JustCare

Tag: Heart

  • Your heart rate can help you understand your physical fitness

    Your heart rate can help you understand your physical fitness

    If you carry a mobile phone, you already track the number of steps you take each day. Other devices can help you do even more. Talya Minsburg reports for The New York Times on the benefits of tracking your heart rate.

    Smartwatches and fitness trackers will tell you a bunch about the health of your heart.  They can also track heart rate zones and changes in your heart rate. You can improve your health with this information.

    The information you can glean from smartwatches and fitness trackers can help you understand how fit you are and your fitness trends. If you’re an athlete, the information can help you with speed and endurance.

    If you don’t use a smartwatch or tracking device, you can still know your resting heart rate simply by putting your finger on your wrist or neck and counting beats for 15 seconds, Your resting heart rate is that number of beats times four.

    Healthy hearts beat about 15 to 25 times every 15 seconds or 60 to 100 times a minute. People who exercise a lot generally have lower rates.

    If you want to know your maximum heart rate, count the number of beats while you are exercising strenuously.

    Heart rate zone training can help build your endurance.  There are five heart rate zones.  Zone one is a relatively easy workout, in which you reach only about half of your maximum heart rate.

    Zones two through five require more effort. Zone two and three are good for building endurance. Zone two is a good zone for running or bicycling. Zone three takes still more effort; you might find you will need to take some breaths as you exercise.

    Zones four and five teach your body to function with less oxygen. Zone four is hard enough that you can only stay at this heart rate for a limited time.  Zone five is intense, in which you reach your full or nearly full heart rate. You cannot be talking at this level.

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  • Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Alex Janin writes for the Wall Street Journal on how, before long, you might be able protect yourself from some serious health conditions by knowing the “age” of your organs. Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Did you know that while you might be 65 based on your birthday, your pancreas could be 70 and your heart 55?  Apparently, researchers say that we can have an organ that is considerably older than our actual age. If so, that could increase our odds of getting certain diseases.

    If you heart or artery or brain or pancreas are “older” than you are, you have a higher risk of dying sooner. So, if you knew your heart were older, theoretically you might be able to act in ways that reduce your chances of heart disease. Similarly, if your brain were older, theoretically you might be able to act in ways that reduce your chances of dementia.

    To be clear, it’s still not possible to know the age of your various organs. It takes identifying the proteins in different organs and then using blood samples to determine the level of these proteins, which are different as you age. And, the science is not definitive at this point.

    Moreover, even if it were possible to determine people’s organ ages, the next question becomes what to do about older organs. And, that’s not always clear. What we do know is that it’s not unusual for people to have organs that are “older” than their chronological age. About one in five people apparently do.

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  • Have A-fib? Here’s what you can do

    Have A-fib? Here’s what you can do

    More than two million adults in the US have atrial-fibrillation or A-fib, according to the National Institute on Health. Scientific American pegs the number of people with A-fib much higher at one in three adults over 40, likely because it is believed that many people have A-fib and do not know it. But, it’s important to know because A-fib can kill you if you don’t ensure it’s in check, causing strokes, heart attacks, blood clots and dementia.

    What is A-fib? Simply put, A-fib is an irregular fast heartbeat that can lead to chest pain, lightheadedness and shortness of breath. Consequently, your lower heart chambers do not pump enough blood to your lungs and body. A-fib can affect your quality of life. But, many people have A-fib and don’t even realize it because it can pass quickly

    What causes A-fib? Your atria–which is in your heart’s upper chambers–have electrical signals that do not function properly. Consequently, your heart does not have a regular beat, your blood pools instead of pumping to your heart’s lower chambers.

    How to treat A-fib? There are lots of things you can do to treat A-fib and minimize its risks. You can take medication or get a cardioversion that essentially directs your heart back to a normal beat. Pulsed field ablation is another treatment.

    Why is treating A-fib quickly important? Early diagnosis and treatment of A-fib improves health. Returning your heartbeat to a normal rhythm as soon as possible changes the way A-fib progresses.

    What to do if you have A-fib? Eat healthy, don’t smoke, and cut back on alcohol. The sooner you change these behaviors the better. There are also medications that can slow heart rate and control your heart’s rhythm. Here are the latest guidelines.

    If you’re able to splurge, an Apple Watch can identify any irregularities in your heartbeat.

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  • Should you be drinking energy drinks?

    Should you be drinking energy drinks?

    Recently, two people died, allegedly as a result of drinking lemonade with extra caffeination that they bought at Panera Bread. Dani Blum and Alice Callahan report for the New York Times on the safety of energy drinks. Should you be drinking energy drinks?

    Panera Bread’s “Charged Lemonade” reportedly has as much caffeine as 40 ounces of Red Bull–260 ml of caffeine in a 20 ounce serving. A 21- year old woman and a 46-year old man with heart conditions died after consuming the lemonade. The lemonade allegedly was not labeled as an energy drink, and they might not have realized that it contained as much caffeine as it did.

    While experts do not believe that death is a likely consequence of consuming an energy drink, there can be serious life threatening consequences for people with heart conditions. Even if you don’t have a heart condition, consuming these drinks can strain your heart.

    Taurine is a typical stimulant in energy drinks. It can force your heart to pump harder in combination with caffeine. And, unfortunately, you might have a heart condition and not know it.

    Concerning symptoms after consuming an energy drink: If you consume an energy drink and have heart palpitations, a bad headache, sweat, chest pain or shortness of breath, it’s a sign that you should not be drinking energy drinks. Talk to your doctor.

    Who should not consume energy drinks? In addition to people with heart conditions, people under 18 and pregnant women should not consume energy drinks. Also people who use stimulants such as Adderrall should likely not consume energy drinks.

    How much is too much caffeine? You should avoid consuming more than 400 ml of caffeine each day.

    What not to do after consuming an energy drink? If you drink energy drinks, don’t exercise directly afterwards and don’t drink alcohol either. Both will strain your heart.

    Is clean or plant-based caffeine safer than other types of caffeine? No.

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  • Five ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age

    Five ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age

    We are all getting older. And, the older we get, the more likely we are to suffer from one or more chronic conditions, everything from joint pain to cancer. Consumer Reports recommends ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age. It’s all about exercising frequently, eating well, getting enough sleep, and staying socially engaged.

    Of course, many good things come with age. Being older means being wiser. It also usually means being happier. But, a lot happens as to your body as you age. Avoiding alcohol, not smoking and keeping a healthy weight, along with exercise, eating well, good sleep and social engagement can slow down the aging process and improve every aspect of your health.

    How to care for your aging body?

    Your heart: Minimize your risk of a heart attack and heart disease. Keep your blood flowing efficiently. Exercise and healthy eating can help a lot. Don’t smoke. Get a good night’s sleep and a maintain a healthy weight.

    Your brain: Minimize your risk of dementia. By the time you’re 50, you likely will experience some cognitive decline, including slower processing of information. Your eyesight and hearing can also begin to fail. But, you are likely to be more creative and productive as you move into your 50s and 60s because of all the knowledge and wisdom you have accumulated.

    According to the CDC, you might be able to delay or prevent dementia by being good to your heart. Again, exercise, not smoking or drinking alcohol, and eating a Mediterranean diet can make a difference. So can having a positive outlook about growing older and feeling useful.

    Don’t bother taking supplements. There’s no evidence that they help in otherwise healthy individuals, and there’s evidence that certain ingredients found in some supplements can be dangerous to your health.

    Your digestive system: Keep your gut and liver working well. Your liver helps to keep toxins out of your body. And, when your gut is working properly, you have regular bowel movements. You keep constipation and reflux at bay.

    To address digestive issues, you should try changing up your diet. Foods with fiber, such as avocados and oats, could be helpful. If you have GERD, try stopping drinking alcohol, not smoking and having dinner early so that your food is digested before you go to sleep.

    Your hormones: Focus on maintaining growth and sex hormones, which tend to diminish as you age. That can mean you also lose muscle and bone strength. As you lose growth and sex hormones, you might also lose some energy, sleep less well and have less of a sex drive.

    Again, both aerobic and strength exercises can help increase your growth hormone and testosterone levels, along with a good night’s sleep.

    Your muscles and bones: Focus on maintaining muscle and bone strength, as well as keeping your balance and endurance. By the time you’re in your late 30s, you will begin losing bone and muscle strength. However, if you exercise regularly, you can hold onto a lot of that strength. And, you can also keep your endurance. Balancing exercises are also helpful.

    Eating more protein and calcium can help with muscle strength and bone health. You can get protein from quinoa, nuts, lentils and soy as well as from seafood, poultry and meat.

    Your skin: Take care of your skin. Most people will see signs of aging under their eyes with a loss of collagen as they age. You might also get sun spots. No matter what your skin color, sunscreen is really important. You might also try using retinoids at night. They will dry out your skin, while encouraging production of new skin cells and boosting collagen.

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  • Coronavirus: It’s causing heart problems

    Coronavirus: It’s causing heart problems

    You’ve likely heard repeatedly that the novel coronavirus can cause people to have difficulty breathing and can lead to respiratory illness. What you might not know is that the novel coronavirus can also cause heart problems and cardiac arrest. Kaiser News reports on one study that found that COVID-19 caused heart damage in as many as one in five people.

    Heart specialists who have studied the data believe that COVID-19 can infect your heart muscle. It might attach to receptors in heart muscle much as it attaches to receptors in lungs. In fact, it can cause cardiac damage or heart failure in people who have no respiratory issues. In many cases it presents as if people are having a heart attack.

    People with heart conditions need to be especially careful of getting COVID-19, as the risk of death from cardiac damage is high. But, even people who do not have heart disease might end up with heart damage as a result of COVID-19. And, the risk of harm from the virus for them is high. It’s not known whether people who end up with cardiac issues as a result of COVID-19 are simply genetically predisposed to this outcome or have more exposure to the virus than other people.

    It’s also still unclear whether COVID-19 is directly causing heart problems or whether it indirectly affects people’s hearts. Being seriously sick or getting medical care for any health condition, even hip surgery, can damage people’s hearts. For example, pneumonia will cause people’s hearts to stop if they are unable to get enough oxygen into their systems. Or, it can cause inflammation, which in turn leads to heart attacks or weakening of heart muscles and heart failure.

    A heart biopsy can determine whether the heart muscle has the virus. But, that’s an invasive procedure. It’s unnecessary for the patient. And, it’s risky for doctors to perform in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, with limited PPE. So, it’s not possible to know the full extent to which the virus is infecting people’s heart muscle.

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  • Exercise can slow down the aging of your heart and muscles substantially

    Exercise can slow down the aging of your heart and muscles substantially

    Aging is part of life. But you may be able to slow down the aging process biologically if you exercise regularly. While it is hard to control the aging of your skin, it appears that you may be able to slow down the aging of your muscles and heart substantially. The New York Times reports on a recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

    The researchers found 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. Younger and older adults who exercise regularly have the same number of enzymes and capillaries.

    Active older adults in their 70’s also are better able to engage in aerobic exercises than most other people in their 70’s. While they did not have the same aerobic capacity as people in their 20’s, it was 40 percent better than people their age who were not active. And, it was about the same as people in their 40’s.

    This study looked at 28 people who exercise recreationally. And, it was an observational study, so it does not prove that exercise caused these health improvements or whether other factors, such as genes and diet, played a material role. Moreover, it does not tell us the extent to which taking up serious exercise in later life is associated with “younger” muscles and hearts. Other studies show that people who exercise seriously, not recreationally, into old age tend to have healthier muscles, brains, immune systems and hearts than people who are not active.

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