Dear Health-Conscious Friend,
Its no secret that heart attacks can be brutal killers. But many folks dont know that plaquethe rotting cholesterol sticking to your artery wallsis usually the culprit. Plaque narrows the arteries leading to your heart raises your blood pressure causes your heart muscle to strain and can ultimately cause heart death.
But heres some GOOD NEWS! The FDA recently approved a new device to help screen your arteries for dangerous fatty plaque. Find out how you can benefit from this modern miracleand much MOREin todays Monday Edition of Health News Weekly!
FDA Approves Device to Detect Fat
Content of Coronary Artery Plaque
Clogged arteries contribute to nearly one million heart attacks each year in the United States. But some folks may soon benefit from a new device recently cleared for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The InfraReDx LipiScan NIR Catheter Imaging System uses infrared imaging to detect artery plaque. The device works by first inserting a catheter containing a fiber-optic laser light into the artery.
Using a technique called spectroscopy, blood carries infrared light to the artery wall. It then measures the light reflected back from the arteries.
The wavelengths of reflected light varydepending on how much fat and other substances are in the plaque in the illuminated portion of the wall.
Plaque deposits consist of cholesterol-rich fat, calcium and other substances found in the blood. As plaque accumulates on your artery walls, it reduces blood flow to your heart. This increases your risk of developing blood clots which can lead to a heart attack.
Some heart attacks occur when fatty plaque ruptures in your arterieswhich can form dangerous blood clots. Research is currently underway to determine how plaques likely to rupture can be identified before they cause a heart disaster.
This is the first device that can help assess the chemical make-up of coronary artery plaques and help physicians identify those plaques with lipid cores, which may be of particular concern, said director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health Daniel Schultz, M.D.
InfraReDx Inc. of Burlington, Mass., manufactures the LipiScan system. The device is cleared for use by physicians during a heart test known as cardiac angiography. This test helps doctors evaluate patients with symptoms of coronary heart disease.
Fast Fact
Folic acid is known for its heart health benefits. Researchers say this important vitamin may help reduce your bodys homocysteine levels by about 25 percent. Whats more, folic acid helps reduce inflammation throughout your body and can even lower the risk of an artery rupture!
Doctors Link Hormone Therapy to
Increased Stroke Risk!
Researchers are reporting more unsettling news related to hormone replacement therapy (HRT). According to new study results, high doses of the treatment increase stroke risk in postmenopausal womenno matter when they start treatment!
The risk for stroke does appear lower in younger women taking HRT and in those taking the lowest doses of estrogen, Harvard researchers said. However, in women who took high doses of hormones, the increased risk was as much as 62 percent.
In this study, Francine Grodstein, ScD and colleagues at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School collected data on 121,700 women who participated in the Nurses Health Study from 1976 to 2004. Their report was published in the April 28 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers examined the association between HRT and stroke. During the study, 360 women who had never used HRT had strokescompared with 414 women taking hormones.
This increased risk was observed for women initiating hormone therapy at young ages or near menopause and at older ages or more than 10 years after menopause, the researchers wrote.
But researchers noted that younger women taking HRT for less than five years did not have a clear increase of stroke. They said this could be due to the small number of cases studied.
The incidence of stroke was relatively low in younger women, and the attributable risk in women aged 50 through 54 years indicated approximately an additional two cases of stroke per 10,000 women per year taking hormones, the researchers added.
The research team found that higher doses of estrogen were associated with a 62 percent increase in their risk for stroke. They concluded that hormone therapy is associated with an increased stoke riskregardless of the hormone regime or when hormone therapy begins.
However, in younger women, who are at lower absolute risk of stroke, the attributable risk of stroke owing to hormone use is modest, and our data suggest that risk might be further minimized by lower doses and shorter duration of treatment, researchers said.
Health E-Hints
Red vs. Orange Tomatoes: Which Are Best?
New study findings from Ohio State University suggest that swapping red tomatoes for orange ones could provide a health boost. Apparently, your body absorbs the lycopene in orange tomatoes quicker than that which is available in red tomatoes.
Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that provides cardiovascular support. It also has been shown to play a role in protecting your prostate and other parts of the body from abnormal cell growth.
The latest study involved a group of healthy, non-smokers10 male and 11 female. Participants ate lunches containing 300 grams of sauce made from either tangerine or red tomatoes each day.
Study data showed that, while both sauces increased blood concentrations of lycopenethe increase was GREATER in folks who ate tomato sauce made with orange tomatoes!
This new study finding was published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition.