Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “lifestyle habits”
You know that lifestyle choices can help your heart’s health. And the evidence just keeps getting stronger. Consider exercise. Physical activity not only improves weight, lowers cholesterol, and enhances the functioning of your heart, but, a new study shows, it also calms inflammation, a major culprit behind cardiovascular disease and its deadly consequences. Inflammation is a key part of the …
The start of a new year is a good time to reflect on past behaviors and identify where you need to improve. One of the best ways to promote your overall well-being is to nurture your heart’s health. Here are six key measures to ensure you’re doing right by yours in the coming year: 1. Know your numbers Your cholesterol, …
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to the holidays and your health. The good news: Research shows that the average American puts on just about a pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day (though heavier people add more than five pounds). The bad news: Most people never shed the extra weight, according to a study in the …
Racing through traffic. Meeting a deadline. Giving a presentation. These and other stressors take a toll on your immediate health, increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and the release of harmful hormones like cortisol. But it’s the long-term effects you may really need to worry about. Chronic stress is associated not only with complaints like insomnia, muscle aches, and gastrointestinal distress, …
Is Sitting the New Smoking? The headlines on the health dangers of sitting are hard to ignore. Inactivity has been recognized as an independent risk factor for heart attack and stroke—as dangerous as smoking cigarettes. Now the American Heart Association (AHA) has issued a strongly worded advisory aimed at getting people up and moving, even those who are already physically …
When it comes to our eating habits, it doesn’t get much grimmer than the Western diet. High in fat, red and processed meats, salt, and sugar and low in healthful plant foods, it’s the predominant eating pattern in the U.S.—and increasingly in other parts of the world—and solidly linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other chronic conditions. But recently …
Running on empty. Burning the candle at both ends. Pulling an all-nighter. Sleep loss is so endemic to American society that we have a whole vocabulary for it. Despite a couple of decades of research revealing the health dangers of cheating on sleep, the culture seems to expect effort and achievement at any cost, including widespread sleep deprivation. In …
The Stroke Threat You’ve Never Heard Of Regardless of their personal habits, most Americans know that diet, exercise, sleep, and other lifestyle measures can affect their risk of developing heart disease and experiencing a life-changing stroke. But another, less obvious factor appears to play a role in these common heart problems: Sheer loneliness. The link was confirmed in a recent …
For decades, the relationship between cholesterol and heart health seemed to be black and white: High levels of “bad” or “lousy” LDL cholesterol raised the risk for heart disease. High levels of “good” HDL or “healthy” cholesterol reduced it by removing cholesterol from artery walls. The belief has been so solid that doctors routinely prescribed drugs like niacin to help …
Everyone is at risk for heart disease, but some people have more risk factors than others. Since heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults in the U.S., it’s important for us all to know what our risk factors for heart disease are, and what we can do about them. There are two types of risk factors for …
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is on the rise among younger women, yet many of them are unaware of their risk until they actually suffer a heart attack, according to a Yale School of Public Health study published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Only 53 percent of the young heart attack survivors studied …
“Acute inflammatory response is often necessary to save your life, and yet chronic inflammatory response could lead to death,” because it’s been linked to everything from heart disease and stroke to Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and many other fatal conditions, Dr. Mark Kestner recently reported in an article titled, “Chronic inflammation will probably be what kills you.” New …
Intriguing new research is helping solve the mystery of why some seemingly healthy people suffer heart attacks and other cardiovascular events, despite lacking any of the traditional risk factors. Indeed, if the five leading cardiovascular threats–smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and obesity–were entirely eliminated, only half of deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) would be prevented, according …
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes and cancer have shared risk factors, including systemic inflammation, University of Colorado Cancer Center investigator Tim Byers, MD, MPH reported at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2015. For example, says Dr. Byers, “Obesity leads to a chronic inflammatory state and circulating growth factors that have adverse effects on the heart, and can also …
Strenuous daily exercise may actually raise risk for heart disease, stroke and blood clots, while moderate physical activity a few times a week lowers it substantially, according to a new study of 1.1 million women published in Circulation. Not only did the study pinpoint exactly how hard and how often women should work out to get the best protection against …
Embracing positive emotions–from optimism and gratitude to love, laughter and other joyful experiences–has been shown to dramatically reduce heart attack and stroke risk, and could even add years to your life, new research suggests. In fact, the most optimistic people are twice as likely to have ideal cardiovascular health, compared to those who are pessimistic, according to a study of …
Romance, marriage and even hugs can have surprising cardiovascular benefits, studies show. For example, couples who attempt heart-healthy lifestyle changes together are up to 11 times more likely to succeed than people who try changes on their own, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study examined data from 3,722 married or cohabiting couples aged 50 …
Following six healthy lifestyle habits may reduce women’s risk for heart disease by 92 percent, compared to women with none of these habits, a new study published in Journal of American College of Cardiology suggests. Researchers from Harvard and other centers tracked 88,940 women whose ages were 27 to 44 at baseline over a 20-year period. With February marking American …
