7 Sneaky Habits That Can Cause Heart Problems

These common behaviors may lead to cardiovascular issues. Here's what to watch out for.

By Julia Ries Sep 9, 2022, 05:45 AM EDT 

You may be contributing to heart damage and not even know it. Experts share the lifestyle habits to avoid in order to protect your cardiovascular health.

It’s well known that certain habits, like smoking or drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, can damage your heart over time.

But many of the everyday habits that we don’t really think about — how frequently we brush our teeth, the supplements we take and the amount of coffee we drink — can also take a toll on the health of our hearts.

What we do, eat and drink can significantly influence our blood pressure, cholesterol and heart rate, and ultimately influence our overall heart function.

Here are a few everyday habits that can contribute to heart problems:

Crash Dieting Or Eliminating Certain Macronutrients

Dr. Daniel Edmundowicz, the chief of cardiology at Temple University Hospital, said that people often think they are eating a healthy, balanced diet but, in actuality, are setting themselves up for heart problems down the road.

For example, he’s seen people adhering to a low cholesterol diet avoid healthy fats, an important macronutrient. Then, they may eat too many carbohydrates. While this type of diet wouldn’t cause an increase in cholesterol levels, it can lead to weight gain and put a lot of stress on the sugar system and diabetes system, according to Edmundowicz.

Crash dieting can similarly tax the cardiovascular system, and research has shown that a sudden and extreme shift in eating habits can lead to a deterioration in heart function. 

“Going from one extreme to another really doesn’t help,” Edmundowicz said.

Social Isolation And Loneliness

Being isolated from others can also have a profound impact on our heart health, according to Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, a board-certified cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

A recent study found that older women have a 8% higher risk of cardiovascular disease when living in social isolation and a 5% higher risk for cardiovascular disease when they’re living with loneliness. For people experiencing both social isolation and loneliness, the risk for heart disease grows to 27%.

Social isolation can also contribute to depression, and depression can lead to cardiovascular risk factors like hypertension, sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits, according to Edmundowicz.

“Social isolation is a biggie, and it does contribute to poor heart health,” Edmundowicz said.

10'000 Hours via Getty Images

Social connection can help improve heart health outcomes.

Poor Dental Health

Dental issues — like gum and tooth decay — can increase the risk of bacterial infections in the bloodstream. According to Tadwalkar, it’s very easy for bacteria in the mouth to travel to the blood. 

Recent research also found that regularly having your teeth cleaned is linked to better heart health outcomes.

Edmundowicz said it’s known that gingivitis and poor oral health causes an inflammatory state that could exasperate heart problems like high cholesterol or plaque rupture.

“Good oral hygiene is important. We can’t say 100% that brushing and flossing every day is going to prevent a heart attack, but it can increase one’s vulnerability if they have the other standard risk factors,” Edmundowicz said.

Certain Medications And Supplements

Some medications have been found to trigger cardiovascular issues. ADHD medications, for example, can ramp up the nervous system and cause increased heart rate and blood pressure. Drugs with a diuretic effect, such as the anti-hormonal medication Spironolactone, can decrease blood pressure, and in people with naturally low blood pressure, lead to symptoms like lightheadedness and dizziness.

Tadwalkar stressed that this doesn’t mean that everyone needs to be concerned about their medications. However, those who are predisposed to blood pressure or heart rhythm issues may need to be careful with the dosing of their medications. Your physician should take your heart health history into consideration while figuring out the right dosage for you.

Supplements can also impact the heart, especially among people taking vitamins and herbal supplements they don’t actually need. Supplements can interact with prescribed medications and also have destructive effects on the heart, according to Tadwalkar. He recommends talking to a physician about supplements to determine if they may have cardiovascular effects.

Too Much Caffeine

Caffeinated coffee is generally safe and protective for the heart. Research suggests that drinking two cups of coffee per day provides the greatest cardiovascular benefits.

But too much coffee can have a negative effect because it “can speed up the heart, cause increased heart rate, cause contraction of the blood vessels and increased blood pressure, and certainly if you’re prone to rhythm disturbances of the heart, the caffeine at high doses can cause that,” Tadwalkar said.

Caffeine is considered safe until 300 to 400 milligrams, and after that, it can have a cascade of negative effects.

Research has also shown that filtered coffee is associated with better cholesterol levels than unfiltered coffee, such a French press. “Oftentimes we don’t link cholesterol with coffee, but filtered coffee has less bad cholesterol content than less filtered coffee,” Tadwalkar said. In general, the blacker the coffee, the healthier it is for the body.

Your daily coffee habit can be beneficial for your heart — but only up to a certain point.

Unmanaged Stress

When the body’s fight-or-flight system is chronically activated, it can cause inflammation in the body and prolonged release of stress hormones like adrenaline. These factors together can cause physiological changes in the body, including increases in blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, insulin resistance and electrical rhythm disturbances, according to Tadwalkar.

Chronic stress can also increase the risk of blood clotting throughout the body. If a clot forms in an artery that’s already narrow, it can cause a heart attack. “This is why people who have a lot of chronic stress, you may see, oftentimes, will end up with a heart attack,” Tadwalkar said.

Triggers of stress are all around us, and it can be hard to escape. Because those triggers aren’t going away, it’s crucial to learn how to effectively manage your stress, said Tadwalkar, who recommends stress-relieving activities like meditation, yoga, exercise and enjoyable hobbies.

Too Much Or Too Little Sleep

Most people need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night — too much or too little sleep can contribute to cardiovascular issues, including heart attack and stroke. 

It’s not just about the quantity of sleep, but the quality, too. High-quality, regenerative sleep is crucial to maintaining a healthy heart. Lower-quality sleep is linked to high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and atherosclerosis (a build up of plaque in the arteries).

“We want people to sleep well, and for the expected duration of time, to really protect their heart,” Tadwalkar said.

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/habits-cause-heart-problems_l_6318c9fde4b0ed021dedd968?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-intl (28/05/2024)

Healthy gut, healthy mind: The schizophrenia and digestion connection

If you’ve ever had a gut feeling that you are what you eat, new research suggests that you may be much closer to the mark than you think.

The role of the gut – dubbed our body’s most under-rated organ – briefly hit the popular consciousness with the international best-selling book, Gut, by micro-biologist Guilia Enders.

What is becoming clear in this rapidly evolving field of academic research is that our largest sensory organ – about eight metres long if laid end to end – has an intimate connection with our brain, and thus both with our mental health, our emotions and disorders such as schizophrenia.

Often called ‘the second brain’, the trillions of microbes that we carry in the gut produce the vast bulk of the same neuro-transmitters that are used for regulation of the brain. If the vagus nerve, which connects the brain and the digestive system, is cut, the digestive system functions fine on its own.

Enders writes that 10 years ago there was hardly any research linking the gut with the brain, where now there are several hundred academic articles. 
 

World-first study

Adding to that field of research is a project about to start at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute at the University of Wollongong, headed by Dr Katrina Green and Professor Xu-Feng Huang, as well psychiatric Professor Nagesh Pai and psychologist Dr Jason Cusack.

The pilot project will study about 30 patients with schizophrenia to investigate the link between bacteria in our gut and brain functioning to identify new ways to improve cognitive function.

Source: University of Wollongong (from left)  1. Dr Katrina Green    2. Professor Xu-Feng Huang

 

“I find it fascinating that we get these gut feelings,” Dr Green says.

“When a person has a psychotic episode it’s in your face, so that’s what gets treated. The cognitive deficit that comes along with schizophrenia is in the background. 
 

Memory and learning loss

“Research is showing that cognitive deficit – problems with memory and learning – occurs in a lot of people before the first signs of the illness appear.

“I often hear that people’s sons or daughters are performing well at school, and then they go into a decline. By the time they are 19 or 20, they end up with psychosis.”

The project will not only look at ways of improving the brain functioning of those with schizophrenia, but also has the potential of providing early diagnosis for the disease.

The hypothesis of the study is that gut microbes are a key factor in the psychological changes in the brain.

The method will be to examine the gut microbes in the stool samples of patients, both when they are exhibiting symptoms of psychosis, and when they are not.

“Cognition is often not tested by clinicians and is not addressed by current anti-psychotic medications,” Dr Green says. 

Neuro-transmitters in the gut

These gut bacteria produce the same neuro-transmitters that regulate emotion and mental health in the brain – dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, norephinephrine.

“If we can find out what’s dysfunctional, then we can figure out how to fix it. The aim is to try and improve the functioning of people with schizophrenia and restore normality to their lives.”

Clinical psychologist Dr Jason Cusack is the researcher in charge with testing the cognition of the patients in the study.

As part of the Illawarra Brain Injury Service, he is experienced at administering tests to measure impairment of brain function, whether that’s from trauma or psychosis.

“The very interesting thing with schizophrenia and cognition is that it’s becoming more recognised as a core effect,” he says.

“Traditionally, the disease has been seen in terms of psychosis and hallucination, as well as the social factor of withdrawal. We have these negative symptoms of apathy, as well as the positive symptoms of psychosis.” 

Source: University of Wollongong (from left)  3. Dr Jason Cusack 4. Professor Nagesh Pai

Cognition is key

More recently, research and the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, incorporates cognition as one of the key factors in schizophrenia.

Symptoms can include changes in memory and learning, perception and speech, distraction, inability to focus, depression, anxiety and a reduction in self-care.

For Professor Nagesh Pai, the research into the gut and its connection with mental health started in 2009; when he began researching why anti-psychotic drugs often caused weight-gain in patients.

Currently research is investigating a medication derived from lizard salvia; this medication is used   to counter the symptoms of diabetes. This medication has shown promise in mice with both weight loss and improvements in cognition; planning is under way for human trials. 
 

Huge effect on mental health

“We also know that patients with schizophrenia have two to three times the risk of developing diabetes, compared to the general population,” Dr Pai says.

“We are trying to find out the part that genetic factors play in this, as well as social or environmental factors. The aetiology of schizophrenia is multifactorial and while the role of genetic factors are well established further work is needed investigating the role of environmental and social factors in controlling diabetes in this population.

The UOW research team believe that altered gut microbes effect the neuronal functioning of the brain.

There is a lot of evidence that there is a bi-directional communication between the brain and the gut and that both influence the functioning of each other.

“If we are able to establish this, a new direction may be provided for the management of schizophrenia.”

 
Story By: William Verity 

Source: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-wollongong (29/02/2024)

 

Writing by hand may increase brain connectivity more than typing, readings of student brains suggest

Writing by hand may increase brain connectivity more than typing, readings of student brains suggest

After recording the brain activity of university students, researchers in Norway determined that writing by hand may improve learning and memory.

A participant in the Norway study. Courtesy NTNU

Jan. 27, 2024, 4:00 PM IST

By Aria Bendix

Typing may be faster than writing by hand, but it’s less stimulating for the brain, according to research published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

After recording the brain activity of 36 university students, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology determined that handwriting might improve learning and memory.

At the start of the experiment, the students were told to either write words in cursive using a digital pen on a touchscreen, or to type the same words using a keyboard. When a word such as “forest” or “hedgehog” appeared on a screen in front of them, they had 25 seconds to write or type it over and over.

Meanwhile, a cap of sensors on their head measured their brain waves. The cap’s 256 electrodes attached to the scalp and recorded the electrical signals of the students’ brains, including where brain cells were active and how parts of the brain communicated with each other.

“Our main finding was that handwriting activates almost the whole brain as compared to typewriting, which hardly activates the brain as such. The brain is not challenged very much when it’s pressing keys on a keyboard as opposed to when it’s forming those letters by hand,” said Audrey van der Meer, the study’s co-author and a neuropsychology professor at NTNU.

In particular, the study found that writing by hand required communication between the brain’s visual, sensory and motor cortices. People who wrote with the digital pen had to visualize letters, then use their fine motor skills to control their movement when writing.

“When you have to form letters by hand, an ‘A’ will look completely different than a ‘B’ and requires a completely different movement pattern,” van der Meer said.

By contrast, when typing, the keys look mostly the same, regardless of the letter. As a result, the study found, typing required less brain activity in the visual and motor cortices.

“Because only small parts of the brain are active during typewriting, there is no need for the brain to communicate between different areas,” van der Meer said.

Van der Meer’s previous research in children and young adults similarly found that people’s brains are more active while writing by hand than while typing. A 2017 study from Indiana University also indicated that writing by hand could link visual and motor skills, which might help kids better recognize letters.

But so far, there’s mixed evidence as to whether taking notes on paper versus a laptop can help people remember and understand information better in the classroom or raise their performance on tests.

It’s also hard to know whether or how the brain activity in the new study might translate into real-life improvements in learning or memory, said Ramesh Balasubramaniam, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Merced, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/writing-by-hand-may-increase-brain-connectivity-rcna135880 (DoA: 31/01/2024)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022

 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022

Happy and Prosperous New year 2020

Wish you all A Happy and Prosperous New Year 2020

Research shows how reading for pleasure can improve your life

by University of Liverpool

Research by the University of Liverpool's Centre for Research into Reading, Literature and Society (CRILS) has found that people who read are more likely to be satisfied with their lives.

The study, headed by Dr Josie Billington, explored the emotional, social and psychological benefits to adults of regular reading for pleasure.
Commissioned by Galaxy chocolate on behalf of Quick Reads, a programme that produces short books by well-known authors for busy people and less confident readers, the study reveals that regular reading has the unique ability to empower us to embark on positive journeys in life, connect us with others and make us feel happier in our own skin. This year, the campaigner for education Malala leads the line-up of authors, shining a light on how reading can empower us all.
Confidence
The research shows that books can provide the fundamental confidence we need to pursue our goals and make big life decisions:

• 27% of the population have been inspired to make a positive change in their life from reading such as look for a new job or end a bad relationship)
• 36% of the population have been inspired to go travelling by a book

The study also revealed that reading has inspired us to make other positive changes in our lives:

• A fifth of the nation has been motivated to take better care of their health by reading a book
• 19% of adults say books have given them the impetus they need to take up a new hobby

Ultimate stress remedy
A third (35%) of the population admits that they would like to read more but are often distracted by using their phone or watching TV. However, highlighting the profound and significant effect that a good book can have on our overall contentment and fulfilment, the research revealed that over a third (38%) of the nation chooses reading as their ultimate stress remedy. What is more, reading is proven to be a greater comfort to us than some more obvious go-to solutions:

• 35% of participants revealed that books are most likely to bring them comfort when they are feeling down, versus 31% who choose a glass of wine and 10% who choose a hot bath
• 41% of adults even find reading to be a better cure for their everyday worries than a night out with friends

The nation may also find it heartening to learn that the research found the lovably flawed Bridget Jones to be the literary character most women could identify with – with 1 in 10 respondents also agreeing that reading comforts them by showing it is okay to be flawed. In fact, the research showed that we prefer to read about someone who makes mistakes (23%) and is funny (20%) more than we value a character who is brave (19%), loyal (17%), or kind (11%).

Dr Josie Billington, Deputy Director, Centre for Research into Reading at the University of Liverpool, said: "35% of respondents in our research reported that they would like to spend more time reading, but cite using their phones or watching television as frequent distractions: no wonder there is concern that reading is at risk of becoming a forgotten pleasure.
"The positive effects that reading can have on society are widely documented and what has been made abundantly clear by this research is that books can help us to enjoy the little things in life, and be happier in ourselves; a useful and timely reminder for all of us to draw on the many benefits that only reading can deliver."
Top 5 most inspiring literary characters from bestselling novels
Women are inspired by…

1. Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
2. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games series)
3. Harry Potter (Harry Potter series)
4. Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones' Diary series)
5. Anna Fitzgerald (My Sister's Keeper)

Men are inspired by…

1. Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
2. Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings series)
3. Harry Potter (Harry Potter series)
4. Robert Langdon (Da Vinci Code / Angels and Demons)
5. Amir (The Kite Runner) / Pi Patel (Life of Pi)

In this, the tenth anniversary year of Quick Reads, founder Baroness Gail Rebuck, DBE comments: "I consider reading to not only be one of life's greatest pleasures but also a source of empowerment and enrichment. Books can change people's lives. I hope that the benefits highlighted in this report will encourage the one in three adults who never pick up a book to consider how their lives – and their children's – could be enhanced with the simple act of reading."

Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-02-pleasure-life.html (14/06/2019)

Women less sensitive to pain than men

Women less sensitive to pain than men

For the study, published in the Current Biology journal, the team conducted experiments on both humans and mice where they were taken to specific rooms and made to experience low levels of pain caused by heat delivered to their hind paw or forearm. health Updated: Jan 14, 2019 11:12 IST

Indo Asian News Service

When experiencing pain again, men seemed to be stressed and hypersensitive in remembering, but women were not stressed by their earlier experiences of pain. (Unsplash)

Women tend to forget pain that they suffered more quickly than men, confirmed a new study in mice and humans, challenging the widely held belief that the fairer sex are more sensitive to pain than men. The study, by researchers from Canada’s University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), showed that men and women remembered earlier painful experiences differently.

When experiencing pain again, men seemed to be stressed and hypersensitive in remembering, but women were not stressed by their earlier experiences of pain.
“If remembered pain is a driving force for chronic pain and we understand how pain is remembered, we may be able to help some sufferers by treating the mechanisms behind the memories directly,” said lead author Loren Martin, Assistant Professor at the UTM.

“What was even more surprising was that men reacted more, because it is well known that women are both more sensitive to pain than men, and that they are also generally more stressed out,” Martin added.

For the study, published in the Current Biology journal, the team conducted experiments on both humans and mice where they were taken to specific rooms and made to experience low levels of pain caused by heat delivered to their hind paw or forearm.

Further, human participants were asked to wear a tightly inflated blood pressure cuff and exercise their arms for 20 minutes, while each mouse received a diluted injection of vinegar designed to cause a stomach ache for about 30 minutes. When the next day the participants returned to either the same or a different room and heat was again applied to their arms or hind paws, men rated the heat pain higher than they did the day before, and higher than the women did.
Similarly, male mice returning to the same environment exhibited a heightened heat pain response, while mice placed in a new and neutral environment did not.

First Published: Jan 14, 2019 11:11 IST

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/women-less-sensitive-to-pain-than-men/story-BUiLKZderKkA8IA6PcrcQO.html (16.01.2019)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019 !!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019 !!