by admin | Oct 3, 2018 | Health Awareness, Stroke
Stroke is a serious, life-threatening condition in which the blood supply to the brain is interrupted or diminished, often resulting in permanent brain damage and disability. While nearly 800,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke each year, these conditions are largely preventable. In fact, up to 80% of all strokes can be prevented.
Part of prevention comes from knowing to understand your risk factors. There are many factors contributing to the condition, including lifestyle, medical, and genetic factors, which are explored below.
Lifestyle Risk Factors
Smoking: Smoking can damage the blood vessels in many ways, causing thickening and narrowing and increasing the buildup of fat. This makes it more difficult for blood to get through, which can eventually lead to conditions like stroke and heart disease.
Being Overweight: Excess body weight produces similar effects: it can increase blood pressure and spike cholesterol levels, so exercising regularly and eating a diet consisting mostly of unprocessed foods can help to minimize your risk factors.
Heavy/Binge Drinking: A recent study linked frequent binge drinking to specific cardiovascular risk factors known to cause stroke, including high blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, at a younger age. The Stroke Association recommends limiting alcohol consumption to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.
Medical Risk Factors
High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure puts physical pressure on your blood vessels, which can cause them to narrow, rupture, leak, or experience clots. Luckily, high blood pressure can now be controlled successfully through medications and lifestyle changes.
Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for stroke, but when coupled with being overweight and having high blood pressure (which most patients with the disease have), the correlation is even stronger. Managing diabetes is critical to reducing risks of other serious conditions, including heart disease and stroke.
Other Risk Factors
Sex: Each year, more women than men have strokes. Certain factors such as pregnancy, gestational diabetes, oral contraceptive use (especially when combined with smoking), and hormone therapy can impact risk, so be sure to discuss your women’s health history with your physician.
Age: Individuals over the age of 55 are more likely to suffer a stroke than younger individuals. For this reason, minimizing risk factors wherever possible and maintaining regular preventive care appointments with physicians is essential in older adults.
Personal/Family History: If you’ve previously suffered a stroke or heart attack, or if someone in your immediate family has, you may face a higher risk of stroke. Individuals who have experienced cardiac issues should maintain the preventive care treatment plan recommended by their cardiologist.
While stroke isn’t always preventable, having even a basic understanding of these principles can help you maintain awareness and seek the right preventive care to help reduce your risk.
by admin | Oct 1, 2018 | Health Awareness
Certain types of food are commonly known to trigger inflammation in people who are sensitive to specific agents. To manage diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and other chronic inflammatory disorders, many people have turned to the low-FODMAP diet.
What Does FODMAP Mean?
FODMAP is an acronym for fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides and polyols. In short, they are dietary sugars found in many grains, types of produce, and dairy products. While these FODMAPs sound complex, they simply refer to characteristics in foods that are known to present digestion challenges. These agents are highly fermentable, and it is their rapid fermentation that leads to bowel issues. For instance, they create an osmotic effect, meaning they draw water through the bowel, creating increased permeability. They are also poorly absorbed within the small intestine, and the fermentation that takes place within can create gas, abdominal pain, discomfort, diarrhea, and constipation.
Which Foods are Considered High-FODMAP?
There are many foods high in FODMAPs. Foods with excess fructose, including honey, dried fruit, watermelon, pears, and apples, should be avoided on the diet. Sources of lactose, including milk, yogurt, and dairy desserts, are also high-FODMAP. Leeks, onions, barley, rye, wheat, garlic, legumes, cashews, and chickpeas are best avoided on the diet as well. This list is by no means exhaustive, however, and there are many other foods considered to be high enough in FODMAPs to cause an inflammatory response. With that said, certain food sources don’t have to be avoided entirely on the diet and limiting portion sizes may be enough to minimize inflammatory effects.
Is the Low-FODMAP Diet Right for Me?
Because many high-FODMAP foods are also rich sources of key nutrients, it is typically not recommended for anyone who doesn’t have an apparent sensitivity to FODMAPs to try the diet. Avoidance of FODMAPs could put individuals at risk of nutritional deficiencies, as it restricts many healthy foods. Thus, it should only be followed as prescribed by healthcare professionals.
In fact, this restrictive diet is only practiced for three to eight weeks at a time. It is typically followed in phases. The first phase involves strict elimination of FODMAPs, followed by a reintroduction stage during which one type of FODMAP is introduced at a time. This allows patients to gauge which group triggers the most significant inflammatory response. Then, in the final phase, the modified FODMAP diet can be followed, in which certain trigger foods can be avoided at the patient’s discretion.
While a low FODMAP diet is not intended to be a permanent solution, it can shed light on which dietary sources elicit the most challenging symptoms in disorders like IBS and Crohn’s disease. If you’re interested in exploring the eating plan to help you manage your condition, be sure to speak with your gastroenterologist to discuss your eligibility for the diet.
by admin | Sep 26, 2018 | Health Awareness
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an antioxidant occurring naturally in the body. It is critical to the growth and maintenance of cells and is found to be lower in individuals with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Research shows that taking CoQ10 supplements in combination with creatine may benefit individuals with these neurodegenerative conditions – but why?
CoQ10 & Creatine
Both CoQ10 and creatine are commonly found in meat and seafood. The body produces creatine naturally as well, in the kidneys, liver, and pancreas. It is an amino acid located in the brain and muscles, where it is used for energy. Together, both CoQ10 and creatine have neuroprotective effects. When taken in conjunction, they have been shown to improve motor performance and reduce DNA oxidative damage. They work by protecting against dopamine depletion and reducing lipid peroxidation, or the cellular damage caused by free radicals. CoQ10 and creatine have also been shown to reduce the volume of lesions found on the striatum, a part of the brain responsible for many aspects of cognition, including motor and action planning and decision making. In conditions like Parkinson’s disease, this area of the brain is compromised, resulting in symptoms such as tremors and slow movement. With Huntington’s disease, the degeneration of brain cells in this area causes progressive dementia.
How Should I Take CoQ10 & Creatine?
While CoQ10 and creatine can be ingested through food, they are found in minimal amounts in nutritional sources. Thus, eating more meat or seafood alone is unlikely to help you produce more of the antioxidant and amino acid. With that said, findings suggest that they can be taken as supplements as a form of combination therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Moderate daily doses of CoQ10 (500-800 mg) in contrast with high doses (2,700 mg) in particular have been shown to yield mild to moderate improvements in symptoms like fatigue and muscle tone. Creatine has been shown to provide benefits for patients suffering from muscle-related pain. Before taking either CoQ10 or creatine, it is important for patients to discuss proper dosages and potential symptoms with their physicians for their ensured safety.
by admin | Sep 20, 2018 | Health Awareness
Avocados have long been hailed as a food source rich in vital nutrients. Not only is it loaded with almost 20 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, but it also has just 80 calories per serving. Yet, aside from its “superfood” status, could this unique stone fruit hold even more power to boost wellness? Research seems to suggest so.
Phytochemicals in Avocado
According to an article in Advances in Neurobiology, avocados’ high concentration of phytochemicals could play “a pivotal role in the prevention and cure of various neurodegenerative diseases.” Phytochemicals are biologically active compounds found naturally in plant sources, many of which have antioxidants and free radical scavenging effects. Research has also pointed to their ability to improve the functionality of the endothelium or the cells that line the interior of blood vessels. With a host of beneficial properties, they are shown to reduce risks for non-neurodegenerative diseases as well, including cancer, inflammatory conditions, and type 2 diabetes.
How Phytochemicals Benefit Neurodegenerative Diseases
What researchers are now discovering is that in addition to reducing inflammation and attacking free radicals, these phytochemicals also seem to specifically exhibit neuroprotective effects. Overproduction of free radicals can lead to oxidative damage to important biomolecules such as DNA and proteins, which eventually lead to the development of degenerative diseases. Reactive oxygen species resulting from free radical damage can also become active in the brain and neuronal tissue, leading to oxidative stress. Researchers have determined that oxidative stress is a causative agent behind the development of neuronal damage, which is present in neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Alzheimer’s disease. Interestingly, studies show that the antioxidants found in avocados are unique, and have been shown to reduce neuronal death.
To maximize the benefits of avocados, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated its daily recommended serving to 1/3 of a medium-sized fruit in 2016. This allows consumers to reap significant nutritional benefits from the antioxidative properties of Vitamin C, vitamin E, and other components without ingesting too many calories from fats. The creamy, fiber-rich fruit is often served atop salads, toast, and even enjoyed raw.
by admin | Sep 17, 2018 | Alzheimer’s Disease, Health Awareness, Studies
For years, medical experts have warned of the medical concerns associated with opioids, including depression, weakened immune system, and digestive issues. Now, however, new research shows that they could be particularly dangerous for dementia patients.
The Dangers of Painkillers for Dementia Patients
According to research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, opioid-based painkillers can triple the side effects of dementia. Individuals taking the drugs experienced more pronounced personality changes, significant increases in confusion and sedation, and lower activity levels throughout the day.
In another study, researchers focused exclusively on known as “Z drugs,” which are currently given to hundreds of thousands of patients with dementia to promote sleep. Drugs under this category included zolpidem, zopiclone, and zaleplon. Findings revealed that patients on these drugs faced an increased risk of bone fracture, which contributes to an increased risk of death in people with dementia.
A Widespread Problem
Alzheimer’s, which is the most common form of dementia, currently affects an estimated 5.7 million Americans. Roughly half of the people living in care homes and suffering from this or another form of dementia experience pain to some degree, which can result from unrelated medical conditions such as arthritis. Unfortunately, as dementia patients face compounding communication challenges, treating their pain can become more difficult.
The study has prompted experts to explore other, non-pharmaceutical means of treating pain and sleep disorders in dementia patients. Alzheimer’s research group leaders believe that the solution lies in finding nondrug interventions to help manage pain and promote quality of life while minimizing serious side effects like those revealed by the study findings. Regenerative therapy may be an option to consider for those battling Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
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