What Do Blood Cholesterol Levels Mean?
Having a high (>100 mg/dL) bad LDL cholesterol or a low (<40) good HDL cholesterol has long been associated with increased risk for heart attacks. However, new studies show that you can form plaques and be at risk for a heart attack even if your bad LDL cholesterol is as low as 50.
Baron Larrey, Napoleon’s Surgeon General
It wasn’t the Russians who defeated Napoleon in the War of 1812; it was Napoleon’s surgeon general, Baron Larrey. Napoleon was set to conquer the civilized world, but he was done in by Russia’s horribly cold winter. Baron Larrey made matters worse by telling the soldiers to rub snow on their frozen hands. Rubbing snow on frostbite removed their skin, which led to infection and death.
Strength Training May Reduce Deaths from Heart Attacks and Cancers
You can expect to lose muscle size and strength as you age. Between 40 and 50 years of age, you lose more than eight percent of your muscle size. This loss increases to 15 percent per decade after age 75. The people who lose the most muscle usually are the least active, exercise the least and are the ones who die earliest.
How Fiber Helps to Prevent Disease
We have known for a long time that high-fiber foods such as vegetables, fruits and seeds are associated with lower risk for heart attacks, strokes, many cancers, obesity, type 2 diabetes, dementia and other diseases. Recent studies on gut bacteria are helping to explain why fiber-rich foods are beneficial.
Colon Cancer and Bacteria
Researchers at Harvard University and VHIO cancer Institute in Barcelona report that colon cancer may be caused by a specific bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum. I believe this is breakthrough research that could lead to a potential cure for colon cancer and a Nobel Prize.
President Eisenhower Changed the Way Doctors Treat Heart Attacks
On Sept 23, 1955, the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was staying at his in-laws’ house in Denver and went to play golf at the Cherry Hills Country Club. There he suddenly developed pain in his chest and belly. That evening, he had dinner with his physician, Major General Howard Scrum Snyder, and went to bed early, still complaining of pain.
Marit Bjorgen, Cross Country Skier
Marit Bjorgen was born in 1980 and is the most successful female cross-country skier of all time, winning world-championship short-sprint races as well as those in all the longer-endurance races. She has won six Olympic gold medals, 18 FIS World Ski Championship gold medals, 110 individual FIS World-Cup gold medals, and 29 (the most ever) gold medals in Cross-Country World Cup sprints.
Insulin Resistance Predicts Heart Attacks and Diabetes
An article written by two highly-respected physicians and an investigative reporter concludes that, “Emerging evidence shows that insulin resistance is the most important predictor of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes” .
Both Low and High HDL Can Predict Harm
Having high blood levels of the bad LDL cholesterol predicts increased risk for heart attacks, but contrary to what we thought in the past, having high levels of “good” HDL cholesterol does not necessarily predict protection from heart disease. A recent report from the Copenhagen General Population Study shows that having either low or high levels of HDL cholesterol also predicts increased risk for infections such as gastroenteritis and bacterial pneumonia.
Exercise Promotes Good Gut Bacteria
Good bacteria that live in your gut can help to keep you healthy, while the bad colon bacteria increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, certain cancers and autoimmune diseases. Exercise encourages the growth of good bacteria in your colon and reduces the number of bad ones.