Fatty liver disease: Should you be tested?
Even a little exercise linked with lower stroke risk in people with afib
Testosterone therapy without evidence of deficiency may boost heart risk
Weight-loss drug may lower risk of heart attacks and infections
Migraine: How it's diagnosed and what that means
Tricep workouts you can do at home
Mindfulness practices to reduce stress and improve focus
Antihistamines may not offer meaningful relief from eczema symptoms
Overweight and taking blood pressure medications: Study finds it's a trend that's working
FDA approves first mRNA-based flu vaccine
Vitamins, minerals & supplements Archive
Articles
Want to live longer? Rethink sugary drink consumption
News briefs
Drinking lots of sugary drinks — like soda, fruit punch, lemonade, or sports drinks — is associated with many health problems, such as weight gain and an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, or stroke. But a Harvard-led observational study published March 18, 2019, in Circulation finds an even graver tie, linking sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to an early death. Researchers analyzed the data from two large studies of more than 110,000 men and women who responded to questionnaires about their lifestyle and health for about three decades or longer. The more sugary drinks participants consumed, the higher their risk for death from any cause during the study period. For example, compared with people who rarely drank sugary beverages, those who drank two to six sugary drinks per week had a 6% increased risk for an early death; those who drank two or more sugary drinks per day had a 21% increased risk for an early death, especially from cardiovascular disease (and especially among women). Drinking four or more artificially sweetened drinks per day (but not lesser amounts) also was tied to a slightly higher risk for early death. Best advice: avoid sugary drinks of any kind, and avoid drinking more than one artificially sweetened beverage per day.
Image: © Eivaisla/Getty Images
Fermented foods: Favorable for heart health?
So far, the evidence that foods and drinks rich in good bacteria can improve cardiovascular health is promising but limited.
A number of foods — yogurt, sauerkraut, as well as some less-familiar ones such as kimchi and tempeh — are made by fermentation, an age-old tradition for preserving food. These foods, as well as the fermented drinks kombucha and kefir, have been getting buzz in recent years, mostly focused on their potential to enhance gut health. Fermented products contain naturally occurring beneficial bacteria known as probiotics, which are thought to improve digestion.
Probiotics found in fermented foods may also provide modest heart-related benefits, according to a review article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology last year. One study found that eating kimchi (see "What are fermented foods?") daily helped people lose weight and lowered their blood pressure. Another noted improvement in blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Sugary drinks linked to higher risk of dying from heart disease
Research we're watching
Frequently drinking sugary beverages such as sodas and sports drinks may raise a person's risk of dying from heart disease, new research finds.
For the study, published in the March 18 issue of Circulation, researchers analyzed data from more than 118,000 health professionals over a period of more than three decades. After adjusting for other diet, health, and lifestyle factors, they found that the more sugary drinks people consumed, the higher their risk of dying from any cause — but especially cardiovascular disease. Compared with people who rarely drank sugar-sweetened beverages, those who drank two or more per day were about one-third more likely to die of heart disease or a stroke.
Heart attacks: Less frequent and less deadly than 20 years ago
Research we're watching
Fewer older adults are having heart attacks, and more are surviving them, according to a study published March 15 in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 4.3 million people ages 65 and older who had suffered heart attacks over a 20-year period beginning in 1995. Back then, 20% of those included in the study died from their heart attacks. By 2014, that number had fallen to 12%.
A leg up on peripheral artery disease
The condition causes leg pain and fatigue that make activity difficult, but lifestyle changes can improve how you feel.
The occasional leg pain or stiffness is often not cause for concern, but if pain or fatigue develops after just a few minutes of walking or climbing stairs, it could be an early sign of peripheral artery disease (PAD).
"PAD not only interferes with an active lifestyle, but also can put you at higher risk for a heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Michael Belkin, chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "You can't cure PAD once it occurs, so you want to take measures to avoid it as much as possible."
Look out for Lyme
Here's how to protect yourself from this growing tick-borne disease.
Summer is the ideal time to enjoy the outdoors, but while you're interacting with nature, you need to look out for ticks that carry Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the United States.
About 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC, and new research suggests that number will rise by 20% by mid-century.
Blueberries may help lower blood pressure
In the journals
Eating a cup of blueberries every day may help your blood pressure, suggests a new study. The results, published online Feb. 16, 2019, by The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, found that consuming 200 grams of blueberries (about one cup) daily can improve blood vessel function and decrease systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading).
Researchers recruited 40 healthy men and randomly gave them either a drink containing 200 grams of whole wild blueberries or a control drink (which looked and tasted much the same) every day for a month. The team also monitored the men's blood pressure as well as the flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery in their upper arms. This measures how the artery widens when blood flow increases and is a marker of reduced cardiovascular disease risk.
Is under-the-tongue allergy therapy safe and effective?
Ask the doctors
Q. I have seasonal allergies and I'm thinking about getting allergy shots to control them. But I hate shots and would prefer the sublingual treatments. Are these treatments considered equally safe and effective?
A. The short answer to your question is yes. Sublingual allergy treatments, which are small doses of allergens administered as tablets or liquid drops under the tongue, are considered safe and effective compared with allergy shots.
Is lack of exercise a problem if I'm at my ideal weight?
Ask the doctors
Q. I don't need to lose weight, so I don't exercise very often, but I maintain a healthy diet. Could my lack of exercise lead to health problems?
A. Exercise is essential for good health — even if you're not overweight. This point is illustrated by a recent study, published March 1 in The American Journal of Cardiology. It found that 30% of normal-weight people who were sedentary had the same risk of heart attack and stroke as people who were overweight. In short, just being at a healthy weight didn't necessarily ensure that someone was in good health. In addition to having a higher risk of serious cardiovascular events, some inactive but normal weight people were also more likely to have labored breathing during exercise and a larger-than-recommended waist circumference, compared with normal-weight adults who exercised regularly.
Simple strategies to stop stress-related overeating
Managing emotionally driven weight gain requires planning ahead.
How much and when you eat isn't driven just by hunger, which you likely already know if you've ever found yourself hunched over a bowl of ice cream after having a particularly stressful day. Stress can set off a cascade of physical reactions in your body that may not only drive you to eat more and make you crave less nutritious, fattening comfort foods, but also help you pack on extra pounds much more easily.
"Stress drives up levels of a hormone called cortisol in the blood," says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland that helps to regulate your metabolism. It also plays a role in blood sugar management and memory. When levels of cortisol rise, it can promote inflammation and may spur the body to start stockpiling fat around the midsection. "Stress might also disrupt sleep and drive people to seek out food when they wouldn't normally — such as in the middle of the night," says Dr. Stanford.
Fatty liver disease: Should you be tested?
Even a little exercise linked with lower stroke risk in people with afib
Testosterone therapy without evidence of deficiency may boost heart risk
Weight-loss drug may lower risk of heart attacks and infections
Migraine: How it's diagnosed and what that means
Tricep workouts you can do at home
Mindfulness practices to reduce stress and improve focus
Antihistamines may not offer meaningful relief from eczema symptoms
Overweight and taking blood pressure medications: Study finds it's a trend that's working
FDA approves first mRNA-based flu vaccine
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