February – Heart health for women

heart disease, women, red dress, february,

The month of february is here again when we remind ourselves that heart disease is the number 1 killer of women in the U.S. Many women still don’t know. Of the ones that do, many don’t take it seriously. Heart disease has always been popularly considered a male disease, the stereotype being the middle-aged executive [...]

Heart disease

heart disease

You’ve probably been hearing about how the month of February is Heart Health month in the U.S. The aim is to increase awareness about heart disease. The American Heart Association’s “Go Red For Women” campaign and “The Heart Truth” campaign are aimed particularly at women. What is Heart Disease? Heart disease is a broad term [...]

What are superfoods?

superfoods

Superfoods are everywhere including your local supermarket and super doesn’t have to be expensive. What are superfoods? Superfoods are foods that are so good for you that they can help lower your blood pressure, reduce your cancer risk, reduce your cholesterol levels and heart disease risks, help with diabetes and much more, usually without any [...]

Can chocolate prevent heart disease in postmenopausal women?

chocolate, heart disease

Scientists at the University of East Anglia in the UK are carrying out a study to see if chocolate can reduce the risk of developing heart disease in post-menopausal women with type 2 diabetes. Chocolate is made out of cocoa which is rich in substances called flavonoids which are thought to be good for the [...]

Exercise increases “good” cholesterol

exercise, cholesterol

If you’re not exercising already, here’s another good reason to do so. According to a report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a review of previously-published studies showed that aerobic exercise (the kind that gets your heart pumping fast) can help increase the levels of “good” (HDL) cholesterol in your body. The increase was [...]

Major risk factors for heart disease – how do you get heart disease?

Heart disease risk factors

Risk factors are those things you do or conditions you may be suffering from that increase your chances of getting a particular disease. What causes heart disease? High blood cholesterol Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is produced by the liver and is used for various things in the body.The liver produces cholesterol which is [...]

What is "The Heart Truth"?

heart truth, heart health for women

“The Heart Truth” campaign was started by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to increase awareness of heart disease in women in the US and has been having some measure of success. As of the year 2000 only about 30% of American women were aware of the fact that heart disease is a major [...]

Purple tomatoes for better health?

Forget about the lovely bright red tomatoes we’re all used to. Researchers in Britain have developed a strain of tomatoes that are purple. Normal tomatoes already have lots of antioxidants but these super tomatoes have very high levels of anthocyanins which are thought to fight cancer, protect against heart disease, improve eyesight and maybe even [...]

Irritable bowel syndrome and Zelnorm

pill 2

The drug tegaserod maleate marketed as Zelnorm by Novartis and widely prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome was withdrawn from the US market in March this year by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration). This was due to a link between Zelnorm and an increase in “ischemic cardiovascular events”, meaning reduced blood supply to some [...]

Having a hysterectomy? 5 reasons to hang on to your ovaries

Hang on to your ovaries

About 6000 hysterectomies are performed in the U.S every year and about half or these are accompanied by removal of apparently normal ovaries. The reasoning behind this is that it reduces the occurrence of ovarian cancer, i.e. if your ovaries aren’t there, then they can’t become cancerous. Ovarian cancer is not common – about 1 [...]