CHD risk factors

Don’t Take an Aspirin and Call Me in the Morning — A Country Doctor Writes:

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People are asking about the latest US Public Health Service Taskforce on Prevention (USPSTF) recommendation about the use of aspirin to prevent heart disease. It has been a long-standing recommendation for people who already have heart disease. When I turned 50, I started taking a “baby” aspirin. That was their recommendation then. I stopped taking […]

Don’t Take an Aspirin and Call Me in the Morning — A Country Doctor Writes:

Personal Note:

A few years back I was taking 81mg aspirin AND fish oil. I stopped taking the fish oil because every nick, scratch and cut would not stop bleeding and took a long time to clot. Personally I plan on continuing my aspirin therapy at least until my next wellness exam. My physician wanted me to continue aspirin until age 70. We’ll see.

Eating Leafy Green Vegetables (just a wee bit) Lowers Heart Disease Risk

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Researchers examined data from over 50,000 people residing in Denmark taking part in the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study over a 23-year period. They found that people who consumed the most nitrate-rich vegetables had about a 2.5 mmHg lower systolic blood pressure and between 12 to 26 percent lower risk of heart disease.

Lead researcher Dr Catherine Bondonno from ECU’s Institute for Nutrition Research said identifying diets to prevent heart disease was a priority.

“Our results have shown that by simply eating one cup of raw (or half a cup of cooked) nitrate-rich vegetables each day, people may be able to significantly reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease,” Dr Bondonno said.

Edith Cowan University. “One cup of leafy green vegetables a day lowers risk of heart disease.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210504112604.htm (accessed May 9, 2021).

One cup raw or a half cup cooked daily. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t leafy greens on a daily basis. But now since my awareness level is higher I simply need to try harder.

I love spinach.

I don’t understand kale at all.

I have a package of organic baby bok choy leaves in the fridge which I actually bought before I read this article.

I wonder if parsley counts?

Alcohol (just a wee bit) Lowers CVD Mortality Risk

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Moderate alcohol intake – defined as no more than one alcoholic drink for women and two for men per day – may be associated with a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease when compared with individuals who abstain from drinking or partake in excessive drinking, according to a new study. Of the 53,064 participants, 7,905 (15%) experienced a major adverse cardiovascular event: 17% in the low alcohol intake group and 13% in the moderate alcohol intake group. People who reported moderate alcohol intake were found to have a 20% lower chance of having a major event compared to low alcohol intake (in adjusted analysis), and also had lower stress-related brain activity. Kenechukwu Mezue, MD, the study’s lead author, cautions that these findings should not encourage alcohol use, but that they could open doors to new therapeutics or prescribing stress-relieving activities like exercise or yoga to help minimize stress signals in the brain.

SOURCE: American College of Cardiology, news release, May 6, 2021 accessed 05.08.21 — https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2021/05/05/14/48/new-acc-21-research-explores-flu-vaccines-sleep-htn-secondhand-smoke-alcohol-and-stress-acc-2021

My liver understands but does not necessarily agree with the findings of this study.

CVD Remains Leading Cause of Death in Type 2 Diabetes – Medscape

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Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death among the over 16,000 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) who were enrolled in the SAVOR-TIMI 53 trial.

Two-thirds (66.3%) of all 798 deaths after a median 2.1 years of follow-up were caused by one of five cardiovascular (CV) conditions, with sudden cardiac death accounting for the largest share (30.1%) of the total, Ilaria Cavallari, MD, PhD, and associates said in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

It was a pair of laboratory measurements, however, that had the largest subdistribution hazard ratios. “Interestingly, the magnitude of associations of abnormal N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide [sHR, 2.82] and high-sensitivity troponin T [sHR, 2.46] measured in a stable population were greater than clinical variables in the prediction of all causes of death,” Cavallari and associates said.

CVD Remains Leading Cause of Death in Type 2 Diabetes – Medscape – Apr 06, 2021 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/948849?src=rss

An Early-Onset Subgroup of Type 2 Diabetes: A Multigenerational, Prospective Analysis in the Framingham Heart Study

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE To assess the relation of type 2 diabetes occurring earlier (age <55 years) versus later in life to the risk of cardiovascular death and to diabetes in offspring.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In the Framingham Heart Study, a community-based prospective cohort study, glycemic status was ascertained at serial examinations over six decades among 5,571 first- and second-generation participants with mortality data and 2,123 second-generation participants who initially did not have diabetes with data on parental diabetes status. We assessed cause of death in a case (cardiovascular death)–control (noncardiovascular death) design and incident diabetes in offspring in relation to parental early-onset diabetes.

RESULTS Among the participants in two generations (N = 5,571), there were 1,822 cardiovascular deaths (including 961 coronary deaths). The odds of cardiovascular versus noncardiovascular death increased with decreasing age of diabetes onset (P < 0.001 trend). Compared with never developing diabetes, early-onset diabetes conferred a 1.81-fold odds (95% CI 1.10–2.97, P = 0.02) of cardiovascular death and 1.75-fold odds (0.96–3.21, P = 0.07) of coronary death, whereas later-onset diabetes was not associated with greater risk for either (P = 0.09 for cardiovascular death; P = 0.51 for coronary death). In second-generation participants, having a parent with early-onset diabetes increased diabetes risk by 3.24-fold (1.73–6.07), whereas having one or both parents with late-onset diabetes increased diabetes risk by 2.19-fold (1.50–3.19).

CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide evidence for a diabetes subgroup with an early onset, a stronger association with cardiovascular death, and higher transgenerational transmission.

Diabetes Care 2020 Dec; 43(12): 3086-3093. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc19-1758

Translation – The earlier you develop diabetes your risk of CVD and coronary death is higher. An if one or both of your parents developed either early onset or late onset diabetes you’re screwed.

Mothers’ Lifestyle Predicts When Offspring will have First Heart Attack or Stroke

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Previous research has shown that parents pass on health to their offspring through both genes and shared environment/lifestyle. This was the first study to examine whether parents’ heart health was associated with the age at which offspring develop cardiovascular disease. In addition, it investigated the influence of each parent separately.

The study was conducted in offspring-mother-father trios from the Framingham Heart Study — a total of 1,989 offspring, 1,989 mothers, and 1,989 fathers. Offspring were enrolled at an average age of 32 years and followed over 46 years (1971-2017) for the development of cardiovascular events. “Crucially, the study followed offspring into most of their adult life when heart attacks and strokes actually occur,” explained Dr. Muchira

European Society of Cardiology. “Mothers’ lifestyle predicts when offspring will have first heart attack or stroke.” ScienceDaily, 4 November 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201104194708.htm.

Journal Reference: Muchira JM, Gona PN, Mogos MF, et al. Parental cardiovascular health predicts time to onset of cardiovascular disease in offspring. Eur J Prev Cardiol., 2020 DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwaa072

Eat More Broccoli

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Published in the British Journal of Nutrition the research has found higher consumption of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage, is associated with less extensive blood vessel disease in older women.

Using data from a cohort of 684 older Western Australian women recruited in 1998, researchers from ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences and The University of Western Australia found those with a diet comprising more cruciferous vegetables had a lower chance of having extensive build-up of calcium on their aorta, a key marker for structural blood vessel disease.

Dr Blekkenhorst said women in this study who consumed more than 45g of cruciferous vegetables every day (e.g. ¼ cup of steamed broccoli or ½ cup of raw cabbage) were 46 percent less likely to have extensive build-up of calcium on their aorta in comparison to those consuming little to no cruciferous vegetables every day.

Edith Cowan University. “Broccoli and Brussels sprouts a cut above for blood vessel health.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200820102434.htm (accessed August 20, 2020).

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200820102434.htm

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Eat Nuts

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Eating nuts linked with lower risk of fatal heart attack and stroke

Eating nuts two or more times per week was associated with a 17% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality compared to consuming nuts once every two weeks. The connection was robust even after adjusting for factors that could influence the relationship such as age, sex, education, smoking, and physical activity. Nut intake was inversely associated with the other outcomes but lost significance after adjustment.