Archive for heart disease
Breast-Feeding Can Help Mom's Heart Decades Later
Posted by: | CommentsBy Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
20-year study shows it cut risk factors linked to diabetes, cardiovascular trouble
(HealthDay News) — Breast-feeding, even for just a couple of months, can significantly lower a woman’s risk of metabolic syndrome — a dangerous cluster of heart disease risk factors — years later, reports a new study appearing online Dec. 3 in the journal Diabetes.
In women who didn’t have pregnancy-related (gestational) diabetes, breast-feeding between one and five months lowered a woman’s risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 39 percent, while breast-feeding for the same duration lowered the risk of the syndrome by 44 percent in women with gestational diabetes.
And, the longer a woman breast-fed, the better it was for her later health. Breast-feeding for longer than nine months dropped the risk of metabolic syndrome by 86 percent in women with gestational diabetes. Women without gestational diabetes saw a 56 percent reduction in their risk of metabolic syndrome, according to the study.
“Breast-feeding has favorable health benefits for women as well as for children. Breast-feeding may help protect women from heart disease and diabetes in the future,” said the study’s lead author, Erica Gunderson, an epidemiologist and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.
The benefits of breast-feeding for infants are well-documented and include lower risk of ear infections, stomach problems, respiratory illnesses, asthma, skin allergies, diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). For women, breast-feeding appears to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and postpartum depression, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Read more…
Moderate Drinking Guards the Heart
Posted by: | CommentsBut protective effect can wear off at higher levels in men, study finds
By Ed Edelson
healthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) — A Spanish study has found that long-term moderate drinking decreased the risk of heart disease by up to one-third in men and to a lesser degree in women.
The type of alcohol — beer, wine or spirits — made no difference, the researchers reported in the Nov. 19 online issue of Heart. The Spanish analysis used 10-year data on 15,500 men and nearly 26,000 women who were participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study.
But for men, there was a point at which the coronary benefits of alcohol declined, and risk began to rise again.
The rate of coronary heart disease for non-drinking women in the study was 56 per 100,000. For women listed as low drinkers, averaging less than 5 grams a day, it was 42. For women who were moderate drinkers (5 to 30 grams a day), it was 36; for high drinkers (30 to 90 grams a day) it was 12; and for heavy drinkers (more than 90 grams a day) it was 12.
The rates for men were 398 per 100,000 for those who never drank, 318 for low drinkers, 255 for moderate drinkers, 278 for high drinkers and 334 for heavy drinkers, the researchers reported. Read more…
Phosphorus Levels May Predict Heart Disease
Posted by: | CommentsEven a slight elevation was linked to coronary artery calcification in study
(healthDay News) — Elevated blood levels of phosphorus are associated with a higher risk of heart disease, U.S. researchers say.
They studied the link between phosphorus levels and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in nearly 900 healthy adults in the Spokane Heart Study, a long-term investigation of heart disease risk factors. CAC is an early sign of hardening of the arteries.
At the start of the study, 28 percent of participants had CAC. After six years of follow-up, another 33 percent had developed CAC, and the level of CAC increased among those who already had the condition. Read more…
