The Opposite of Heart Disease

Special Zipper Swap for Children's Heart Disease

2007-05-31T12:44:00.000Z

Inspired by the story of the man who swapped a red paper clip for a house, Tim ONeill, a father from Adelaide, is online with SwapAce.com trying to raise money and awareness for children with Congenital Heart Disease. Tim started with a zipper that represents the scar on the chest of many babies after having open heart surgery and is hoping to raise $10,000.

(PRWEB) October 21, 2006--Inspired by the story of the man who swapped a red paper clip for a house, Tim ONeill, a father from Adelaide, is online with SwapAce.com trying to raise money and awareness for children with Congenital Heart Disease. Tim started with a zipper that represents the scar on the chest of many babies after having open heart surgery and is hoping to raise $10,000.

Tim's baby boy Connor ONeill is one of 40,000 Australian children who have Congenital Heart Disease. Since being diagnosed in 2002, Connor has undergone open heart surgery twice, the first when he was just 5 days old.

"One of the problems confronting us and other families from South Australia is that we have to travel to Melbourne for surgical procedures. Financial assistance is available from the Government, but unfortunately this does not provide for all of the necessities," said Tim ONeill.

Tim has recently teamed up with SwapAce.com to help him with his heart disease fund-raising efforts. Four swaps have taken place so far--the zipper was swapped for a teddy bear, then for a signed cap from Home and Away star Tim Campbell, a gold bracelet, and is now up to a jewelry store voucher of $250. The final item will be auctioned off with 100% of the funds raised being donated to Heartkids Australia.

Heart disease treatment can cost a lot, and this is just one novel idea of heart disease charity fund-raising that is possible.

A Brief Discussion of Heart Valve Disease

2007-05-24T15:10:00.000Z

As you may remember from high school health class, the heart is one of the strongest muscles in the human body. In addition, it is divided into two halves, called the atrium and the ventricle chambers. Between these two chambers are a set of valves that insure that the blood flows in only one direction. Occasionally however, these valves become damaged and the person could suffer from some sort of heart valve disease. If left unchecked, this disease can lead to heart failure and even death.

Signs and Symptoms

It is truly difficult to determine if a set of symptoms are a sign of heart valve disease, since many of them are so mild and can be attributed to a number of different conditions including asthma, heartburn, heart attack, or sometimes even pregnancy. The best thing to do is to have a running conversation with your medical professional concerning your thoughts and physical symptoms. Based on that complete picture, he or she should be able to diagnose your situation professionally. Heart valve disease is a serious condition, and should never be self-diagnosed.

However, there are a few common symptoms of heart valve disease that if you notice on a regular basis you should watch out for. If you experience dizzy spells or faintness brought on by physical activity, shortness of breath, or chest pain while doing physical activity it is certainly something to bring up to your doctor as soon as possible.

Possible Causes of Heart Valve Disease

Often heart valve disease is caused by a malformation of the valves that separate the two chambers of the heart. These deformities can include narrowed valves, and leaking valves.

Narrowed valves that can lead to valve heart disease can be caused by a number of things, some unpreventable, others that can be prevented. One cause of this condition is congenital abnormality, a condition that is often seen since birth. Another cause, one that can be prevented through diet, exercise and perhaps medications is degeneration of the valve through atherosclerosis, or hardening of the blood vessels. In addition heart valve disease can also be caused by damage from rheumatic fever or extensive calcification that sometimes occurs in old age.

Leaking valves that can lead to heart valve disease can be caused by a number of additional factors. These include such things as a bacterial infection, or other inflammation of the valve, excessive floppiness of the valve leaflets, or even enlargement of the heart or the aorta. Any or all of these things can be the cause for leaking valves, and therefore heart valve disease.

Of course, heart valve disease is nothing to be flippant about. Although it doesn't always cause a life and death situation, it can lead to major complications with the heart, which is something that no person in their right mind would ever want. The best course of action, as true in any medical situation, is to talk to your doctor and be honest with him or her. Together you should be able to recognize a potential case of heart valve disease and make the necessary course changes.

Information on Heart Disease: Learning is the Key

2007-05-23T14:19:00.000Z

Heart disease is the number one killer in America. It's estimated that more than 58 million Americans have some form of heart disease. The key to stopping such as a problematic illness like heart disease is to find out as much as we can about it and, more importantly, how to prevent it.

Information on heart disease is not hard to find; in fact, your doctor probably has several good reads on the subject in his office. If you don't have a doctor, then just open your local newspaper. With such important status, you would be hard pressed not to find an article or other piece of information on heart disease from your local health center or hospital. Also, search the web where all the information on heart disease that you want is only a few keystrokes.

What to Look For

The information you'll want to research are things such as: risk factors, prevention, the latest scientific research, symptoms, and treatments. This vital information on heart disease is important to understanding it. By learning as much as we can about heart disease, we can hopefully prevent it and all go on to live long, healthy, productive lives.

By looking at such information on heart disease, we learn that certain risk factors can cause it. These risk factors include: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. More personal risk factors include: being overweight, smoking, a lack of physical exercise, and stress. By learning what behaviors attract heart disease, we can find out just which habits we might want to avoid.

Why You Should be Informed

Prevention is the best way to avoid ever having to deal with the disease. Through information on heart disease, we can adopt certain lifestyle changes, avoid getting heart disease, and possibly stop this problem from spreading any further.

By reading about the latest research, symptoms, and treatments, we can keep abreast of the latest findings regarding this killer disease. More importantly, we can educate others about this horrible disease, others who may be seeking information on heart disease just like you.

It's important that we seek out information on heart disease to learn as much as we can about it so we can stop it in its tracks. Only by learning about it and applying what we've learned, can we stop this disease. The more information we have, the more ammunition we have to defeat this killer of so many people.

Ischemic Heart Disease and the Western World

2007-05-23T14:09:00.000Z

Ischemic heart disease is the proper medical term for reduced blood flow to the heart --it is ultimately caused by hardened or blocked arteries, and it is the number one cause of death in most western countries.

From the time people are very young, as young as five years old, they can start developing tissue deposits, called plaque, in the lining of their arteries. For many people, these deposits never cause trouble. For others, the deposits can grow, harden, and eventually cause death. The growth of these tissues is called arteriosclerosis.

As these tissues grow, the arteries will enlarge some to try and accommodate blood flow. However, if the blob of plaque ruptures, the particles clog blood passages causing a heart attack or stroke, in the worst cases.

Please, Pass On The Fats

Scientists know what causes ischemic heart disease: a fatty diet, inaction, and smoking. While smoking is certainly not limited to rich countries, a fatty diet and inaction are luxuries of middle- and upper-class populations.

In Europe and the United States, calories are cheap and plentiful. For an hour's wage, a person can buy a meal containing a pound of meat. However, in some countries, a pound of meat is a treat to be divided within one family once a month. No doctor recommends either extreme of poor or rich food, but rather, everyone needs a healthy, balanced, but lean diet to prevent ischemic heart disease.

However, some doctors have an idea about using peer pressure to make westerners make themselves healthier. Thirty years ago, few Americans wore seatbelts. And many more smoked cigarettes than do now. Laws played a part in changing behavior, but in both of these cases, peer pressure really started the trend. And many scientists, nutritionists, and activists, worried about ischemic heart disease, are trying to repeat the trend for healthier diets.

And this power of healthy suggestion seems to be working on restaurants. Especially since 2004, fast food chains have started to offer healthier menu choices such as yogurt, salads, and fruit. Many restaurants now print some nutrition information on their menus and offer specifically "heart-smart" recipes.

But the question is will people take advantage of healthier menus, city recreation departments, and fresh vegetables at the grocery store? So far, it does not seem so. Some scientists predict that 75% of all Americans will be overweight by 2008. Yet extra weight and the bad diet and inactivity that usually accompany it are causing an epidemic of ischemic heart disease.

The Effects of Kidney and Heart Disease

2007-05-23T13:54:00.000Z

Good health is something you cannot take for granted; thus, constantly maintaining it by eating well, exercising, and having regular check ups is what every one of us must strive for.

All our body parts and organs are vital for a happy existence; however, the heart is one of the most important organs, without which living is not possible. When faced with heart disease, treatment can be challenging, but when heart problems combine with another major organ failure, there can be fatal consequences.

Kidney and Heart Disease

Renal and coronary artery disease may progress parallel to each other, and there are many heart related diseases that affect the kidney, as well.

Kidney's function is to filter wastes and excrete fluid by using the bloodstream's own natural pressure. There are a number of causes that can trigger damage to the kidneys, and some of them are:

- Decreased blood flow, which is usually caused by clogged arteries that, in turn, will cause a kidney and heart disease.

- Acute tubular necrosis (ATN)--this may occur when tissues are not getting enough oxygen or when the renal artery is blocked or narrowed.

- Over-exposure to metals, solvents, radiographic contract materials, and certain types of medications.

- Myoglobin in the urine (myoglobinuria)--this condition occurs when one consumes excessive amounts of alcohol, tissue death of muscles for any given cause, or other disorders.

- Direct kidney injury.

- Infections such as acute septicemia.

- Blood disorders, which affect the heart and can lead into a joint kidney and heart disease.

There are many other causes, which can lead to the deadly combination of kidney and heart disease. You need to do everything in your power in order to avoid this dangerous duo attack. It is more than likely that in a situation where you are faced with kidney and heart disease at the same time that the outcome is fatal.

Prevention is Better Than a Cure

The only way to prevent a double failure of your body's systems is to be constantly aware of your health's situation by conducting regular check ups with your doctor and following his/her advice.

Knowing in time that you are in danger of some major failure, or that you will be faced with a serious disease should you not take precautions right away, will help save your life. Most people who have heart attacks never suspected one and usually end up in emergency room in a critical state. Take charge of your life and take care of your health today.

Some Ways That Obesity and Heart Disease are Related

2007-05-23T13:40:00.000Z

Many medical professionals believed that obesity and heart disease were only related in an indirect sense. They attributed the major risk factors for heart disease (such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and even arteriosclerosis) to the degree of the obesity of the person involved. While obesity is a contributing factor for many of these conditions, studies are now indicating a more direct link between obesity and heart disease.

A More Direct Link?

Recent longitudinal studies indicate that while obesity can affect a number of risk factors for heart disease, the two are also directly related in that obesity can be a predictive indicator of heart disease. In a fourteen year study, it was indicated that middle-aged women with a BMI index of greater than twenty-three, but less than twenty-five still had an approximate 50% increase in the risk of both fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease. This indicates a clear, direct connection between obesity and heart disease.

Another factor that may connect severe obesity and heart disease more directly is that of abnormalities in the left ventricular mass and function of the heart. While in the majority of cases, these abnormalities are seen in the presence of both hypertension and obesity, there are recorded causes where these abnormalities are seen without hypertension being apparent. In such cases, the only condition that appears to affect the condition of the heart is severe obesity. This information indicates that obesity and heart disease are intricately linked and can definitely lead to congestive heart failure.

Treatment Choices for Obesity and Heart Disease

Since a connection, either direct or indirect, has long been established between obesity and heart disease, the medical profession has developed a number of avenues over the years to combat these two related problems.

In certain patients with congestive heart failure, for instance, sodium restriction and even a small reduction in weight may dramatically improve the function of the heart and lead to a reduction in the risk of heart disease. In fact, a number of studies have indicated that a drastic weight loss, such as after gastro-intestinal surgery, greatly decreases the occurrence of both heart disease and insulin based diabetes.

There are, of course, any number of ways to treat both obesity and heart disease. These can include changes in diet and exercise practices, medication, and sometimes even surgery. Only you and your doctor can decide what choice is best for you. Whatever method is chosen, the connection between obesity and heart disease is becoming clearer everyday.

Doctor Approved Ways to Prevent Heart Disease

2007-05-14T15:57:00.000Z

Today's modern medicine has made great strides in determining the causes of heart diseases, as well as ways to treat and prevent it. Just fifty years ago, most people didn't go to the doctor unless they were sick, and the medical profession itself didn't really warn its patients about heart disease, unless the person showed serious signs of it or had a close family member with the disease. Now, thankfully, a much more pro-active approach is taken by both the patient and the doctor in preventing heart disease, as well as treating it.

An Ounce of Prevention

Perhaps one of the best ways to prevent heart disease is to change the patient's outlook on diet and exercise. It has been shown, time and time again, by such medical groups as the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association that a diet low in fat and low in calories is a great way to lower a person's cholesterol, which is a major risk factor when it comes to heart disease. Add to that a regular doctor approved exercise routine and regular monitoring by the family doctor, and you will be an active participant in the battle to prevent heart disease.

One thing to always remember, of course, is that you and your doctor should be a team in the challenge to prevent heart disease. Routine monitoring of such things as your blood pressure, cholesterol level, general weight and health, as well as indications of other diseases that might complicate the situation are all very important things that both you and your chosen medical professional should be on the look out for. So, even if you're not overly concerned about preventing heart disease, see your doctor on a regular basis and talk with them. Depending on what is uncovered, you can possibly get a head start on your race to prevent heart disease.

When Exercise and Diet Aren't Enough

While good diet and regular exercise are great ways to help prevent heart disease, sometimes they simply aren't enough. Occasionally, your doctor will prescribe different medicines, to help with the battle. The most common ones are those that either help regulate and lower high blood pressure or help the body process and lower the concentrations of cholesterol. Whether or not prescription drugs are needed for your situation should be decided after a serious consultation with your doctor and some monitoring of your health and lifestyle. There are many drugs out there to help prevent heart disease, and your doctor can discuss all the options available.

Trying to prevent heart disease is definitely something that should be on the forefront of everyone's mind. It is one of the leading killers of both men and women in the United States today. By working with your doctor, and following a sensible low fat diet and exercise plan, your efforts to prevent heart disease will not be in vain.

Turn Back Time: Reversing Heart Disease

2007-05-10T10:32:00.000Z

Reversing heart disease can be done by adopting a few lifestyle changes. By avoiding certain risk factors that put you in harm's way of the disease to begin with, you can turn back the clock, so to speak, and continue to live a long, healthy life despite having a heart disease.

There are many different kinds of heart disease, but one of the factors that leads to most heart disease is a blockage to the arteries that feed blood to the heart. When the heart no longer gets a fresh supply of blood, it can die, and the result is a heart attack. By unclogging these arteries, you are essentially reversing heart disease and, therefore, healing your heart.

How You Can Reverse Heart Disease

Diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol can contribute to the blockage that causes most diseases of the heart. Reversing heart disease can be as simple as cleaning up your diet, by eating more fruits and vegetables, foods with a higher fiber content, and staying away from foods with too much saturated fat. By changing to a cleaner diet, you are one step closer to reversing a heart disease that has already claimed so many lives.

Another technique that works in reversing heart disease is getting more exercise. When you exercise, you increase your cardiovascular health, and your heart begins to work better. Exercise can be had anywhere, anytime, simply walk instead of drive your car, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or just walk around the block every night after dinner.

A more drastic move for reversing heart disease is surgery. Surgeons have been able to unblock arteries or bypass clogged arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. In many cases, surgery helps those who are afflicted with this horrible disease; however, for surgery to be effective, the heart disease must be caught early, just like most other diseases. Surgery can be an effective means for reversing heart disease, but the most effective way is to adopt good living habits once you find out you have it.

By adopting good living habits, eating right, getting more exercise, and reducing stress levels, you can go on to live a long, healthy, productive life even if you already have heart disease. Reversing heart disease does not need to inhibit your life or hold you back in any way; instead, by adopting good living habits, you can improve your life by turning back time to look and feel better.

Rheumatic Heart Disease is Treatable

2007-05-09T16:35:00.000Z

Rheumatic heart disease, also called rheumatic fever, occurs when an untreated strep throat infection migrates to the joints and heart, causing fever, muscle aches, and possible permanent heart valve damage. Just as "rheumatism" refers to joint pain, "rheumatic" fever gets its name because one of its main symptoms is actually pain in the joints rather than the heart.

The National Institute of Health estimate that rheumatic heart disease develops in about 3% of untreated strep throat infections in the United States. Because mainly young people get strep, accordingly rheumatic heart disease mostly strikes people aged between six and fifteen years old.

Most people in the west who get strep will never develop rheumatic heart disease, because the strep throat infection is treated effectively with antibiotics. However, if fever, irregular heart beat, nodes under the skin, and other symptoms appear after a strep infection, a doctor will perform lab tests to diagnose rheumatic fever.

Penicillin treats rheumatic heart disease symptoms, including the contraction of the heart, which may damage heart valves; however, there is no cure for the disease, and patients must continue with penicillin injections. Some doctors argue this treatment should continue for the rest of the patient's life. Left untreated, besides the symptoms of physical pain, rheumatic heart disease can cause permanent heart valve damage. Without surgery, heart valve damage can lead to fatal heart failure.

Cases And Treatment Worldwide

Doctors working with the Australian National Heart Foundation are working on a vaccine to prevent rheumatic fever. After an unexplained jump in the number of cases among the Aboriginal population of Australia from 2004 to 2006, doctors launched the world's most advanced investigation of rheumatic heart disease.

In New Zealand as well, rheumatic fever is a problem among some populations, and the treatment there is penicillin shots every month for ten years. One famous rugby player, a childhood victim of rheumatic heart disease, admits to "getting lazy" about having his shots, and the symptoms of the disease returned to him as an adult. Luckily, he knew his problem and how to get help. Some people, especially those with little access to health care, simply suffer through fever attacks, and fall victim to heart valve failure.

In fact, the World Heart Federation in Geneva, Switzerland calls rheumatic fever a disease born of poverty. Though it is easily prevented by a good strep throat treatment, many young people of the world do not have access to the healthcare that would keep their heart valves healthy and extend their lives.

What Everyone Should Know About Women and Heart Disease

2007-05-05T16:51:00.000Z

When we think of a victim of heart disease, we tend to think of men, but unfortunately, heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States. Heart disease includes the narrowing of the arteries that bring oxygen to the heart, heart failure, diseases of the heart muscles, inborn defects, and other conditions. Five hundred thousand American women die each year from heart diseases, and the risks increase as a woman ages.

The Change of Life

The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center explains that menopause changes the risks for women and heart disease. Post-menopause, a woman's body experiences reduced estrogen production, changes in cholesterol levels, changes in the structure of blood vessels, and increased production of the clotting agent fibrinogen.

No one yet knows exactly how much a woman's risk is affected by each of these changes, but they are definitely associated with greater heart disease risk. Women who have gone through menopause are two to three times more likely to suffer heart disease than a pre-menopausal woman of the same age. Women that have had a hysterectomy experience these same raised risk factors.

In the past, scientists studying women and heart disease hypothesized that hormone replacement therapy could help post-menopausal women fight heart disease; however, long-term studies do not confirm that preliminary idea and doctors no longer recommend hormone replacement therapy to battle heart disease. Menopause we cannot change, but other risk factors are under our control.

Using hormonal birth control (the pill or the patch) is considered safe for women under thirty-five. As of now, doctors do not have proof that birth control hormones can increase or decrease problems for women and heart disease, especially after the age of thirty-five. When talking about your heart disease risk factors with your doctor, get his or her opinion on your personal situation.

A Change of Lifestyle

Scientists studying women and heart disease find that women are knowledgeable about what lifestyles are associated with heart disease, but are also prone to having those lifestyles. For example, according to the National Institutes of Health, fifty-six million American women have high cholesterol, 33% of women have high blood pressure, and 62% of women are overweight. Despite these risks, women are less physically active than men, on average.

For women, as for men, there are a few good guidelines to a healthier heart. Habits such as not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight by regular activity or exercise, cutting down on the fatty foods, and getting your cholesterol tested can dramatically help prevent heart disease. Don't become another statistic about women and heart disease.

The Cause of Heart Disease is Not Your Parents

2007-05-03T08:10:00.000Z

If your mother and your father had heart disease, and their parents before them, you may feel doomed to heart failure. While it is true that heredity is a cause of heart disease, it is only a factor among many others. One recent study even says heredity accounts for less than 10% of a person’s risk of developing heart disease.

So, What is the Other 90%?

Doctors do not agree on the number one cause of heart disease, but smoking, obesity, and high cholesterol are the frontrunners in any study.

The chemicals in cigarettes damage artery walls, making it easier for cholesterol deposits to build an unhealthy, blood-blocking home in the body. Smoking also makes platelets, the component of blood that causes clotting, to be more active, and hence the risk of a killer clot rises.

A body needs cholesterol and can actually produce all it needs, so when we ingest foods high in cholesterols, like dairy and meat products, our bodies get a lot more cholesterol than they need. The body saves cholesterol instead of excreting it, and that cholesterol gets stored along the walls of the arteries. Too many cholesterol deposits lead to artery blockage and clots.

High blood pressure is also a major cause of heart disease. Imagine this, your arteries are narrowed because of all that cholesterol stored in there, yet your body is the same size and needs the same amount of blood; so your heart is trying to pump a lot of blood through a passage that is getting too small. Just as the motor of an air conditioner can get worn out trying to push air through a filter that no one has cleaned, your heart can overtax itself trying to force blood through blocked passages.

Obesity, not just because of all the health problems that come with it, is another cause of heart disease. Often obesity comes with high cholesterol and blood pressure, which we know increase the risk of heart disease, but new studies are also showing a correlation between abdominal fat and heart disease in a way that is not yet fully understood. Either way, as the circumference of stomach increases, the risk of heart disease seems to increase more.

Also, stress causes an overall decline in health and is particularly associated with heart disease. So, unless your parents are stressing you out enough to cause a heart attack, they are not the cause of heart disease.