I lost my father to congestive heart failure, when he was 85. After his first heart attack we were told that we would only have him for 3 more months at most, this was when he was 60 years old. When my father came home from the hospital he changed his life style and diet to include more fruits and vegetables very little fat if any and more exercise. Along with all of this he cut his alcohol consumption. Needless to say he lived 25 years longer than expected. When the heart cannot pump enough blood to the other organs, it is called congestive heart failure. When the blood flow slows going out of the heart, the returning blood through the veins backs up. This change in the flow causes congestion in your tissues. Some of the symptoms of congestive... [Read more]

A new study in which researchers are using MRI to spot bleeding in the heart after stent surgery is giving new hope to heart attack patients. When the artery feeding blood to the heart is blocked a heart attack occurs. The blockage not only stops the flow of blood to the heart muscle, it also stops the hearts oxygen. In most cases when a blockage is found a metal stent is placed in the artery. Until recently researchers were unable to tell if the patients were bleeding into the heart after the stent surgery. In the new study, researchers used (magnetic resonance imaging) to examine bleeding inside the hearts of 15 individuals who had recently suffered a heart attack. (They could spot areas of bleeding due to the magnetic effects of iron, which... [Read more]

When Dr. Melina Jampolis diet and fitness expert was ask the question, “are dried fruits equal to fresh fruit”? Her answer, she was not a big fan of dried fruit because they are higher in calories due to added sugar and fats. When fruit has been dried we also lose some of the nutrients. When the water is taken out of the dried fruit we tend to think that the portions are smaller so therefore we can eat more. Actually when eating fresh fruit we can control the amounts we eat with greater ease. With obesity at epidemic levels we need to lower our calories as often as possible, while making healthy choices. A book that you may find interesting that will help you in finding tasty alternatives to fattening foods is “The Super Foods RX Diet.”... [Read more]

I along with millions of people, I know how hard it is to change your eating habits. With so many people having diabetes and heart disease because of obesity I took this as my wake up call. I went on line and found an article from Mayo Clinic that is very informative, that I would like to share. In the article there are seven steps to follow as a guide to better health; you will also find menus to help get you started. There are suggested foods to eat and foods you need to limit. To lower your cholesterol and risk of coronary artery disease you need to limit saturated and trans fats. These fats increase the risk of plaque buildup in your arteries called atherosclerosis, which is the cause of heart attack and stroke. When choosing foods high... [Read more]

A study on 161,808 postmenopausal women and multivitamins was carried out in Chicago. The study found that multivitamin did nothing to prevent cancer or heart disease. The findings were that vitamin users and nonusers still had cancer and heart disease problems. The researchers are not saying that the vitamins are not useful, but they should be used along with fresh fruits and vegetables. We all know that by eating fresh fruits and vegetables we are more likely to have the proper amount of vitamins in our daily diet. In today’s world where so many people are losing their health care it is more important than ever to eat a healthy diet and to get daily exercise. Women need to tell their health care providers the exact symptoms they are having... [Read more]