Other factors—or, more precisely, markers—may be related to CHD, although there isn’t as much evidence yet to support their role as independent risks as there is for the ones discussed so far. They include: Low magnesium. When researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed nutritional data and causes of death for nearly 13,000 men and women, they found that those with the highest levels of magnesium were 31 percent less likely to die from heart disease. No surprise, since the mineral plays a major role in keeping your heart beating regularly. The recommended daily allowance of magnesium is 350 milligrams for men and 280 milligrams for women. A national survey conducted between 1988 and 1991 found that men averaged only 321 milligrams and women only 238 milligrams. Further, while many of us are focused on getting enough calcium, most don’t know that it’s just as important to maintain a favorable ratio of calcium to magnesium, ideally 2:1. A 4:1...
Fibrinogen is a protein that helps your blood clot (picture the fibers in a cloth soaking up liquid). That’s a good thing unless, as too often happens, you wind up with too much of a good thing. Then fibrinogen plays a role in the development of CHD by making blood thick and sticky—just what your arteries don’t need. Studies journal Circulation in 2000 found that people with high levels of fibrinogen were more than As with most cardiac risk factors, the effects of fibrinogen are influenced by the company it keeps.This marker may not mean all that much if you don’t have any other major cardiac risk factors that make you more prone to plaque formation. But if you do, your fibrinogen level becomes more important, This protein makes blood thick and sticky—just what your arteries don’t need. By the numbers The normal range for fibrinogen is 170—450mg/dl. How the Plan Can Help High cholesterol, smoking, inactivity, and a poor diet all seem to induce the body to produce more...
An increasing body of evidence suggests that high levels of iron may explain several heart disease anomalies. For instance, men who regularly donate blood (and thus rid themselves of iron) have a lower risk of heart disease, as do premenopausal women, Iron overload depletes an antioxidant that helps prevent LDL from “rusting,” or oxidizing. who regularly lose blood (and thus iron) though menstruation. A genetic condition called hemochromatosis is associated with high levels of iron. About 1 out of 10 people carries the gene for it, and 1 out of 250 to 300 people exhibits the condition A comparable state can also result from taking iron pills for more than 10 years or receiving numerous blood transfusions. Certain people with liver disease may also experience iron overload. Generally there are few, if any, symptoms. And therein lies the danger, for hemochromatosis causes severe depletion of glutathione, an important antioxidant. Antioxidants like glutathione help prevent the LDL...
High cholesterol is usually tied to lifestyle, genetic factors, or a combination of the two. But there are other causes. One explanation for high cholesterol that isn’t attributable to lifestyle is hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid gland. Now comes research that even a slightly underactive thyroid, not bad enough for the problem to be called hypothyroidism, also poses a major heart disease risk. This condition is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. Between 1990 and 1993, Dutch researchers evaluated women to see if they had blockages in their aortas (the large blood vessel leading from the heart to the rest of the body) or any evidence of a past heart attack. At the same time they collected blood tests of thyroid function. The study found that almost 11 percent of the women had subclinical hypothyroidism when they began the study, and those women were almost twice as likely as the women with no thyroid problems to have blockages in their aortas. They were also twice as...
You’ve probably heard of gout. It’s caused by the buildup of uric acid, a by-product of the breakdown of purines (components in many foods we eat), Over time an elevated uric acid level leads to the formation of needle-like crystals in joints. These crystals trigger gout attacks. Researchers now suspect a high level of uric acid may also be a sign of heart disease. The key word is “may,” since two large studies yielded entirely different results, In a 1999 study researchers evaluated data on 6,700 people and concluded that uric acid didn’t play a role in the development of CHD or in death from CHD. Researchers suspect that a high level of uric acid, which causes gout, may also be a sign of heart diseases. They suggested that any line noted in the past was probably due to the connection between high uric acid and other risk factors, namely, being overweight. But a year later a study of 6,000 people found just the opposite: Women with high levels of uric acid (more than...
Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of your arteries. The more forceful it is—the higher it is—the more likely it is that the walls of your arteries will women who are depressed have a risk of dying from heart disease equal to that of women who smoke or dangerous to the who have high blood pressure. The link works the other way around, too: While about | in 20 American adults experiences major depression ina given year, that number jumps to about one in three among those who have survived a heart attack, One study found that depression was as heart as smoking or high blood pressure. The more severe the depression, the more dangerous it is to your health, But some studies suggest that even mild depression, including feelings of hopelessness expenenced over many years, may damage the heart. Other studies suggest depression) may affect how well heart disease mecications work, Researchers aren’t sure what the connection between depression and heart disease is, but...
Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of your arteries. The more forceful it is—the higher it is—the more likely it is that the walls of your arteries will enter cells. The body tries to compensate by churning Out more insulin, to little avail; too much glucose still remains in the bloodstream. Insulin resistance generally stems from a combination of genetic sus- syndrome may be ceptibility and weight gain—very few thin people Uncontrolled high blood pressure results in stiff, damaged arteries are inflexible artery walls that are a veritable magnet for more susceptible to white blood cells, High blood pressure damages arteries, and damaged arteries are more susceptible to plaque buildup. cholesterol, and other blood components that accumulate and form plaque. Its easy to envision the damage high-pressure blood flow can wreak if you already have plaque buildup: That blood rushing past at high force is just what it takes to nick the “cap” off the plaque, setting the...
Few conditions sound as mysterious as the one often called Syndrome X. What is it, and why should you care? During the groundbreaking Framingham Heart Study, when the link between high cholesterol and heart attack risk became clear, researchers noticed a certain group of people with low LDL levels who nevertheless had a high risk of heart disease. Why? Further study revealed a cluster of heart disease risk factors dubbed Syndrome X: high levels of insulin and glucose (blood sugar), a high trigiveeride level, low HDL, small and dense LDL particles (the kind more likely to burrow into artery walls and cause plaque), high blood pressure, and being overweight. The hallmark of the syndrome, now called metabolic syndrome, is insulin resistance. This means the body can’t effectively use insulin, the hormone that helps glucose enter cells. The body tries to compensate by churning Out more insulin, to little avail; too much glucose still remains in the bloodstream. Insulin resistance ...
When Kilmer § MeOully, M.D., first proposed a link between levels of an amino acid nd heart disease in 1969, the medical community largely ignored him. But four decades and hundreds of studies later, that corununity is int linking high levels reased nsk of heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular Homocysteine is formed when the body breaks down dietary protein, especially protein from animal sources. Then B vitarnins, particularly folate, Bs, and B,9, break down homocysteine so your cells can use it for energy. But if this breakdown phase fails to ocecur—say, if you don’t get enough B vitamins— homocysteine builds up to an unhealthy level, It then damages endothelial cells, preventing the production of nitric oxide. It may also make blood cells stickier, encouraging clotting, which can eventually trigger a stroke or heart attack. In a study of 386 women at the University of Washington in Seattle, those with the most homocysteine in their blood had double the heart attack...
- 1
- 2
