health ABC > Cardiovascular diseases
Diagnosing atherosclerosis
Since atherosclerosis is a pathological or disease process rather than an illness in itself, your doctor wishes to establish whether you are at increased risk or whether you have already developed the clinica...read more
Drugs used to treat patients with Congenital Heart Conditions
Not all patients with cardiac problems will require the use of medication. If the patient does need it, the drugs prescribed will depend on the nature of the heart condition, and the degree o...read more
Eisenmenger complex
Eisenmenger Complex is the term used to describe the resultant effects of prolonged pulmonary hypertension in patients with uncorrected congenital heart defects, which eventually results in a...read more
Erectile problems may be early warning of cardiovascular disease
Men with erectile problems may have more serious and unrecognised cardiovascular health issues, according to researchers writing in the October 18th edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiolog...read more
Facts about ecstasy
It is estimated that nearly one million ecstasy tablets are sold each week in Britain, with the majority being taken in clubs or at dance music events. Over half a million young people have tried ecstasy at l...read more
Get to the "joint" of arthritis pain!!
What is joint pain? Joint pain is any pain that occurs in and/or around a joint – the place where two bones meet. In the UK the most common cause is arthritis. Accord...read more
Grapes & health: how grapes could help stroke patients recover
If you eat grapes, you may be able to minimise the brain damage caused by a stroke, according to a recent study. Delayed reaction We already know that grapes are good for us. Dark-skinned grapes in particul...read more
Health effects of smoking
In New Zealand, smoking kills 4,700 New Zealanders every year. This is equal to 17% of all deaths and is more than the combined deaths from alcohol, drugs, murder, suicide, road crashes, air crashes, poisonin...read more
Healthy choices on a vegan diet
Decades of experience, culminating in more than a million vegans today, have shown that appropriate vegan diets support good health at all stages of life and reduce the risk of heart ...read more
Heart healthy eating
Why do I need to be concerned about heart healthy eating? Diet is one of the things that can affect your heart health, and your risk for getting heart disease. And, every woman needs to be c...read more
High blood pressure: what is it and how to control it
What is hypertension (high blood pressure)? Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries – the vessels that bring oxygen-carrying blood to the heart. It rises and falls quite natur...read more
High Cholesterol
What It Means Anyone can develop high blood cholesterol regardless of age, sex, race or ethnic background. Like high blood pressure, it is a potential threat to your health that you can do something about. High chole...read more
HIV infection and treatment linked to heart disease in children
Children infected with HIV show early signs of cardiovascular disease, particularly if they have been treated with protease inhibitors, according to the results of a study presented in the 5t...read more
HIV infection, viral load and injecting drug use linked to early signs of cardiovascular disease
HIV-positive patients have signs of damage to the lining of blood vessels, according to a study published in the 1st May edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study found that blood vessel damage was m...read more
Homocysteine levels: getting to the crux of heart health
You wouldn't buy a house after looking at it just from the outside. The exterior is important, but you'd want to look around inside of course, check the foundation, the plumbing, the roof, the garden and the neighbourhood. Al...read more
How a veggie diet can protect your heart
Heart Pumping Of all the complex jobs our bodies have to perform it sounds such a simple task to ask of our hearts - just sit there and pump. Yes that really is it - the heart just sits around day in and day...read more
Hyperglycaemia: protect your heart by lowering your blood sugar levels
Is heart health compromised by the high blood sugar levels of diabetes, or by other conditions such as hypertension that can be triggered by diabetes? In short: Which comes f...read more
Hypertension aka high blood pressure
It's important to always monitor your blood pressure. High Blood Pressure can be extremely dangerous if uncontrolled. It can lead to heart and/or kidney disease, as well as a stroke.Anyone ca...read more
Keeping cholesterol under control
Cholesterol is the Jekyll and Hyde of the body. Like the literary split personality, it has a good side because it is needed for certain important body functions. But for many Americans, cho...read more
Listen to your waistline
The health of your heart can be seen when you use a tape measure. Measuring your waist has been found to be a much better indication of the health of your heart rather than weighing yourself....read more
Men with metabolic syndrome around three times more likely to die of heart disease
A prospective study in Finland has shown that the metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance, raised lipids, abdominal fat accumulation and raised blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of ...read more
Migraines may increase stroke risk
People who have migraines know only too well how challenging the condition is. To make matters worse, a recent study has confirmed an association between migraine and elevated stroke risk. An...read more
More information on HIV, HAART and heart disease
Treatment with HAART has been accompanied by a decrease in cardiovascular-related deaths in HIV-positive US veterans according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, HIV-positiveread moreObstruction Defects ( Atresia/ Coarcation/ Stenosis)
Sometimes one of the hearts valves is narrowed, blocked or missing, or the main artery to the body (aorta) is narrow. These conditions may be found in association with other defects and the problems caused wi...read more
Omega-3 polyunsaturates and the cardiovascular system
The cardiovascular system is the network of tubes which circulates blood around the body. The movement is created by the heart, acting as a pump. Blood is pumped into the arteries for delivery to the cells wh...read more
Patent Foramen Ovale
This defect is present in every newborn baby. It is a gap in the wall between the upper two chambers of the heart, which should close soon after birth.Whilst a baby is in the womb, oxygen is supplied by the p...read more
Physiological effects of high alcohol intake
The risks to an individual who binge drinks only once in their lifetime, suffering from immediate short-term effects and more immediate behavioural costs is quite distinct from an individual who binge drinks regularly and the...read more
Policosanol: cholesterol : to lower, or not to lower...
Policosanol, a compound of fatty alcohols derived primarily from sugar cane or beeswax, is fast gaining a reputation as a natural alternative to statin drugs for lowering cholesterol<...read more
Risk factors for cardiovascular disease increased in HIV-positive women
HIV-infected women have increased risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease, United States researchers warn in the 1st May edition of The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. They...read more
Risk factors for heart disease widespread among HIV patients
Risk factors for heart disease other than lipid elevations among people with HIV need close attention, according to an analysis of 394 patients at the Royal Free Hospital, London. Cho...read more
Salt: how much do we need?
Vegan diets have been proven to be characteristically low in saturated fats, high in beneficial fibre and free from harmful cholesterol. But when it comes to salt, in itself ...read more
Silent heart disease found in 10% of HIV patients
A study among patients receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) at a French hospital has revealed that more than ten per cent of patients had heart disease that was causing no physical symptoms,...read more
Smoking facts
Smoking is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Yet every single day around 450 young people, in the UK, between the ages 12 and 17 start smoking. Crazy huh? especially when you read these statist...read more
The normal heart reviewed
The heart is a pump consisting of four chambers. Its job is to pump blood which has already been around the body, to the lungs to obtain oxygen, and then back around the body to supply the organs. TheThe truth about cholesterol
Researchers have found that excessively high cholesterol levels are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and that this risk can be reduced by lowering ...read more
Treating High Blood Cholesterol
When a patient without heart disease is first diagnosed with elevated blood cholesterol, doctors often prescribe a program of diet, exercise, and weight loss to bring levels down. National Cholesterol Educati...read more
Treatment of arteriosclerosis
The Response of Modern Medicine Modern medical treatment of arterioslerosis includes a combination of lifestyle changes and medications to relieve the symptoms, and surgery for severe cases. For example, since smokin...read more
Veggie health for kids
Animal Products Promote Disease Meat and dairy products promote disease. They are high fat foods, a primary source of unhealthy (and inessential) saturated fats and choleste...read more
Vitamin E- your time has come
Popular faith in the benefit of vitamin E is now being replaced by hard, some very hard science.Vitamin E was discovered in the 1922s when it was known to be vital for reproduction in rats. Its essential n...read more
What hypertension means to you
The trouble with high blood pressure today is it is so common and talked about so often that many people don't seem to treat it with the respect it merits. High blood pressure or hypertension...read more
What is a Ventricular Septal Defect?
In this defect there is a hole between the bottom chambers (pumping chambers or ventricles). Due to the higher pressure in the left side of the heart, this allows oxygenated blood to flow through the hole from the left to the...read more
What is Cholesterol?
Dietary cholesterol is a waxy substance found only in foods of animal origin such as poultry, beef, fish, eggs and dairy products. Fruits and vegetables do not contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is necessary to...read more
What is Persistent Ductus Arteriosus
This defect is not a fault in the internal structure of the heart as in most ‘holes in the heart’; it is the continuance of a direct connection between the aorta and the lung (pul...read more
When an Heart/lung transplantation is the only remaining option
With advances in technology and understanding, where necessary, surgical correction is possible for the majority of babies born today with cardiac defects and Down’s Syndrome. There are...read more
When blood cholesterol becomes a problem
Two types of lipoproteins and their quantity in the blood are main factors in heart disease risk: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) This "bad" cholesterol is the form in which ch...read more
When blood pressure reaches a high
What is high blood pressure? High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Both numbers are important.Nearly 1 in 3 American adults has high blood pressure. Once ...read more
Why plant iron is the best
What is Iron and Why Do We Need It? Iron is a mineral and is an essential component of haemoglobin, found in all red blood cells. It is vital for the health of cells and for the transport o...read more
Your heart can be ill too
Unfortunately many people do not realise that this may be a problem until they experience symptoms such as angina or even a heart attack. Although this can happen without warning, the conditi...read more
