My sister married when I was 8 years old, her husband was like another father to me. Don was my hero he was always so full of life and included me in his mad adventures, with his children.

Don was over six feet three inches tall and weighed about 240, he was always outdoors, his only faults were smoking and eating fatty foods. He was never sick so there was no need to go to the doctor, so he thought.

Imagine our surprise when we found that he was an extremely ill man with diabetes.

He fought a good fight in every way, but he would not give up his smoking. The doctors told him that the medicine that he was taking could not help him if he continued to smoke.

Don died in a nursing home with heart failure, unable to walk; he took a large part of my heart with him.

If you have a loved one that is fighting diabetes please do all you can to help them to give up smoking.

Patient’s with diabetes should have an AIC glucose test twice a year. Diabetics blood pressure should be no more than 130/80mmHg. Their Cholesterol LDL (bad) needs to be below 100 mg/dl their HDL (good) should be above 40mg/dl for men and 50 mg/dl for women. 

Currently, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes in the United States die from a heart attack or stroke. Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes-related complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and amputations. In many cases, medicine is also needed to keep diabetes under control.

For more information click here MSNBC.

NuvaRing was approved for use as in birth control October of 2001. NuvaRing is considered a third generation combination hormonal contraceptive.

There are ongoing lawsuits due to the side effects of the contraceptive which include risks of blood clots, stroke.

You should always research any medications before having them prescribed for you.

Here are a few more side effects of the NuvaRing birth control.

• Deep Vein Thrombosis
• Pulmonary Embolysm
• Heart Attack
• Death

To find more information on this type of birth control click here NuvaRing

CRP or an inflammatory marker is a protein that is made when there is inflammation present in the body. CRP inflammation can be caused by high blood pressure, high blood sugar or smoking, it is also the way your body reacts to injury or infection.

CRP(C-reactive protein) inflammation encourages plaque to form in the blood vessels. This plaque will eventually cause the blood vessels to rupture causing a heart attack or stroke.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is often shortened to CPR. When your health care provider is explaining your disorder they will usually use the term CRP.  You will see CRP in written articles also.

If you are experiencing any health problems related to your heart make an appointment with your health care provider immediately. Be sure to tell them at the time of your appointment, you would like your cholesterol and CRP levels checked.

People who are otherwise healthy but have high CRP levels are more likely than those with low CRP levels to have heart disease and its complications, such as heart attacks, strokes, sudden cardiac death, and peripheral arterial disease (hardening of the arteries in the legs, which causes leg cramps and poor circulation in the legs and feet). In fact, people with high CRP have 2 or 3 times the risk of heart disease compared to people with low CRP levels.

You can find more informative on this site Heart Health.

Before you start any drug regiment, make sure to ask your health care provider first. This is even more important if you have any health issues.

Some over the counter drugs can cause problems for a number of people, especially those with heart problems and high blood pressure.

Not everyone can take an aspirin daily due to the fact some people are resistant to them. Women have proven to be more likely to be resistant to the blood-thinning effects of aspirin.

An aspirin daily is used by millions of people to prevent heart attacks. The aspirin breaks up platelets in the blood that could eventually form blood clots.

I found this information on the CNN health, click on the CNN site to view more information. 

The Chairman of the Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland Ohio has reported that a drug known as Rosiglitazone (Adavandia(TM) raises a patents’ chances of a heart attack and death by 43%. The drug also has the same risk by 64% when compared to other drugs such as placebos and other anti-diabetic therapies.

With 65% of diabetic deaths being caused by heart attacks, these findings are sending up the red flags. 

Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921, and continues to be one of the top hospitals in the United States. Therefore their findings are respected around the world.

If you know someone with diabetes, or if you have type 2 diabetes check this site out on line. Make a copy of the article and give it to those people that do not have a computer. When they have an appointment with their health care provider they can question them about the article.

Rosiglitazone is one of the primary therapies used to lower blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. "However, the objective of lowering blood sugar is the reduction of the complications of diabetes," Dr. Nissen explains. "The effect of anti-diabetic therapy on cardiovascular outcomes is of critical importance because cardiovascular disease represents the overwhelming source of diabetic mortality. Unfortunately, rosiglitazone appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes, heart disease.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/71646.php

Coronary thrombosis usually takes place in the artery lining that supplies the heart muscle, when there is a build up of cholesterol and fat in the artery. The atherosclerotic plaque that builds can form to the point of rupturing, when this happens blood colts will form. These formations can stop the flow of blood to the heart. When the blood flow is shut off to certain parts of the body because of a clot, the tissue then dies.

There are three major arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. When the blood to the heart is shut off, a heart attack or coronary thrombosis takes place. A person experiencing a heart attack will have severe pain behind their chest bone, often traveling down their left arm.

If you are experiencing any chest pain contact your health care provider at once. You may be placed in the hospital for a series of tests, so that your health care providers can find out what is the exact cause of your chest pain.

In most cases of chest pain a procedure called an EEG or electorcardiogram is preformed. If nothing shows up and you are still in pain, then you may have a thirty minute wait and another EEG will be taken.

Risk factors
Numerous ‘risk factors’ are known to be associated with the development of coronary thrombosis. These include:

- a family history of atherosclerosis
- a high content of cholesterol in the blood
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- smoking
- male gender
- if you suffer from diabetes Type 1 or Type 2
- being overweight
- stress
- lack of exercise.

I found most of my information on the site below.

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/health_advice/netdoctor/archive/000023.html?page=1

When we think of depression we generally think it is associated with women, this is not always true as we get older. There have been studies that show when men in their fifties start to show signs of depression, it puts them at a greater risk of a heart attack.

In the U.S. 80 percent of suicides are male, and 90 percent of these suicides are Caucasian males over the age of 60.

Men that fall into a depressed state after a heart attack or stroke are more likely to die of heart disease.

If you recognize a change in moods or depression, in a loved one it would be wise to call their health care provider and make them aware of these changes.

But what if you notice that one of your older relatives isn’t quite their old self? That they’re more anxious, more irritable, less joyful or quieter than they once were? That they seem focused on talking about people who have died, or have lost interest in things that they used to enjoy - including holiday traditions and festivities?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/58587.php

A blood test can help identify an elderly person’s risk of having a heart attack within the next 10 years, scientists reported recently in an American Heart Association journal called Circulation.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5289/is_/ai_n24301918

Have you ever thought, “what happens to my heart during sex?” I watched a special on the discovery channel a few evenings ago and learned more than I ever wanted to know about my body and sex! And I still find it interesting, well actually sad, that we do not incorporate sexual education into our cardiac patients treatment plan.

Let’s get real, your heart definitely gets a workout during the horizontal hokie pokie. Not enough to cancel your gym membership, but enough to mention. Here is a peek at how your heart reacts during the 4 stages of your “hot and heavy”…

Arousal- Your heart rate and respiratory rate go up. Your blood pressure quickly follows suit and you get a flushed feeling from head to toe. Just imagine walking the mall briskly, but only way more enjoyable!

Plateau- All of the above changes are magnified. This would be the second heaviest workload right before orgasm. Yes, once again I have use one of those funny, uncomfortable and clinical words. Think of this phase as walking up a few flights of stairs. But once again, a heck of a lot more fun.

Orgasm- This would obviously be your greatest increase in blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. Maximum workload for the ol’ ticker. This lasts about 15-30 seconds. All that work for just 15 seconds! I’m not sure what to compare this to. I will just say it is a very happy place to be and leave it at that!

Resolution- Your heart rate, blood pressure and breathing very quickly returns to normal. This is the heaviest workload after you orgasm. Let’s see, I will compare this to the end of a soccer game when you are sucking down your water and catching your breath. You are so sad to see the game end but so darn glad you played!

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Researchers from Austria have studied studying carotid arteries with repeat US. Strange sentence but true.

The team first did ultrasound exams of the carotid arteries of 1,268 patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease because of multiple risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or known blockages in other blood vessels such as the coronary arteries. Then they concentrated on the 574 patients that showed the most plaque buildup.

What did they find?

Read more

Remember when beloved Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer had a ’small’ heart attack last month. Well, he is back in the hospital. It is so scary. Even for celebrities- remember they are real people as well.  He had just come out last week and stated how scary his heart attack was. Mr. Grammer said that he almost died and that his heart actually stopped and needed to be hit twice to revive him.

Television star Kelsey Grammer is back in hospital with an irregular heartbeat, two months after suffering a heart attack the actor has said nearly killed him.

Kelsey presented to the hospital feeling faint and tired. Most likely his irregular heart beat is caused by his medication he is taking to help with his heart muscle and post MI effects. Good luck to him- hope he is back on his feet soon!

via Comcast