JustCare

Tag: Cardiovascular disease

  • Over 65? Eat more salmon and less cheese!

    Over 65? Eat more salmon and less cheese!

    As you age, you want more high-quality fatty proteins in your diet, Leigh Weingus reports for The Huffington Post. These proteins reduce inflammation and promote brain health. Eating more salmon should help a lot.

    Of course, different foods deliver different health benefits. Some foods boost energy levels. Some prevent disease, often caused by inflammation. But eating too much saturated fat is linked to heart disease and high LDL cholesterol. It also reduces your fiber intake which can lead to constipation.

    The benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet: Experts advise to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, as we get older, in order to stay in good physical and mental health. Including a fatty fish in your diet, such as salmon, at least twice each week, will help your muscles and strength. It will also increase your omega-3 consumption, promote brain health, and reduce inflammation.

    Eat protein-rich foods and foods with antioxidants: If you don’t like salmon, chicken or duck without the skin, eggs and tofu are also rich in protein. And, kale and spinach are good antioxidants, as are pomegranates. They also provide folic acid, niacin and other B vitamins that help to promote healthy brains.

    As for dairy products: Experts are now thinking you need less cheese and other dairy products than previously advised and possibly none at all, reports Andrea Petersen for the Wall Street Journal. There’s a new-found link between dairy products and cardiovascular disease as well as some cancers, including prostate cancer. But, some experts disagree, claiming that dairy products reduce the risk of heart disease and colon cancer.

    And, the jury’s still out as to the value of drinking fat-free milk over whole milk or two percent milk. Whatever you do, the new thinking is that one serving of dairy products a day is all you need. Dairy is primarily good for calcium, and you can get your calcium from other foods, such as tofu, edamame, kale and bok choy.

    If possible, avoid ultra-processed foods and supplements. Food that is fresh and not ultra-processed offers nutrients that are far easier to absorb into your body.

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  • Heart disease is on the rise, especially for people over 65

    Heart disease is on the rise, especially for people over 65

    Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and coronary artery disease kills more than 800,000 people each year. It’s the number one killer for people over 65. And, Judith Graham reports for Kaiser Health News that it is not going away soon.

    People with cardiovascular disease have blocked arteries. Blocked arteries can lead to stroke, heart attacks and other heart failure. People with high blood pressure, people who are overweight, people with diabetes, people with high cholesterol, and people who don’t exercise are most likely to end up with heart disease.

    More than four in five people who die of coronary artery disease are over 65. Death rates were down in the first decade of this century. People smoked less and new treatments helped. But, beginning in 2o11, deaths were on the rise again. And, Covid-19 also contributed to more deaths because it worsened people’s heart conditions and people were less inclined to seek medical care.

    Cardiovascular disease is one powerful example of health inequities in the US. Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease than other individuals. Black men are at the greatest risk of getting cardiovascular disease. Their plight will only worsen without better education, more prevention efforts and treatments.

    In many instances, individuals are not personally responsible for cardiovascular disease. Stressors, including systemic racism, can contribute to high blood pressure and other conditions that increase people’s risk of heart disease.

    Treatments are available for cardiovascular disease.  But, people need to have primary care doctors who screen them for cardiovascular disease and help treat underlying conditions.

    What can you do to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease?

    • Don’t smoke
    • Ask your doctor to check your blood pressure and A1C levels
    • Eat less salt and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains
    • Exercise, build muscle and maintain a good weight
    • Reduce stress
    • Control diabetes

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  • Build muscle and substantially reduce your risk of heart disease

    Build muscle and substantially reduce your risk of heart disease

    We’ve heard it before. Exercise works wonders on your brain and your body. We know from one recent study that active older men and women in their 70’s, who have exercised regularly throughout their adult lives, have muscles that are hard to differentiate from 25 year olds who are in good health. The latest research shows that men who build muscle in middle age substantially reduce their later risk of heart disease.

    Yes. Gretchen Reynolds reports for The New York Times on the latest study, revealing that being muscular before you retire can affect your heart health in later life. The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found that men with more muscle in middle age had an 81 percent lower likelihood of developing heart disease than other men. Muscle mass is critical for healthy aging.

    Muscle gives you strength. It also helps you control your blood sugar and makes your body work better, reducing inflammation. As you age, however, you tend to lose muscle. When you lose a lot of muscle, you become frail and weak. You are likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

    Though the researchers could not show that having a lot of muscle keeps people from getting heart disease, the relationship between men’s muscle mass and lower risk of heart disease was significant.

    So, keep up the exercise. It is fabulous medicine for your mental and physical health.

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  • Eat better, spend less on health care

    Eat better, spend less on health care

    So long as the US population is aging, health care costs will continue to increase no matter what happens with health care reform. An op-ed in the New York Times, by Dariush Mozzafarian and Dan Glickman, argues that the food we eat drives up health care costs. If Americans ate better and became healthier, we would spend far less on health care.

    Today, tens of millions of Americans suffer from one or more chronic conditions. Close to one third of the US population, more than 100 million adults, have pre-diabetes or diabetes. More than one third of the population, more than 120 million adults, have cardiovascular disease. And three quarters of the adult population is obese. These chronic conditions are responsible for hundreds of billions of dollars in health care spending, as well as lost productivity. (Note: Medicare covers a diabetes prevention program, weight-loss counseling and nutrition counseling.)

    We know that people who eat healthy diets feel better and have lower health care costs. But, that’s different from knowing how to change people’s diets so that they eat better, especially when the food industry giants invest heavily in getting people to eat unhealthy diets. What would it take to improve population health through better nutrition?

    The authors suggest a number of ways to improve people’s diets. They propose that electronic health records include nutrition; health care providers could focus more on eating well and prescribe people fruits and vegetables; health care providers also could design healthy meals for people in poor health. One recent study shows that, for each person in poor health, these healthy meals alone would save $9,000 a year in health care costs.

    Of course, behavior change, whether for a health care provider or a patient, is challenging. And, the food industry will do what it can to make change in people’s eating habits difficult. The food industry has done a great job of keeping sugary beverages and junk food from being taxed more, even though these foods have no health benefits and drive up health costs.

    The authors also suggest that the government subsidize the cost of healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, whole grains and fish. They suggest government regulatory safety standards for processed foods to reduce sugar, sodium and transfats, if not voluntary action by industry. And, SNAP, which helps about 12 percent of Americans with the cost of food, could focus more on a healthy diet.

    Government has a big role to play in helping people to eat healthy diets. But, no presidential candidates are talking about food policy and few journalists are asking about it.  Government action in this area may be a long time coming.

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  • Eat your fruits!

    Eat your fruits!

    The National Institute on Aging explains that older adults generally do not eat enough fruit and recommends eating more. Go for variety, including a range of colors, because different fruits offer different benefits.

    Harvard Health explains that fruits contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Fiber helps to keep your digestive system working. Fruits (and vegetables) also provide you with plant substances called phytochemicals that can help keep you healthy. They are plant chemicals that contribute to the color, taste and smell of fruits and vegetables. Evidence suggests that phytochemicals may help fight cancer and heart disease.

    Different fruits have dozens of different phytochemicals, including in their skins. Berries, apples, and citrus fruits have flavonoids that may fight inflammation and tumor growth. Berries also have anthocyanins which may lower blood pressure.

    Grapes and apples have proanthocyanidins and flavanols which may improve functioning of the lining of the arteries and also lower blood pressure. Cherries and citrus fruits have terpenes which may help slow cancer cell growth and fight viruses.

    Cochrane, a non-profit independent research organization, reports that eating five to nine portions of fruits (and vegetables) each day may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, but the evidence is limited. A portion (a half cup) could be a two inch peach or large plum or a half of a grapefruit. It also could be two ounces of dried fruit or an eighth of a cantaloupe. Side effects of eating fruit include more bowel movements, bad breath and body odor.

    Before eating fruits, be sure to wash them. And, try to eat whole fruits. Juices are good, but you lose a lot of the nutrients once fruit becomes juice. If you’re buying canned or dried fruit, choose the products with the least sugar.

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  • Amarin makes unsupported claims about its heart disease medicine

    Amarin makes unsupported claims about its heart disease medicine

    As we all know, some pharmaceutical companies will go very far to sell their products. Shefali Luthra reports for Kaiser Health News that Amarin has been making unsupported claims about the benefits of its medicine, Vascepa. Don’t believe their fishy marketing.

    Amarin’s medicine is simply purified fish oil. And, Amarin is claiming that it can work miracles for people with cardiovascular (heart) disease. The problem is that the evidence it just released to support its claims is questionable at best. Cardiologists who reviewed its study say that the placebo–mineral oil–to which Vascepa was compared, may have caused blood test changes, according to Forbes. So, comparing Amarin to the placebo, which may have caused heart problems or strokes, may be inappropriate. Put differently, Amarin’s use of a placebo that was not inert in its clinical trials could have made Vascepa, by comparison, appear to have clinical benefits it does not in fact have.

    Amarin’s stock price is up for the moment. But, its advertising and promotion of its questionable claims about Vascepa’s clinical benefits may be leading to unwarranted increases in sales of its medicine. Some doctors will be more likely to prescribe it to people who may not benefit at all from it.

    It is concerning that Amarin is able to market and advertise its drug as helping with heart disease without strong supporting evidence and FDA approval. To date, the FDA only has approved Vascepa to address high triglyceride levels, which can cause pancreatic issues.

    Without a good clinical trial with an inert placebo, Amarin’s claims about Vascepa are likely to be inaccurate; its clinical benefits may be no better than standard fish oil supplements, which may have little if any benefits.

    Supplements can be harmful for a number of reasons, including that they are not overseen by the FDA and can contain ingredients that can be dangerous to your health. Amarin is trying to suggest that because its fish oil product is FDA-approved it is safer. But, it is difficult to know for several years whether a drug is safe or who if anyone it helps. In this case, there is no evidence to suggest Vascepa is any better than fish oil supplements.

    Vascepa costs $280 a month today, up more than 40 percent in five years.

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