Allegiance Health

When you think about making healthy choices to lower your risk for heart disease, a few things come immediately to mind: eat more fruits and veggies; cut down on red meats and saturated fats; get more exercise; quit smoking, etc. Should we also consider adopting a pet?

Studies show that owning a pet can help you lower your cholesterol and triglyceridelevels—which directly benefit your heart health. If your pet is a dog, the news is even better. Rover might actually help you live longer. Researchers studying a group of 421 adults who’d experienced a heart attack, found that those who owned dogs were significantly more likely to be alive a year later than those who did not own dogs—regardless of how serious their heart attack was.

The results of a large Michigan survey, tell us that dog owners are much more likely to get the government recommendation of at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week, including moderately intense exercise. Another study showed that individuals who continued walking their dogs into their 70s and 80s could walk longer and faster and had greater mobility at home than others their age.

In addition to providing physical benefits, most kinds of pets can have a positive effect on our emotional well-being and even our social skills, according to psychologists. One study even found that just watching a Lassie movie can lower stress.

The calming effects of pets on your heart rate and blood pressure are even present during high-stress situations. And the company of our pets helps us to recover more quickly from a stressful event than the presence of either a friend or spouse.

Many hospitals, recognizing that an animal’s ability to calm and nurture is helpful to the healing process, offer pet therapy for patients. At Allegiance Health, a Great Pyrenees called Rose and Mexican Chihuahua sisters Daisy and Lilly are among a group of therapy dogs who make regular visits to both adult and pediatric patients. Click here to see a video of Rose at work. 

Do rude and reckless drivers make your blood boil? Are you infuriated by poor service at a restaurant? Do you yell or swear when your team fumbles the ball? Your typical reaction to situations like these could predict your risk for a heart attack. 

Many scientific studies, including one by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, show a direct connection between high levels of anger and heart disease. The Hopkins study of more than 1,300 male medical students found that those who were quick to anger were three times more likely to develop premature heart disease and five times more likely to have an early heart attack than those who reacted more calmly in stressful situations. Similar studies suggest the same is true for quick-tempered women and older men as well.

Exactly how anger increases your heart attack risk is not known. But research suggests that anger releases harmful stress hormones, increases oxygen demand by the heart's muscle cells and increases the stickiness of blood platelets, which can lead to blood clots. A recent study in Italy shows that those who had high scores for antagonistic traits such as anger had more thickening of the carotid arteries, which are the two main arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the head and brain. Thickened carotid arteries are a risk factor for heart attack and stroke. 

For those already at risk for heart disease, anger also affects the electrical function of the heart, according to a study led by a Yale University cardiologist. This is because anger can cause an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, in vulnerable individuals. When the heart’s electrical system is thrown off balance, the heart can beat in a very irregular pattern—this is what happens in a heart attack. The heart is unable to circulate blood throughout the body, and cannot support a blood pressure. In such cases, a device called a defibrillator is needed to deliver a quick shock to the heart to restore rhythm.

Fortunately, you can learn ways to control your anger and protect your heart. Gaining control of your anger will also benefit your personal and professional relationships and help you get more enjoyment out of life.

So, instead of letting your rage build up inside, try to explain your feelings to someone you trust. Getting regular physical exercise also helps release tension that can escalate into anger. And you may find meditation and deep breathing exercises to be helpful coping mechanisms for your temper. No matter how tempting, never rely on nicotine or an excessive amount of alcohol to calm you down; they won’t help your anger and they will hurt your heart.

Writing your feelings out in a journal may help you to understand why you are so likely to lose your temper. Once you are aware of what is making you angry, you can learn to change your behavior before you have an outburst. Train yourself to recognize the signs of stress, and stop yourself before your anger gets out of control. Then wait a few seconds and try to express your feeling calmly, without raising your voice. If you find you are having trouble doing it on your own, don’t despair. Individual counseling or anger management classes could the right choice for you.

If controlling your anger is a frequent challenge, you may want to ask your doctor about taking a daily aspirin. Research shows that aspirin reduces the stickiness of blood platelets and may moderately reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

For tips on managing your stress, click here. If you would like a free DVD on mindfulness and relaxation, call (517) 788-4800, ext 7537.

When we calculate our risks for heart disease, a certain set of numbers comes immediately to mind: our blood pressure, “good” and “bad” cholesterol levels, weight, waist measurement and BMI, or body-mass index. But there is another number doctors may use to identify potential heart disease—our CRP, or C-reactive protein level.

CRP is a protein produced by the liver. Its presence indicates there is inflammation (swelling) throughout the body. Inflammation is the body’s normal response to fever, injury and infection. Since inflammation is also present when arteries of the heart begin to get clogged with cholesterol plaques that restrict blood flow, high levels of CRP may indicate heart disease. CRP has also been linked to heart attack, stroke and risk for the reclosing of an artery that has been treated with angioplasty. 

You may have heard reports in the popular media that say CRP is an even more important indicator of heart disease than other risk factors, including cholesterol and blood pressure levels. Some suggest that everyone over 30 should request a CRP blood test as part of their routine physical. Many of the leading medical authorities, however, do not agree about the value of CRP testing.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a CRP blood test isn’t right for everyone. That’s because while a high CRP level may be a risk factor for heart disease, test results are not specific. The test can’t identify where the inflammation is located in your body, so it could be somewhere other than your heart. High levels of CRP can also indicate autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

CRP testing alone will not determine your risk for heart disease, but it may be a valuable tool, when combined with other blood tests and heart risk factors in creating a total picture of your heart health. Other important indicators include lifestyle choice (including smoking), family history and current health status.

The American Heart Association does not yet recommend CRP screening for the general public. Rather, it finds that CRP testing is most useful for people known to have an intermediate risk for heart disease—those who have a 10 to 20 percent chance of dying from a heart attack within 10 years. The American Heart Association says CRP testing is not necessary for those at low risk, and that people at high risk should seek treatment regardless of their CRP levels.

Whether a high CRP level actually increases heart risk or just reflects the inflammation caused by other risk factors is still unknown. If your CRP levels are elevated, your doctor will recommend the same lifestyle changes you should make if you have high cholesterol or other heart-risk factors. These include increasing your level of activity, not smoking, losing weight, watching your diet and controlling your blood pressure. Medications used to treat CRP are the same as those used to lower cholesterol levels.

If you are concerned about your CRP level, talk with your primary care physician or cardiologist.

As we get older, we all struggle with extra inches that seem to creep up overnight around our waists. While we once might have accepted this as an annoying but inevitable part of ageing, medical research is showing that added girth is also a risk to heart health.

An important Swedish study has revealed that even for people of normal weight, a larger waistline brings a significantly higher risk of heart disease. Extra abdominal weight, also called visceral fat, creates an “apple-shaped” body type that places its owner at risk. While this body type is more common in men, women may also be “apples.” Many women, however, tend to carry weight around the hips and thighs, creating what is known as a “pear-shaped” body type.

What makes visceral fat so dangerous to your heart? A Harvard Medical School report says there is increasing evidence that it pumps out immune system chemicals called cytokines. These chemicals promote insulin resistance and low-level chronic inflammation—both of which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas to carry glucose into the body’s cells, and has a major impact on metabolism. Insulin resistance means that your body’s muscle and liver cells don’t respond adequately to normal levels of insulin. This causes glucose levels in the blood to rise and increases the risk for diabetes. Insulin resistance, combined with high blood glucose, excess abdominal fat, unfavorable cholesterol levels and high blood pressure create what is known as the metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Is your waist size increasing your risk for heart disease? There are several ways to calculate your risk by using your waist measurement, the difference between your waist and hip measurements, and your Body Mass Index, or BMI—a number based on your height and weight. A simple guide can be found on the President’s Challenge Web site.

Once you have figured out your risk, what can you do about it? Losing weight, especially abdominal fat, can improve the function of your cardiovascular health, according to a study presented by Johns Hopkins researchers at a March 2012 American Heart Association scientific meeting. The study showed that the more belly fat the participants lost, the better their arteries were able to expand when needed, allowing more blood to flow more freely.

Half of the participants in the Hopkins study were on a low-fat diet and half were on a low-carbohydrate diet. Results demonstrated that the amount of improvement in the blood vessels was directly linked to how much abdominal fat the participants lost, regardless of which diet they were on. This was especially significant because it countered earlier concerns that a low-carb diet, which is higher in fat, would have a harmful effect on cardiovascular health. 

Increasing evidence, including that reported by Harvard Medical School, shows that diet combined with regular exercise is even more effective than dieting alone in reducing abdominal fat. While target exercises such as abdominal crunches may tighten stomach muscles, they will not decrease abdominal fat cells. The best approach has proven to be a combination of nutrition, increased activity and weight training. Interval training, which combines moderate-intensity aerobic activity with quick bursts at a higher intensity, also appears to be effective, as are core-strengthening exercise such as yoga and Pilates. Ask your health care provider or a personal trainer to help you create an exercise program that’s appropriate for you.

Watch this space for future blogs related to heart health.

Sugar has gained a reputation as a “bad guy” in the food chain, and for good reasons. It has long been associated with type 2 diabetes, tooth decay and obesity. According to two recent studies, there is also a direct connection between sugar and heart disease. 

A 2011 study by Northwestern University’s Department of Preventive Medicine revealed that women who drink sugar-sweetened beverages increase their risk for developing cardiovascular disease. It might seem logical that people who consume a lot of sugar would have a tendency toward obesity, which in turn increases the risk for heart disease and diabetes. But this study showed that heart risk factors developed even when the women did not gain weight.

A similar, 22-year study confirmed the connection between sugar and heart disease in men. Results showed that men who drink one 12-ounce sugar-sweetened drink a day sharply increase their risk for heart disease. Those who drank the sweetened beverages most often were 20 percent more likely to have a heart attack.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took these research results seriously enough to recently propose a controversial ban on selling super-sized sugary drinks at the City’s restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and street carts. The outcome of this proposal could have a nationwide impact.

Before you attempt to eliminate all sugar from your diet, however, it’s important to know the difference between naturally occurring sugars—those that are naturally found in foods such as fruit, some vegetables and milk—and sugars that are added to foods during processing or at the table. Added sugars are commonly found in highly processed or packaged foods, including many breakfast cereals, snacks and desserts. The US Department of Agriculture recommends that half of our daily diet should consist of vegetables and fruits because of the important nutrients they provide. Foods with high amounts of added sugars, on the other hand, usually have limited nutritional value and are considered “empty” calories.

American Heart Association guidelines specify that most women should get not more than 100 calories a day from added sugar (six teaspoons) and most men should get no more than 150 calories’ worth (9 teaspoons). Unfortunately, most Americans eat 355 calories (22 teaspoons) of added sugar every day.

These added sugars are often “hidden” under other names on Nutrition Facts labels, so watch for ingredients such as corn sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup, molasses, malt sugar and words ending in “ose” (dextrose, fructose, lactose, maltose and sucrose), which are all forms of sugar. Note that low-fat and fat-free processed foods are often high in sugar and calories, so be sure to read the labels. There has been a lot of debate about whether high fructose corn syrup is any worse for you than table sugar, but the bottom line is that added sugars of any type provide extra calories without nutrients and should be used only in moderation.

Check out these tips on reducing added sugar in your diet.

By creating a food plan for yourself and your family that includes fewer processed foods with added sugars, you are more likely to get plenty of nutrition within your calorie needs. This will help you reach or maintain a healthy weight as well as improve your overall wellness and lower your heart disease risk.

Request our free DVD on how to grocery shop for a heart-healthy diet. 

Clinical excellence is a fundamental component for any open-heart surgery program, but did you know that the physical environment is also an important consideration? Research shows that room design has an impact on a heart patient’s recovery and can shorten their time in the hospital.

To provide an environment that encourages patient safety and healing, some of the leading heart centers, including the one at Allegiance Health, have been designed around a cardiac universal bed (CUB) model of care. This means patients receive all of their treatments in the same private room until they leave the hospital. Staying in the CUB increases patients’ ability to rest and heal because it allows them to avoid multiple room transfers for various levels of care. It also limits their exposure to infection, which is a big concern in the days immediately after open-heart surgery. 

In a CUB model of care, nursing staff members are consistently assigned to the same patients. This gives patients and their family members the comfort and security of getting to know their care team. Nurses have an opportunity to become very familiar with the patient’s condition, so they can recognize changes and quickly respond to complications. The CUB model also makes it easier for staff to communicate with each other on the patient’s care and to keep patients and families continually updated. 

Patient safety was a major consideration in designing the CUB model. There is a nursing monitor station between every two patient rooms, with a window into both rooms. This allows nurses to keep an eye on the patients’ vital signs at all times and provide help quickly. One patient mentioned that she never had to use her call light while staying in the CUB Unit, because a nurse was always there when she needed something.

The CUB model of care is also designed to encourage family involvement in patient care. There are private spaces where family members can talk with each other, and the spacious patient rooms feature an armchair that converts to a comfortable bed if a support person wishes to spend the night.

Allegiance Health’s Cardiac Universal Bed Unit earned the ICU Design runner up award from the Society of Critical Care Medicine. The reaction of patients and their family members has been overwhelmingly positive since the Heart and Vascular Center opened in 2006. One patient commented that her room “felt like a five-star hotel, but with better service.” Another said he loved the large glass doors in his room because they allowed him to see his children coming down the hall to see him, and that always gave him a lift. Nearly everyone tells us the nurse monitoring stations gave them a sense of security and well-being.

View a slide show of the CUB Unit by clicking either of the images above, or see a tour by watching the video below.

If you are facing open-heart surgery and would like a personal tour, call (517) 817-7605.

When we think of a heart-healthy diet, certain words come to mind: bland, tasteless and boring. Some think healthy eating means giving up everything that tastes good and replacing it with food that tastes like cardboard or styrofoam. 

But the truth is that if your heart-healthy diet doesn’t taste good, the missing ingredient is imagination. By experimenting a little, you can add tons of great flavor to foods and still be good to your heart. For example, if you are cutting down on salt to lower your blood pressure, and you find that everything tastes flat, try this easy recipe for a burst of flavor:

8 T onion powder
4 T celery seed
4 T paprika
3 T ground basil
4 T chili powder
4 T ground mustard

Just mix it up and sprinkle it on any foods you would normally salt—even corn on the cob, baked potatoes and other things you can’t imaging eating salt free. You’ll probably find that you don’t miss the salt at all. 

Even plain steamed vegetables become delicious when you add a splash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar and tossing with fresh chopped chives or a bit of minced garlic. Learn more about using spices to kick up the flavor of foods.

Eating heart-healthy doesn’t have to mean giving up yummy baked goods, either. You can actually modify any recipe to be better for you—without sacrificing taste. In recipes for muffins, coffeecakes and sweet breads, for instance, you can replace vegetable oil or butter with an equal amount of unsweetened apple sauce or pureed fruit. In most recipes, you can cut the suggested amount of sugar and salt by half or use egg whites instead of whole eggs without a noticeable difference. Learn more ways to modify recipes to benefit your heart.

In general, cooking at home instead of eating out or using packaged foods is a great way to make a meal more heart healthy. That’s because you control the ingredients and the cooking methods. Even something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich can be made more healthful by using a light cooking spray instead of buttering the bread, choosing whole grain bread instead of white, using 2% instead of whole-fat cheese and adding thinly sliced tomato or apple slices. The American Heart Association offers others suggestions for healthier food preparation.

It’s easy to get bored with heart-healthy eating if you always reach for the same recipes, even if they have become family favorites. Don’t be afraid to try something new. You can find endless choices by searching "heart healthy recipes" online. Get started by going to the Mayo Clinic Web site or browse the healthy selections at AllRecipes.com. 

Remember to use your imagination and enjoy! Read these tips on heart-healthy food shopping—or, for you visual learners, watch the video below.