Congratulations gentlemen, all your efforts of living a healthier lifestyle are starting to pay off. According to a report from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the life expectancy for U.S. males grew by 4.6 years.
This increase has narrowed the gender gap from seven years back in 1989 down to five years, one month and six days. This means that today’s men will live to be an average age of 76.2, while a woman’s average lifespan (which rose by 2.7 years) will be 81.3.
Dr. Ali Mokdad, professor of global health at the IHME, part of the University of Washington, told MSNBC one of the reasons they may be catching up is because when it comes to cardiovascular disease, “men are tending to be more vigilant than women.”
When it comes to cardiovascular disease, it is the number one killer for women. It is often unrecognized and untreated in women, according to the American Heart Association. Mokdad told MSNBC, “In this country, we haven’t done a good job of raising awareness for women about the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”
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Heart disease is still the number one killer in the United States, even though it can be prevented with a just few simple lifestyle changes. Call it ignorance, lack of motivation, or a complete disregard for personal health; certain people continue to put themselves at risk of dying from a heart attack. Lists of excuses may have superseded action, however as of late, a lack of money is no longer an issue in maintaining good health. Medicare is now covering programs that contribute to positive lifestyle changes, such as yoga, healthy eating, and relaxation.
Based on an agenda that teaches clients about plant-based diets, meditation, and regular exercise, the Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease is one of the plans covered by Medicare. It is employed to teach patients how to take better care of their heart.
Nutrition, stress management, moderate exercise and group support are the four components that make up the program. Contrary to popular belief that a new pill or potion will erase poor lifestyle habits, the Dean Ornish program let’s people regain their health by doing it the old fashioned way, by earning it.
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A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health focuses on eating unprocessed red meat like hamburger, roast beef, lamb and pork as well as processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, bologna and sausage. The results of the study show that having one serving per day of unprocessed meat can increase your risk for death by cardiovascular disease by as much as 18 percent. Taking in one serving of processed meat per day can increase that risk by as much as 21 percent. There have been numerous studies conducted previously that have linked high consumption of red meat and processed meats to various cancers, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and early death. “This new study provides further compelling evidence that high amounts of red meat may boost the risk of premature death,” said An Pan, lead author of the study.
It is important to also note that this particular study focuses on association, and the results don’t specifically mean causation. Data was collected on the health and deaths of 37,698 men and 83,644 women. Throughout the study, those that were being analyzed filled out questionnaires on their diet every four years. Over two decades during the follow-up period, 5,910 participants died from heart disease while 9,464 died from cancer. This study does show some direct association between eating high amounts of red meat and unprocessed meat on your health. When preparing your food, moderation is the key.
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A new study of over one million patients has been released showing women are less likely to get immediate treatment for a heart attack. The study of the Journal of the American Medical Association was authored by John Canto of the Watson Clinic and Lakeland Regional Medical Center in Florida. This study also revealed that women are more likely to die in the hospital from a heart attack than men with rates of 15 percent of women and 10 percent of men.
Some of the treatments available that can stop a heart attack if quickly detected include balloon insertions to open the arteries, bypass surgery or even drugs that dissolve clots. The reason for these staggering statistics is that female patients very often do not recognize the symptoms they experience when having a heart attack. While about 31 percent of men never experience the classic symptoms of a heart attack like chest pain or pressure, that number is increased to 42 percent for women. The lack of classic symptoms is even more common in women under the age of 55. Many women go to the hospital with symptoms like nausea, feelings of fatigue, back or jaw pain, vomiting or even sweating and are misdiagnosed and sent home when they are actually having a heart attack.
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February is American Heart Month. There have been many public service announcements, ads, and campaigns to bring awareness about the things you can do to improve your heart health. Eating right and getting exercise top the lists of heart healthy choices however, a new addition to the lists may be to get a pet.
A recent Japanese study found that pet owners with chronic diseases appeared to have healthier hearts than those without pets. These findings were published in the American Journal of Cardiology and specifically noted that pet owners in this study had a higher heart rate variability verses non-pet owners.
Heart rate variability refers to the patient’s heart’s response to change, such as beating faster in stressful situations. Reduced heart rate variability has been linked to a higher heart disease mortality risk. The study specifically monitored 191 people between the ages of 60-80 years old. All were afflicted with conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. They were monitored for a 24 hour period and wore heart monitors for the entire study. About four out of every ten people owned a pet.
The study concluded that for pet owners, nearly 5 percent of their heartbeats differed by 50 milliseconds in length. Only 2.5 percent of the non-pet owners had differing heart rates, meaning that non-pet owner’s heart rates changed less or responded to change less.
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