The End of a Decline in Heart Disease

Apparently for the past 40 years heart disease has been in decline. However, earlier this month Reuters reported that the trend may be at an end. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic and the University of British Columbia examined the autopsy reports of residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota that died between 1981 and 2004 from unnatural causes.

They found that “declines in the grade of coronary artery disease ended after 1995 and began to climb after 2000.”

While the data do not point to a specific cause of this about face in heart disease, the researchers do note that during this same period of time, Americans’ lifestyle became more sedentary, fast food consumption grew, physical education in schools was reduced and we all increased our consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.

The most disturbing finding in the study was “the youngest age group was the age group with the worse disease[.] This age group will have major problems as they continue to age.”

You can find the Reuters report at:
Autopsies forecast surge in U.S. heart disease | Reuters

A Plethora of Antioxidant Acronyms

If you’re like me, you might feel like you’ve been dropped in a vat of alphabet soup when you read about anti-aging or antioxidants. I’m no microbiologist or even a whiz at word games, but I’ll give a shot at trying to ’splain some of the acronyms involved in the articles about which I post.

Since many of the articles refer to free radicals along with the acronyms, I’ll start off by trying to explain free radicals. High school chemistry was a very long time ago, but I seem to remember that there are some molecules that are short an electron – have an odd number, or whose valance (outer shell) is not full. These molecules seek to fill that outer shell by either sharing an electron or by “stealing” some from another molecule. Many metals are such molecules, as is oxygen. That’s why oxygen is expressed as O₂. Two oxygen atoms bond together by sharing electrons to fill their outer electron shell. We all know that oxygen will react with metal to create rust. That is oxygen combining with the metals to fill the outer shell.

Here’s an article that explains chemical bonding far better than I can.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/chemistry/bonding.htm

In our bodies, we need oxygen to fuel cellular energy production, but at the same time, oxygen and other reactive molecules can interact with with cell membranes or even DNA. Our cells can fail to function properly or die prematurely due to such damage. Cholesterol can also oxidize, which contributes to the buildup of plaque in our circulatory system. Luckily, our bodies have a defense against this type of damage. We have some enzymes that scavenge the molecules that need extra electrons & “loan” them some. However, many other free radical fighters are contained in food. These “antioxidants” can bond with the free radicals and prevent or minimize cellular damage.

Besides normal metabolism, there are many environmental factors that increase the amount of free radicals in our bodies, such as:

• stress
• smoking
• pollution
• sun overexposure
• radiation

My next post will dive into some acronyms.

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Chocolate and Prevention of CVD

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Chocolate and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review

I came across the study above a while ago, but am just getting around to mentioning it in this blog. This study is not primary research, but rather a review of all MEDLINE publications from 1966 through January 2005 looking for “relations between cocoa, cacao, chocolate, stearic acid, flavonoids (including flavonols, catechins, epicatechins, and procynadins) and the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

One of the things they looked at was whether or not the stearic acid content was detrimental to cardiovascular health. Stearic acid is the type of saturated fat found in cacao. The evidence suggests that it is neutral, unlike other saturated fats, which raise total cholesterol levels.

To quote the results of the study:

The body of short-term randomized feeding trials suggests cocoa and chocolate may exert beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk via effects on lowering blood pressure, anti-inflammation, anti-platelet function, higher HDL, decreased LDL oxidation. Additionally, a large body of trials of stearic acid suggests it is indeed cholesterol-neutral. However, epidemiologic studies of serum and dietary stearic acid are inconclusive due to many methodologic limitations. Meanwhile, the large body of prospective studies of flavonoids suggests the flavonoid content of chocolate may reduce risk of cardiovascular mortality. Our updated meta-analysis indicates that intake of flavonoids may lower risk of CHD mortality, RR = 0.81 (95% CI: 0.71–0.92) comparing highest and lowest tertiles.

It’s a good article. Got a lot of big words, but they do a good job of explaining and referencing the research.

I think I’ll go have some healthy dark chocolate.

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Seven Steps to Fight Inflammation

I subscribe to a newsletter from Harvard Medical School. The most recent issue reminds us that inflammation, while an important part of our body’s healing system, can be dangerous, if there is too much of it. Inflammation is involved in atherosclerosis, heart disease, strokes and even some types of dementia. Below is a link to the on-line version of the article.

Harvard Medical School: 7 simple steps to fend off harmful inflammation

The article lists seven dietary steps that will help fight inflammation. Quoting from the article -

Simple changes

What you eat may fan the fires of inflammation. With some small changes — no crazy new foods involved — you can douse them. Here are some suggestions:

1. Get an oil change. Eating a lot of saturated fats and/or trans fats is linked with higher levels of inflammation. Swap them for olive oil, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties, or polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fats from fish.
2. Don’t be so refined. The bolus of blood sugar that accompanies a meal or snack of highly refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, French fries, sugar-laden soda, etc.) increases levels of inflammatory messengers called cytokines. Eating whole-grain bread, brown rice, and other whole grains smooths out the after-meal rise in blood sugar and insulin, and dampens cytokine production.
3. Promote produce. The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the lower the burden of inflammation. Why? They contain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of substances that squelch inflammation-rousing free radicals; some act as direct anti-inflammatory agents.
4. Go nuts. Adding walnuts, peanuts, almonds, and other nuts and seeds to your snacks and meals is another tasty way to ease inflammation.
5. Cocoa lovers rejoice? In laboratory studies, cocoa and dark chocolate slow the production of signaling molecules involved in inflammation. The trick is to get them without too much sugar and fat.
6. Alcohol in moderation. A drink a day seems to lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a powerful signal of inflammation. Too much alcohol has the opposite effect on CRP.
7. Spice it up. Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, basil, pepper, and many others have anti-inflammatory properties.

If you adopt an anti-inflammatory diet, you probably won’t see or feel any different. Angina won’t suddenly disappear or heart failure reverse itself. But you will be doing your heart, arteries, and the rest of you a huge favor that will pay off in many ways.

If you are interested in subscribing to the newsletter, here’s a link to the subscription form:
www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat

Just a warning – each issue of the newsletter will hit you up to buy a report regarding the subject matter of the newsletter.

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