&nbsp;Boulder: According to a new study led by the University of Colorado, maternal obesity impairs heart health and the function of the foetus.The study was published in the journal, ‘The Journal of Physiology’.This is the first study to show that the heart is ‘programmed’ by the nutrients it receives in foetal life. Changes in the expression of genes alter how the heart normally metabolises carbohydrates and fats. They shift the heart’s nutrient preference further toward fat and away from sugar. As a result, the hearts of fetuses of obese female mice were larger, weighed more, had thicker walls and showed signs of inflammation. This impairs how efficiently the heart contracts and pumps blood around the body.The researchers from the University of Colorado, US, used a mouse model that replicates human maternal physiology and placental nutrient transport in obese women. Female mice (n=31) were fed a diet with a high-fat content together with a sugary drink, which is equivalent to a human regularly consuming a burger, chips and a fizzy drink (1500kcal). The female mice ate this diet until they developed obesity, putting on about 25 per cent of their original body weight. 50 female mice were fed a control diet.Mouse pups (n=187) were studied in utero, as well as after birth at 3, 6, 9 and 24 months using imaging techniques, including echocardiography and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Researchers analysed genes, proteins and mitochondria of the offspring.The changes in offspring cardiac metabolism strongly depended on sex. The expression of 841 genes were altered in the hearts of female foetuses and 764 genes were altered in male foetuses, but less than 10 per cent of genes were commonly altered in both sexes. Interestingly, although both male and female offspring from mothers with obesity had impaired cardiac function, there were differences in the progression between sexes; males were impaired from the start, whereas females’ cardiac function got progressively worse with age.The sex difference in the lasting impairments of cardiovascular health and function could be due to oestrogen. Higher levels in young females may protect cardiovascular health, the protection diminishes as oestrogen levels deplete as the females’ age. The molecular cause for the sex difference is not yet understood.Lead author, Dr Owen Vaughan, University of Colorado, US said, “Our research indicates a mechanism linking maternal obesity with cardiometabolic illness in the next generation. This is important because obesity is increasing rapidly in the human population and affects almost one-third of women of childbearing age. By improving our understanding of the mechanisms involved, this research paves the way for treatments that could be used in early life to prevent later-life cardiometabolic illnesses, which are costly for health services and affect many people’s quality of life. For example, we could offer more tailored advice on nutrition to mothers or children based on their body mass index or sex, or develop new drugs that target metabolism in the heart of the foetus.” Mice have shorter pregnancies, more offspring and different diets than humans so further studies in human volunteers would be required to extrapolate the findings to women’s health. Loss-of-function studies also need to be carried out to prove this mechanism linking maternal obesity and offspring heart function and pinpoint the exact molecules responsible.—ANI

 According to a new study led by the University of Colorado, maternal obesity impairs heart health and the function of the foetus.

Obesity in pregnancy increases risk of cardiovascular disease in offspring

Washington: A new study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai quantifies the cardiovascular risk posed by exposure to specific environmental factors, showing, for example, that air pollution heightens the risk of heart disease mortality by 17 per cent.The research, published in PLOS ONE, is the first to examine the impact of multiple environmental risk factors on cardiovascular mortality and may lead to increased patient screening and preventive measures to improve chances of survival.According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent population health research organization based at the University of Washington School of Medicine, environmental hazards were responsible for an estimated 11.3 million deaths in 2019, and 5.1 million of them were from cardiovascular disease."This study advances our understanding of which environmental factors may be most detrimental to cardiovascular health," says first author Michael Hadley, MD, a Fellow in Cardiology and incoming Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "By combining many environmental factors in a single model, we could better control for interactions between risk factors, and identify which environmental risk factors matter most for cardiovascular health."The study, known as the Golestan Cohort Study, took place in Iran between 2004 and 2008. Participants were from Golestan Province, a lower-income, multi-ethnic, and mostly rural area where cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. Researchers from Mount Sinai Health System and NYU Grossman School of Medicine led this international, multi-center study. They analyzed data from more than 50,000 participants, all over age 40, who completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire and a physical exam. Within this group, there were more than 2,700 cardiovascular deaths and nearly 6,000 all-cause deaths during a 10-year follow-up period. Investigators used environmental data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration along with geographical information systems technology to create maps of eight environmental risk factors across Golestan: ambient fine particulate matter air pollution; how households cooked, heated, and ventilated their homes; how close they lived to traffic; proximity to hospitals that perform percutaneous coronary intervention; neighborhood socioeconomics; population density; the type of land they live on; and whether their location is bright at night. They assigned exposures to participants based on where they lived on these risk maps, and did a statistical analysis to identify associations between death and environmental risk factors, while controlling for traditional risk factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, tobacco use, and hypertension. They found those exposed to the highest levels of outdoor air pollution were 17 percent more likely to die from heart disease compared to those unexposed, and 20 percent more likely to experience all-cause mortality. Participants exposed to indoor burning of wood, dung, or other biomaterials without ventilation were 36 percent more likely to die from heart disease and 23 percent more likely to experience all-cause mortality. People exposed to indoor kerosene burning without ventilation were 19 percent more likely to die from heart disease and nine percent more likely to die from all-cause mortality. For every six miles participants lived away from a catheterization lab, risk of cardiovascular death went up by 2 percent and all-cause mortality by 1 percent; the researchers estimated that most people in this region lived more than 50 miles away from these clinics. Living within roughly .06 miles of a small roadway and .25 miles from a large highway was associated with a 13 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality. Socioeconomic status, population density, nighttime light, and land were not associated with increased risk of death; most other results showed borderline statistical significance.The researchers also calculated that the burden of heart disease attributed to indoor and outdoor pollution was equivalent to the burden of cardiovascular disease linked to smoking tobacco."Our work demonstrates how publicly available data can be used to create risk maps for individual communities, even in rural, low-income settings. Eventually, we expect health systems to use similar approaches to create environmental risk maps for the communities they serve. The data can empower physicians to estimate environmental risks posted to their patients and offer individualized recommendations to mitigate risk," Dr. Hadley says.&nbsp;—ANI

A new study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai quantifies the cardiovascular risk posed by exposure to specific environmental factors, showing, for example, that air pollution heightens the risk of heart disease mortality by 17 per cent.

Specific Environmental Exposures Might Help Predict Death Risk From Cardiovascular Disease: Research

Washington: According to recent research, those who have insomnia are 69 per cent more likely to get a heart attack than those who don't during an average nine years of follow-up. Researchers also discovered that persons who slept for five hours or less per night had the highest risk of having a heart attack when using sleep duration as an objective indicator of insomnia. The risk of suffering a heart attack was increased threefold among people who both had diabetes and sleeplessness.
"Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, but in many ways it's no longer just an illness, it's more of a life choice. We just don't prioritize sleep as much as we should," said Yomna E. Dean, a medical student at Alexandria University in Alexandria, Egypt, and author of the study. "Our study showed that people with insomnia are more likely to have a heart attack regardless of age, and heart attacks occurred more often in women with insomnia."
Dean and her research team are hopeful that the current study will help draw attention to the role that sleep disorders may play in heart health. Insomnia may include trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or getting good quality sleep. Growing in prevalence, insomnia is estimated to affect 10 per cent to 30 per cent of American adults, affecting women more than men. While studies have linked insomnia to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, this analysis is the largest to date.
"Based on our pooled data, insomnia should be considered a risk factor for developing a heart attack, and we need to do a better job of educating people about how dangerous [lack of good sleep] can be," Dean said.
For their analysis, the researchers conducted a systematic review of the literature that yielded 1,226 studies--of these, nine studies originating from the U.S., United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, Taiwan and China were selected for inclusion. All told, data for 1,184,256 adults (43% of whom were women) were assessed. The average age was 52 years and 13% (153,881) had insomnia, which was defined based on ICD diagnostic codes or by the presence of any of these three symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep or waking early and not being able to get back to sleep. People with obstructive sleep apnea were not included. Most patients (96%) did not have a prior history of heart attack. Heart attacks occurred in 2,406 of those who had insomnia and 12,398 of those in the non-insomnia group.
Based on the pooled data, there was a statistically significant association between insomnia and having a heart attack after controlling for other factors that could make a heart attack more likely such as age, gender, comorbidities and smoking. This association between insomnia and heart attack remained significant across all subgroups of patients, including younger and older age (&amp;lt;65 and &amp;gt;65), follow-up duration (more or less than five years), male and female sex, and common comorbidities (diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol).
"Not surprisingly, people with insomnia who also had high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes had an even higher risk of having a heart attack than those who didn't," Dean said. "People with diabetes who also have insomnia had a twofold likelihood of having a heart attack."
Moreover, people who reported five or less hours of sleep a night were 1.38 and 1.56 times more likely to experience a heart attack compared with those who slept six and seven to eight hours a night, respectively. There was no difference in the risk of heart attack between those getting five or less or nine or more hours of sleep a night, Dean said, which supports findings from previous studies that have shown that getting too little or too much sleep can be harmful to heart health. Dean and her team found that patients who slept six hours had a lower risk of heart attack compared with those who slept nine hours.
In a separate analysis, the researchers sought to determine whether individual insomnia symptoms are associated with a higher risk of heart attack. Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep--that is, trouble falling or staying asleep--were also tied to a 13% increased likelihood of heart attack compared with people without these symptoms.
Non-restorative sleep and daytime dysfunction, however, were not associated with heart attack, suggesting that those who only complain of feeling unrefreshed upon waking up without any lack of sleep aren't at an increased risk of heart attacks, Dean said.
Based on the findings, Dean said it is important that people prioritize sleep so they get seven to eight hours of quality sleep a night.
"Practice good sleep hygiene; the room should be dark, quiet and on the cooler side, and put away devices. Do something that is calming to wind down, and if you have tried all these things and still can't sleep or are sleeping less than five hours, talk with your doctor." —ANI

According to recent research, those who have insomnia are 69 per cent more likely to get a heart attack than those who don't during an average nine years of follow-up. Researchers also discovered that persons who slept for five hours or less per night had the highest risk of having a heart attack when using sleep duration as an objective indicator of insomnia. 

Sleep Disorders Linked With Cardiovascular Risk Factor: Study 

London: Even mild cases of Covid-19 raised arterial stiffness in young adults, increasing long-term detrimental effects on cardiovascular health, according to a study, led by an international team of researchers. Arterial stiffness is a marker associated with the ageing and function of our arteries. It also refers to the reduced ability of arteries to expand and contract in response to changes in blood pressure, and is linked with cardiovascular disease. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, revealed age and time from Covid infection is associated with increased ageing of the arteries. Researchers found that among people diagnosed with mild Covid, artery and central cardiovascular function were affected by the disease two to three months after infection. Side effects include stiffer and more dysfunctional arteries that could lead to cardiovascular disease development. "We were surprised to observe such a decline in vascular health, which deteriorated even further with time since Covid-19 infection. Usually, you'd expect inflammation to decrease with time after infection, and for all the physiological functions to go back to normal or a healthy level," said co author Dr Maria Perissiou from the University of Portsmouth in the UK. "We can only speculate on what causes this phenomenon without further investigation, but emerging evidence suggests that it stems from Covid-19 triggering the auto-immune process that leads to vasculature deterioration," she added. While Covid-19 has been associated with a type of acute heart failure and vascular dysfunction, the long-term consequences of the disease on vascular health still need to be explored. Participants in the study were monitored between October 2019 and April 2022. Arterial stiffness was measured on a group of healthy volunteers before the pandemic. These people were called back after a bout of mild Covid to make the same measurements. Most were young, less than 40-years-old, and healthy. Only 9 per cent of the group had high blood pressure, and none had high cholesterol. Two were diabetic, and 78 per cent did not smoke. The group was also almost an even split between males (56 per cent) and females (44 per cent). "Given the number of people infected with Covid-19 worldwide, the fact that infection can have harmful effects on cardiovascular health in young people who had a mild form of the disease warrants close monitoring," said lead author Professor Ana Jeroncic from the University of Split in Croatia. "The question remains as to whether this harmful effect is irreversible or permanent, and if not, for how long it lasts," Jeroncic said. According to researchers, the study, while small, does support the prediction amongst vascular physiologists that Covid-19 infections will lead to an increase in cardiovascular disease in the future. However, they recommended further research to strengthen the understanding of causes and contributing factors. —IANS

Even mild cases of Covid-19 raised arterial stiffness in young adults, increasing long-term detrimental effects on cardiovascular health

Even Mild Covid Made Arteries Stiffer, Raising Cardiovascular Risks: Study

Hamilton (Ontario): Researchers from Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University revealed in a study conducted at the Population Research Health Institute (PHRI) that persons who do not consume enough of six important nutrients collectively had a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Consuming whole-fat dairy products, seafood, legumes, nuts, fruits, and vegetables helps reduce the risk of CVD, including heart attacks and strokes. The study also discovered that there are other strategies to maintain a healthy diet, such as consuming unprocessed meats or entire grains in moderation.  Previous and related studies have concentrated on Western nations and diets that mix unhealthy, highly processed foods with nutrient-dense foods. Global in scope, this study concentrated on common healthy eating choices. The World Health Organization estimates nearly 18 million people died from CVD in 2019, representing 32 per cent of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85 per cent were due to heart attacks and strokes. PHRI researchers and their global collaborators analyzed data from 245,000 people in 80 countries from multiple studies. The results were published in the European Heart Journal on July 6. Researchers derived a diet score from PHRI's ongoing, large-scale global Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, then replicated that in five independent studies to measure health outcomes in different world regions and in people with and without prior CVD. "Previous diet scores - including the EAT-Lancet Planetary Diet and the Mediterranean Diet tested the relationship of diet to CVD and death mainly in Western countries. The PURE Healthy Diet Score included a good representation of high, middle, and low-income countries," said Salim Yusuf, senior author and principal investigator of PURE. As well as being truly global, the PURE Healthy Diet Score focused on exclusively protective, or natural, foods. "We were unique in that focus. The other diet scores combined foods considered to be harmful - such as processed and ultra-processed foods - with foods and nutrients believed to be protective of one's health," said first author Andrew Mente, PHRI scientist and assistant professor at McMaster's Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact. "There is a recent increased focus on higher consumption of protective foods for disease prevention. Outside of larger amounts of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, the researchers showed that moderation is key in the consumption of natural foods," he said. "Moderate amounts of fish and whole-fat dairy are associated with a lower risk of CVD and mortality. The same health outcomes can be achieved with moderate consumption of grains and meats - as long as they are unrefined whole grains and unprocessed meats." The PURE Healthy Diet Score recommends an average daily intake of: Fruits at two to three servings; vegetables at two to three servings; nuts at one serving; and dairy at two servings. The score also includes three to four weekly servings of legumes and two to three weekly servings of fish. Possible substitutes included whole grains at one serving daily, and unprocessed red meat or poultry at one serving daily. (ANI)

Researchers from Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University revealed in a study conducted at the Population 

Not eating healthy foods linked with higher cardiovascular disease: Study

Pennsylvania: Whether it's work or recreation that keeps us from getting enough shut-eye during the week, hoping we can compensate by sleeping in on weekends is a mistake. According to new research led by Penn State, when sleep is limited to five hours per night, cardiovascular health measures such as heart rate and blood pressure worsen over the course of the week, and attempting to catch up on sleep over the weekend is insufficient to return these measures to normal. “Only 65% of adults in the U.S. regularly sleep the recommended seven hours per night, and there's a lot of evidence suggesting that this lack of sleep is associated with cardiovascular disease in the long term,” said Anne-Marie Chang, associate professor of biobehavioral health and co-author of the work, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. “Our research reveals a potential mechanism for this longitudinal relationship, where enough successive hits to your cardiovascular health while you're young could make your heart more prone to cardiovascular disease in the future.” The researchers enlisted the help of 15 healthy men between the ages of 20 and 35 to take part in an 11-day inpatient sleep study. The participants were allowed to sleep up to 10 hours per night for the first three nights to establish a baseline sleep level. The participants' sleep was limited to five hours per night for the next five nights, followed by two recovery nights in which they were allowed to sleep up to ten hours each night. The researchers assessed the individuals' resting heart rates and blood pressure every two hours during the day to assess the impact of this sleep regimen on cardiovascular health. Chang explained that the team’s study is unique because it measured heart rate and blood pressure multiple times throughout the day for the duration of the study, which enabled them to account for any effects that time of day might have on heart rate and blood pressure. For example, heart rate is naturally lower upon waking than later in the day, so measuring heart rate multiple times throughout the day can account for this difference. The team, which included David Reichenberger, lead author and graduate student in biobehavioral health, Penn State, found that heart rate increased nearly one beat per minute (BPM) with each successive day of the study. Specifically, the average baseline heart rate was 69 BPM, while the average heart rate by the end of the study on the second day of recovery was nearly 78 BPM. Systolic blood pressure also increased by about 0.5 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) per day. The average baseline systolic blood pressure was 116 mmHg and was nearly 119.5 mmHg by the end of the recovery period. “Both heart rate and systolic blood pressure increased with each successive day and did not return to baseline levels by the end of the recovery period,” Reichenberger said. “So, despite having additional opportunity to rest, by the end of the weekend of the study, their cardiovascular systems still had not recovered.” Chang noted that longer periods of sleep recovery may be necessary to recover from multiple, consecutive nights of sleep loss. “Sleep is a biological process, but it’s also a behavioral one and one that we often have a lot of control over,” Chang said. “Not only does sleep affect our cardiovascular health, but it also affects our weight, our mental health, our ability to focus and our ability to maintain healthy relationships with others, among many other things. As we learn more and more about the importance of sleep, and how it impacts everything in our lives, my hope is that it will become more of a focus for improving one’s health.” —ANI

Whether it's work or recreation that keeps us from getting enough shut-eye during the week

How Lack Of Sleep Associated With Cardiovascular Disease In Long Term: Study

Madrid (Spain): In elderly people, cardiovascular disease and dementia frequently coexist. Nonetheless, few long-term studies have been conducted to investigate how atherosclerosis and its related risk factors affect brain health beginning in middle age. A new study by scientists at Madrid's Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) provides new data on this relationship; the findings confirm the importance of controlling traditional cardiovascular risks factors, such as hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and sedentary lifestyle, not only to preserve cardiovascular health, but also to prevent Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.  The CNIC study, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, demonstrates that in addition to being the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and its associated risk factors are also implicated in the cerebral alterations seen in Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia. According to CNIC General Director Dr Valentín Fuster, an author on the study, the new findings are important because they open up the possibility of treating a modifiable disorder (cardiovascular disease) to prevent the development of a disease for which there is currently no curative treatment (dementia). “The sooner we act to control cardiovascular risk factors, the better it is for our brain health,” said Dr. Fuster. “Everybody knows that a healthy lifestyle and controlling cardiovascular risk factors are important for preventing a heart attack,” continued Dr Fuster. “Nevertheless, the additional information linking the same risk factors to a decline in brain health could further increase awareness of the need to acquire healthy habits from the earliest life stages.” In 2021, CNIC scientists discovered that the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical (presymptomatic) atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries (the arteries that supply the brain) was associated with lower glucose metabolism in the brains of apparently healthy 50-year-old participants in the PESA-CNIC-Santander study (Cortés-Canteli &amp; Gispert et al. JACC. 2021). Glucose metabolism in the brain is considered an indicator of brain health. The PESA-CNIC-Santander study, directed by Dr. Fuster, is a prospective study that includes more than 4000 asymptomatic middle-aged participants who have been exhaustively assessed for the presence and progression of subclinical atherosclerosis since 2010. Dr. Fuster’s team, led by Drs. Marta Cortés Canteli and Juan Domingo Gispert, have continued to monitor the cerebral health of these participants over 5 years. Their research shows that individuals who maintained a high cardiovascular risk throughout this period had a more pronounced reduction in cerebral glucose metabolism, detected using imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET). “In participants with a sustained high cardiovascular risk, the decline in cerebral metabolism was three times greater than in participants who maintained a low cardiovascular risk,” commented Catarina Tristão-Pereira, first author on the study and INPhINIT fellow. Glucose is the main energy source for neurons and other brain cells. “If there is a sustained decline in cerebral glucose consumption over several years, this may limit the brain ability to withstand neurodegenerative or cerebrovascular diseases in the future,” explained Dr. Gispert, an expert in neuroimaging at the CNIC and Barcelonaßeta Research Center. Through a collaboration with Drs Henrik Zetterberg and Kaj Blennow, world experts in the identification of new blood biomarkers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, the CNIC team discovered that the individuals showing this metabolic decline already show signs of neuronal injury. “This is a particularly important finding because neuronal death is irreversible”, said Dr. Cortés Canteli, a neuroscientist at the CNIC and a Miguel Servet fellow at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz Health Research Institute. The CNIC team also discovered that the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries over 5 years is linked to a metabolic decline in brain regions vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to the effect of cardiovascular risk factors. “These results provide yet another demonstration that the detection of subclinical atherosclerosis with imaging techniques provides highly relevant information,” said Dr. Fuster, who is the principal investigator on the PESA study. “The interaction between the brain and the heart is a fascinating topic, and with this study we have seen that this relationship begins much earlier than was thought.” The scientists conclude that in light of these results, “carotid screening has great potential to identify individuals at risk of cerebral alterations and cognitive decline in the future.” In the published article they write, “this work could have important implications for clinical practice since it supports the implementation of primary cardiovascular prevention strategies early in life as a valuable approach for a healthy cerebral longevity.” “Although we still don’t know what impact this decline in cerebral metabolism has on cognitive function, the detection of neuronal injury in these individuals shows that the earlier we start to control cardiovascular risk factors, the better it will be for our brain,” concluded Dr. Cortés Canteli. —ANI

In elderly people, cardiovascular disease and dementia frequently coexist. Nonetheless

Importance Of Controlling Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors To Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease: Study 

New Delhi: Better hypertension control can help avert a whopping 4.6 million deaths due to high blood pressure in India, according to a World health Organisation report.
The World health Organisation (WHO) released its first-ever report on the devastating global impact of high blood pressure, during the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
The report shows an estimated 188.3 million adults aged 30-79 years live with hypertension in India. In order to achieve a 50 per cent control rate, 67 million more people with hypertension would need to be effectively treated.
Only 37 per cent Indians have the diagnosed condition of high BP, of which 32 per cent are males and 42 per cent females. Of the 35 per cent undertaking treatment, 35 per cent are females, while 25 per cent are males.
Currently, only 15 per cent people have their hypertension under control (19 per cent female, 11 per cent males), the report said.
Uncontrolled hypertension is known to cause heart attack, stroke and premature death. In fact, the report showed that 52 per cent deaths in the country due to cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack can be attributed to elevated blood pressure.
Globally, hypertension affects one in three adults worldwide. About four out of every five people with hypertension are not adequately treated. But if countries can scale up coverage, 76 million deaths could be averted between 2023 and 2050, the report said.
“Hypertension can be controlled effectively with simple, low-cost medication regimens, and yet only about one in five people with hypertension have controlled it,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Ageing and genetics can increase the risk of having high blood pressure, but modifiable risk factors such as eating a high-salt diet, not being physically active and drinking too much alcohol can also increase the risk of hypertension.
Lifestyle changes like eating a healthier diet, quitting tobacco and being more active can help lower blood pressure.
Some people may need medicines that can control hypertension effectively and prevent related complications.
Prevention, early detection and effective management of hypertension are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care and should be prioritised by countries as part of their national health benefit package offered at a primary care level, the report said.
“Hypertension control programmes remain neglected, under-prioritised and vastly underfunded. Strengthening hypertension control must be part of every country’s journey towards universal health coverage, based on well-functioning, equitable and resilient health systems, built on a foundation of primary health care,” the WHO chief said.
—IANS

Better hypertension control can help avert a whopping 4.6 million deaths due to high blood pressure in India, according to a World health Organisation report

India can avert 4.6 mn deaths by 2040 with better hypertension control: WHO

Massachusetts: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a prominent cause of long-term disability and premature death, particularly among military personnel and those who participate in contact sports. Significant study has been conducted on the acute and chronic neurological repercussions of TBI; however, non-neurological diseases connected with TBI have received less attention. Researchers from Mass General Brigham present key findings on long-term associations between TBI and cardiovascular disease in a new review paper, highlighting that nervous system dysfunction, neuroinflammation, changes in the brain-gut connection, and post-injury comorbidities may increase the risk of both cardiovascular and cognitive dysfunction in TBI survivors compared to the general population. The Lancet Neurology study emphasises the importance of future cardiovascular research, surveillance, and intervention in TBI survivors. “Despite decades of extensive traumatic brain injury focused research, surprisingly, there has been minimal progress in mitigating long-term outcomes and mortality following injuries. The cardiovascular effects of TBI may be a missing link in advancing our efforts to improve long-term quality of life and reducing mortality rates in TBI patients,” said first author Saef Izzy, MD, MBChB, of the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. “We have the opportunity to identify and improve targeted screening for high-risk popualtions, build preventative care strategies and improve outcomes for survivors of TBI.” Existing research has identified a strong link between TBI and neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. However, the mechanisms driving neurological disease after TBI remain poorly understood, despite decades of research. Izzy and co-authors from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and elsewhere suggest that non-neurological effects of TBI, such as cardiovascular, cardiometabolic and endocrine dysfunction, may act as intermediaries contributing to neurological disease decades after TBI. For example, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and hypopituitarism can negatively affect cognitive function and are established risk factors for dementia. These cardiometabolic risk factors have also been found to be more prevalent in those with a history of TBI, as demonstrated in over a dozen studies on military personnel, athletes and the general patient population, which are summarized by the authors of the review. There are many potential links between TBI and cardiovascular and cognitive dysfunction. Neuroinflammatory pathways triggered by TBI could predispose individuals to atherosclerosis. Weight gain and sleep disturbances after an injury could pose independent or additive risks. Disruptions to connections between the nervous and gastrointestinal systems could throw off the balance of microbes in the gut, contributing to cognitive and cardiovascular effects. Investigators are actively pursuing research related to the role of the gut microbiome and are also working to create new models of TBI to further study the biological mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease. It remains unclear how single versus repetitive injuries, age at injury, TBI severity, and other comordibities impact cardiovascular risk. This is in part due to methodological limitations to current research, such as retrospective study designs and reliance on self-reported health data. Prospective studies can clarify what risk factors and biomarkers may be most relevant to cardiovascular dysfunction post-TBI. “This review is a clarion call to conduct better assessments and earlier intervention for survivors of TBI who may have increased cardiovascular risk. It calls for new or expanded datasets that capture, over time, changes in biomarkers and targets associated with cardiovascular disease,” said corresponding author Ross Zafonte, DO, President of Spaulding Rehabilitation Network and Chief of the Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Zafonte is also the principal investigator of the Football Players Health Study at Harvard. “There is a growing recognition that many systems interact to produce multilevel dysfunction after TBI, with a series of nuanced comorbidities. Clinicians can begin to treat some of these conditions, and in the future, management guidelines can more directly address the cardiovascular health of TBI survivors.” —ANI

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a prominent cause of long-term disability and premature death, particularly among military personnel and those 

Researchers Find Association Between Traumatic Brain Injury, Cardiovascular Disease

New York: Are you one of those who daily pop omega-3 fatty acid supplements like fish oil for its health benefits? Beware, they may be rancid pills, and not healthy as claimed, suggests a new study. Derived from plants (algae) as well as seafood (fish, krill, etc.) , omega-3 supplements -- sometimes labelled as fish oil -- are often taken because of research that suggests they may provide health benefits. Rancidity is measured by the amount of oxidation of the oil in the supplement. As supplements become more oxidised, the nutritional benefits delivered to the consumer are reduced. "Our study suggests many of these supplements are not fresh -- and thus may not provide a potential health benefit," said Leigh A. Frame, Associate Professor of clinical research and leadership at George Washington University in the US. Higher levels of omega-3 have been associated with a wide range of benefits to multiple organs, including the brain and eyes, but the most common reason for its popularity with consumers is to help the cardiovascular system. The researchers conducted six years of tests on 72 of the most popular brands of omega-3 supplements, using the recommended rancidity limits that are voluntarily set by GOED, a global trade group that represents omega-3 manufacturers. The results, published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, found a total of 45 per cent of flavoured and unflavoured supplements tested positive for rancidity, with 32 per cent of flavoured supplements testing positive and 13 per cent of unflavored pills. However, added flavouring can mask the rancidity of supplements. While the oxidation is present in the flavoured supplements, indicating there is a positive level of rancidity, Frame said the amount of oxidation isn't known because of the flavouring compounds themselves. "Flavouring is potentially masking the freshness of omega-3 supplements in two ways," said lead author Jacob Hands, medical student at the varsity’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences. If fish oil supplements are fresh, they won't have a fishy taste or smell, he explained. "Flavouring can mask those aspects but also makes it difficult for researchers to determine the level of oxidation and the quality of the supplement." While there are third party companies who test vitamins and supplements to verify a label's purity of its substances, even brands that are tested cannot be guaranteed of freshness, Frame explained. Both Frame and Hands suggest exercising caution with flavoured fish oil supplements at this point due to the uncertainty of how the flavouring may affect their freshness and, thus, any potential health benefits. —IANS

Are you one of those who daily pop omega-3 fatty acid supplements like fish oil for its health benefits? Beware

Your Omega 3 Fish Oil Pills May Be Rancid, Unhealthy: Study

Washington: A new study looked at the long-term effects of yoga therapy to see if adding it as a supplemental treatment in the management of heart failure is beneficial. Heart failure is a type of cardiovascular disease in which the heart muscle is either too weak or too stiff to efficiently pump blood, resulting in fluid buildup, shortness of breath, and other difficulties. The most commonly used categorization system for determining the severity of a patient's symptoms is the New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional categorization system. The NYHA system categorises patients into one of four groups based on their physical activity limits, with Class I being the least severe and Class IV being the most severe. Ejection fraction is also measured by clinicians to evaluate how efficiently the heart pumps blood. The study comprised 75 heart failure patients who had undergone coronary intervention, revascularization, or device therapy over the previous six months to one year at a tertiary care centre in South India. The study's patients were all less than or equivalent to NYHA Class III and had been on optimised medical therapy for at least 6 months to one year. Patients had to be between 30 and 70 years old and have a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 45 per cent to be eligible for the trial. The interventional group had 35 participants (31 males and 4 women), while the non-interventional group had 40 (30 men and 10 women). The interventional group received yoga therapy as well as standard guideline-directed medical care, whereas the non-interventional group only received standard guideline-directed medical therapy. To assess the impact of yoga therapy on heart failure patients, echocardiographic parameters were examined at various follow-ups. The interventional group included 35 participants (31 men and 4 women) and 40 (30 men and 10 women) were in the non-interventional group. The interventional group received yoga therapy and guideline-directed medical therapy, while the non-interventional group only continued with standard guideline-directed medical therapy. Echocardiographic parameters were compared at various follow-ups to see the impact of yoga therapy on heart failure patients. “Yoga is a combination of mind-body techniques, which is a set of physical exercises [asana] with breathing techniques [pranayama], relaxation and meditation that can be effectively used to stimulate physical and mental well-being,” said Ajit Singh, PhD, research scientist for the Indian Council for Medical Research at Kasturba Medical College &amp; Hospital, Manipal Academy of Heart Education in Manipal, India, and the study’s lead author. “Our patients observed improvement in systolic blood pressure and heart rate compared to patients who were on medication without yoga.” Participants in the yoga group were taken to the Department of Yoga at the hospital and an experienced yoga therapist taught selected yoga therapy like pranayama, meditation and relaxation techniques. Each session lasted around 60 minutes and participants were supervised for one week at the training center before being asked to continue self-administered yoga at home. Those in the yoga group were advised to perform yoga at least five days a week for 12 months. At the training centre, all the participants were taught together to perform the same steps, but individual support was available. Researchers measured quality of life improvements using the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire, which uses 26 questions to evaluate quality of life in four aspects: physical, psychological, social and environmental health. The participants completed the questionnaire at enrollment, as well as at 24 weeks and 48 weeks of follow-up. According to the researchers, the study showed participants in the yoga group had improvement in endurance, strength, balance, symptom stability and quality of life. They also observed that while patients improved physically and psychologically, there was no improvement in social and environmental health. Echocardiographic parameters did not show any significant differences between the two groups at baseline. At both the six- and 12-month follow-up improved biventricular systolic function was seen in the interventional (yoga) group compared to the non-interventional group. The interventional group also showed substantial improvement in functional outcomes as assessed by the NHYA classification. “This study proves that the addition of yoga therapy to standard medical management of heart failure leads to an improvement in left ventricular systolic function and quality of life in heart failure patients,” Singh said. “Hence, yoga therapy may improve physical well-being and left ventricular function among heart failure patients on guideline-directed optimal medical therapy.” —ANI

A new study looked at the long-term effects of yoga therapy to see if adding it as a supplemental treatment in the management of heart failure is beneficial

Yoga Improves Cardiovascular Function In Patients With Heart Failure: Study

Washington DC [US]: Forget about getting in 10,000 steps a day. A new Tulane University study suggests that taking at least 50 steps and rising stairs each day could significantly reduce your risk of heart disease. The study, published in Atherosclerosis, found that climbing more than five flights of stairs daily could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20 per cent.
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) along with coronary artery disease and stroke are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. “Short bursts of high-intensity stair climbing are a time-efficient way to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and lipid profile, especially among those unable to achieve the current physical activity recommendations,” said co-corresponding author Dr Lu Qi, HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
“These findings highlight the potential advantages of stair climbing as a primary preventive measure for ASCVD in the general population.” Using UK Biobank data collected from 450,000 adults, the study calculated participants’ susceptibility to cardiovascular disease based on family history, established risk factors and genetic risk factors and surveyed participants about their lifestyle habits and frequency of stair climbing. Median follow-up time was 12.5 years. The study found that climbing more stairs daily especially reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in those who were less susceptible. However, Qi said the increased risk of heart disease in more susceptible people could be “effectively offset” by daily stair climbing. Qi touted the public availability of stairs as a low-cost, accessible way to incorporate exercise into daily routines. “This study provides novel evidence for the protective effects of stair climbing on the risk of ASCVD, particularly for individuals with multiple ASCVD risk factors,” Qi said.
—ANI

Forget about getting in 10,000 steps a day. A new Tulane University study suggests that taking at least 50 steps and rising stairs each day

Walking up five flights of stairs can cut risk of heart disease by 20 pc: Study

By Marthe Fourcade
The safety of intermittent fasting, a popular strategy to lose weight by limiting food intake to certain times, was called into question by a surprise finding from research presented at a medical meeting.  Limiting mealtimes to a period of just eight hours a day was linked to a 91 per cent increase in risk of death from heart disease in the study, which was released on Monday in Chicago. The American Heart Association published only an abstract, leaving scientists speculating about details of the study protocol. The study was reviewed by other experts prior to its release, according to the AHA.
Lifestyle interventions aimed at weight loss have come under scrutiny as a new generation of drugs help people shed pounds. Some doctors questioned the study’s findings, saying they could have been skewed by differences — such as underlying heart health — between the fasting patients and the comparison group, whose members consumed food over a daily period of 12 to 16 hours.  “Time-restricted eating is popular as a means of reducing calorie intake,” Keith Frayn, emeritus professor of human metabolism at the University of Oxford, said in a statement to the UK Science Media Center. “This work is very important in showing that we need long-term studies on the effects of this practice. But this abstract leaves many questions unanswered.”  The researchers, led by Victor Zhong of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, analyzed data from about 20,000 adults included in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.  The study looked at answers to questionnaires along with death data from 2003 through 2019. Because it relied in part on forms that required patients to recall what they ate over two days, scientists said there was room for potential inaccuracies. About half of the patients were men and the mean age was 48.
It wasn’t clear how long the patients continued the intermittent fasting, though the researchers assumed they kept it up, according to Zhong.  The fasting patients were more likely to be younger men with a higher BMI and food insecurity, he said by email. They also had a lower prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease based on self-reports. “We controlled for all these variables in the analysis, but the positive association between 8-h time-restricted eating and cardiovascular mortality remained,” Zhong said.  The abstract was presented at the AHA’s Lifestyle Scientific Sessions meeting in Chicago.
—Bloomberg

Study questions intermittent fasting safety for weight loss. Time-restricted eating linked to 91% higher heart disease mortality risk.

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