Many people are taking blood pressure drugs for lowering blood pressure. Now there is a evidence that some members of the class of drugs known as ACE inhibitors may help protect against dementia.

The type of ACE inhibitors that seem to be effective are those that enter the brain. The brain is protected by a barrier called the blood-brain barrier, which stops many things entering the brain. This is a mechanism to protect the brain. The ACE inhibitors that can get into the brain are called “centrally-acing”.
Centrally-acting ACE inhibitors include captropril (Capoten®), fosinopril (Monopril®), lisinopril (Prinivil® or Zestri®), perindopril (Aceon®), ramipril (Altace®) and trandolapril (Mavik®). The other ACE inhibitors are not centrally acting.

The study found that those taking centrally-acting ACE inhibitors had less mental decline and dementia, than those taking other blood pressure medications. The other medications studied, including non centrally-acting ACE inhibitors had no effect on the rate of mental decline or dementia. Patients were taking other blood pressure medications were no different from those not taking blood pressure medication.

This study seems to suggest that if you have to take blood pressure medicine you might as well slow your potential mental decline and risk of dementia as the same time. Before we all rush out to change our blood pressure medicine; this is only one study and different blood pressure drugs have different effectiveness in different people.

When a heart attack occurs there is damage to the heart. The heart seems to have only a limited capacity to repair itself. This is one of the promises of stem cells. The idea is that you would bank your own stem cells at birth, and then they could be used later in life for problems such as a heart attack. (In the media stem cells seems to equal embryonic stem cells. In reality, most research is done on stem cells that did not come from embryos.)

Now researchers have shown that injecting a growth factor called neuregulin 1 may help with repairing the heart. Neuregulin 1 is a growth factor that is important for the growth and development of the heart in the fetus. In the experiments mice that had had heart attacks showed more repair if they had been injected daily with neuregulin 1, than those that had no received the growth factor. The neuregulin 1 treated mice regained much better heart function than the other mice.

Getting more heart function back after a heart attack would make a huge difference in quality of life for a large number of people. It would save money too. Lets hope that a treatment like neuregulin 1 is found to be safe and effective and become widely available soon.

photo credit: ♪ Sleeping Sun ♪

Technorati Tags: ACE inhibitors, centrally-acting ACE inhibitors, blood-brain barrier, mental decline, dementia, heart attack, neuregulin 1, growth factor, heart function

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Well before the Adkins diet became popular, some research had suggested that eating a lot of high carb foods increased the risk of cardiac events.

New research suggests that this increased risk may in part be due to meals with high simple carbohydrate levels causing arteries to have reduced function for at least several hours after the meal.

The arteries in our blood system can get wider and narrower as required by the body. For instance, to lower blood pressure, the body can make arteries wider, increasing the volume,which then lowers the pressure. Think of water coming out of the hose. If you squeeze the end to make it a bit narrower the water would squirt out with a higher pressure.

If your arteries become less elastic, or become less able to contract the body cannot control things like blood pressure as well. Studies comparing people with normal body fat and obesity have shown that arteries are less elastic.

In the new study expansion of the brachial artery, the major blood vessel of the upper arm, was compared in study subjects who ate either one of two different types of a high carb meal, a low carb meal or got water. The three meals and water were rotated, so all subjects were analyzed after consuming all three meals and water. The artery function was reduced after eating, but not when just drinking water. The effect on arteries was much greater for the both the high meals, than for the high fiber meal.

This research is another piece of evidence that eating a high carb diet may not be the best for your health.

photo credit: saragoldsmith – Walkers potato chips (crisps) – even cajun squirrel flavour are high carb

Technorati Tags: high carb, artery, elastic, reduced function

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The subtitle of the article, about the Xtreme Eating Award, put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is “Care for an entrée with your entrée?” Another good quote is, “Forget the arms race. It’s the waist race.”

The article highlights some of the more extreme choices at chain restaurants.

An example is the Chicken and Biscuits from the Cheesecake Factory. This entrée has 2,500 calories. Since most of us would probably have some type of appetizer, and a drink or too, we could be consuming close to 3,500 calories at one meal.

Another featured dish is Applebee’s Quesadilla burger. Which is a bacon cheeseburger inserted into a quesadilla. This actually sounds quite good to me. However, it has 1,820 calories, 46 g of saturated fat and 4,410 mg of sodium. Apparently you can add chili fries, or more cheese to this entree.

To put the Quesadilla burger in perspective, 46g of saturated fat is more than 3 oz of butter (3/4 of a stick). The entrée also contains 4,410 mg of sodium. The daily recommended amount of dietary sodium in the US is 2,300 mg per day and in the UK it is 1,600 mg. The DASH diet, designed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH) to lower blood pressure, suggests a goal of 1,500 mg dietary sodium for effective lowering of blood pressure. Using the UK level, or the lower level suggested for blood pressure control, the quesadilla has almost 3 days worth of sodium. With that much sodium I am sure I would drink quite a bit, which would increase the calorie intake.

The question is, would seeing the calories, saturated fat and sodium listed for every item on the menu make us make better choices. My guess is that initially yes, but then we would not pay much attention. What do you think? Would seeing the nutrition data affect what you chose? Check out the article.

photo credit: Wyscan

Technorati Tags: Xtreme Eating Awards, calories, saturated fat, sodium, blood pressure, quesadilla

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For instance, over the weekend I was looking at the ingredient lists for a number of cosmetic products, including daily chemical peel products and after peel moisturizers. Many of the products had tea extracts in them, usually called extract of Camellia sinensis. Additionally, tea extracts have been suggested to be helpful for treating skin damaged in cancer patients after radiation.

White tea has been suggested to help with obesity. An extract of white tea has been shown to stop the formation of new fat cells, and to make the existing fat cells start to break down the fat that they contain.

So what is white tea? I had no idea. It made from the same plant as regular tea, but only young still downy white buds and young leaves are used, and not fermented like regular tea. If you are going to make it and drink it, apparently you should not use boiling water. The water used for brewing should be quite a bit cooler than boiling water. This is supposed to be the best for its delicate taste. White tea is lower in caffeine but higher in antioxidants than regular tea.

Another news item suggests that an African tea that is used in traditional Nigeria medicine may help with diabetes. It is made from leaves of the lovely sounding Rauvolfia vomitoria and the fruit of Citrus aurantium. The tea helped mobilize fat, and in a small human trial after 4 months there was better glucose control. The genus Rauvolfia, a tropical evergreen shrub, is widely used in folk medicine and has been shown to lower blood pressure, have psychological effects, be a hypnotic and can irritate those with digestive diseases.

In Asia though the population tends to smoke heavily there is less cardiovascular disease and cancer than in the west. This is known as the Asian paradox. It has been suggested that part of the reason, for the lower levels of these diseases, is the high consumption of tea, particularly green tea.

Green Tea has also been suggested to have antibacterial activity too.

Low calorie and healthy. So, have a cuppa (used in the UK, for a cup of tea).

photo credit: A.Sevik

Technorati Tags: teas, white tea, green tea, Rauvolfia, obesity, fat cells, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, skin, chemical peel, antibacterial

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Though plants and many animals make vitamin D, many foods in our diet do not contain much vitamin D. A major dietary source is fish. Eggs, dairy products and mushrooms are other sources, but they are much lower than many fish. Milk is usually fortified with vitamin D, as are some cereal products and margarines.

Our skin can make all the vitamin D that we need. Strong UV light hitting the skin activates the synthesis of vitamin D.

However, many adults do not get the RDA for vitamin D. Some estimates are that half the adult population is vitamin D deficient. The RDA is 200 IU from birth to 50 years, 400 IU from 51 to 70 years, and 600 IU for 71 years and older. There are some nutritionists who feel that these numbers are too low, and should be revised up.

Vitamin D has many important roles in the body. It is involved in immune responses, maintenance of bone, prevention of some cancers, and the cardiovascular system. Low levels have been implicated in arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease and osteoporosis.

A study of seriously ill patients found that 45% of them had very low vitamin D levels. Generally the sicker they were, the lower their levels of vitamin D.

It is not clear whether the patients had low levels of vitamin D and this increased their risk of becoming seriously ill, or they depleted their vitamin when they got very sick.

Vitamin D is important for the health of many of our organs. So it is important particularly when seriously ill to have adequate levels of vitamin D.

The authors of the study suggest that perhaps the very sick should get vitamin D supplementation to boost their levels.

The bottom line: If you are not getting much sun exposure or live in an area with weak sun , taking vitamin D supplements is probably a good idea. But don’t overdo it, too much vitamin D supplementation taken over an extended period of time is toxic.

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Technorati Tags: vitamin D, RDA, seriously ill, low vitamin D, vitamin D deficient

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Unless you measure your blood pressure, generally, you have no idea of what your blood pressure actually is. It could be low, normal or high. It is really a good idea to measure it once in a while.

There a whole range of treatment options for high blood pressure, ranging from controlled breathing to one or more drugs. These treatments will reduce blood pressure for most people. However, there are some people who are resistant to treatment; their blood pressure will only drop slightly, with combination therapy such as a three different drugs, and stays well above the target range.

A small study now suggests an alternative type of treatment for lowering blood pressure. This new method used minimally invasive surgery.

Using a catheter (tube threaded into the body) they were given radiofrequency treatment in a specific area close to the kidney. This treatment destroyed certain nerves. The kidney is one of the major organs for controlling blood pressure. By inactivating certain nerves, and hence stopping some signals to the kidney, blood pressure will drop.

All the subjects in the study were on three blood pressure drugs, and still had systolic pressure (upper number) of 160 mm Hg or greater. Those that had the surgery had a big drop in blood pressure and this drop was maintained 12 months later. The study participants that did not have the surgery, on average, had slightly higher blood pressure after 12 months.

There were no problems for any of the patients that had the surgery. Catheters are commonly used for other techniques such as angioplasty.

This technique could reduce the number of people with heart failure, strokes, heart attacks and eye damage significantly. The use of this surgery could translate into many people not getting a reduced quality of life due to the consequences of uncontrolled high blood pressure, and huge healthcare savings. Hopefully the early findings are repeated in larger studies.

photo credit: Zeusandhera

Technorati Tags: high blood pressure, kidney, catheter, surgery

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An estimate of the health effect of consuming a little less salt, 3 grams per day (which is about 1,200 mg of sodium) is there would be a quarter of a million less new cases of heart disease in a decade. This number is quite staggering considering that most people would not even notice a 3 gram per day decrease in their salt intake. Apparently most Americans eat 9 to 12 grams of salt (3,600 – 4,800 mg sodium) per day. The recommendation is 5-6 grams of salt (2,000 – 2,400 mg sodium) per day.

Now that most of us are eating out less due to the economy, reading the labels on foods and choosing more low sodium foods, should make it easier for most people to lower their salt/sodium intake. Many brands of prepared foods will have the American Heart Association check mark on them if they are within the heart healthy guidelines.

Those that routinely get less than 6 hours sleep per night on workdays are at an increased risk of having higher fasting glucose. An increase in fasting glucose levels is an indicator of the beginning of development of diabetes. There was no downside, with regards to fasting blood glucose, to getting more than eight hours sleep. This is yet another study that shows a negative impact on health for those who consistently do not get enough sleep. We all need to get lots of sleep.

Those who exercise after a heart attack improve blood vessel function. Both aerobic and resistance training are effective. Those who did not exercise had very little improvement in the functioning of their blood vessels. The bad news is that for the improvement to be maintained, the exercise program had to be maintained.

So – lower your salt intake, make sure you get your zzzz, and keep exercising.

photo credit: Franck Mahon

Technorati Tags: heart, salt, sodium, sleep, exercise, heart attack

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Several years ago, a number of researchers suggested that lecithin, which is found in high levels in egg yolk, could reduce cholesterol uptake in the gut. Though egg yolk is high in cholesterol, the research findings suggested that the lecithin inhibited the uptake of the cholesterol into the blood. This is consistent with many studies that have shown that moderate consumption of eggs generally does not increase cholesterol levels in the blood.

It is has been demonstrated that there is an increase in the amount of lutein in the body after eating eggs. Lutein is a yellow pigment that is thought to be a necessary nutrient of our diet. Low levels of lutein have been suggested to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration, which results in loss of eyesight. Some researchers have suggested that an adequate intake of lutein in the elderly may reduce the risk of macular degeneration. In addition, to eggs, leafy green vegetables including spinach, broccoli and corn are high in lutein.

Over the years there have been indications that eggs have blood pressure lowering effects. The most researched effect seems to be inhibition of angiotensin 1 converting enzyme (ACE). There is already a widely prescribed class of drugs, developed for treatment of high blood pressure, that inhibit this enzyme. These are the ACE inhibitors.

In a recent study, both boiled and fried eggs were digested with pepsin. The stomach releases pepsin to digest food. By using pepsin with conditions similar to that found in the digestive tract, the aim was to mimic what happens when we eat cooked egg.

Interestingly, analysis of eggs digested by pepsin, showed that there was more ACE inhibitory activity in the whole fried egg, than the boiled egg.

So fried eggs are a health food?

photo credit: House Of Sims

Technorati Tags: eggs, lower blood pressure, ace inhibitor, angiotensin, pepsin, fried egg, lecithin, lutein

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Getting treatment quickly is important for stroke. A faster start of treatment will reduce the amount of damage, and result in less health problems after the stroke.

What are the symptoms of a stroke? One or more of the following;

• Sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis of face, arm or leg — often on one side
• Sudden dizziness, or loss of balance or loss of coordination
• Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech
• Sudden blurred, double or reduced vision
• Confusion or problems with memory, orientation or perception
• A very sudden, severe headache or unusual headache, which may be accompanied by a stiff neck, facial pain, pain between your eyes, vomiting or altered consciousness

Symptoms can be long lasting or may go away after a few minutes. If they go away after a few minutes, this is called a Transient Ischemic Attack or TIA. Do not assume if the symptoms go away that everything is fine. A TIA is often a precursor for a more serious stroke event.

If you or anybody else gets any of these symptoms, seek medical help immediately, even if the symptoms go way. Get treatment!

photo credit: shoes_on_wires

Technorati Tags: stroke symptoms, TIA, treatment, brain attack

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Abdominal obesity increases the risk of diabetes, since it increases insulin resistance.

Generally, when obesity is discussed there is a focus on fat and exercise. What is not often mentioned is that obesity is an inflammatory state.

Abdominal fat is considered an endocrine organ. The endocrine system is the hormone system. An endocrine organ is an organ that secretes hormones into the body. Some of these signaling compounds and proteins are secreted by the fat cells, others come from other cells that are found located in between the fat cells. A type of macrophage (cells that are part of the immune system) are found within abdominal fat.

Some of the compounds that are released by abdominal fat stimulate an inflammatory response. Recently it has shown that obesity results in chronic subclinical inflammation. Which in plain English means, having continual inflammation at a level that does not give obvious symptoms to the person.

What does this have to do with diabetes?

A recent study in obese mice has shown that if the type of macrophage that is found in abdominal fat, is “knocked out”, that the insulin resistance is reversed very quickly. Within 24 hours of killing the macrophages the insulin resistance was reversed though, of course, the mice were still obese.

As well as furthering the understanding of pathology of type 2 diabetes, this research suggests a new target for drugs for treating diabetes.

photo credit: gotplaid?

Technorati Tags: diabetes, macrophages, endocrine

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