Two studies were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Studies (2023), showing that regular use of marijuana markedly increases risk for heart attacks and strokes in people with high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol (CNN Health, Nov 6, 2023). Marijuana increases risk for heart failure by about one-third, compared to people who reported never using marijuana.

Heart attacks and strokes are associated with high blood pressure and increased clotting, and systolic blood pressure increases up to 1.7 mm Hg in the winter months compared to the summer months.  Cold weather is associated with an increased incidence of heart attacks. If you have heart or lung disease, you are far more likely to die in cold weather than in the heat

Frank Ryan was an all-star quarterback in the National Football League in his 13 years primarily with the Cleveland Browns, and he was also an outstanding mathematician. He received his bachelor degree in physics and his Ph.D. in mathematics from prestigious Rice University. From 1967 to 1971 was a math professor at Case Western Reserve, often teaching math classes in the morning and going to football practice with the Cleveland Browns in the afternoon.

All people can develop body odor when certain bacteria or fungi colonize on their skin. Normal sweat doesn’t smell when it first reaches your skin. The odor usually comes only after certain microbes on the skin’s surface break down the fat in sweat to form chemicals that smell. Most sweat glands produce sweat that contains no fat, but the sweat glands around the breasts, genitals and armpits produce sweat that contains fat.

Tom Smothers and his brother, Dick, were known as “The Smothers Brothers”, a music, comedy and political statement team whose hit television show was the 16th most popular show on television in its first season. It ran on CBS television from 1965 through 1970, when the network abruptly cancelled the program, presumably because the brothers took strong stands on recreational drugs, sex, the Vietnam War and other topics that were heavily censored.

If you want to become fit and use exercise to help prevent a heart attack, first check with your doctor to make sure that you do not have anything wrong with your heart or blood vessels. Intense exercise can increase your risk for a heart attack if you already have a damaged heart.

Francoise Gilot was an accomplished French artist whose works included more than 1,600 paintings. She was appointed an Officer of the Légion d'honneur, the French government's highest honor for the arts. She died in a New York City hospital on June 6 2023 at the age of 101, after suffering serious heart and lung disease. Her portraits are featured in more than a dozen leading museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

More than 75 percent of the U.S. population drinks coffee and about 50 percent report drinking it daily. If you ask people why they drink coffee, you will most often be told that it makes them more alert so that they can do their work more efficiently. A recent study of MRIs of the brains of habitual coffee drinkers found that coffee, but not caffeine alone, increased activity of the parts of the brain regulating vision and executive function.

If you suffer muscle or tendon injuries, particularly during the winter or early spring, ask your doctor to order a blood test for hydroxy vitamin D. If it is below 30 ng/mL, you probably need more exposure to sunlight or you need to take vitamin D pills.   A review of sports injuries showed that lack of vitamin D can be a major cause of recurrent winter-time injuries in athletes and exercisers

Ryan O'Neal was a very famous Hollywood film actor and television star who will be remembered most for his role in Love Story (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He also starred in What's Up, Doc? (1972), Paper Moon (1973), which earned him another Golden Globe nomination, Barry Lyndon (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Driver (1978), and many others.