Vitamin D May Protect Against Heart Attack
June 10, 2008
From abcnews.com
By Will Dunham
Men with low levels of vitamin D have an elevated risk for a heart attack, researchers said on Monday in the latest study to identify important possible health benefits from the “sunshine vitamin.”
In the study, men classified as deficient in vitamin D were about 2 1/2 times more likely to have a heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin.
“Those with low vitamin D, on top of just being at higher risk for heart attack in general, were at particularly high risk to have a fatal heart attack,” study author Dr. Edward Giovannucci of the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
Heart attack: Top 9 risk factors
May 18, 2008
From Health 24
One of the world’s widest studies into heart attacks has identified nine risk factors that account for nine out of 10 of all cardiac arrests, with cholesterol, smoking and stress topping the table.
People who have high lipid concentrations in the blood or who smoke account for roughly 60 percent of all heart attacks, according to the study, published online Friday by the British medical weekly The Lancet.Someone with high blood cholesterol faces a 3,25 higher risk of a heart attack than someone with normal levels; someone who smokes has a 2,9 higher risk than a person who has never smoked.
Study Gives The Skinny On “Fit And Fat”
May 2, 2008
By Kelli Stacy
Regular exercise has long been touted as the key to a healthy heart, but a new study shows it is unlikely to fully reverse a woman’s chances of heart disease if she is carrying extra weight.
Researchers report in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine that although physical activity definitely helps improve cardiovascular health, such exercise does not “eliminate the negative effects of being overweight.”
The findings underscore the importance of being fit and trim and cast doubt on the newer notion that it’s possible to be “fit and fat.” Both obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States.
From the AP
Riding the grueling Tour de France bike race takes strength, stamina — and perhaps a heart nearly 40 percent bigger than normal.
Researchers who examined the hearts of former Tour bikers found that the athletes’ hearts were from 20 to 40 percent larger than average, said Dr. Francois Carre of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, France, speaking at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
The difference is attributable largely to rigorous training that expands the cyclists’ hearts. But researchers have not yet determined whether the athletes’ hearts were larger to begin with.
“They are a special breed,” said Dr. Richard Becker, a professor of medicine at Duke University and spokesman for the American Heart Association. Becker was not connected to Carre’s study.
Scientists have long noticed the phenomenon of the “athlete’s heart.” Athletes who train hard in aerobic sports, such as cycling, running or swimming, tend to have a bigger heart that pumps more blood throughout the body.
