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Health

Get Moving for a Healthier Heart

 

Are you super-cautious about working out because it’s been a while since you were active, or you feel out of shape? Actually, exercise is great for you.

exercising3people

Being active will:

  • Strengthen your heart.
  • Lower your blood pressure.
  • Help you reach and keep a healthy weight.
  • Burn off stress.
  • Boost your mood and self-esteem.
  • Help you sleep better.

Before you get started, ask your doctor these questions:

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How Anger Can Hurt Your Heart

 

Everyone gets angry. It’s a normal emotion, and there’s probably a good reason why you feel that way.

angerThe way you handle your anger can make a difference to your heart, though.

“If you have a destructive reaction to anger, you are more likely to have heart attacks,” says cardiologist Dave Montgomery, MD, of Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

That’s true whether intense anger makes you fiery or quietly fume.

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Your Waistline and Heart Disease: What's the Link?

familyhikingcardiovascLose weight. You hear this advice all the time. But did you know that where your body stores those extra pounds matters for your heart health, too?

“A thicker waistline increases heart attack risk,” says Nieca Goldberg, MD, medical director of the New York University Langone Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health.

Enlarged Heart (Cardiomegaly)

An enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) may have various causes. But it's usually the result of high blood pressure (hypertension) or coronary artery disease. An enlarged heart may not pump blood effectively, resulting in congestive heart failure. Cardiomegaly may improve over time. But most people with an enlarged heart need lifelong treatment with medications.

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Is This Stress or a Stroke?

stressorstrokeAre you stressed out? Is your head throbbing, and you just don’t feel right? Worried you’re having a stroke? You’re probably not.

Anxiety, migraines, blood sugar changes, and lots of other things can make you feel weak and funny -- and they’re much more likely.

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Migraine Headache: I Don’t Know the Pain

migraineericI don’t suffer from migraines, but my wife does. Watching her twist and writhe in pain is debilitating for me. I feel her pain…kind of. Thankfully, it’s from afar. I know I couldn’t handle what she goes through. 

According to the Migraine Research Foundation, 18% of women and 6% of men experience the syndrome, but ironically, few of these sufferers can describe the symptoms nor the pain they feel.

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A Healthy Body Often Equals a Healthy Brain

exercisehealthybrain

 

Experts stress that exercise, good diet help maintain memory as much as mental challenges do

People who want to stay sharp as they age often turn to brain teasers, puzzles and games, figuring correctly that they'll lose it if they don't use it.

But a healthy body is also key to maintaining a healthy brain, and that's something many people tend to overlook, experts say.

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How Low Should Your Blood Pressure Be?

lowerbloodpressurenNew study shows fewer heart attacks and deaths in those with lower BP

Since an estimated one in three people in the United States has high blood pressure, which puts them at risk for heart disease and stroke, kidney failure and other health problems, determining an ideal blood pressure is vital.

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Tips for Heart-Healthy Living With Diabetes

abcsdiabetesKeeping control of your “ABCs" -- A1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol -- can go a long way to help prevent heart disease, stroke, and other heart problems when you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. And your heart health is very important: You are two to four times more likely to have strokes and heart disease if you have diabetes. Follow these guidelines for heart-healthy living to meet your ABC goals. Your doctor may tailor your goals based on your age, blood sugar (also called glucose) levels, and heart or other diabetes-linked problems you may have.

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12 Heart Symptoms Never to Ignore

12symptomsHeart disease is the No. 1 killer of U.S. men and women, accounting for 40% of all U.S. deaths. That's more than all forms of cancer combined.

Why is heart disease so deadly? One reason is that many people are slow to seek help when symptoms arise. Yes, someone gripped by sudden chest pain probably knows to call 911. But heart symptoms aren't always intense or obvious, and they vary from person to person and according to gender.

Because it can be hard to make sense of heart symptoms, doctors warn against ignoring possible warning signs, waiting to see if they go away, or being quick to blame them on heartburn, muscle soreness, or other less serious, noncardiac causes. That's especially true for people over 65, as well as for people with heart risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease.

"The more risk factors you have, the higher the likelihood that a symptom means something is going on with your heart," says David Frid, MD, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. "People often don't want to admit that they're old enough or sick enough to have heart trouble. Putting off treatment for other medical problems might not be so bad, but a serious heart problem can mean sudden death."

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9 Surprising Ways to Lower Your Diabetes Risk

type2diabetespreventionYou might not know that these small steps can produce big results

The most common form of diabetes, Type 2 (once called adult-onset or non-insulin-dependent diabetes), affects 90 to 95 percent of the 26 million Americans with diabetes.

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Prostate Cancer in African Americans

health032513Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States. While it isn’t known why African American men have higher rates of getting and dying from prostate cancer, CDC believes that what you know can help you.

African American men should know the facts about prostate cancer.

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CDC - Young African American Men Get Most HIV

HIV Hits 15 Times More African-American Women, 6 Times More African-American Men Than Whites

By Daniel J. DeNoon

HIVsmlHIV is striking African-Americans with "alarming" ferocity, according to a new CDC report. The CDC recently reported that the overall U.S. HIV epidemic was much worse than we'd thought. Now the CDC points to groups for whom the HIV epidemic is vastly worse:

  • Young (aged 13-29) black men who have sex with men get HIV more often than any other age/racial group.
  • African-American women are 15 times more likely to get HIV than are white women.
  • African-American men are six times more likely to get HIV than are white men.
  • Hispanic women are four times more likely to get HIV than are white non-Hispanic women.
  • Hispanic men are more than twice as likely to get HIV than are white non-Hispanic men.
  • Among Hispanics, men get 76% of new HIV infections.
  • African-Americans get nearly half of all new HIV infections in the U.S.
  • Men who have sex with men get more than half of all new HIV infections in the U.S.
  • Among white gay/bisexual men, those aged 30-39 and 40-49 get the most new HIV infections.

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Preventing High Blood Pressure

hypertensionstudyA recent study shows that hospitalization due to high blood pressure is more common among African Americans. Learn what you can do to reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure among African Americans

According to the 2010 US Census, approximately 36% of the population belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group.

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Strokes and the Toll They Take on Younger Adults

knowstrokesignsAbout 10% of the 800,000 strokes that happen in the U.S. each year strike adults younger than 45.

A stroke -- an event where blood flow to the brain is disrupted, either by a blood clot or bleeding -- can be devastating at any age. But when a younger adult has one, they're affected “in the prime of their life, in their most productive years,” says Jose Biller, MD. He's the chairman of the department of neurology at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University in Chicago.

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Lung Cancer Prevention & Awareness

lungcancer14Did you know that more people die of lung cancer every year than from colon, breast and prostate cancers combined? Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer among both men and women, and cigarette smoking is the No. 1 cause of lung cancer. About 80% of lung cancer deaths result from smoking. 

African American men have the highest rates of lung cancer in the United States, and when they smoke around their family, everyone smokes! The smoke from cigarettes - called secondhand smoke - can cause lung cancer and other health problems in people who have never smoked, even kids.

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HIV/AIDS

hivaidsmanAlso called: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS, HIV, Human immunodeficiency virus

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It kills or damages the body's immune system cells. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is the most advanced stage of infection with HIV.

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The ABCs of High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

hypertensionHigh Blood Pressure Treatment

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is dangerous because it can lead to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, or kidney disease. The goal of hypertension treatment is to lower high blood pressure and protect important organs, like the brain, heart, and kidneys from damage. Treatment for hypertension has been associated with reductions in stroke (reduced an average of 35%-40%), heart attack (20%-25%), and heart failure (more than 50%), according to research.

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Will I Have Chest Pain If I Have a Heart Attack?

heartattackNot always, our expert says. And that's why you should know all the potential symptoms of a heart attack.

Q: I'll know I'm having a heart attack because my chest and arm will hurt, right?

A: Not necessarily. While some heart attacks do feature classic symptoms like chest and arm pain, the idea that they all do is FALSE.

About 25% of men and 40% of women don't have chest pain during heart attacks, says Harmony Reynolds, MD, associate director of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center and assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center.

With or without chest and arm pain, women may have "shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, sweating, palpitations, dizziness, loss of appetite, or pain in other areas such as the jaw, throat, neck, shoulders, or upper or middle back," Reynolds says.

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Understanding Blood Pressure Readings

Blood pressure is typically recorded as two numbers, written as a ratio like this:
 

bloodpressureabSystolic

The top number, which is also the higher of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats (when the heart muscle contracts).
 
Diastolic

The bottom number, which is also the lower of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats (when the heart muscle is resting between beats and refilling with blood).

 

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The Warning Signs of Stroke

strokewarningsignsA stroke occurs about every 40 seconds. Each year, about 795,000 Americans have a stroke. Do you know the warning signs?

Sometimes symptoms of stroke develop gradually. But if you are having a stroke, you are more likely to have one or more sudden warning signs like these.

  • Numbness or weakness in your face, arm, or leg, especially on one side
  • Confusion or trouble understanding other people
  • Trouble speaking
  • Trouble seeing with one or both eyes
  • Trouble walking or staying balanced or coordinated
  • Dizziness
  • Severe headache that comes on for no known reason

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Heart Attack Symptoms

heartattacksymptomsSymptoms of a heart attack include:

  • Discomfort, pressure, heaviness, or pain in the chest, arm or below the breastbone
  • Discomfort radiating to the back, jaw, throat, or arm
  • Fullness, indigestion, or choking feeling (may feel like heartburn)
  • Sweating, nausea, vomiting, or dizziness
  • Extreme weakness, anxiety, or shortness of breath
  • Rapid or irregular heartbeats

 

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