Tuesday, January 29, 2013
A double arm transplant for U.S. Army vet
The army sergeant lost four limbs in a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2009. Now he is on the mend following a double arm transplant. .
DOUBLE ARM TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT BRENDAN MARROCCO SAYING: "I just want to get to the point that I can be completely on my own and get back to enjoy life."
Double-arm transplant surgery is rare. This was the first successful procedure of its kind to be conducted at Johns Hopkins, in Baltimore, Maryland. Marrocco is also the first U.S. soldier in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to survive losing all four limbs.
DOUBLE ARM TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT BRENDAN MARROCCO SAYING: "You know I never really accepted the fact I didn't have arms so now that I have them again it's almost like it never happened. It's like I went back four years and I'm me again.
It's awesome." The rare surgery took 13 hours and involved 16 doctors who all volunteered.
Source:
A double arm transplant for U.S. Army vet | Video | Reuters.com
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Synthetic Marijuna Fact Sheet
1. What is Synthetic Marijuana? Synthetic Marijuana is a man made drug that is not marijuana.
It was invented to act like marijuana; however, it is more powerful and more dangerous than marijuana.
This fake marijuana, often called Spice, K2 or Legal Phunk, is sprayed on real plant products, like leaves, and sold as incense or potpourri. It is usually smoked,but can be eaten too.
When used, it can be very dangerous. Other names for this include Lava Red, Aroma, Dream, Mr. Nice Guy, and many more.
Beware of name changes as they are changed often as is the chemical make‐up.
2. Where is K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana) sold?
K2/Spice can be bought very easily on the internet. They can also be found in head shops, smoke shops,convenience stores and some gas stations.
Government officials are trying to make them illegal, but as of yet, they remain legal.
3. Why is K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana) sold if they are drugs and harmful?
K2/Spice are sold in a way that outsmarts state and local regulations by stating on the package that they are “not for human consumption.” Because of this, it is very difficult to regulate and track. It is cheap, easy to purchase, sold as fake (synthetic) marijuana that doesn’t show up on standard drug tests.
4. How does K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana) affect you?
People who use K2/Spice or any other synthetic marijuana experience:
Fast heart rate Convulsions (seizures)
Seeing things (hallucinations) Weakness
Dry mouth Passing out (coma)
Death has resulted in some cases!
5. What happens to the people who use K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana)?
When people use K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana), they can have heart attacks, brain damage, kidney failure and scary hallucinations (seeing things) that last for many days.
6. Who uses K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana)?
K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana) are used by all people, regardless of age, gender, or status.
Bottom Line: K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana)
A. It is very easy to get.
B. It is very dangerous and can lead to heart attacks, brain damage, kidney failure and scary images/hallucinations.
For More Information
www.upstatepoison.org
synthetic_marijuna_fact_sheet_public.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Link: http://www.upstate.edu/poison/pdf/news_releases/synthetic_marijuna_fact_sheet_public.pdf
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P.S. This information is posted here because medical marijuana is sometimes used to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, cancer and 'aids'. This is a warning to not cut corners and to not use anything but the Real McCoy when it comes to treating your m.s. symptoms.Marijuana has gained the status of alternative medicine... .
synthetic_marijuna_fact_sheet_public.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Friday, October 5, 2012
Robotic device helps WakeMed patients walk - Health/Science - NewsObserver.com
Patient wears a robotic exoskeleton to help him walk at WakeMed Rehab in Raleigh on Thursday, September 27, 2012. WakeMed is one of sixteen sites across the country that are starting to use the robotic exoskeleton, designed by Ekso Bionics, to help patients learn or re-learn to walk.
For now, the Ekso is an aid for physical therapy clinics with the help of therapists trained in its use, but the company is working on a sleeker, cheaper model for home use, which it hopes to begin selling in two years.
WakeMed began using the device this week. Initially the hospital is using it on patients with spinal cord injuries who can’t walk on their own, but it plans to eventually use it on other kinds of cases, such as stroke patients.http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/27/2373685/wakemed-gets-wearable-robot.html
Elsewhere, the device is already used for patients with other health problems, including multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and traumatic brain injuries.
For patients who spend significant amounts of time in wheelchairs, being able to spend at least a little time in the device regularly is likely to offer improvements in a host of functions, such as circulation, respiration and digestion, said Cathy Smith, director of outpatient rehabilitation at WakeMed.
It may help those with partial spinal cord injuries regain some function more easily.
Harder to quantify are intangible benefits, such as what it means for someone who has been in a wheelchair for decades to simply to be able to stand, walk around and look people in the eye again.
The Ekso looks like a kind of mechanized, computerized combination of a backpack and leg braces. Patients wear it with straps below the knees, on the thighs, around the stomach and over the shoulders. Plates under each foot are attached to motors and lift up. More than two dozen sensors feed information into the Ekso’s computer, which uses it to decide how and when to step.
Patients must have at least some upper body strength to use Ekso because they must use a walker or crutches when wearing the device to ensure their balance. For the current model, they also must be lighter than 220 pounds and between 5 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 2 inches in height.
The device has three modes. In the most advanced, fully automatic mode, the device takes a step when the patient shifts his weight to the side and leans forward.
They have to work up to that, though. In the most basic mode, therapists talk the patient through the proper motions, and one of them uses a hand-held remote control to trigger each step. In an intermediate mode, the patient triggers each step via a button on one crutch.
The learning curve
Ayscue was still in the first mode Thursday, and all the patients using it will be for a while as they and the WakeMed therapists learn how to use it.
Eventually he will transition to trigger his own steps with buttons on one crutch.
The batteries last about three hours, but can be quickly swapped out for fresh ones.
The Ekso is designed to carry its entire weight, about 45 pounds, but the patient’s weight goes through the patient’s own legs, something the company believes will help fight the loss of bone density, a common problem for those who spend significant time in wheelchairs.
About 350 patients nationwide have used the device so far, said Bender, the company CEO. So far, there have been no falls. But using it in a controlled environment with trained experts just inches away is much different from using it at home.
A home model will be more elaborate in its function, but lighter, slimmer, and have a look that’s more low-key, he said.
“We have to design a system that’s comfortable enough and appealing enough that’s it’s something you would be proud to wear,” he said. “There could be more than one model, and eventually it could become like when we choose our pants in the morning, the jeans of the future.”
That first “personal unit” also will need to have fall-prevention features. Also, cost and who pays are key issues. The current model costs $140,000, with a $10,000 annual service contract, Bender said.
The company is trying to reduce the cost and working with several rehab hospitals on research into the health benefits of getting people back on their feet and walking each day. If the various health benefits can be quantified, he said, the device could become a reasonable thing for insurance companies to cover.
The long-term potential that the Ekso suggests is limited by little more than the speed of improvements and imagination, Bender said.
“Maybe devices could help arthritis suffers with their mobility, or help people like you and me do something outrageous like climb Mount Kilimanjaro,” he said.
The potential market is huge, with nearly 70 million people worldwide who need wheelchairs, many in a position to benefit from assisted walking.
The company has a couple of competitors, Bender said, but it expects more. “It’s just too obvious,” he said. “Just look at all the unbelievable developments we have seen for amputees.
“Now it’s time for people with neurological problems – their time is now and this is just the beginning.”
As Ayscue was being strapped into the Ekso he quipped that he felt like astronaut John Glenn. And WakeMed’s CEO, Bill Atkinson, who had joined a small crowd of other hospital employees marveled at what he was seeing.
“A lifetime of changes in health care and rarely does it walk right in front of you,” Atkinson said. “For these patients, this is like the first steps on the moon.”
After a few dozen steps, the motors overheated and Ayscue had to pause and sit until they cooled.
Company technicians said the problem was that Ayscue still has limited muscle function and his own muscles were fighting the machine, which has been programmed to take relatively slow, short steps until he’s adept enough to go faster.
New software is on the way that will allow them to dial down the assist from the robot so it can more easily accommodate patients with at least limited function. For now, he needs to dial down himself. If he can.
“The motion just feels so natural, I guess in my mind I think I can walk just like I used to,” he said. “That’s the deal with the machine. I need to get used to it so that we can work together.”
Source link: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/27/2373685/wakemed-gets-wearable-robot.html
Robotic device helps WakeMed patients walk - Health/Science - NewsObserver.com
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Knee Replacement May Be a Lifesaver for Some - NYTimes.com
Knee Replacement May Be a Lifesaver for Some - NYTimes.com
Stuart Bradford
Stuart BradfordBy the time 64-year-old Laura Milson decided to undergo total knee replacement after 12 years of suffering from arthritis, even a short walk to the office printer was a struggle.
After her surgery last August at the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Ms. Milson spent a week in rehabilitation and says she hasn’t stopped walking since. “My son says to me, ‘You have to slow down,’ and I say, ‘No, I have to catch up!,’ ” she said. “It’s a whole different life.”
For Ms. Milson, who lives in Shrewsbury, Pa., replacing the joint in her right knee came with a surprising bonus: a 20-pound weight loss in two months. “I joked with my doctor, ‘I think you put a diet chip in my knee,’ ” she said. “The weight just sort of came off.”
Now she has joined Weight Watchers to drop a few extra pounds and is training for a three-day breast cancer walk in October.
For years surgeons have boasted of the pain relief and improved quality of life that often follow knee replacement. But now new research suggests that for some patients, knee replacement surgery can actually save their lives.
In a sweeping study of Medicare records, researchers from Philadelphia and Menlo Park, Calif., examined the effects of joint replacement among nearly 135,000 patients with new diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the knee from 1997 to 2009. About 54,000 opted for knee replacement; 81,000 did not.
Three years after diagnosis, the knee replacement patients had an 11 percent lower risk of heart failure. And after seven years, their risk of dying for any reason was 50 percent lower.
The study, presented this month at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, was financed with a grant from a knee replacement manufacturer. It was not randomized, so it may be that these patients were healthier and more active to start with.
Still, the researchers did try to control for differences in age and overall health. And the findings are consistent with large studies of knee replacement and mortality in Scandinavia. Given the big numbers in the study and the size of the effect, the data strongly suggest that knee replacement may lead to improvements in health and longevity.
The theory behind knee replacement, said the study’s lead author, Scott Lovald, senior associate at Exponent, a scientific consulting firm in Menlo Park, is that it improves quality of life. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to figure out if quantity of life increases as well,” he added, noting that the team was conducting a similar review of Medicare data on the long-term benefits of hip replacement surgery.
The founder of the Rothman Institute, Dr. Richard H. Rothman, who has performed 25,000 joint replacement surgeries in his career, urged caution in interpreting data that are not randomized and controlled. Not every patient with knee arthritis is a candidate for joint replacement surgery, he said.
“People can tolerate a lot of knee disability for reasons we don’t totally understand,” he went on, adding, “If the pain is acceptable, you live with it; if it’s not acceptable, we’ll operate on you.”
Dr. Rothman said that whether patients experience better health after surgery depends on motivation — how motivated they were to stay fit before surgery and how motivated they are now to become more active.
“For the motivated patient, it allows them to walk through that portal and become better conditioned and lose weight,” he said. “It’s not a weight-reduction program. It’s a potential avenue to improve your level of fitness, weight, cardiovascular health and mental health.”
Edward Moore, a 94-year-old retired chemist in Woodbury, N.J., underwent knee replacement three years ago after pain began limiting his activity. Given his age, his own daughter had worried that the recovery would be too difficult. But Dr. Rothman agreed he was healthy enough for the procedure.
“I didn’t do much mulling about it,” Mr. Moore said. “It just seemed like the knee would be hampering me for the rest of my life, and that sounded like a bad idea.”
Mr. Moore said he had an uneventful recovery, and in September, two days after his 94th birthday, he took his wind surfer to Lakes Bay near Atlantic City. “I got up on the board, and I sailed,” he said.
William Mills, 63, of Philadelphia, had been suffering for about four years with severe pain in both knees when he opted for double knee replacement in 2006. He said his activity had dropped off, and while he could still play golf, he could no longer walk the course. Even going to a restaurant had become a burden if he couldn’t find a parking space nearby.
“I think one of the things people don’t understand about knees is how bad it is,” said Mr. Mills, a bank executive. “It changes everything. I couldn’t walk two city blocks. It was just slowly but surely changing my life where I was unable to really enjoy things.”
But while the rehabilitation of both knees was “the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he has no regrets. Six months after surgery he took part in a 250-mile bike ride in Germany. He has made a few compromises — he no longer skis, and plays doubles tennis instead of singles — but he says he now rarely thinks about his knees.
“Before surgery, I felt like I was 10 or 15 years older than I was,” he said. “Now I probably feel like I’m 10 or 15 years younger than I am.
“I can understand why people might live longer, because you want to. You really feel good again.”
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Walk More
DocMikeEvans's Channel - YouTube: ""
The Doctor has many more of these self-help videos on his channel.
'via Blog this'
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Go Back
The Inca were not only skilled engineers and warriors but also successful surgeons. Five hundred years ago, without the benefit of steel scalpels or antibiotics, the Inca performed a type of operation called trepanation—literally carving holes in patients' skulls. How did they do it, and why? In this audio slide show, bioarcheologist Valerie Andrushko of Southern Connecticut State University explains http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
Operation Lion Heart
Pulitzer Prize award winning photojournalist Deanne Fitzmaurice won the highly respected award in 2005 for the photographic essay “Operation Lion Heart.”
“Operation Lion Heart” is the story of a 9-year-old Iraqi boy who was severely injured by an explosion during one of the most violent conflicts of modern history – the Iraq War. The boy was brought to a hospital in Oakland, CA where he had to undergo dozens of life-and-death surgeries. His courage and unwillingness to die gave him the nickname: Saleh Khalaf, “Lion Heart”.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Prosthetics: Life Without Limitations
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Ossur came to this blog's attention while reading about Oscar Pistorious who wears their equipment in his running career. The Cheetah prosthetic legs may carry Oxcar in his dream to compete in the Olympics against able-bodied athletes.
About Össur the publicly traded company
http://www.ossur.com/
Company Background
Founded in 1971, Össur has amassed wide-ranging expertise in the development, manufacture and sale of non-invasive orthopaedics. An assertive acquisition strategy has complemented ambitious organic growth over the last ten years and the Company is now a leading global player in the industry.
Össur continues to conceive and harness the very best in design and technological advances in its award-winning pursuit of “life without limitations”. Recognized by the World Economic Forum as a "Technology Pioneer", the Company invests significantly in research and product development, and Össur’s innovative R&D unit helps ensure a consistently strong position in the market.
The business employs a staff of around 1,600 across 14 strategic locations. Össur has extensive operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia, with numerous distributors in other markets. The Company’s headquarters are in Iceland.
The Company is named after Össur Kristinsson, an Icelandic prosthetist who, in the early 1970’s, focused on designing a better interface for prosthetic sockets. He soon discovered the ideal properties of silicone and put them to work in the form of the Iceross® liner. Within a short space of time his invention was helping thousands of amputees across the world to secure their prosthesis to their limb in a far more effective and comfortable way than ever before.
Building on that pioneering tradition, Össur has added numerous life-changing products to its portfolio, dynamic braces such as the Unloader One® to relieve the pain of osteoarthritis, and the unique prosthetic foot PROPRIO FOOT®, the world's first intelligent prosthetic foot incorporating Bionic Technology by Össur.
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Mission: To improve people's mobility
Fueled by a determination to seek out and seize new opportunities, the Company’s mission is simply to improve people's mobility. Its vision is to become the leading company in its field, exceeding the expectations of its customers and maintaining a strong focus on continuous improvement.
As part of Össur’s ambitious and global working environment, the organization fosters three core values:
Honesty
We aim always to show respect by adhering to facts, by fulfilling promises and admitting failures. We nurture honest communication throughout the company.
Frugality
We use resources wisely, with effective planning and communication and optimized processes each helping to minimize costs across all areas of the business.
Courage
Open to change, we strive constantly for improvement and challenge unwritten rules. We show initiative and take risks, while taking responsibility for our decisions and actions.
■Contrary to myth, plant-based diet won’t weaken you
Contrary to myth, plant-based diet won’t weaken you
By: Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Friday, January 27th, 2012
The scientific and medical communities have long acknowledged that smoking, lack of exercise and emotional stress adversely affects cardiovascular health and physical strength. Diet has also been directly linked to heart health.
New studies seem to point out that a plant-based diet is needed for optimal cardiovascular and physical health. Dr. Dean Ornish, MD, in his program called Reversing Heart Disease, cited Olympic-class athletes such as champions Edwin Moses (undefeated in eight years of running the 400-meter hurdles), Dave Scott (American triathlete and six-time winner of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship) who was on a plant-based diet, maintained superior physical conditioning, strength and skills.
If these Olympic medalists could achieve such feats without animal food, then the average person would surely benefit from such a diet. “Even a single meal high in fat and cholesterol may cause the body to release a hormone, thromboxane, which causes the arteries to constrict and the blood to clot faster—one reason heart patients often get chest pains after eating a fatty meal and why so many of them end up in the emergency room after a rich thanksgiving or other holiday feast,” Ornish said.
Ideal four-diet plan
The ideal and basic four-diet plan, preferably using indigenous sources, includes seeds and nuts (in moderation), fruits, vegetables and whole grains (unrefined). Dr. Neil Nedley, MD, author of “Proof Positive (How to Reliably Combat Disease and Achieve Optimal Health through Nutrition and Lifestyle),” said that if we were to subsist wholly on these four good groups, we could prevent a whole host of diseases, and improve both our quality and quantity of life.
“It is high time we set aside the great meat and protein myth. Preoccupation with meat and its protein, rather than improving health, has contributed to many degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis (high protein diet robs body of calcium), kidney failure and kidney stones, Nedley said.
Nedley added that plant sources of nutrition are generally modest in protein and reasonable in fat content; furthermore, they never contain any cholesterol. With our growing understanding of protein physiology, a plant-based diet has emerged as the optimal way to eat for those interested in maximizing longevity and the quality of living.
Nedley also cited various studies linking animal protein consumption with increased risk of cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, kidney and womb (endometrium).
By: Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Friday, January 27th, 2012
The scientific and medical communities have long acknowledged that smoking, lack of exercise and emotional stress adversely affects cardiovascular health and physical strength. Diet has also been directly linked to heart health.
New studies seem to point out that a plant-based diet is needed for optimal cardiovascular and physical health. Dr. Dean Ornish, MD, in his program called Reversing Heart Disease, cited Olympic-class athletes such as champions Edwin Moses (undefeated in eight years of running the 400-meter hurdles), Dave Scott (American triathlete and six-time winner of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship) who was on a plant-based diet, maintained superior physical conditioning, strength and skills.
If these Olympic medalists could achieve such feats without animal food, then the average person would surely benefit from such a diet. “Even a single meal high in fat and cholesterol may cause the body to release a hormone, thromboxane, which causes the arteries to constrict and the blood to clot faster—one reason heart patients often get chest pains after eating a fatty meal and why so many of them end up in the emergency room after a rich thanksgiving or other holiday feast,” Ornish said.
Ideal four-diet plan
The ideal and basic four-diet plan, preferably using indigenous sources, includes seeds and nuts (in moderation), fruits, vegetables and whole grains (unrefined). Dr. Neil Nedley, MD, author of “Proof Positive (How to Reliably Combat Disease and Achieve Optimal Health through Nutrition and Lifestyle),” said that if we were to subsist wholly on these four good groups, we could prevent a whole host of diseases, and improve both our quality and quantity of life.
“It is high time we set aside the great meat and protein myth. Preoccupation with meat and its protein, rather than improving health, has contributed to many degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis (high protein diet robs body of calcium), kidney failure and kidney stones, Nedley said.
Nedley added that plant sources of nutrition are generally modest in protein and reasonable in fat content; furthermore, they never contain any cholesterol. With our growing understanding of protein physiology, a plant-based diet has emerged as the optimal way to eat for those interested in maximizing longevity and the quality of living.
Nedley also cited various studies linking animal protein consumption with increased risk of cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, kidney and womb (endometrium).
How to Have a Healthy Heart For Life
Content provided by:
How to Have a Healthy Heart For Life
Aviva Patz
Ready for some exciting health news? "Ninety-nine percent of heart disease is preventable by changing your diet and lifestyle," says Dean Ornish, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and author of Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease. What's more, scientists are discovering that we don't have to ban all fat and salt to stay healthy. Instead, you just need to cut back on saturated fat (which comes from meat and whole-fat dairy) and trans fats (found in partially hydrogenated oils in fried and many processed foods). These types of fat seem to increase levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, which lines arteries with plaque and can cause a heart attack or stroke.
Good fats, on the other hand— — such as monounsaturated (think olive oil and avocados) and polyunsaturated fats, like omega-3 fatty acids (found in sunflower oil, soybeans, and some fish) — —lower LDL levels and raise levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Meanwhile, a 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association challenges the notion that we all need to slash our salt intake, suggesting that going low-sodium is more important if you're at high risk of heart disease—say, you have a family history of the condition, you have diabetes, or you smoke.
Whether or not you have these risk factors, though, prevention is key. And it starts on your plate. See how three women staged their own heart-healthy dietary interventions, and follow in their footsteps to keep your heart pumping strong now and in the decades to come.
Build a better diet
Lily Lin, 31, recently got a serious health wake-up call: She was diagnosed with prehypertension at 30, then prediabetes the next year — —both conditions that up your chances of developing heart disease. She was placed on blood pressure medication as a result. Then her maternal grandmother died from a stroke. Lin knew that her dad had high blood pressure and her mother had high cholesterol — —heart disease risk factors that she had a chance of inheriting. "I'd thought I had years before I needed to worry about those things," she says.
Lin, a business analyst in New York City, decided to take charge of her health and went to the Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami, which focuses on reversing heart disease and other conditions through lifestyle changes. Pritikin doctors advised Lin to lower her intake of animal protein, due to its saturated fat content, so she traded her deli meat lunches for tofu, beans, and grilled fish.
Lin also learned to limit refined carbohydrates, including muffins and her 100-calorie cookie snack-pack breakfasts. Moderate to heavy consumption of simple carbs like these can double your risk of heart disease, a 2010 Archives of Internal Medicine study suggests. Instead, she now fills up on fiber-full complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal. "I learned that fiber carries cholesterol out of my body instead of into my bloodstream," Lin says. Adding in more fruit made a difference, too; in fact, scientists have just discovered that the effects of the gene most closely linked with heart disease can actually be modified by eating plenty of fruits and raw vegetables.
Lin's efforts have paid off: She was recently told she could stop taking her blood pressure meds. "I've never felt so good," she says. "My friends and family see the changes in me. I used to live to eat, but now I eat to live."
Moves to make in your 30s: Talk to your MD about your family history of heart disease, and ask about any other personal risk factors to watch for. For example, if you had gestational diabetes or preeclampsia when you were pregnant, your risk of heart disease is at least doubled. If you're at low or no risk, get your blood pressure checked every year and get a cholesterol baseline, too. "If results are normal, you can wait till your 40s to repeat the test," says Jacob DeLaRosa, MD, author of the Heart Surgery Game Plan.
Go for the best new tests
At 45, Stephanie Corn looked and felt healthy. Her cholesterol tests were normal. But because her mother had suffered three arterial blockages and undergone open-heart surgery in 2008, her doctor decided last year to go beyond the standard screenings and give her a new type called an LDL particle test which, while not routine, can give a fuller picture of heart-disease risk. In fact, major organizations like the American College of Cardiology and the American Diabetes Association now believe that your concentration of LDL particles— — which adhere to the arterial wall and deposit cholesterol there — —is a better predictor of heart disease risk than high LDL cholesterol levels in and of themselves.
The verdict: Corn's particle number was about 1,700. The ideal number is under 1,000— — meaning she was at high risk of heart disease. "I just about cried," says Corn, a finance officer for the city of Claremont, North Carolina. To get her out of the danger zone quickly, Corn's doctor put her on statins — —drugs that lower cholesterol— — but for long-term results, he encouraged her to change her diet, which, for this Southerner, meant saying good-bye to her beloved fried fish and its trans fats. He also warned her to stay away from soda: A 2011 study from the University of Oklahoma shows that women who drink two or more sweetened beverages a day are more likely to gain weight, increase waist size, and develop other risk factors for heart disease. In just one year, Corn brought her particle number down to 900 and is no longer at high risk. "I wouldn't have known I was in any danger without the test," Corn says. "It saved my life."
Moves to make in your 40s: If your chances of getting heart disease are above average, ask for a blood test to measure your LDL particles in addition to a standard cholesterol test. Women without risk factors should still get a standard cholesterol test at least every five years beginning at age 40, since plaque on your arterial walls can become more problematic with age. Being overweight or obese ups your odds of getting heart disease, too, so now's a good time to get your diet in check to help halt the middle-age spread.
Eat your superfoods
Maryann Chiaro, 54, of Valatie, New York, had gotten a clean bill of health at every checkup for decades. So when she saw a new doc last year, she was surprised to learn that her total cholesterol was high. "He told me that if I didn't get my levels down, I'd be going on Lipitor," says the upstate New York mom. Chiaro does have a family history of hypertension; her mother suffered a heart attack at age 62. She'd thought being a vegetarian was keeping her healthy, but, she admits, she was only getting in two veggies a day — "barely." Instead, she built meals around her favorite food: cheese.
To avoid following in her mother's footsteps, Chiaro worked with her doctor and a dietitian. They identified super-foods that Chiaro makes sure to eat every day, including oatmeal, dark green veggies, nuts, and olive oil. "I'm eating kale, turnips— — things I'd never had before," she says. She also lowered her saturated fat intake by giving up cheese entirely, getting her protein instead from hummus, beans, and salmon.
In only five months, Chiaro has lowered her cholesterol from 181 to 138— — without medication. Those are results anyone can achieve: "The more you change," Dr. Ornish says, "the more your heart health improves."
Moves to make in your 50s: Have your cholesterol and blood pressure checked every year, and ask your doctor about getting a blood-sugar test to rule out diabetes. On a daily basis, simply eating well and staying slim will go a long way toward keeping the cardiologist away.
Source:
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cholesterol/how-to-have-a-healthy-heart-for-life
How to Have a Healthy Heart For Life
Aviva Patz
Ready for some exciting health news? "Ninety-nine percent of heart disease is preventable by changing your diet and lifestyle," says Dean Ornish, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and author of Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease. What's more, scientists are discovering that we don't have to ban all fat and salt to stay healthy. Instead, you just need to cut back on saturated fat (which comes from meat and whole-fat dairy) and trans fats (found in partially hydrogenated oils in fried and many processed foods). These types of fat seem to increase levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, which lines arteries with plaque and can cause a heart attack or stroke.
Good fats, on the other hand— — such as monounsaturated (think olive oil and avocados) and polyunsaturated fats, like omega-3 fatty acids (found in sunflower oil, soybeans, and some fish) — —lower LDL levels and raise levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Meanwhile, a 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association challenges the notion that we all need to slash our salt intake, suggesting that going low-sodium is more important if you're at high risk of heart disease—say, you have a family history of the condition, you have diabetes, or you smoke.
Whether or not you have these risk factors, though, prevention is key. And it starts on your plate. See how three women staged their own heart-healthy dietary interventions, and follow in their footsteps to keep your heart pumping strong now and in the decades to come.
Build a better diet
Lily Lin, 31, recently got a serious health wake-up call: She was diagnosed with prehypertension at 30, then prediabetes the next year — —both conditions that up your chances of developing heart disease. She was placed on blood pressure medication as a result. Then her maternal grandmother died from a stroke. Lin knew that her dad had high blood pressure and her mother had high cholesterol — —heart disease risk factors that she had a chance of inheriting. "I'd thought I had years before I needed to worry about those things," she says.
Lin, a business analyst in New York City, decided to take charge of her health and went to the Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami, which focuses on reversing heart disease and other conditions through lifestyle changes. Pritikin doctors advised Lin to lower her intake of animal protein, due to its saturated fat content, so she traded her deli meat lunches for tofu, beans, and grilled fish.
Lin also learned to limit refined carbohydrates, including muffins and her 100-calorie cookie snack-pack breakfasts. Moderate to heavy consumption of simple carbs like these can double your risk of heart disease, a 2010 Archives of Internal Medicine study suggests. Instead, she now fills up on fiber-full complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal. "I learned that fiber carries cholesterol out of my body instead of into my bloodstream," Lin says. Adding in more fruit made a difference, too; in fact, scientists have just discovered that the effects of the gene most closely linked with heart disease can actually be modified by eating plenty of fruits and raw vegetables.
Lin's efforts have paid off: She was recently told she could stop taking her blood pressure meds. "I've never felt so good," she says. "My friends and family see the changes in me. I used to live to eat, but now I eat to live."
Moves to make in your 30s: Talk to your MD about your family history of heart disease, and ask about any other personal risk factors to watch for. For example, if you had gestational diabetes or preeclampsia when you were pregnant, your risk of heart disease is at least doubled. If you're at low or no risk, get your blood pressure checked every year and get a cholesterol baseline, too. "If results are normal, you can wait till your 40s to repeat the test," says Jacob DeLaRosa, MD, author of the Heart Surgery Game Plan.
Go for the best new tests
At 45, Stephanie Corn looked and felt healthy. Her cholesterol tests were normal. But because her mother had suffered three arterial blockages and undergone open-heart surgery in 2008, her doctor decided last year to go beyond the standard screenings and give her a new type called an LDL particle test which, while not routine, can give a fuller picture of heart-disease risk. In fact, major organizations like the American College of Cardiology and the American Diabetes Association now believe that your concentration of LDL particles— — which adhere to the arterial wall and deposit cholesterol there — —is a better predictor of heart disease risk than high LDL cholesterol levels in and of themselves.
The verdict: Corn's particle number was about 1,700. The ideal number is under 1,000— — meaning she was at high risk of heart disease. "I just about cried," says Corn, a finance officer for the city of Claremont, North Carolina. To get her out of the danger zone quickly, Corn's doctor put her on statins — —drugs that lower cholesterol— — but for long-term results, he encouraged her to change her diet, which, for this Southerner, meant saying good-bye to her beloved fried fish and its trans fats. He also warned her to stay away from soda: A 2011 study from the University of Oklahoma shows that women who drink two or more sweetened beverages a day are more likely to gain weight, increase waist size, and develop other risk factors for heart disease. In just one year, Corn brought her particle number down to 900 and is no longer at high risk. "I wouldn't have known I was in any danger without the test," Corn says. "It saved my life."
Moves to make in your 40s: If your chances of getting heart disease are above average, ask for a blood test to measure your LDL particles in addition to a standard cholesterol test. Women without risk factors should still get a standard cholesterol test at least every five years beginning at age 40, since plaque on your arterial walls can become more problematic with age. Being overweight or obese ups your odds of getting heart disease, too, so now's a good time to get your diet in check to help halt the middle-age spread.
Eat your superfoods
Maryann Chiaro, 54, of Valatie, New York, had gotten a clean bill of health at every checkup for decades. So when she saw a new doc last year, she was surprised to learn that her total cholesterol was high. "He told me that if I didn't get my levels down, I'd be going on Lipitor," says the upstate New York mom. Chiaro does have a family history of hypertension; her mother suffered a heart attack at age 62. She'd thought being a vegetarian was keeping her healthy, but, she admits, she was only getting in two veggies a day — "barely." Instead, she built meals around her favorite food: cheese.
To avoid following in her mother's footsteps, Chiaro worked with her doctor and a dietitian. They identified super-foods that Chiaro makes sure to eat every day, including oatmeal, dark green veggies, nuts, and olive oil. "I'm eating kale, turnips— — things I'd never had before," she says. She also lowered her saturated fat intake by giving up cheese entirely, getting her protein instead from hummus, beans, and salmon.
In only five months, Chiaro has lowered her cholesterol from 181 to 138— — without medication. Those are results anyone can achieve: "The more you change," Dr. Ornish says, "the more your heart health improves."
Moves to make in your 50s: Have your cholesterol and blood pressure checked every year, and ask your doctor about getting a blood-sugar test to rule out diabetes. On a daily basis, simply eating well and staying slim will go a long way toward keeping the cardiologist away.
Source:
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cholesterol/how-to-have-a-healthy-heart-for-life
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Stamford Hospital now offers intensive cardiac rehabilitation program
By Stamford Hospital
STAMFORD, CT - Stamford Hospital is the first hospital in Connecticut to offer heart disease patients the Dr. Dean Ornish Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation (ICR) program to Reverse Heart Disease. This unique and life-saving program is now covered by Medicare and is provided by Stamford Hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation professionals.
The program provides a comprehensive approach to preventing heart disease and reducing future cardiac events for patients with cardiovascular disease. Patients undergo an intensive nine-week program that encourages lifestyle and behavior changes. The program relies on four lifestyle components essential to the heart disease reversal process: diet, exercise, stress reduction and group support.
ICR is led by a multidisciplinary team of cardiac rehabilitation professionals who work together to heal patients physically, spiritually and emotionally. Registered dieticians instruct participants how to reduce their dietary fat intake to 10% or lower and use education, recipes and cooking demonstrations to help them acquire lifelong tools for a heart-healthy diet. American College of Sports Medicine-certified exercise physiologists lead two weekly one-hour sessions of exercise instruction, designed to improve aerobic and musculoskeletal capacity and instill the importance of regular exercise. In addition, stress management and yoga instructors help patients integrate gentle stretching skills, breathing techniques, relaxation, meditation and yoga practices. Finally, licensed mental health professionals lead group support sessions to foster a sense of connection and community among participants as well as to help them develop tools for enhancing interpersonal relationships.
“Patients who participate in the ICR program can expect a number of different benefits, including longer life expectancy, fewer coronary events, improved heart circulation, less angina, less by-pass surgery, improved exercise capacity, less depression, stress and hostility, reversal of coronary artery disease, and an overall improved healthy lifestyle.” said Murray Low, EdD, Program Director, Cardiac Rehabilitation.
The Stamford Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation Department has been re-certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR). Certified AACVPR programs are recognized as leaders in the field of cardiovascular rehabilitation because they offer the most advanced practices available. The AACVPR certification process requires extensive documentation of the program’s practices, and the certification is valid for three years.
Stamford Hospital is a not-for-profit provider of comprehensive healthcare services in lower Fairfield County and the region. The mission of Stamford Hospital is to provide, together with its physicians, a broad range of high quality health and wellness services focused on the needs of our communities. Stamford Hospital is a member of the Planetree Alliance, a group of hospitals nationwide focused on patient-centered care. Stamford Hospital is affiliated with New York Presbyterian Health System and is a major teaching affiliate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
© Copyright by ConnecticutPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of ConnecticutPlus.com, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity a
Dr. Ornish on the Power of Love, Chocolate, and Snacking
The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual.
- John Muir
Dean Ornish Health Tips From Escape Fire Documentary
Dr. Ornish on the Power of Love, Chocolate, and Snacking
snacking · healthy living · dieting tips · exercise motivation
We had a chance to chat with Dr. Dean Ornish, founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. He's a featured health expert in the new documentary, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, which examines the current state of our health care system and provides hopeful solutions based on lifestyle and dietary changes. A big proponent of chronic disease prevention through healthy habits, Dr. Ornish offered up some sound advice and simple changes we can all make to improve our health — chocolate included!
FitSugar: What do you think is the most simple, overlooked thing people can do for their health?
Dr. Ornish: Love more. What you eat, how you respond to stress, how much you exercise, whether or not you smoke, how much love and support you have. But of all those, probably the love and support. Study after study has shown that people who are lonely and depressed are 10 times for likely to die or get sick. You're more likely to smoke and abuse yourself if you're lonely and depressed. It's not enough to just work at a behavioral level and give people information; you have to work at a deeper level.
FS: Everyone has days where they don't want to exercise, how do you motivate yourself on those days?
DO: If I really don't want to, I don't, and then I'll do more the next day. What matters is your overall way of eating and living. So if you don't do something one day, do a little more the next. If I don't have time to meditate for an hour, I'll do it for a minute. It's not all or nothing at any age, and it's really up to you.
FS: People like to stick with their daily habits; how do you get individuals to change their behavior towards healthier choices?
DO: It's about helping people connect the dots between what they do and how they feel, and giving them the tools. Fear is not a sustainable motivator. You can scare people into changing for a few weeks, but not for very long. When you make changes, most people find that they feel so much better so quickly, it reframes the reason for changing from fear of dying to joy of living, and that's what makes it sustainable. Also, to realize that it's not all or nothing. Instead of saying this is good food and this is bad food, and don't ever eat meat, be a vegetarian — I never tell people that. I used to a long time ago and then I realized I was actually not only not helping people, but making it worse. It turns people off because even more than being healthy, people want to be free, so when you tell people what to do they stop listening. If you eat meat five times a day, eat it three times a day or have a meatless Monday and see how you feel. If you don't exercise one day, do a little more the next. Then you start to feel better and then it comes out of your own experience, not because some doctor or some book told you.
To find out Dr. Ornish's surprising favorite indulgence and his take on snacking just read more.
FS: Why is now the right time to tackle this huge health care issue?
DO: I've been doing this for 35 years and I think what's changing is that so many things are reaching a tipping point at the same time. The limitations of high-tech medicine are becoming more apparent, and the power of low-tech, low-cost interventions like diet and lifestyle are becoming clearer. The costs are reaching a tipping point and it's unsustainable in government with $2.7 trillion in healthcare costs annually, three-fourths of which are for chronic diseases that we can largely prevent or reverse with change in diet or lifestyle. Even on the genetic level we found that when you change your lifestyle you can change your genes. It's very empowering for people to know that. Often people think, "I've got bad genes — what can I do?" It turns out you can do a lot much more quickly than people had once thought.
FS: Everyone has a favorite guilty pleasure food, what's yours?
DO: Chocolate. It's a nonguilty pleasure, though, since chocolate is actually good for you in small quantities.
FS: Are you a fan of snacking?
DO: I'm more of a grazer. I think it's actually better for you.
Source: http://www.fitsugar.com/Dean-Ornish-Health-Tips-From-Escape-Fire-Documentary-21456377
- John Muir
Dean Ornish Health Tips From Escape Fire Documentary
Dr. Ornish on the Power of Love, Chocolate, and Snacking
snacking · healthy living · dieting tips · exercise motivation
We had a chance to chat with Dr. Dean Ornish, founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. He's a featured health expert in the new documentary, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, which examines the current state of our health care system and provides hopeful solutions based on lifestyle and dietary changes. A big proponent of chronic disease prevention through healthy habits, Dr. Ornish offered up some sound advice and simple changes we can all make to improve our health — chocolate included!
FitSugar: What do you think is the most simple, overlooked thing people can do for their health?
Dr. Ornish: Love more. What you eat, how you respond to stress, how much you exercise, whether or not you smoke, how much love and support you have. But of all those, probably the love and support. Study after study has shown that people who are lonely and depressed are 10 times for likely to die or get sick. You're more likely to smoke and abuse yourself if you're lonely and depressed. It's not enough to just work at a behavioral level and give people information; you have to work at a deeper level.
FS: Everyone has days where they don't want to exercise, how do you motivate yourself on those days?
DO: If I really don't want to, I don't, and then I'll do more the next day. What matters is your overall way of eating and living. So if you don't do something one day, do a little more the next. If I don't have time to meditate for an hour, I'll do it for a minute. It's not all or nothing at any age, and it's really up to you.
FS: People like to stick with their daily habits; how do you get individuals to change their behavior towards healthier choices?
DO: It's about helping people connect the dots between what they do and how they feel, and giving them the tools. Fear is not a sustainable motivator. You can scare people into changing for a few weeks, but not for very long. When you make changes, most people find that they feel so much better so quickly, it reframes the reason for changing from fear of dying to joy of living, and that's what makes it sustainable. Also, to realize that it's not all or nothing. Instead of saying this is good food and this is bad food, and don't ever eat meat, be a vegetarian — I never tell people that. I used to a long time ago and then I realized I was actually not only not helping people, but making it worse. It turns people off because even more than being healthy, people want to be free, so when you tell people what to do they stop listening. If you eat meat five times a day, eat it three times a day or have a meatless Monday and see how you feel. If you don't exercise one day, do a little more the next. Then you start to feel better and then it comes out of your own experience, not because some doctor or some book told you.
To find out Dr. Ornish's surprising favorite indulgence and his take on snacking just read more.
FS: Why is now the right time to tackle this huge health care issue?
DO: I've been doing this for 35 years and I think what's changing is that so many things are reaching a tipping point at the same time. The limitations of high-tech medicine are becoming more apparent, and the power of low-tech, low-cost interventions like diet and lifestyle are becoming clearer. The costs are reaching a tipping point and it's unsustainable in government with $2.7 trillion in healthcare costs annually, three-fourths of which are for chronic diseases that we can largely prevent or reverse with change in diet or lifestyle. Even on the genetic level we found that when you change your lifestyle you can change your genes. It's very empowering for people to know that. Often people think, "I've got bad genes — what can I do?" It turns out you can do a lot much more quickly than people had once thought.
FS: Everyone has a favorite guilty pleasure food, what's yours?
DO: Chocolate. It's a nonguilty pleasure, though, since chocolate is actually good for you in small quantities.
FS: Are you a fan of snacking?
DO: I'm more of a grazer. I think it's actually better for you.
Source: http://www.fitsugar.com/Dean-Ornish-Health-Tips-From-Escape-Fire-Documentary-21456377
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