Cardiovascular, Neurology, Nutrition, Orthopedics, Pain, Vitamins
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
Magnesium is involved in roughly 80 percent of metabolic functions in the body. It is critical in delivering energy to cells and for the production of glutathione, an important antioxidant inside cells. Today, due to depletion of magnesium in the soil and modern food processing, about 60 percent of North Americans are deficient in this vital mineral. This hidden depletion could be causing diverse symptoms. Suffering Migraine Attacks? About 15 percent of the population experience one or more migraine attacks due to constricted blood vessels. Studies show that blood levels of magnesium in migraine patients are low compared to healthy patients. But they are even lower during a migraine attack. An intravenous injection of magnesium relaxes constricted vessels and relieves migraine pain. Feeling...Read More
Cardiovascular
How Accurate Is Your Blood Pressure Reading?
Having your blood pressure taken during an annual checkup is always part of the routine. In fact, compared to CT scans and MRI procedures used to detect complex problems, most people don’t give blood pressure readings much thought. As long as the doctor reports normal readings, there’s no reason for concern. But have you ever wondered if your blood pressure reading is accurate? Multiple studies have shown that 15 to 30 percent of those who have elevated blood pressure in a doctor’s office or other health care setting have normal blood pressure when checked at home. It is not shocking news. You must be a pretty cool patient not to be somewhat uptight in medical offices. There is always the concern...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Neurology
No Moderation Needed When Bathing in the Woods
Mae West, the American movie star who rarely lacked for lifestyle advice, once conceded, “When in doubt, take a bath.” She didn’t have a forest setting in mind. But did you know that forest bathing might be just as therapeutic as a soak in the suds? Some people gravitate, even in unfavourable weather, to the outdoors. Others are most comfortable in front of the hearth. But a walk in the woods may be just the remedy you could use after months of confinement at home. A glimpse into the research surrounding this little-known “forest bathing” therapy offers insights on benefits including improved cardiovascular function, brain activity, immune systems, self-esteem, and reduced anxiety and depression. According to Ann Martin, a certified Forest Therapy...Read More
Cardiovascular
Gender Makes a Difference in Heart Disease
While the current pandemic holds a firm grip on everyone’s attention, another killer may be getting a stronger foothold on us – and chances are, women will continue to pay a higher price. Coronary heart disease is already a leading disease for women and men. Common sense suggests the situation is getting worse. The sedentary lifestyle imposed by lockdowns, accompanied by weight gain and higher alcohol use, is not the way to lower incidence of heart disease. But how does it affect women differently? A report in the journal, Circulation, notes that heart disease kills ten times as many women as breast cancer. It takes the life of one in every three women, more than all cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and...Read More
Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Nutrition
Natural Magnesium from the Sea
Isak Dinesen, author of the great book “Out of Africa”, wrote, “The cure for anything is sea water.” Human physiological and environmental circumstances today suggest merit in Dinesen’s advice to look to the sea for replenishment of key minerals. Magnesium is one of the most important minerals that too many people are neglecting, and a good place to source it – whether in diet or supplement – is from the sea. Mineral deficiencies can sometimes cause minor problems. But they can also become lethal. Studies show that magnesium deficiency can range from 33% in young people to 60% in adults. This is the result of depletion in the amount of magnesium in the soil, as well as an increase in consumption...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Nutrition, Pain
“Beeting” Yourself to Increase Good Health
Would you like to improve your physical endurance? An exercise routine is the answer. Being physically and mentally active leads to a longer life. But diet can help too. You can start “beeting” yourself to improved health simply by adding beets to your menu. You should also know that nitrates in beets can treat more than one medical problem. Atherosclerosis, thickening of the inside lining of arteries, decreases the flow of oxygenated blood to coronary arteries. This results in anginal pain or heart attack. For years researchers have known that nitroglycerine eases angina. But they had no idea why it dilated coronary arteries and increased blood flow to the heart. Then, three U.S researchers received the Nobel Prize for proving it was nitric...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Changez votre santé cardiaque en trois mois ou moins
On dit souvent qu’il est acceptable de commettre une erreur, mais qu’il est inacceptable de répéter cette erreur. Pensez-y donc à deux fois si vous croyez qu’une alimentation riche en poissons suffit à elle seule pour vous apporter suffisamment d’acides gras essentiels (EPA et DHA) pour réduire votre risque de crise cardiaque. Quelle ne fut pas notre surprise lorsque nous avons constaté, en étudiant les tests sanguins, que malgré une alimentation très saine, notre apport en huiles de poisson ne faisait pas le poids! Mais qu’est-ce qu’on n’a pas compris? Et comment faire pour rectifier la situation? C'est connu, la plupart des huiles traversent notre organisme, qui est à base d’eau, jusqu’à ce qu’elles soient décomposées par les enzymes dans l’intestin...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Change Your Heart Health in Three Months or Less
It’s said, “Being wrong is acceptable, but staying wrong is unacceptable.” So think twice if you believe a high fish diet alone is providing you with enough essential fatty acids (EPA and DHA) to decrease your risk of heart attack. We were shocked when blood tests showed, despite our healthy diets, that our absorption of fish oils was not making the grade. What are people getting wrong? And how can you get it right? Oil and water do not easily mix, and most oils pass through your water-based body until enzymes in the small intestine break down fats. But it’s a mistake to believe this process is perfect. We wrote previously about a supplement called Omega3X which uses digestive enzymes to facilitate...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Neurology
Keep Blood Pressure Under Control
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” Avoiding disease may be the gift of lucky genetics, but it helps to put some work into managing your chances for health and longevity. Maintaining rubbery arteries is key to the delivery of oxygenated blood to the heart’s muscle that guards against hypertension, stroke, and heart attack. A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that what’s good for the heart may also be good for the brain. The study involved 9,300 people ages, 50 and older with an average age of 68, with hypertension. They also had one other cardiovascular risk factor, history of stroke, or dementia. It was a huge study involving patients...Read More
Cardiovascular, Surgery
Why Doctors Must Think Like Sherlock Holmes
A 57-year-old woman, receiving physiotherapy for an injured ankle, suddenly suffered a seizure, became unconscious, and was rushed to Emergency. The obvious diagnosis, a sudden stroke. But as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the English doctor and writer who created the fictional private detective, Sherlock Holmes, wrote, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.” A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that Doyle was right. Doctors must sometimes think like Sherlock Holmes. The ultimate diagnosis was not a stroke. Rather, a complication from the triple A disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). It’s a problem that doesn’t receive much press. But it killed Albert Einstein, the famous scientist, Lucille Ball, the TV star, and the actor George C Scott. Unless...Read More
Cardiovascular
What You Should Know About a Silent Heart Attack
Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, wrote that “Silence is a source of great strength.” Possibly sound advice in some situations. But for people who’ve had a silent heart attack, silence is far from a virtue. In fact, according to a report from the University of California, up to one half of heart attacks are totally silent! So, how dangerous are these myocardial infarctions, and what is the treatment? The first indication of an attack may be when an electrocardiogram (ECG) is done for another medical reason and shows a damaged heart. But it may remain undiscovered until an autopsy revels scarring in the heart’s muscle. Why does the silent heart attack fail to cause symptoms? Some people have a higher threshold of...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Measure Your Coronary Risk with the Omega-3 Index
Heart disease is a leading cause of death in North America. Almost half of all U.S. adults have some type of cardiovascular disease, and in Canada, a woman dies of heart disease every 20 minutes. Heart disease is not often a disease of chance or bad luck. For the most part, it is a lifestyle disease. There are things we can do to prevent it. We write columns every week to help readers avoid becoming a statistic. The fact that omega-3 fatty acids can help make the difference between life and death has been a frequent topic. But don’t take our word for it. Take a test and find out for yourself. That’s exactly what we are doing. The Omega-3 Index is...Read More
Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Obesity
How Apples Work for Your Waist
As this long period of isolation eases, are you noticing your friends and neighbours have put on weight around their middles? How unfortunate it is if the coronavirus crisis piles on additional chronic health problems for individuals and society due to weight gain, or what has come to be known as metabolic syndrome. The World Health Organization defines metabolic syndrome as a new non-communicable disease characterized by abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and high blood fats. To make the diagnosis, doctors measure the waistline, blood pressure, and glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels. The risk of metabolic syndrome is a progression to Type 2 diabetes. The prescription to avert this preventable disease is to lose the extra weight through exercise...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Diabetes
Artificial Intelligence to Help Avert Blindness
How can doctors diagnose and treat 425 million worldwide diabetes patients? That number keeps going up and up, projected to reach 700 million by 2045. There are millions more with undiagnosed prediabetes. Add more millions with undiagnosed hypertension. All these people are destined to lives defined by cardiovascular problems and complications that include debilitating conditions like blindness. Diabetes is swamping healthcare systems worldwide. Let us be clear: whatever we have been doing to fight the problem, it is not working. But now, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is offering new possibilities. Using new technologies, data science, vast quantities of medical images, and computer algorithms, it is possible to fight diseases differently. The medical model of a patient and a doctor is outdated. We...Read More
Cardiovascular
The Perfect Storm for Hypertension
It’s a devastating time. A pandemic and economic disaster rolled into one that’s killing thousands and bringing society to a standstill. So how can we keep our blood pressure from shooting through the roof during this perfect storm? Keeping our heads cool may help to prevent a stroke, heart attack, even kidney disease and blindness. The World Health Organization says that 1.3 billion people worldwide have hypertension or high blood pressure, including about 1 in 3 North Americans. But extensive research shows that hypertension, a silent killer, can be prevented and lowered. In 1997 researchers published the results of a clinical trial called DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension). They concluded that a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Sugar, Not Fat, Responsible for Heart Attack
What can we learn from history? Dr. John Yudkin, Professor of Nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College of London, made headlines in 1972 when his book was published, “Pure White and Deadly”. Yudkin’s research convinced him it was not fat that caused heart attack, but sugar. So has history proved him right? And is sugar the main reason for today’s epidemic of cardiovascular disease and other health problems? Damning sugar obviously did not win Yudkin popularity with the sugar industry. It’s sad that great efforts were taken, even by academic colleagues, to discredit his work. In fact, one researcher labelled his studies “science fiction”. But Robert Lustig, professor of endocrinology at the University of California, has hailed Yudkin’s research as “prophetic”. He says...Read More
Cardiovascular, Cholesterol, Neurology, Vitamins
The Perfect Omega-3
It’s been aptly said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that ain’t so.” For instance, most North Americans believe that when they eat fish twice weekly as recommended, or take omega-3 fish-oil supplements, that they have sufficient omega-3 essential fatty acids. But a Canadian study using the Omega-3 Index shows that ain’t so. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) including omega-3 are needed for growth, healthy cellular membranes, many reactions in the body, and are crucial for brain, mood, joint, and cardiovascular health. So EFAs have been called, “nutritional missing links”. Two of these essential acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) are key to the reduction of cellular inflammation and they...Read More
Cardiovascular, Orthopedics
The “Perfect Calcium” To Prevent Weak Bones
Michelangelo remarked over 500 years ago that, “Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.” It’s a phrase often repeated when teaching young surgeons. Now, there’s a “Perfect Calcium”, an Icelandic natural remedy that helps to keep bones strong. Studies show that one in four women and one in eight men over age 50 suffer from osteoporosis (brittle bones). So due to an aging population, we can expect more hip, spinal, and other bone fractures in the future. What about the use of calcium supplements? The point is that not all calcium products are the same. Most use calcium mined from limestone, a sedimentary rock. After processing this material it contains only one mineral, calcium. But one particular product, Aquamin, is a source of calcium...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Believing Myths is Bad for Your Heart
George Orwell, the English journalist, wrote, “Myths that are believed in tend to become true.” Today cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer. Yet there are still myths about this disease which can be dangerous to your health and longevity. I don’t have high blood pressure because it’s only high when it’s taken by my doctor. You may be right. Some people do have what’s called, “White Coat Hypertension” due to anxiety when a doctor takes the blood pressure. But you may also be wrong. Studies show that in your home you may still be having spikes of increased blood pressure, a prelude to hypertension. Having blood pressure taken by a nurse may show a lower reading. But if in...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Eating nuts good for health
How would you like to decrease the chance of life-threatening diseases such as diabetes and heart attack? Also lower blood cholesterol at the same time without the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs)? If you don’t have a peanut allergy, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report that eating peanuts every day is not a nutty idea. Today, there’s a worldwide epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. Every 40 seconds a new case of diabetes is diagnosed in North America. Even before the development of Type 2 diabetes, a dangerous lull before the storm, called “insulin resistance” occurs. Insulin resistance, or pre-diabetes, begins when the body’s cells that normally accept insulin to lower blood sugar, get tired of doing so. This means the pancreas has...Read More
Cardiovascular
Tune-Up Your Heart in 30 Days
Have I been missing a vital remedy to maintain a healthy heart? I wondered if that was the case when I read an article in LifeExtension titled, “The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up.” The subject, Dr. Steven Masley, is a Fellow of both The American Heart Association and The American Academy of Nutrition. He has devoted his career to heart disease and aging. So how does his treatment differ from that of other cardiologists? Masley reports that most doctors rely on lowering blood cholesterol and blood pressure to prevent heart disease. He says this is a boon for Big Pharma, but not necessarily for patients. He admits that, although statin drugs are needed in some instances, they increase the risk of diabetes. Unfortunately,...Read More
Cardiovascular
Heart Failure, What You Should Know About Mitochondria
Ask anyone what is the nation’s number one killer and most people will say heart attack. But how many know that congestive heart failure (CHF) is the fastest growing cause of heart disease in North America? Why is this happening? And why are mitochondria of vital importance, particularly as we all grow older? Congestive Heart Failure occurs for several reasons. A coronary attack may have destroyed cardiac muscle. Or hypertension over a period of years has weakened it. Or obesity and diabetes has resulted in hardening of coronary arteries, decreasing blood flow to the heart. So, in addition to aging, a series of events may injure the heart. As the “Gifford-Jones Law” states, one problem leads to another and another. In the...Read More
Cardiovascular
A Great View, But Will it Kill You?
What is the greatest threat to having a heart attack, the nation’s number one killer? Ask this question and most people will answer it’s having high blood cholesterol. Or they respond, it’s due to hypertension, obesity, diabetes, or a stressful lifestyle. But suppose you ask what things will improve the chance of surviving coronary attack? I’d predict that after some hesitation the answer will be having someone nearby to administer cardio-pulmonary respiration (CPR). But how many will know it depends on the floor you’re living on in a high rise building? And what should you know about the 26th floor? I’ve now been living for 35 years in a high rise condo in Toronto. But my wife and I never considered that...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Nutrition
The Nitric Oxide Key to Prevent Heart Attack
Ask anyone what causes a sudden coronary attack and they will say it’s the result of high blood cholesterol, lack of exercise, obesity or smoking. Now, a report in the publication “LifeExtension” says doctors must start thinking “endothelium”. I’d bet few readers could even spell this word. So why is it so vital? And what natural remedies make it healthy? The endothelium is the ultra-thin, one cell thick, innermost lining of arteries. It produces nitric oxide. And it’s ironic that just this single layer of cells, if unhealthy, results in decreased blood circulation, hardening of arteries, and is a major cause of the big killers, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. During our early years, a youthful endothelium is due to...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
How “GAADD” Is Slowly Killing North Americans
A wise sage once remarked, “It’s not things you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s the things you know for sure that ain’t so!” Most doctors and patients are convinced cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) prevent heart attack. I say, it ain’t so. So what may prove me right? And why is GAADD so important? Fact # One Years ago I interviewed Dr. Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner. He explained that animals make their own vitamin C and rarely suffer a heart attack. For example, guinea pigs manufacture 13,000 milligrams of C daily, but if infection occurs these animals increase the amount to 100,000 mg daily! It indicates that nature provides vitamin C for health. Unfortunately, humans, due to a...Read More
