Jeopardy TV Host Alex Trebek Suffers A Mild Heart Attack

Alex Trebek suffered a mild heart attack on Saturday. The Jeopardy host is expected to recover in time to start the 29th season of Jeopardy in July.

Coming from a heart attack prone family, I thought that this would be a good time to review the warning signs of a heart attack, and the steps we can take to minimize our risks of having a heart attack. Many do not realize that the leading cause of death for both men and women is heart disease. The only difference between men and women is that the symptoms may be slightly different in women.

Warning Signs of a Heart Attack

As the American Heart Association states, "most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help." Even if you are not sure if you are having a heart attack, talk with a health profession as soon as possible and describe your symptoms. Minute can make a difference between life and death.

These are the signs that you should take seriously if you experience them.

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of your chest. I can last for more than a few minutes, or go away and come back. I can feel like an uncomfortable pressure in the center of your chest, squeezing, a fullness sensation or pain.
• Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, your back, neck jaw or stomach.
• You can experience shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
• You may also experience a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. 

Women may be more likely than men to experience shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

The way to minimize your risks of having a heart attack is to live a heart healthy lifestyle. This includes

• Stop Smoking
• Choose a heart healthy diet. Eat foods low in sugars and saturated fats. Choose good foods like vegetables, fruits, cold water fish, lean proteins, whole grains and low fat dairy products
• Reduce your blood cholesterol, especially LDL and triglycerides.
• Lower your blood pressure. Your goal is less than 120 / 80 mmHg
• Be physically active everyday
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Manage your diabetes
• Reduce your stress
• And limit your alcohol consumption

Even if you live a healthy lifestyle, upon experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack, seek medical help as soon as possible.

Charles A. Pennison

References:

Huffpost: " Alex Trebek Heat Attack "
American Heart Association: " Prevention and Treatment of Heart Attack "
CDC: " Leading Cause of Death in Females "
CDC: " Leading Causes of Death in Males "

Should Exercise Be Part of Cardiac Rehab For The Elderly?

Many physicians and insurance companies believe that cardiac rehab does not help the elderly. Are they right?

No according to Dr. Stephan Gielen, Deputy Director of Cardiology at the University Hospital, Martin-Luther-University of Halle, Germany.

The results of a new study, published by the American Heart Association, concludes that exercise, regardless of the age of the heart patient,

1. Counteracts muscle breakdown
2. Increases strength and
3. Reduces inflammation caused by aging and heart failure.

This study makes it clear that the benefits of exercise for heart failure patients of any age are less muscle-wasting, and an increased ability to do more exercise over time.

How Was The Study Conducted?

 The researchers used 60 heart-failure patients and 60 healthy volunteers. Half of the group was 55 years and younger, while the other half was 65 years and older. Half of the group underwent four weeks of supervised aerobic training, while the other half did not exercise.

The exercised group underwent 20 minutes of aerobic exercise each day, for five days a week in addition to one 60 minute group exercise session. The results showed that the heart-failure patients 55 and under increased their peak oxygen uptake by 25%, while the older group increased their peak oxygen uptake by 27%.

The findings of this study indicate that exercise is therapeutic even for elderly heart failure patients when it comes to reducing muscle breakdown and wasting associated with heart failure.

Of course, it would be better to not experience heart failure or a heart attack in the first place.

How To Reduce Your Heart Attack Risk

There are certain controllable risk factors that can reduce your risk of a heart attack or heart failure.

You can

1. Avoid smoking
2. Keep your blood pressure at healthy levels
3. Keep your cholesterol levels low
4. Reduce your weight to healthy levels and
5. Stay physically active

 Start today to keep your risk low of ever having to experience a heart attack or heart failure by keeping yourself healthy and fit. If you do experience heart problems, work with your health professionals to start the appropriate exercise fitness routine and cardiac rehab program to prevent muscle breakdown and wasting associated with heart failure.And this is true of everyone of any age.

Charles A. Pennison

References:

American Heart Association: " Exercise Slows Muscle Wasting From Age And Heart Failure "
American Heart Association: " Heart Attack Risk Assessment "

Is A Healthy Lifestyle Worth The Effort?

Does living a healthy lifestyle lead to a healthier life?

Apparently it does, according to a study reported in the American Journal of Cardiology.

This study, led by Dr. Owais Khawaja of the Harvard Medical School, focused on men who had at least one parent that suffered a heart attack before the age of 55. This is considered to be premature heart disease, and children of such parents are at a higher risk of premature heart failure themselves.

The data for this study is based on the Physicians' Health Study, which has followed over 20,000 US male doctors since the 1980s.

The results of the study indicates that men with a family history of premature heart attacks were less likely to suffer a premature heart attack themselves if they lived a healthy lifestyle.

How Did They Live A Healthy Lifestyle?

They adhered to at least 3 healthy, modifiable lifestyle habits. Modifiable lifestyle habits include

1. Maintaining a healthy body weight
2. Not smoking
3. Regular physical exercise
4. Moderate alcohol consumption
5. Eating a healthy breakfast regularly
6. And a high consumption of fruits and vegetables

Study Results

Of the genetically-at-risk men living a healthy lifestyle, the rate of heart failure is 7 cases for each 10,000 men each year. This is in comparison with genetically-at-risk men living an unhealthy lifestyle, which have a heart failure rate of 14 cases for each 10,000 men each year.

This indicates that even with a genetic predisposition to heart failure, a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce your chances of having a heart attack.

In conclusion, if you truly want a longer and healthier life, you must adhere to a healthy lifestyle.

Charles

References:

Reuters: " Even at higher genetic heart risk, lifestyle helps "
The American Journal of Cardiology: " Usefulness of Desirable Lifestyle Factors "
JAMA: " Relation Between Modifiable Lifestyle Factors and Lifetime Risk of Heart Failures "

A Simple Method To Improve Your Heart Health

This simple method to improve your heart health has nothing to do with exercise or a healthy diet. So, how do we improve our heart health?   

 By developing a positive psychological attitude that includes optimism, life satisfaction and happiness.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that the most optimistic people reduced their risk of a heart attack by 50%. This is in comparison to people who are less optimistic.

This is important since heart disease is still the leading cause of death in both men and women.

Not only do psychological assets like optimism and positive emotions slow the progression of cardiovascular diseases, but people with these positive thoughts tend to engage in healthier behaviors. These optimistic people tend to exercise, eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep. They also have lower blood pressures, a healthy blood fat profile and have a healthy body weight.

How can we develop a more positive attitude?

The first thing you should do is pay more attention to your thoughts. You may be thinking in negative terms without realizing it.

For example,

• Instead of thinking that something has no chance of working, try believing that you can make it work. 
• Instead of thinking that something can't be done because you have never done it before, think of it as a new opportunity to learn something new. 
• Instead of thinking that you will never get better at some task, convince yourself to keep trying until you get it right.

I'll never forget the first time that I tried to make homemade bread. It came out of the oven as a white and very hard brick. I didn't give up though. It took me several years of trying, but I finally made a rather good looking and tasty loaf of bread. Now, several decades later, I have no idea how to make that hard brick that I made the first time.

 Next, try surrounding yourself with positive scents and sounds. This, of course is a personal choice. I like vanilla and LeAnn Rimes music.

Learn to laugh and have fun. I have gotten in a habit of laughing whenever I drop or break something. Getting mad never fixes anything.

It becomes easier to have a positive attitude if you surround yourself with positive people.

Lastly, consider meditation. You will not find a happier group of people than those who practice meditation on a daily basis. The trick is to think of one thing, like a word, a prayer or your breath for about 5 minutes. Then,

1. Relax your body
2. Pay attention to your breath as your belly rises to allow you to slowly breath in
3. Let your belly slowly deflate to exhale, while still paying attention to your breath
4. If your mind starts to wander, just bring it back to paying attention to your breathing
5. Don't stop thinking. Just let your thoughts stay focused on your breathing or prayer.
6. Do this for 5 minutes every day

If you consciously practice positive thinking every day, you will greatly improve your heart's health and you overall fitness.

Charles

References:

Harvard School of Public Health: " Positive Feelings May Help Protect Cardiovascular Health "
CDC: " Leading Cause of Death "
Mayo Clinic: " Positive Thinking: Reduce stress by eliminating negative self-talk "
PsychCentral: " 15 Tips to Boost Your Well-Being and Happiness "
Emotional Toolkit: " The Meditative Arts "

Did You Know That Proper Breathing Techniques Can Reduce Your Blood Pressure

Do you know how to breathe properly?

Most of us simply do not know the proper breathing techniques to keep ourselves healthy and fit.

For most of my life, I thought that you should hold your stomach in and expand your chest to fill your lungs with as much air as possible. Believe it or not, this is the wrong way to breathe.

We should actually allow our stomach area to expand as we breathe in. This action lowers the diaphragm, which in turn allows more air to fill the lower parts of your lungs. This is important since the lowest part of your lungs contains blood with the highest oxygen content.

I have also learned that slow, deep breathes can help you reduce your blood pressure for low periods of time. Research has shown that taking fewer than 10 breaths a minute does reduce blood pressures in people who have mastered this slow breathing technique.

Researchers are not sure why this works, but they do have a theory.

When we take frequent, shallow breaths, we tend to hold our breath for a short period of time. This diverts more blood to our brain, which in turn changes our blood chemistry to a more acidic nature. This increase in blood acidity makes our kidneys less efficient at removing sodium from our bodies. This in turn increases our blood pressure over an extended period of time.

On the other hand, taking longer, deep breaths, maintains a more proper blood chemistry, which in turn allows our kidneys to remove excess sodium and reduce our blood pressure.

Proper Breathing Technique

1. Hold your chin up as you breathe in to keep the passage way to your lungs as open as possible
2. Place your hands over your abdomen to make sure that you are expanding your abdomen area as you breathe in
3. Try to reduce your breathing rate to 10 breaths per minute or less.
4. Slowly breath in by allowing your abdomen to expand
5. Once your lungs are full, slowly breathe out without holding your breath during the entire cycle
6. Repeat this exercise for 10 to 15 minutes each day
7. Eventually, your body will naturally start to breathe properly all the time

This is a great meditation exercise that will reap lots of health and fitness benefits. The best benefit in achieving the proper breathing technique is lower blood pressure. With a lower blood pressure comes the lower risk of heart disease and strokes. And all you have to do is breathe properly.

Charles

References:

The Telegraph: " Why do so few of us know how to breathe properly? "
MSNBC: " Breathe deep to lower blood pressure, doc says "