Exercise is important. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services encourages everyone to get “at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity.” By exercising, you can improve blood circulation and strengthen your heart. Exercise also reduces stress and blood pressure, which are top contributors to coronary heart disease (CHD). Not only can exercise reduce your risk for CHD, which is one of the leading causes of heart attack, but it can also improve your overall quality of life.

As beneficial as it may be, finding the motivation to exercise can be hard at times. For some, a pattern of routine exercise can be difficult to get into at first. It takes time to fully engage and, if you’re working towards a goal, the results aren’t always immediate. For others, exercise can be considered something that can be done later, when there is more time. They may find themselves too preoccupied with work, family, or other responsibilities. Yet exercise is a responsibility that we have to ourselves. Stay strong! While the positive outcomes may not immediately be visible to you, it is vital to keep pursuing your fitness goals so you can achieve a happier, heart-healthier life.

Exercise does not need to be odious. Dancing is a fun way to get your heart pumping and your body moving. In a study conducted by the University of Western Sydney, dancing was found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 46% when compared with those who rarely or never danced. Dancing has bouts of high intensity and periods of low intensity, making it a great workout without putting too much stress on your body.

Dancing is also a great activity to do with friends and family. A recent poll conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Zhou Nutrition shows that two-thirds (65%) of respondents said they’d be more willing to work out in a group or social setting. So go out with friends or put some music on at home and dance with your family members. You can make some fun memories dancing with one another– strengthening your bonds while strengthening your heart. 

Coronary heart disease is affected by a variety of factors. Find out where your heart health stands with Epi+Gen CHD™.  This heart disease risk assessment test could be your NextGen guide for healthier cardiovascular aging and preventative care.

Resources:

1. https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf
2. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/7-heart-benefits-of-exercise
3. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/why-we-should-exercise-and-why-we-dont
4. https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(16)00030-1/fulltext#relatedArticles
5. https://swnsdigital.com/us/2022/03/7-in-10-americans-would-exercise-more-if-they-had-this/

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Ancient Egyptians regarded the heart as the center of both spiritual and intellectual activity.  This belief dominated medical thinking until the time of Galen when the importance of the brain in cognition began to be generally appreciated.  Since then, there has been an uneasy tension in our understanding of the relationship between mental and cardiac wellbeing.  For example, although “Broken Heart Syndrome”, a condition in which cardiomyopathy occurs as a result of acute stressors such as the loss of a loved one, is well-documented, many clinicians are skeptical of a more general connection between mood and risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). 

To a certain extent, these concerns are understandable because the rigorous studies that have been used to link cholesterol levels to risk for CHD are largely absent with respect to behavioral health-related factors.  However, the scientific basis for suspecting a link is well-founded.  Many of the most prominent neurotransmitters used in the brain and associated with the emotional state including serotonin, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine, are used throughout the cardiovascular system to modulate cardiac tone and rhythm.  Furthermore, the brainstem directly regulates blood pressure while the peripheral nervous system regulates heart rate.  Therefore, from a systems biology perspective, there is a great deal of circumstantial evidence for suggesting a connection between mood and risk for CHD.  But until recently, the large-scale studies capable of establishing a causal link between mood and risk for CHD have been absent. 

Due to a convergence of studies from a diverse group of individuals, a better understanding is beginning to emerge.  These studies are extremely difficult to conduct.  Although there are a plethora of self-report surveys to assess mood, these instruments perform poorly and often failed to identify the most severely depressed individuals.  Furthermore, medications used to treat depression may affect physiological variables such as blood pressure or cholesterol levels that in turn predict risk for CHD.  Nevertheless, using complex meta-analytic methods and data from nearly 1 million subjects, researchers have convincingly demonstrated that the presence of depression increases the subsequent risk for CHD.  The real question for researchers is “how”?

From a strict causality perspective, defining the “how” will be difficult.  Accurately characterizing both mood and key physiological parameters for research studies is both expensive and difficult to perform.  In addition, many risk factors for CHD tend to migrate together making disentangling their effects and identifying unique pathways an arduous task.  For example, those with depression have a higher rate of smoking, which is a well-known risk for CHD.  However, both smoking and depression are associated with heavy alcohol intake which itself is associated with risk for cardiovascular illness.  Finally, each of these 3 factors is associated with a sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary habits.  It is literally a Gordian knot of a host of risk factors for CHD whose independent effects are difficult to disentangle.

Fortunately, it is not necessary to fully understand the relationship between depression and subsequent risk for CHD to improve CHD prevention. Depression can be effectively treated through both pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic approaches. Furthermore, while addressing mood symptoms, often operating with the mantra that “a healthy body leads to a healthy mind,“ good mental health practitioners often address more global health concerns such as the risk for hypertension and the need for routine exercise during clinic visits with their patients. Addressing the needs of the entire patient, and not just of the organs above the shoulders makes good clinical sense.

Similarly, our team at Cardio Diagnostics Inc is passionate about more holistic approaches to assessing risk for CHD. Our Epi+Gen CHD, which was named BioTech Breakthrough’s Clinical Diagnostics Solution of the Year, uses the information from three epigenetic assays to assess multiple pathways affecting your risk for CHD-not just cholesterol levels. Take from an expert, and decrease your anxiety by getting a state-of-the-art in CHD risk assessment. Get Epi+Gen CHD.

Resources:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11618827/#:~:text=Galen%20considered%20that%20common%20sense,by%20the%20heart%20and%20liver).
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1847940/
3. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-014-0371-z#:~:text=The%20results%20of%20our%20meta%2Danalysis%20of%2030%20prospective%20cohort,30%25%20for%20CHD%20and%20MI.
4. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/evidence-for-causal-effects-of-lifetime-smoking-on-risk-for-depression-and-schizophrenia-a-mendelian-randomisation-study/AA82945360EC59FEC4331A7A567309C9
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167527312000484

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While April 22 is Earth Day, the entirety of April is Earth Month. The purpose of this month is to emphasize the importance of the environment, the planet we live in, sustainability, and how you can make the world a better place.

The health of the Earth has an impact on our heart health. Air pollution is a major stress on the human heart. It can damage your blood vessels by making them narrower and harder. Air pollution can stiffen your lungs causing your diaphragm and your heart to work harder– overall it is a significant strain on your ability to live a healthy life. The longer you are exposed to pollutants, the greater the risk of developing heart disease. 

A study led by Dr. Joel Kaufman found that long-term exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen oxides at levels close to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) can prematurely age blood vessels and accelerate the buildup of calcium in the coronary artery. Since stiff and narrowed arteries have more resistance, in turn this buildup of calcium further hastens the onset of symptomatic coronary heart disease.

The more polluted an area is, the hotter it is. Areas with landfills may have temperatures up to 4.7 degrees warmer than areas without landfills. Vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and the elderly are especially affected by these ‘heat islands’ created by polluted areas. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, excessive heat can result in a stroke, heart attack, and other forms of cardiovascular disease.

Recent findings suggest that a fruit and veggie-filled diet may help reduce the stress of air pollution on one’s heart. In general, a healthy diet can help reduce your risk of developing coronary heart disease. It also helps you maintain a healthy weight, reducing your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure which also contribute to heart disease.

By helping the earth, we can also help our hearts. Planting trees and increasing areas for shade are great ways to lower the temperature for communities impacted by pollution. Cool pavements can also help reduce the heat and possibly reduce flooding risks.

As we strive to improve our environment alongside our heart health, we can also incorporate the best medical tools available for individual use. Find out where your heart health stands with Epi+Gen CHD™.  This heart disease risk assessment test could be your NextGen guide for healthier cardiovascular aging and preventative care.

Resources:

1. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/air-pollution
2. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)00378-0/fulltext
3. https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/8/1/12/htm
4. https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/climate-change-and-heat-islands
5. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/healthy-eating

The post Air Pollution and Heart Health appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.

Tax season is almost over, ending this year on April 18, 2022. However, if you’re like a third of Americans, you may have waited until the last minute to file your taxes. According to a survey conducted by IPX 1031, 40% say filing is too time-consuming, 22% said it’s too stressful, and another 22% experience anxiety about whether they are filing correctly. Ten percent of respondents wait to file because they won’t be receiving a refund and six percent are stressed that they will owe money.

The stress of filing taxes is all too real, with even those who do file taxes well before the deadline and individuals in the accounting profession finding themselves increasingly stressed by the season. But this shouldn’t come as a surprise. As stated by Michael McKee, a Cleveland Clinic psychologist and President of the U.S. branch of the International Stress Management Association, “money is a major source of stress on people, and what tax season does is shine a great big spotlight on the issue.”

The stress of tax season can contribute to a larger health concern– heart disease. About 83 million people in the United States currently have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease. Many of those 83 million suffer from coronary heart disease. By prolonging the inevitability by delaying the filing your taxes, you are putting your body on a path of chronic stress which can lead to unhealthy habits and higher blood pressure.

For many accountants, tax season means more time spent sitting at the desk. The Beaumont Health Services reports that long periods of sedentary behavior can lead to a rise in blood pressure and an overall increased risk for heart disease– including death from a cardiovascular event. The long, stressful hours spent by accountants to meet deadlines may also contribute to bad eating habits. Eating healthy, regular meals is essential to maintaining a healthy heart and living a healthy life.

Yet as stressful and detrimental to our health that taxes can be, we cannot avoid them. While getting taxes done early and out of the way is a great way to reduce stress, that isn’t always possible, especially if you’re an accountant. Take time to get up from your desk at home or at work and walk around. If you have the time, a quick jog outside can do wonders and may even help you work faster in the long run. Exercise is a great stress reliever and a great way to clear your mind if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Eating healthy regular meals is another great way to keep the stress brought on by tax season at bay. Plan ahead so you can keep living your best, heart-healthiest life. 

As we conclude “tax season”, we should take time to destress and prioritize our heart health. Find out where your heart health stands with Epi+Gen CHD™. This heart disease risk assessment test could be your NextGen guide for healthier cardiovascular aging and preventative care.

Resources:

1. https://www.ipx1031.com/americas-biggest-tax-procrastinators-2021
2. https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/cope-tax-time-stress 
3. https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/health/tax-day-money-stress/index.html
4. https://www.beaumont.org/health-wellness/blogs/how-sitting-too-much-can-lead-to-heart-disease#:~:text=As%20you%20can%20see%2C%20sitting,diabetes%20and%20high%20blood%20pressure.

The post Taxes May Be Taxing on Your Heart Health appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.

Women make up one-half of the population in the United States and according to the US Department of Labor, are responsible for about 80% of health care decisions. Yet, for the longest time, women’s health has merely been about reproductive health. Now that the tides are changing and the women’s health sector is gaining more momentum, it is paramount to expand the definition of women’s health.

Women’s health includes more than just reproductive health. Despite being largely preventable, heart disease remains the number one killer of women, killing 1 in 5 women in the United States. However, according to a survey of more than 1,500 women over the age of 25 in the United States on heart disease awareness trends over 10 years, in 2019 merely 44% of women recognized that heart disease is their number one killer, down from 65% in 2009.[1] The largest declines in awareness after adjusting for factors such as income and education level were among younger women ages 25-34 years old, Hispanic women, and non-Hispanic Black women. The survey also found a decline in awareness of nearly every warning sign and symptom of a heart attack from 2009 to 2019. Even though heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined, many women still erroneously identify cancer as their leading cause of death. The awareness gap is unsettling as it could drive women to delay otherwise life-saving preventive screening and interventions until it is too late. Therefore, raising awareness of heart disease among women from all walks of life should continue to be a priority. While initiatives such as American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women are dedicated to this cause, it is up to each of us to help close the awareness gap that continues to persist by sharing information on heart disease that is rooted in facts. 

Understanding heart disease in women cannot be an afterthought as heart disease is not just a man’s disease. Not only because it is the leading cause of death for women, but also because risk factors can differ, and heart disease can present quite different between men and women. Heart attack symptoms that women experience can be different from that experienced by men. While the most common symptom for both men and women is chest pain, women may also experience other non-typical, less known symptoms such as upper back pain, fainting, indigestion, and extreme fatigue. In a 2018 study of 2,009 women and 976 men aged 18 to 55 years, researchers found that about 62% of women reported at least three non-chest pain-related symptoms compared to about 55% of men.[2] Under-recognition of less obvious, non-chest pain-related symptoms can mean that women may have trouble recognizing that they are having a life-threatening heart attack and as a result, delay seeking timely care.

While the risk for heart disease does increase with age for both men and women, biological differences between men and women also play a role in the risk for heart disease. Conditions specific to women and their reproductive histories such as endometriosis, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes that develop during pregnancy, and menopause can increase a woman’s future risk of heart disease.[3,4,5] In a study of more than 116,000 women, after 20 years of follow-up, researchers found that women with endometriosis were 62% more likely than those without endometriosis to have a heart attack, chest pain or require intervention for blocked arteries.[3] It should not come as a surprise that our understanding of heart disease in women and how these conditions affect heart disease risk in women is relatively recent and is continuing to evolve considering that until the late 1990s, research studies and clinical trials predominantly consisted of men. Prioritizing the representation of women of different backgrounds in research studies and clinical trials is critical to further mapping out gender-related differences to inform more personalized and effective diagnostic and preventive interventions.

Addressing the awareness gap and funding studies to improve our understanding of gender-specific differences alone would not be sufficient to change the narrative around heart health in women. It requires clinicians, who are major stakeholders in healthcare, to acknowledge and bridge the care gap that exists. It is not uncommon for clinicians to misread heart attack symptoms in women. In the same 2018 study of 2,009 women and 976 men aged 18 to 55 years, compared to 37% of men, 53% of women reported that their clinician did not think that their symptoms were cardiac-related.[2] Numerous studies have also shown that women are less likely to receive the proper treatment and care for heart disease compared to men. This includes secondary prevention medications such as statins and procedures such as coronary angiography that could help prevent a cardiac event before it is too late.[6,7] Missed diagnosis, under-treatment, and lack of care for heart disease in women can lead to fatal consequences and further exacerbate disparities in health outcomes between men and women. 

Improving heart care for women means knowing the tools and interventions that work well for women. Diagnostic tools for heart disease that work well for men may not always work equally well for women. Commonly used heart disease risk calculators such as the Framingham Risk Score and ASCVD Pooled Cohort Equation that aggregate traditional risk factors for heart disease such as cholesterol and blood pressure do not include women-specific risk factors. Such risk calculators have shown to not perform as well for women.[8,9,10,11] Healthcare decisions that clinicians make are only as good as the tools and data that they have at their disposal. Therefore, clinicians can help address the disparity in care by ensuring that their practices can better care for their female patients by offering patient-centered, personalized care for the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. A primary way to do that is to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a precision medicine approach by embracing evidence-based, innovative solutions that work well for women and can help improve their outcomes. 

The awareness, gender, and care gaps are intertwined. While considerable progress has been made to address them, there is still work to be done to further address the disparity in heart health care for women. Yet, it is important for us women to be more proactive about our heart health by finding the right healthcare provider and getting tested to better prevent heart disease. As the chief health decision-maker of our family, prioritizing the health of our loved ones cannot come at the expense of our own. So let’s take charge of our heart health, get the care that we deserve, and make it known that heart disease is a women’s health problem.

Resources:

1. Cushman, M et al. Ten-Year Differences in Women’s Awareness Related to Coronary Heart Disease: Results of the 2019 American Heart Association National Survey: A Special Report From the American Heart Association. 2020. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000907
2. Lichtman, J et al. Sex Differences in the Presentation and Perception of Symptoms Among Young Patients With Myocardial Infarction. 2018. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.117.031650#d3e3621
3. Mu, F et al. Endometriosis and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease. 2016. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.115.002224
4. Mosca, L et al. Effectiveness-Based Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women – 2011 Update. 2011. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/cir.0b013e31820faaf8
5. https://www.webmd.com/menopause/guide/menopause-heart-disease
6. https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2017/10/30/15/02/women-are-less-likely-to-get-secondary-prevention-medications-and-cr
7. Vallahajosyula, S et al. Sex Disparities in the Management and Outcomes of Cardiogenic Shock Complicating Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Young. 2020. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.120.007154
8. https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2019/07/17/11/56/menopause-hormone-therapy
9. Isiadinso, I et al. Do We Need a Different Approach to Address Cardiovascular Risk in Women? 2017. https://www.uscjournal.com/articles/do-we-need-different-approach-assess-cardiovascular-risk-women
10. Dogan, M et al. External Validation of Integrated Genetic-Epigenetic Biomarkers for Predicting Incident Coronary Heart Disease. 2021. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/epub/10.2217/epi-2021-0123
11. Park, K et al. Assessing Cardiovascular Risk in Women: Looking Beyond Traditional Risk Factors. 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4664450/

The post Heart Disease is a Women’s Health Problem that Deserves More Attention appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.

There is an old folk tale from India about three blind men who attempt to describe an elephant based on one touch. Each man touches a different part of the elephant, such as a foot, a tusk, or a tail, and thereby comes to a different perspective on the elephant that fails to capture the entirety of the animal. The moral of the story is that a complete understanding of any complex subject requires a holistic perspective.

Modern medicine seems not to have learned this lesson. Increasingly, the practice of medicine is increasingly balkanized. These intellectual silos impede the implementation of best practices for the prevention and care of coronary heart disease (CHD). For example, after the third-year medical school, psychiatrists rarely, if ever, receive continuing medical education regarding the assessment and management of CHD. Similarly, internists rarely receive education on behavioral health techniques for preventing and managing CHD. Because of this, patients do not receive an integrated best practice treatment plan that is personalized for their unique risk profile. Instead, what they often receive is a fragmentary set of handouts and an oral recommendation to exercise and lose weight. As a result, patients and their families suffer otherwise preventable cardiac deaths and other life-changing events. Considering the fact that the United States spends $4.1 trillion per year for healthcare, this failure to provide a holistic, integrated approach is unacceptable.

Changing this dynamic requires the realization that patients are not categories, they are people. Over their lifetime, the vast majority of patients will develop CHD or one of the numerous other associated cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, for CHD. Similarly, these same patients will also likely experience depression, anxiety, or substance use syndromes. Critically, the presence of CHD increases the risk of behavioral illness while the risk for behavioral illness increases the risk for CHD.  

Intuitively, this pattern of comorbidities should be obvious. After all, one of the most common forms of substance use, smoking is one of the largest preventable risk factors for CHD. Conversely, the onset of symptomatic CHD increases apprehension and alters our ability to participate in normal socialization. As a result, those with CHD are at increased risk for anxiety and depressive syndromes.  Conversely, because those with depression are less likely than others to exercise routinely and consume well-rounded diets, they also are more likely to develop CHD. Certain medications used in the treatment of behavioral or cardiovascular disease make the situation worse. For example, the use of beta-blockers for the control of hypertension elevates the risk of depression while the use of antipsychotics in those with behavioral illness increases the risk for CHD. These are but a small set of examples of the overlap between behavioral and cardiovascular health. But how do these details help us achieve better prevention and treatment of both sets of disorders?

I believe that the pathway forward requires clinicians to embrace the lesson from the biblical Solomon and consider the whole patient. Evaluation of patients for possible CHD should include a full biopsychosocial assessment of both risk and resilience factors for illness.  Similarly, evaluations for patients for depression should include also include the impact of the illness on dietary and preventive exercise regimens critical to heart health.

Cardio Diagnostics is committed to helping clinicians provide holistic risk assessment and management tools for their patients.  Recently, we introduced Epi+Gen CHD, and artificial intelligence guided integrated genetic epigenetic test for CHD risk. This test is the new standard for sensitivity. In direct head-to-head testing, Epi+Gen CHD predicted nearly twice as many CHD events as the ASCVD risk calculator. Better still, unlike the unidimensional output from these lipid-based risk calculators, Epi+Gen CHD three epigenetic assays provide a personalized, holistic assessment of the complex interplay of the environment with each individual’s unique genetic risk for CHD.

Learn the lesson from the folk tale. CHD risk prevention is more than just lipid reduction. Use the more holistic multidimensional assessment provided by Epi+Gen CHD™.  

Resources:

1. https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34148365/ 

The post One Body, Two Outputs: The Connection between Cardiovascular and Mental Health appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.

Written by: Zanub Husain
Reviewed by: Rob Philibert MD Ph.D.

The Department of Health and Human Services encourages everyone to get “at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity.” This activity can be spread throughout the week to just 30 minutes a day. The benefits are immense and include reducing your risk for coronary heart disease which is one of the leading causes of heart attack and stroke among adults. Here are some ideas of how you can spring into action and take control of your heart health this spring:

1. Go for a Jog
   Go the distance to improve your heart health in this simple and fun way for just 30 minutes a day. Running is a great moderate-intensity exercise you can do around your neighborhood, at the local park, or at the gym.
2. Ride a Bike
   Get your heart pumping and your leg muscles moving by taking a spin on your bike this Spring. Riding a bike is a great way to go around and explore your area while getting in some heart-healthy physical activity.
3. Have a Family Field Day
   What could be better than organizing a healthy family get-together that encourages healthy exercise habits and friendly competition? Schedule a day out at the park full of active games like frisbee, soccer, and tag.
4. Join a Sports Team or Club
   Taking part in sports is not just for kids! Anyone can sign up for a friendly sports team through community or recreational centers. There are a number of adult sports clubs out there like tennis, volleyball, basketball, and many more!
5. Dance
   Dancing is an incredible way to get your blood pumping and muscles moving. It can be a local/in-person dance class, an international/online dance class, or a dance-based video game. No matter what dance outlet you choose, it’s always fun to get your dance on!
6. Garden
   Spend some time in the sun and plant some heart-healthy vegetables like squash or spinach. All that digging, weeding, and planting is sure to be a great workout to get your heart pumping as well.
7. Join a Charity Walk
   There are tons of charity walks all over the nation. Show your support for a cause you are most passionate about by signing up for one of their events. At a charity walk, you can meet all sorts of people who share the same passion as you while getting in a healthy amount of cardio.
8. Start Your Spring Cleaning
   Sure, this may not sound the most fun at first, but there are many ways to make it more exciting and manageable. By including other members of your household, you share the work and expedite the cleaning process, giving yourself more time to relax and destress.

As we spring into action and take this season to improve our heart health, we can also involve the best medical tools available. Find out where your heart health stands with Epi+Gen CHD™.  This heart disease risk assessment test could be your NextGen guide for healthier cardiovascular aging and preventative care.

Resources:

1. https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf

The post Spring into Heart Health appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.

Let’s be honest. If you are like me and millions of other Americans, you probably did not have the most heart-healthy diet while watching the Super Bowl. That is okay. As I tell my patients, “if you can tolerate an imperfect doctor, I will tolerate an imperfect patient.” And in the end, we are all imperfect- to one extent or another.  

At the same time, it is important not to get lulled into complacency.  As enjoyable as watching the Big Game can be, it can still stressful.  In fact, the frequency of heart attacks actually increases while watching the Super Bowl!  Perhaps worse yet, other more stressful and less enjoyable events lay on the horizon.  For example, “income tax day” (April 15th) is a particularly stressful day for most Americans lies just over the horizon.  Furthermore, for those in the northern half of the United States, the specter of Winter will linger for several more weeks to come. Therefore, it is important to use annual events, like the post-Super Bowl period, to refocus our efforts on eating healthy so we can deal with these stressors more effectively.

Eating healthy does not have to be a hardship.  Instead, by making it a “team” adventure and initiating healthier habits in increments, it can become instead a social endeavor.  For example, start with one meal-like breakfast!  For that “first down”, get together with your family and friends and construct a “scouting report” for healthy options.  Use the Internet to identify the best “players” for your meal.  Instead of speed in the 40-yard dash, the key criterion for “drafting a food” should be its nutritional content.  Foods should be low in fats and high in unprocessed materials.  For example, yogurt is a “go-to” standard in European breakfast buffets and is high in protein, high in probiotics, and relatively low in fat.  In fact, low-fat and fat-free yogurts are great options for those who really need to cut down on saturated fats.  But yogurt is only one player, so use a couple of extra draft choices to obtain some fruit or whole-grain cereals to eat with the yogurt.

For the “second down” of Tuesday morning breakfast, have only your assistant coaches identify some additional players.  Cottage cheese should be high on your draft board.  For those at low cardiac risk, reduced-fat cottage cheese is usually an acceptable option.  For those at high risk, fat-free cottage cheese may be best.  But put some “motion” into your play-add some fruit or berries to spice up the diary backbone of the meal.

For the “third down”, how about oatmeal or whole-wheat toast?  These food staples do not have to be like those from our childhoods.  Just as “three yards and a cloud of dust” play-calling has been replaced by “air raid” offensives, there are a number of high-quality oatmeals and bread that are now readily available.  Supplement those grains with a generous assortment of fruits, such as raisins, or jams.   Alternatively, try a “change of pace” back. Instead of oatmeal, try grits, a staple of those in the Southern United States.  

In fact, there are a lot of great options for a healthy breakfast.  But be a smart coach-pick up some plays from your friends. Just as the “Philly Special” became a staple of most NFL playbooks, crowdsource a couple of meals from your friends.  Find out who has the best bagels in town; one of your friends probably knows.  How about the freshest bakery?  Somebody out there has that information.  In fact, there are a lot of great options for a healthy breakfast.  Check out reliable sources like Good Housekeeping for additional suggestions.

Perhaps the most important thing in your mission to build a better you is to set realistic goals.  Sadly, your favorite football team is unlikely to win the Super Bowl.  Similarly, it is hard to develop a totally new dietary playbook. Instead, you should use this post big game opportunity as “fuel” to improve your eating habits.  Begin with a healthy breakfast and build outwards to a healthier lunch and dinner. And who knows, you and the rest of your team might just be heading off to better living.

And while you are surfing the internet to compile your own personal scouting report, why don’t you just wander over to Cardio Diagnostics and check out Epi+Gen CHD.  Epi+Gen CHD is a great referee for your heart health. In head-to-head testing, Epi+Gen CHD predicted twice the cardiac events as conventional lipid-based testing.  So get with today’s game;  try Epi+Gen CHD™.

Resources:

1. https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article258328118.html
2. https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/shows.php?shows=0_kew7dgr9
3. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/g27684033/what-to-eat-for-breakfast/
4. https://www.nfl.com/news/bengals-quarterback-joe-burrow-hopes-to-use-super-bowl-loss-as-fuel-for-the-rest
5. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/epi-2021-0123

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Frederick Nietzsche famously stated, “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.”  Frequently, this saying is used by individuals ranging from parents to physicians to rationalize the imposition of unwanted requirements, such as otherwise unwanted exercise.   In this regard, the clinicians are usually right.  But is Nietzsche’s rule true for conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease as well?

There certainly is some precedent.  For example, cystic fibrosis (CF) is a potentially fatal autosomal recessive disease that occurs when an individual inherits two defective copies of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane transporter (CFTR) gene.  However, epidemiological studies have suggested that those who inherit only one defective copy of the gene are more resistant to cholera or tuberculosis, bacterial diseases that together still kill tens of thousands of people annually.  Hence, the strong protective value of one defective copy of the CFTR gene explains its commonality in the gene pool and provides good reason to believe that other factors which cause one disease can protect us from another.

This may be true for heart disease as well.  Over the past several years, scientists have shown that a disorder of the bone marrow referred to as clonal hematopoiesis (CH) increases the risk for heart disease. The bone marrow provides a nursery for the growth of the stem cells that produce red and white blood cells.  Occasionally, these rapidly dividing stem cells will mutate in such a manner that they grow more quickly than the surrounding cells.  Over the course of decades, even a small advantage in reproductive rate can lead to the more rapidly dividing cells replacing the nonmutated cells.  If this “clonal” stem cell line replaces more than 1 or 2% of the white blood cells (WBCs) in circulation, this is referred to as CH.  Like many disorders of cell proliferation, CH becomes more common as we age.  At least 10% of all of those over the age of 70 have some degree of CH.  Unfortunately, generally speaking, being diagnosed with CH is not welcome news because it is associated with an increased risk for both cancer and coronary heart disease (CHD).

However, recently released studies suggest that there may be a silver lining to the dark cloud of CH for those concerned about the risk of dementia.  Specifically, a leading theory for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, stipulates that AD is caused by the failure of brain specific immune cells referred to as microglia to clear inflammatory protein aggregates resulting in the death of neurons responsible for memory and cognition.  Using archived data, a group of researchers from the TOPMed Consortium is now reporting that in those with CH, the mutant WBCs appear to supplement the failing glial cells’ efforts to remove these proteinaceous protein plaques and provide protection against AD. 

These findings are creating renewed interest in the Alzheimer’s disease research community that immunotherapy may be a powerful tool to reverse the effects of aging on the brain; it just may be getting the right balance of immune cell activation.  This is not easy to achieve. Although it removes some plaques, the recent FDA approved drug called Aducanumab, which is an antibody that targets the amyloid protein, may not clear enough amyloid plaques to be clinically effective.  Conversely, immunization approaches can clear amyloid brain plaques in patients.  Unfortunately, in prior clinical trials, these anti-amyloid protein vaccines have caused unacceptably high rates of severe side effects related to high levels of immune activation.   The question is whether there is a middle ground of immune activation that can clear the plaques without killing the patient.  In that regard, the findings from the TOPMed consortium are extremely intriguing.    Because the precursor cells for the brain microglia all originate from the bone marrow, their findings suggest that it may be possible to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s Disease by modestly elevating brain microglia activity by supplementing the aging cells with newly created cells targeted to the brain.  Unfortunately, developing and testing those potential therapies could take decades.  But from a mechanistic point of view, there seems to be no fundamental barrier that could prevent this risk factor for heart disease from being transformed into a new treatment for Alzheimer’s.

But while these treatments are being developed, it is still important to focus on the prevention of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States and an important cause of other types of dementia including multi-infarct dementia.  Fortunately, using some of the same subjects used by the TOPMed Consortium, we have developed Epi+Gen CHD, a state-of-the-art integrated genetic epigenetic test for detecting risk for coronary heart disease.  In head-to-head testing, Epi+Gen CHD™ markedly outperformed archaic lipid-based tests in predicting risk for heart disease. 

As we strive to build a better future for ourselves, we should use the best medical tools available.  If you believe that you may be at risk for heart disease, try Epi+Gen CHD™.  It could be your NextGen guide for healthier cardiovascular aging even if your physician recommends more vigorous exercise.

Resources:

1. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2006.0154
2. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1701719
3. https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/emmm.201606210
4. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.10.21267552v1
5. https://immunityageing.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1742-4933-1-2
6. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/epi-2021-0123

The post Can Heart Disease Show Us a New Avenue for Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease? appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.

Written by: Emily Lind
Medically reviewed by: Rob Philibert, MD PhD 

No matter what your job is, there are always days when it feels like the work is killing you. But did you know that your job might literally be increasing your risk of heart disease? 

It’s well known that some types of jobs are associated with increased heart disease. High-stress jobs with a lot of overtime work and shift changes are known to be bad for your heart health. During the current pandemic, it’s hard to think of a more stressful job than nursing. And anyone who’s seen a video of Black Friday sales can’t be surprised that retail cashiers have such a high risk of heart disease.

It’s no surprise, then, that high-stress, overtime-prone shift work jobs in retail,  nursing, healthcare, and social work are associated with increased heart disease in women, even when controlling for age, marital status, education, and race. 

Figure 1. Social workers, retail cashiers, and nurses have an increased risk of heart disease, while real estate brokers and administrative assistants have reduced risk. Data from here.

Why does heart health matter for women?

When most people picture a heart attack, they think of a middle-aged man clutching their chest. However, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States  – 1 in 5 female deaths are from heart disease.

Women have different symptoms of heart attacks than men. For example, women are more likely to have shortness of breath, dizziness, lightheadedness and fatigue during heart attacks. Many women think they’re tired or simply have the flu, when in reality they are in severe danger.

Women are also more likely to be misdiagnosed. Doctors mistake their symptoms for signs of panic disorder, stress, or even hypochondria. 

How can I check my heart health?

The study which found increased heart disease in certain professions used seven key indicators. You can use Life’s Simple 7 to assess your own heart health! Some of these variables will require help from a healthcare practitioner.

1. Manage your blood pressure
2. Control your cholesterol levels
3. Reduce blood sugar
4. Get active and exercise
5. Eat better and maintain a healthy diet
6. Maintain a healthy body weight
7. Stop smoking 

Life’s simple seven misses important details:

Unfortunately, Life’s Simple Seven aren’t quite as simple as they appear. Constant anxiety over weight, diet and exercise is draining. And if you (like many patients) are nervous in a doctor’s office, your blood pressure reading might be plain wrong. Furthermore, all it takes is using the wrong sized cuff or positioning the patient wrong to get an inaccurate blood pressure reading.

Cholesterol testing is also frequently over-performed and is easily influenced by small changes in diet. Eating too much unhealthy fat can give you a worse score. If you cut out all fats completely from your diet, you might accidentally remove ‘healthy’ fats and still end up with a bad test result. Cholesterol tests are even trickier for women because menopause impacts blood lipid levels. 

Glucose testing to monitor your blood sugar levels is also prone to errors. If you test too soon after a meal, you can have artificially higher blood sugar levels. Patient-accessible blood glucose monitors are easily fooled – all it takes is touching orange before the finger prick. The trace amounts of increased sugar on your fingertip are enough to spike your glucose levels.

What can I do instead to monitor my heart health?

One option for Americans seeking better prevention is through the use of Epi+Gen CHD test from Cardio Diagnostics Inc.  Hailed as the Clinical Diagnostics Solution of the Year, the test is accessible from the comfort of your own home through telemedicine appointments with doctors. Epi+Gen CHD tests both your genetic and epigenetic risk of heart disease. To learn more, you can read our blogs. The Epi+Gen CHD test can better predict your 3-year risk of CHD than the standard lipid tests offered by most doctors.  In particular, for women it is 40% more likely to predict a heart heart attack. It’s never been easier to understand your true risk of heart disease. For more information on how to order an Epi+Gen CHD test for yourself or the police officer in your life, visit Elicity.

Resources:

1. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/jaha.117.008073
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6267375/
3. https://www.ems1.com/ems-products/medical-monitoring/articles/5-errors-that-are-giving-you-incorrect-blood-pressure-readings-zJNOHnFJZOocufoS/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3026174/
5. https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/ss/slideshow-cholesterol-mistakes
6. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/gender-matters-heart-disease-risk-in-women
7. https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/34/3/596/38745/Glucose-Monitoring-After-Fruit-Peeling
8. https://cardiodiagnosticsinc.com/biotech-breakthrough-award-press-release/
9. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/10.2217/epi-2021-0123
10. https://elicity.health/our-tests/details/heart-disease-risk 

The post Study Finds Career with Lowest Heart Health Score for Women appeared first on Cardio Diagnostics.