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Tag: Heart disease

  • Coronavirus: Disease groups lose research funding

    Coronavirus: Disease groups lose research funding

    Stat News reports that disease organizations have lost a significant amount of their research funding since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Americans rely on disease groups to undertake critical research, which is now at risk. For the public good, the government should invest more in critical research just as it should guarantee everyone affordable health care.

    Americans who support disease organizations often do not realize that most of these organizations are pawns of the pharmaceutical industry and other for-profit health care corporations. They tend to support research when it is valuable both to patients and to the health care industry. For that reason, they don’t always support the research that is needed and they don’t tend to support guaranteed universal health care.

    Disease organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association have gained notoriety among advocates and researchers alike for their failure to support reforms that would lower the price of prescription drugs. They also are not allies in the fight for guaranteed health care for all. These reforms, which would help their members, are not in sync with the wishes of their corporate funders.

    With a loss of financial support in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, disease organizations have needed to lay off workers and cut programs. The American Cancer Society responded to a 30 percent revenue loss by laying off 1,ooo workers. JDRF, formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, has been forced to lay off 4o percent of its staff and rethink how it functions. It is going from 60 chapters to 29 chapters. And, it plans to rely more on volunteer help.

    A lot of private medical research might stop and that jeopardizes the well-being of millions of Americans living with a chronic condition. What’s not evident is the extent to which research funded by disease organizations helped the for-profit health care sector and the extent it helped patients.

    Often new medical treatments are prohibitively expensive. Treatments don’t work if people can’t afford them. Moreover, some suggest that the health care industry looks to support lifelong treatments over one-time cures, as a means to ensure ongoing revenue, which is certainly not in our best interest.

    Right now, it would help all Americans if disease organizations pivoted and focused on guaranteed universal health care on behalf of their members. The majority of the public supports that aim.

    Time will tell how the health care priorities of disease groups evolve. They might rely more heavily on corporate dollars from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. This would mean bigger conflicts of interest for these groups. Some could end up promoting industry interests over patient interests even more than they have in the past. Will Congress step in and appropriate adequate funding for critical patient-centered research?

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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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  • 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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  • If you have heart disease, drug therapy may be as good as bypass surgery or a stent

    If you have heart disease, drug therapy may be as good as bypass surgery or a stent

    Carolyn Johnson reports for The Washington Post on a new large federal study which finds that people with heart disease may do as well with drug therapy and lifestyle changes as with a stent. As previous studies have found, doctors too often perform unnecessary bypass surgery.

    It is common for doctors to do bypass surgery or to use stents to open up blocked coronary arteries in patients. More than 30,000 heart disease patients have stents implanted each year. But, this invasive procedure often does nothing more to decrease the risk of heart attacks or death than drug therapy.

    Indeed, even patients with very blocked arteries did as well with drug therapy as with stents. Bypass surgery and stents were found to be beneficial only in some cases of patients with chronic chest pain or angina. For patients who are not experiencing chest pain, these invasive procedures are generally unwarranted.

    According to Gina Kolata at The New York Times, the study looked at 5,179 patients over three and a half years, most of whom had experienced chest pain. It specifically did not assess the value of bypass surgery on patients who have heart attacks or blocked left main coronary arteries. In those two cases, using stents can save people’s lives.

    Some doctors still disagree with the findings. They argue that the study did not look at the benefits of stents for people with particular risk factors. They further argue that newer stents release drugs that reduce the likelihood that arteries will close after surgery. And, in this study, attention was paid to ensuring patients adhered to their drug treatment plan, which is not feasible in normal situations.

    Of course, drug therapy only works if patients comply with the treatment plan. Usually, the treatment includes cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins, blood pressure medicines and aspirin. Still, even patients with stents must take strong drugs that prevent clotting for as long as 12 months; one in three of them experience chest pain again within six months of getting a stent, requiring yet another stent.

    Part of the reason that the stents may not have any better results than drugs is that artery blockages can present themselves in multiple places. Some plaque that narrows the artery may never lead to a heart attack and other plaque could. Yet, it is not possible to know which plaques are potentially lethal.

    People who take prescription drugs instead of getting a stent or bypass surgery have the benefit of a treatment for all their coronary arteries, not simply an isolated area. If chest pain persists, then a stent or bypass may be warranted to ease the pain. Moreover, patients who take drugs instead of undergoing an invasive procedure take fewer drugs than patients who undergo invasive procedures.

    There remains a strong difference of opinion among doctors about the value of stents relative to drug therapy. But, the evidence is strong that stents and bypass surgery are unnecessary and unhelpful in many cases. One takeaway from the study is that patients with blocked arteries who are not feeling chest pain do not put themselves at any risk if they opt for drug treatment. They can decide to undergo an invasive procedure if they later experience chest pain.

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  • To stay healthy, exercise, and sit less

    To stay healthy, exercise, and sit less

    To stay healthy, exercise appears necessary, but not sufficient.  We also should sit less, according to a new study published in Nature: Scientific Reports. Sitting too much may jeopardize your health.

    Two and a half hours a week of physical activity is important for a longer life and to deter all kinds of chronic conditions.  You should spend at least 20 minutes a day increasing your heart rate. That benefits your heart, your mind, your muscle, your skin and more.

    But, if you exercise for 20-30 minutes a day and then spend the rest of the day sitting, you may still jeopardize your health.  Sitting can increase your likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It can lead to high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and extra body fat around the waist. And, it can hurt your cholesterol.

    The Mayo Clinic reports that, if you sit too much, it increases your risk of death from cancer and heart disease. A meta-analysis of 13 studies found that if you sit for eight hours a day straight, without any exercise, your risk of dying is analogous to the risks of dying from obesity and smoking.

    The New York Times reports that a 2019 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found a link between inactivity and fewer health benefits from exercise. It suggests that sitting for long periods could actually change our bodies. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin studied a small group of healthy young people who sat four days in a row for at least 13 hours a day.

    The people in the study drank a fatty sugary ice cream shake on the fifth day. Not surprisingly, their bodies struggled to process the shake. More interestingly, even when the study participants exercised intensively for an hour at the end of the fourth day, their bodies struggled to process the shake on the fifth day. The metabolic results were similar, high blood sugar and triglyceride levels.

    What’s the solution? Take a break from sitting periodically, and walk around a little.

    The Nature: Scientific Reports researchers studied 64 men and women sitting for longer and shorter periods of time over four-day sessions. Those who sat more appeared to hurt their heart health. Those who stood more had better insulin and cholesterol levels, likely from increasing their blood flow and muscular contractions over the day.

    The more you use your muscles, the more blood sugar you burn. That, in turn, steadies your insulin levels and causes chemical activity that helps to lessen bad cholesterol.

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  • Aspirin may not help to prevent heart problems

    Aspirin may not help to prevent heart problems

    People who are at a moderate risk of developing cardiovascular disease who take a low-dose aspirin daily do not have fewer heart problems compared to those who don’t take anything, according to a new study.

    Researchers enrolled more than 12,500 people aged 55 and older (men) or 60 and older (women) considered to be at moderate risk of cardiovascular disease because of high cholesterol, high blood pressure or smoking. Half were given a low dose (100 mg) of aspirin daily, while the others were given a placebo. Patients were followed for an average of five years. The study was sponsored by Bayer, which manufactures brand-name aspirin.

    Results, published in the Lancet, showed aspirin did not help to prevent a first heart attack or stroke any more than a placebo.

    About 4% in each group suffered a heart issue after five years. Study author J. Michael Gaziano, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said one reason the rate of cardiovascular events was so low is that many of the patients were taking cholesterol and hypertension drugs that may have already been helping to cut cardiovascular risk.

    Results also showed gastrointestinal bleeding events were higher in the aspirin group. Dr. Jane Armitage, University of Oxford, worked on the study and told the Associated Press that if you are healthy, it’s not worth taking a daily aspirin. Low-dose aspirin is still recommended for people who have had a heart attack or other cardiovascular event, as studies have shown it is effective in preventing another one from happening.

    This article originally was published on Medshadow.org

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  • Reduce your risk of heart disease. Exercise!

    Reduce your risk of heart disease. Exercise!

    To reduce your risk of coronary heart disease, just as with reducing your risk of stroke, the best thing you can do is exercise. Indeed, the more you exercise, the more likely you are to prolong your life.

    The New York Times reports on a study, published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology, for which researchers in Norway followed 3,307 people with coronary heart disease over an average of 16 years. During that time, more than 40 percent of them died. People, who exercised for 150 minutes each week, reduced their risk of death by 19 percent.  Those who exercised more reduced their risk by 36 percent.

    In this observational study, weight loss did not contribute to longer life for people of normal weight. Indeed, people of normal weight who decreased their body mass index by more than .10 had a 30 percent greater chance of dying. They did not increase their risk of dying if they gained weight. The lead author explained that because the study was observational, it could be that the normal weight individuals who lost weight were more likely to die because they were in poorer health than others.

    For people who are overweight, exercise is more important than losing weight, but losing weight is good! If you’re looking for help losing weight, you should know that Medicare covers weight-loss counseling. It also covers nutrition counseling.

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  • Coffee appears to be good for your health

    Coffee appears to be good for your health

    In the category of almost too good to believe, coffee appears to be good for your health. The U.S.D.A. in its dietary guidelines for Americans says that up to five cups of coffee a day could have health benefits. So, in addition to being the most popular central nervous stimulant in the world, coffee has been found to stave off cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease–possibly because of its antioxidants and phenolic compounds.

    • Longer life: A recent study of more than half a million people, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that people who drink between one and four cups of coffee a day, caffeinated or decaffeinated, over the course of 16 years lower their chances of dying from a variety of health conditions. Men who drank three or more cups of coffee a day were 18 percent less likely to die than people who did not drink coffee; women who drank three or more cups of coffee a day were eight percent less likely to die.
    • Less likelihood of heart disease: A meta-study of 36 studies published in Circulation, found that people who drank three to five cups of coffee a day had the lowest risk of heart disease.
    • Less likelihood of stroke: A meta-study of nine studies published in the Korean Journal of Family Medicine, found that people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of stroke.
    • Less likelihood of liver cancer: A meta-study of four cohort and five case-control studies published in Science Direct found that people who drank two or more cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of liver cancer.
    • Less likelihood of depression for older women: A  2011 Harvard School of Public Health study of 53,000 women who drank four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that they had a 20 percent lower risk of depression than women who drank little coffee a day. The women studied averaged 63 years old.
    • Less likelihood of type 2 diabetes: A 2014 Harvard School of Public Health study found that people who increased their daily coffee intake by at least a cup a day over four years reduced their chances of type 2 diabetes by 11 percent relative to people who did not. It further found that people who decreased their daily coffee intake by more than a cup a day increased their risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 percent relative to those who did not.
    • Less likelihood of Parkinson’s disease for people drinking three cups of coffee a day.
    • Possibly less likelihood of dementia and cognitive decline, but no evidence as to daily intake of coffee needed.

    This all said, people with acid reflux should likely avoid coffee because of its acidic properties.

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  • Exercise associated with fewer hospitalizations for people with and without heart disease

    Exercise associated with fewer hospitalizations for people with and without heart disease

    Heart disease (CVD) is the number cause of death and disability around the world. But, even with heart disease, exercise can help a lot. A study in the Journal of the American Heart Association looks at the relationship between exercise and heart disease, outcomes and quality of life. It demonstrates the value of exercise by showing that exercise is associated with fewer visits to the hospital for people with and without heart disease.

    Researchers studied 26,239 people. Almost half of them exercised for at least 30 minutes five days a week or more. It has been found that 150 minutes of exercise a week reduces the risk of death. Researchers in this study found that people with and without heart disease who exercised at least 30 minutes for five-seven days a week saved the health care system thousands of dollars; they spent less on health care and used fewer health care services–than those who exercised less.

    Put differently, people surveyed with heart disease who exercised at least 150 minutes a week visited the emergency room less frequently  (24% vs 31%) and had fewer hospital visits (21% vs 27%) than people with heart disease who did not exercise as much. People without heart disease and who exercised at least 150 minutes a week had the fewest visits to emergency rooms (9.1%) and hospitals (2.6%).

    Translated into proportional dollars saved, health care spending for people with heart disease who exercised at least 150 minutes a week was 20% less than spending on people with heart disease who did not exercise as much.  And, health care spending for people without heart disease but poor cardiovascular modifiable risk factors who exercised at least 150 minutes a week was half as much as people with heart disease who did not exercise as much.

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  • Heart health and cardiovascular care

    Heart health and cardiovascular care

    Heart health can mean the difference between a good quality of life as we age and one with serious disabilities. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, and people with heart disease may have no symptoms. “Cardiovascular” or heart care can be critical.

    The risk of many forms of heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke increases with age. And, like it or not, we are growing older. Heart disease is also associated with factors that are within our control: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and cigarette smoking.

    We can dramatically reduce our risk for most forms of heart disease and stroke by controlling these risk factors with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and smoking cessation. (Medicare covers nutritional counseling, weight counseling, and smoking cessation counseling.)

    The National Institutes of Health recommends that you stay aware of blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels to keep them within a healthy range. More than one in three adults have high blood pressure, which increases your risk of heart disease.

    Have a doctor check your blood pressure each year. Medicare covers the full cost of an annual blood pressure screening during your Welcome to Medicare visit and each year after that during your Annual Wellness visit. Your medical screening should include:

    1. Discussion about aspirin use: Men and women between the ages of 55 and 79 should generally take an aspirin a day. And, daily aspirin is often recommended for men beginning at 45, ten years before women.
    2. Blood pressure screening: Recommended for all adults.
    3. Behavioral counseling: A healthy diet is highly recommended.

    To identify conditions that could lead to heart attack or stroke and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, Medicare also covers three important cardiovascular screening blood tests every five years, if ordered by a doctor:

    • cholesterol
    • lipid
    • triglyceride levels

    You can benefit from coverage with no out-of-pocket costs. If you have:

    • Traditional Medicare: See a doctor who takes assignment, who accepts Medicare’s rate as payment in full.
    • Medicare Advantage, private Medicare plan: See an in-network provider.

    For some people with serious heart conditions, Medicare also covers cardiac rehabilitation programs.

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