Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Fitness, Health and Nutrition

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New Research on Why Eating Meat is Associated with Heart Disease

New Research on Why Eating Meat is Associated with Heart Disease

A study from the Cleveland Clinic and Tufts University found a 22 percent greater risk for heart disease for every 1.1 serving of meat per day (3.3 oz. cooked lean meat). This study followed more than 4,000 men and women older than 65 for an average of 12.5 years, and the increased heart attack risk was directly related to blood levels of TMAO and its precursors.

Alcohol Increases Risk for Heart Attacks and Cancers

Alcohol Increases Risk for Heart Attacks and Cancers

Researchers analyzed data from 3865 adults and found that more than 50 percent said that they did not know that alcohol increases cancer risk. The people who incorrectly thought that alcohol doesn’t cause cancer were the ones most likely also to think incorrectly that alcohol can help to prevent heart attacks.

Benefit from a Few Minutes of Vigorous Activity Each Day

Benefit from a Few Minutes of Vigorous Activity Each Day

You may be able to prolong your life just by moving more vigorously a few times a day. Australian researchers found that non-exercisers who had 3-4 short bouts of vigorous activity each day had a 40 percent reduction in all-cause death rate, a 40 percent reduction in cancer-related deaths, and up to a 49 percent reduction in heart attack deaths.

Tammy Wynette and the Pain of Gall Bladder Disease

Tammy Wynette and the Pain of Gall Bladder Disease

Tammy Wynette rose from poverty in rural Mississippi to become one of the most famous female country music singers. She sold more than 30 million records, had 57 Top-40 country hits between 1967 and 1988, won two Grammy Awards, three Country Music Association awards, eight Billboard awards and 16 BMI songwriter awards.

Tammy Wynette and the Pain of Gall Bladder Disease

Kirstie Alley and Colon Cancer

Kirstie Alley was an actress who gained fame when she joined the cast of Cheers in its sixth year, after Shelley Long (“Diane”) left the popular series. Alley was nominated four times for Emmy awards, and received one for Cheers and one for David’s Mother. She appeared in many movies including Star Trek II and Look Who’s Talking with John Travolta, and has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On December 5, 2022 at age 71, Alley died a short time after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

Get Your Flu Shot Now

Get Your Flu Shot Now

This winter is expected to be a severe flu season. Flu virus is headed here from the southern hemisphere, and Australia already has a very severe flu season. Only 49 percent of North Americans plan to get a flu shot during the 2022-2023 flu season, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

Tammy Wynette and the Pain of Gall Bladder Disease

Marty Robbins, Heart Attacks and Sleep Deprivation

Forty years ago this week we lost Marty Robbins at the tragically young age of 57. Robbins was one of the top country singers and songwriters from the 1940s to the 1980s, and today you will still hear his “El Paso,” “Big Iron” and many other classics. He won two Grammy Awards and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. At the same time he was a successful stock car racer who was in 36 NASCAR races from 1966 to 1982 and had six top-10 finishes.

Alcohol Increases Risk for Heart Attacks and Cancers

Blood Pressure is Often Higher in Wintertime

If you have high blood pressure in the winter, you are at increased risk for a heart attack, even if your blood pressure is normal in the summertime. Blood pressure is often higher in winter and lower in summer, and heart attacks are significantly more common in the winter than in the summer.