So maybe you’re allergic to shellfish and you can’t eat crab and oysters to help build stronger bones. What else can you eat on a regular basis to avoid bone problems when you advance in years? Here are some more alternatives.

Bok choy
This crunchy green leafy vegetable is very rich in calcium, the main nutrient that helps in bone health. More than that, though, bok choy also contains vitamins and iron, making it a very healthy treat for you. There are many ways to prepare bok choy – your imagination’s the limit!

Bananas
I love this fruit. It is very versatile. You can it eat as it is – just peel and pop into your mouth. You can make desserts. You can make smoothies. The great thing about bananas, aside from the taste, is that it contains potassium, which is responsible for preventing calcium loss in the body.

Kiwi Fruit
While I do not know many people who like kiwi, I highly suggest this fruit as an alternative to other snacks. Just lie bananas, kiwis contain a lot of potassium. In addition to this, however, this fruit also has a lot of vitamins as well as lutein, which is needed to help reduce the risk of heart problems.

Broccoli
Steamed broccoli – crunchy and sweet….You can’t get any better than that! And while there are people who hate this veggie, it does pack a lot of calcium, together with other nutrients. Broccoli is a perfect side dish to meat, which is just right for me!

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have conducted a study which yielded the following data:

-Breastfeeding can lower the risk of heart attack and other related diseases
-Breastfeeding can lower the risk of stroke.

These benefits might be had if a mother breastfeeds for a year. More than these two major illnesses, however, breastfeeding can also have a positive effect regarding other conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. As you may have surmised by now, these conditions are closely related to heart attacks and strokes.

The U.S. Surgeon General “recommends that babies be fed exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life, but “the longer women nurse their babies, the better for both of their health,” says lead study author Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Health Care in Pennsylvania.”

I guess you know what this means, huh? More mothers should opt for breastfeeding rather than using formula. Then again, should is the operative word here. At the end of the day, the decision rests on the mother.

To drink or not to drink? That is the question.

I must admit all these new studies about the benefits and negative effects of each and every food and drink I like makes my head spin. They said alcohol is good for your heart but now new findings state that it actually leads to increased risk for cancer. So what should one do? I guess it depends on whether you’re more afraid of a heart attack or getting cancer!

Seriously though, even moderate amounts of alcohol leads to increased cancer risk. According to Oxford University researchers women that drank more than 2 alcoholic beverages a week increases their risk by 2% while those that had 7 to 14 drinks a week increased their cancer risk by 5%. And alarmingly those that drink 15 or more alcoholic beverages a week increase their cancer risk by up to 15%!

So what does this mean? According to doctors what it means is that you shouldn’t use the healthy heart excuse to drink lots of alcohol because they now how the cancer rebuttal. At the same time according to Dr Alan Kristal of the Cancer Prevention Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, moderate alcohol intake is acceptable since the benefits to the heart outweighs the increase in cancer risk. Remember moderation is the key. So keep to the American Cancer Society’s recommendation and limit your alcohol intake to one drink a day for women and a couple of drinks a day for men.

Myth No. 5: Salt causes high blood pressure and should be avoided
The origin: In the 1940s, a Duke University researcher named Walter Kempner, M.D., became famous for using salt restriction to treat people with high blood pressure. Later, studies confirmed that reducing salt could help reduce hypertension.

What science really shows: Large-scale scientific reviews have determined there’s no reason for people with normal blood pressure to restrict their sodium intake. Now, if you already have high blood pressure, you may be “salt sensitive.” As a result, reducing the amount of salt you eat could be helpful.

However, it’s been known for the past 20 years that people with high blood pressure who don’t want to lower their salt intake can simply consume more potassium-containing foods. Why? Because it’s really the balance of the two minerals that matters. In fact, Dutch researchers determined that a low potassium intake has the same impact on your blood pressure as high salt consumption does. And it turns out, the average guy consumes 3,100 milligrams (mg) of potassium a day—1,600 mg. less than recommended.

The bottom line: Strive for a potassium-rich diet, which you can achieve by eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and legumes. For instance, spinach, broccoli, bananas, white potatoes and most types of beans each contain more than 400 mg. potassium per serving.

I think it’s really interesting that the balance between sodium and potassium is more important – something new that I learned today. So I guess what I should do instead is to focus more on getting potassium (which I didn’t really pay attention to).

Anyhow, the general belief is that angioplasty produces much better results than merely taking medication. This is one reason that my uncle preferred to undergo the procedure. A recent study, however, shows evidence to the contrary. According to a report at MSN Health:

There are some advantages to artery-opening angioplasty over drug treatment for people with heart disease, but those advantages disappear within three years, according to the latest report on a pivotal study on the subject.

Angioplasty does offer a higher quality of life for months to a couple of years, said study leader Dr. William S. Weintraub, chief of cardiology at the Christiana Health Care System in Delaware.

Simply put, angioplasty DOES offer better results within the first 3 years after the operation. After this period of time, though, the results are basically the same. So why would one want to pay a lot for angioplasty? Well, I saw the HUGE difference in my uncle right after he had his done. I am sure that the comfort that he is experiencing (and will be experiencing in the next couple of years) is well worth the money spent on the procedure.

A report by Reuters states:

The greatest increase in stroke risk — 70 percent — was noted among women who slept 9 hours or more per night, according to their report in the medical journal Stroke.

After following the group for an average of 7.5 years, the researchers found that 1,166 women experienced an ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked. This prevents oxygen from reaching the brain and the brain’s tissue begins to die.

Upon further analysis, Chen’s group found that women with a sleep duration of 6 hours or less, 8 hours, or 9 hours or more increased the risk of stroke by 14 percent, 24 percent, and 70 percent, respectively, compared with sleeping 7 hours.

However, the study does not conclusively state that if women lessen their sleeping hours, their risk of stroke will be lower. Chen further states:

Our data do not imply that if women with long sleep cut their sleep hours they would be at a lower risk….Further studies are needed to help us understand the possible mechanisms involved in the associations found in this study.

Sometimes I wish that they would conduct further studies to give more conclusive information before releasing the results to the general public!

Photo courtesy of erin watson

One common option would be to prescribe medication. These drugs are meant to slow down the heart rate and some of them may have to be taken for life. This, of course, depends on the nature of the tachycardia.

Another option would be to undergo non-surgical procedures. There are several different treatment types that fall under this category, all of which do not require open surgery on the chest. Since the procedures are non-invasive, the patient can normally resume most or all of his or her daily activities within a relatively short period of time.

Medical devices can also be used to deal with tachycardia. The very well known pacemaker is commonly used to regulate the heartbeat. There are many different kinds of pacemakers and your doctor can help you decide on which one is the most appropriate for you.

The very last set of options would be surgery. If all the other options described above are not working, then your doctor may suggest surgery.

Then again, this is only a short informative text on tachycardia. I am no expert – this information is the result of all my research. I suggest that if you suspect that you may have this condition, you pay your doctor a visit soon!

In their web site, the Mayo Clinic differentiates between people who have heart disease and those who do not. Just because a person has tachycardia does not necessarily mean that he has a heart disorder. This comes as a relief to me because while I am open to the possibility that I may have tachycardia, I really do not want to have any trouble with my heart (who does, anyway?).

Here is the list that I found at the Mayo Clinic’s site:

• An overactive thyroid or other metabolic imbalance
• Damage or microscopic abnormalities in the muscles of the atria (upper heart chambers)
• Abnormalities within individual heart cells
• Abnormal electrical properties of groups of heart cells
• Emphysema or other lung diseases
• Exposure to heart stimulants, such as caffeine, tobacco, or alcohol
• Rapidly firing triggers, (“hot spots”) often located in the veins that return blood from the lungs to the heart (pulmonary veins) — that cause atrial fibrillation.

I am no doctor – obviously – but if I am barring any heart problems at this point, I am left with the second to the last possible cause, which is exposure to heart stimulants. I really should quit smoking.

This, of course, prompted me to look this symptom up on the Internet. I didn’t really feel any other “scary” symptom so I didn’t think to go to the doctor. Yet what I have found is faintly alarming. I might have tachycardia.

Tachycardia is defined as a condition wherein the heart rate is more than 100 beats per minute. That night, my heart was beating at about 130. A minute ago, just sitting here and typing, I counted 118 beats per minute.

What are other symptoms of tachycardia? The Mayo Clinic lists down the following:

• Dizziness
• Shortness of breath
• Lightheadedness
• Rapid heartbeat
• Heart palpitations — a racing, uncomfortable or irregular heartbeat or a sensation of “flopping” in the chest
• Chest pain
• Blackouts
• Visual problems
• Fainting (syncope)

I have had 6 out of the 9. This is scaring me. Yet I just had an ECG several months back and they said that there was absolutely no problem with my heart. Maybe I am just being paranoid?

Let me delve a little more into this and look at the possible causes of tachycardia. I’ll share in the next post.