo for six months. Compared to the placebo group, the 40 patients who took aspirin had reduced amounts of fat in their livers and improved markers of liver inflammation and scarring.

A new study found that reducing daily sodium (salt) intake by one teaspoon per day significantly lowered systolic blood pressure in as little as a week. The study participants were 213 adults, ages 50-75, who had• normal blood pressure, or high blood pressure and were taking medication for high blood pressure, or high blood pressure and were not taking medication for high blood pressure.

Diabetics who have lost teeth and cannot chew properly have significantly higher blood sugar levels than diabetics who can chew their food well. Correcting dental problems so a person can chew food adequately can help to lower high blood sugar levels. The treatment for both diabetes and general weight control should include eating lots of fiber-rich plants, chewing food properly, and correcting dental problems.

Refusing to wear a mask when you have a respiratory infection and are near other people shows total disregard for their health. We have just gone through the major portion of a COVID-19 epidemic and can expect other epidemics from this and other viruses in the future. Many studies show that a proper mask will block some of the viruses, and droplets spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes, breathes or talks.

It is overwhelmingly established that exercise helps to prevent heart attacks, but a recent study showed that very vigorous exercise may be associated with increased plaque size. For more than six years, researchers followed 289 men, ages 50 -60, who exercised for an average 41 MET hours per week.

In Europe, fish oil pills must now list that atrial fibrillation is a common side effect, according to the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee of the European Medicines Agency. Fish oil pills are also called omega-3 supplements and they may be recommended to treat high blood triglyceride levels if lifestyle changes fail to lower triglycerides to normal

More than 40 percent of North American adults are seriously overweight, which puts them at high risk for heart attacks, diabetes, certain cancers and premature death. Researchers at Boston University have explained how being obese is a major cause of heart attacks and death from heart attacks by preventing the bad LDL cholesterol from performing its beneficial functions such as helping to form cell membranes

It is established that having a high bad LDL cholesterol increases your chances of suffering a heart attack and that reducing high levels of LDL helps to prevent heart attacks. Statins are the most used drugs to treat high cholesterol, but about 75 percent of people suffer muscle pains and other side effects when they take statins.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 20 million new cases of venereal diseases occur every year. One out of five North American adults have a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and STDs cost the U.S. healthcare system nearly $16 billion/year. Worldwide, 31 percent of adults have genital herpes (HPV) that causes many cases of genital and oral cancers

Thirty percent of North Americans over the age of 85 suffer from dementia. A recent study shows that people whose blood cholesterol levels varied the most over a 12 year period had a 19 percent increased risk for Alzheimer's dementia compared to those with little or no variability, and people who had high variations in their triglyceride levels had a 23 percent increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.

A study of 23,802 Swedish men found that getting an MRI before scheduling a prostate biopsy was associated with reduced proportion of men who received biopsies,, reduced biopsies in low-risk prostate cancers (Gleason score of 6 or lower) who usually are not treated, and increased detection of the number of men at high risk for prostate cancer (Gleason score greater than 6) who need immediate treatment

More than half of North American adults over 65 years of age suffer from osteoarthritis. It used to be that you would go to your doctor and tell them that you have pain in your knees, hips, hands or spine. Your doctor would order multiple x-rays and blood tests and most would come back normal, so they would then tell you, “Aha, you have osteoarthritis, ” which meant they didn’t have the foggiest idea why your joints hurt.

An early colon cancer often has no symptoms whatever, so screening tests can boost survival rates by diagnosing a colon cancer before it has caused symptoms and spread to other parts of the body. Polyps detected in any of the screening tests can be removed, which greatly improves the rates of survival.

A study from Spain called the Vallecas Project has followed 1169 non-demented people, average age 74.4, for six years and found that some of the participants had memory test scores that were equal to people who were 30 years younger. The authors call the high-scorers "superagers" and they have done further testing on 64 of them, with a matched control group of 55 "typical older adults" who had average memory test scores.

Several recent research papers show that inflammatory types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and reactive arthritis may be caused by harmful bacteria in your colon. Your colon is full of more than 100 trillion bacteria. Some are good and some are bad. The good bacteria are happy with what you eat and do not try to enter your colon cells, while the harmful colon bacteria are not happy with what you eat, so they try to enter the cells lining your colon.

Several recent research papers show that inflammatory types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and reactive arthritis may be caused by harmful bacteria in your colon. Your colon is full of more than 100 trillion bacteria. Some are good and some are bad. The good bacteria are happy with what you eat and do not try to enter your colon cells, while the harmful colon bacteria are not happy with what you eat, so they try to enter the cells lining your colon.

A recent review of seven studies covering more than 19,000 adults found that taking one alcoholic drink a day for more than four years is associated with a rise in blood pressure, even if a person previously had normal blood pressure. None of the people in the study had previously been diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, alcoholism or binge drinking.

Morgan Freeman is an American actor, producer, and narrator who has Academy and Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2008, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2011, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2012, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2018. He missed part of his press tour for his upcoming TV series Special Ops: Lioness, in which he stars alongside Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a standard method for assessing body weight. BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight by the square of his height. A study from Israel found that one third of more than 3000 normal-weight and normal-BMI individuals were still at high risk for diseases caused by obesity, such as diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and kidney damage.

Ten thousad people attended the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Amsterdam on July 19, 2023, which featured more than 3,000 scientific presentations. Much of this conference dealt with amyloid plaques and the drugs associated with them. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved anti-amyloid drugs Lecanemab (Leqembi, Eisai) and Aducanumab (Aduhelm TM), and fast-tracked a third drug, Aducanumab. These drugs may help to slow brain damage caused by amyloid plaques that deposit in and damage the brain as much as 20 years before a person suffers loss of mental function.

Researchers at the Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary analyzed the death records for 110,148 animals from 191 mammal species that died in zoos and found that carnivorous mammals were much more likely to die of cancer than mammals that rarely or never eat animals. Humans are mammals, so we might expect to see similar results in studies of human diets.

A study of 1,799 people, who had suffered and survived strokes at the average age of 62, found that stroke risk is markedly increased by sleep disturbance symptoms, poor sleep quality, napping for long periods, and sleep apnea symptoms (Neurology, May 23, 2023;100(21): e2191–e2203). The stroke survivors were compared to age-matched people who had not had a stroke and the results were adjusted for smoking, physical activity, depression, and alcohol intake.

Many of the more than 150 strains of Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) are relatively harmless, but about 15 are classified as high-risk types because they can cause cancer and other health problems. A single dose of the vaccine for types 16, 18 and the other high-risk types of HPV appears to provide at least eight years of protection against these infections. These viruses are the most common cause of cancers of the cervix and other parts of the uterus, as well as of the penis, anus, throat, vagina and vulva

A study of 59,124 patients in 223 medical care centers had one group of patients check their blood pressures several times throughout the day and night, while the other group had blood pressure checked in their doctors' offices only. After 10 years, 12.1 percent of patients died, including 4.0 percent from heart disease. The study found that having patients check their blood pressure several times during the day and night, and following those results, was six times more effective in predicting death overall and death from heart attacks than just taking patients' blood pressure in the doctor's office.

High blood sugar and high blood pressure are major risk factors for dementia. A study from Johns Hopkins showed that the younger a person develops diabetes or pre-diabetes, the more likely they are to become demented. People who developed diabetes before age 60 were three times more likely to develop dementia than those who did not develop diabetes before age 60. Those who developed diabetes after age 70 were only 23 percent more likely to suffer from dementia, and those who developed diabetes in their 80s or 90s had no increased risk for developing dementia.

There are many ways to measure risk factors for having a heart attack, but since the 1950s the criteria used most by doctors to predict your likelihood to suffer a heart attack has been that HDL ("Healthy") cholesterol predicts protection, and the LDL ("Lousy") cholesterol predicts increased risk for heart attacks. An extensive review of the world’s literature demonstrates that this is not always true.

More than 80 million North Americans suffer from a fatty liver and many do not know that they have it because most people with a fatty liver have normal liver function blood tests in the early stages of the disease. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, supported by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, has issued guidelines for diagnosing and treating a fatty liver.

A review of 30 clinical trials published between 1982 and 2022, covering about 2,400 participants in many different countries, found that vegetarian and vegan diets reduced blood levels of total cholesterol levels by seven percent, the harmful LDL cholesterol by 10 percent, and apolipoprotein B by 14 percent. These blood factors are strong predictors of likelihood to suffer a heart attack or stroke, and reducing these three factors has been consistently shown to reduce risk for heart attacks in normal-weight and obese patients.