Sudden Cardiac Death - Is it Healthy to be an Athlete?

In the USA, an average of 90 top athletes die suddenly every year--- often they collapse while going full-out, in the fierce heat of competition.

Why? Their magnificent hearts simply fail.

Suddenly, yes, without warning, their hearts seize up, and stop. And no one knew--- not their parents, their coaches, their doctors.

They are victims of "Sudden Cardiac Death." And everyone is stunned, surprised, crushed.

Like the two top teenage athletes in New Jersey, who died last year.

They both suffered hypertrophic cardiomyopathy--- and the worst of the tragedy is that their dangerous condition could have been screened, with a routine and low-cost electrocardiogram, or EKG.

In the US, one study, (published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2006), resulted in a call for EKG athlete screening.

The wheels of public health grind slowly. There is much talk about public screening programs for all athletes in school. But much debate in the USA makes that unlikely.

For 30 years, the Italian Ministry of Health required screening for their competitive athletes. They also tracked the results.

Italian cardiac screening (of athletes 14-35) lowered cardiac deaths by 89 percent!

The European Society of Cardiology and the International Olympic Committee now urge EKG screening for all competitive athletes.

But in the US, no such urging--- the American Heart Association still recommends the standard medical history and physical exam.

Does it cost too much to save those lives? The Annals of Internal Medicine published a computer simulation, demonstrating how American athletes (14 to 22 years old) would be affected by screening.

Adding an EKG would save 2.06 more life-years per 1,000 athletes at an additional cost of $89 per athlete--- including all secondary examinations and treatment.

Unbelievable! What a deal! Over 2 more years of life for the cost of an I-pod?

“It’s as fair a statement as I’ve ever seen on the cost-effectiveness of EKG screening,” said Dr. Robert J. Myerburg, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Miami.

Still, the US government may never take this simple cost-effective life-saving action. Just look at the swamp of reaction in congress to anything that seems constructive or progressive.

Bottom line--- why wait? if you or your child is competing, get a private screening.

Be proactive. Protect yourself and your loved ones.

89 USD buys 2.06 years? I'll take a dozen!

Get the EKG!

Health Plan 2

Dear President Obama,

First, we salute your valiant efforts to obtain universal health insurance for all USA citizens. Its been a good fight and you tried your best. But you cannot please everyone.

Revisionist compromises have melted down your plan to a battered jellyfish of shrunken proportions, with little or no chance of passing. And yet, I know you won't give up.

You are made of sterner stuff; your smile is hardening, and I'm glad to see it.

So, President Obama, sir, here is my suggestions for your backup Health Plan. Let's call it "Health Plan 2".

Since you've been obstructed in the insurance gambit, here's another way not greatly boost the disastrous level of health in America.

Use a fraction of those funds to fight for preventative medicine and lifestyle modification.

We know that many other countries have national health plans that work so well at lower cost. Why? Look at those countries. They eat less, they exercise more, they smoke less.

America is a nation of obese, diabetic, nicotine-addicted, pharma-addicted, sedentary TV watchers. So use TV. That's the medium. The web? Less so, but a good add-on.

Studies show that 40 percent of cancers wont happen--- if people give up smoking and gluttony and boozing, exercise even moderately--- and are given vaccines to kill cancer-causing infections.

The International Union Against Cancer has excellent guidelines for your Health Plan 2--- steps you can take to save us from ourselves and improve our health. IUAC says 1/5th of all deadly cancers are due to avoidable infections.

The World Health Organization says cancer kills your citizens, and the rate is rising exponentially, with a national life-style of self-destruction. That's why we're 37th globally on a ratio of health cost to health quality of life.

"Policymakers around the world have the opportunity and obligation to use these vaccines to save people's lives and educate their communities towards lifestyle choices and control measures that reduce their risk of cancer," Cary Adams (CEO of IUAC), said.

President Obama, don't you agree?

Americans can avoid most of the fatal cancers, those of the lungs, breasts and colon — if you use all your power to change their habits.

Take all the leftover energy and resources from your Sysiphean health plan fight. Refocus your fight for national health, into a war on disease through prevention.

Think it over, President Obama.

Start by publically kicking nicotine. Do it to kickstart an no-smoking campaign, let others suffer with you, for solidarity.

Health Plan 2 might even save more lives than your posthumously valiant Health Plan 1.

SSRI Drugs Bring New Hope to Stroke Victims!

A new drug study gives hope to stroke patients--- victims of the devastating tragedy of a destroyed or badly-damaged memory.

One of the most terrifying things that can happen to us is brain damage, the loss of part of our mind and memory, or even everything we know. Decades of a personal humanity--- gone in a burst of shock to the brain, that leaves one helpless, confused, and despairing.

We fear it, yet most of us understand it so poorly. What is a stroke, really?

A stroke disrupts blood flow to the brain, and cells start to die. There are 2 kinds. Both can devastate the life memories stored there, and the pathways of those memories.

One kind of stroke is caused by a blood clot blocking a blood vessel leading to the brain. The other type of stroke is when a blood vessel ruptures--- bleeding into the brain, instead of feeding blood to the affected area, now oxygen-starved.

We've all seen the stroke victim difficulties--- unable to move one side of the body, and terrible speech problems, or "aphasia."

And many strokes damage the centers of thinking and memory, the centers of human 'cognitive function'.

Well, now there is hope, if the results of a new study can be believed. And we certainly hope they can. The evidence seems strong enough.

Drugs called "selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors" (SSRIs), are a type of antidepressant.

Researchers believe these drugs can stimulate new brain growth--- new pathways and nerve cells in the brain.

Study groups were subjected to problem-solving therapy, a dummy drug (a placebo), or an SSRI called escitalopram.

12 months later, the subjects took memory and thinking tests to compare their previous function levels.

The escitalopram results scored higher than either placebo or problem-solving therapy!

(On a 120-point scoring system, people taking the drug had an improvement of 10 points, compared with 3 points for people not taking the drug.)

Looking at individual parts of the test, only the parts measuring memory showed a bigger improvement for people taking escitalopram. Other tests showed no difference.

Memories improved with escitalopram--- regardless of which type of stroke they suffered--- improvements in people's ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.

What does the new study promise for stroke victims?

It's pretty obvious. SSRI drugs seem to be a powerful rehab tool.


People who suffer strokes can gain new hope in the recovery of their cognitive function. Even after their brain has been damaged, there can be life after stroke!

Dementia Defeating Diet: Guarding your Mind, with Food!

Humans everywhere fear developing dementia, more than any other health condition. Studies in every country repeat this universal terror, of losing mental control.

That's why its amazing that so few people realize this--- that basic lifestyle changes can save their mind, while saving their body.

In England, for example, 37 per cent of people fear developing dementia in later life--- they fear dementia above cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

But of those people, 62 per cent thought lifestyle has no impact on possibly developing dementia!

A dementia-defeating diet? Can this be possible? Well, its not only possible, but its inevitable.

We all know that food affects the body in many good and bad ways. But how can food affect the mind?

A landmark study by French researchers has produced concrete evidence that fish, omega-3 rich oils, fruits and vegetables, can reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

The French National Institute study (published in the journal Neurology) is based on 8,085 people older than 65, who had no dementia (at the start of the study).

Over the following four years, 183 of the participants developed Alzheimer's disease, and 98 developed another form of dementia.

Those who regularly consumed omega-3 rich oils, such as canola, flaxseed, and walnut oil, were 60 percent less likely to develop dementia than those who did not regularly consume such oils.

The French study also found that regular consumption of fruits and vegetables lowered dementia risk by 30 percent.

People who ate fish at least once a week were 40 percent less likely to develop dementia and 35 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's--- but only if they didn't carry a gene (ApoE4) (known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's).

Pascale Barberger-Gateau, of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, said, "Given that most people do not carry the ApoE4 gene, these results could have considerable implications in terms of public health."

The French researchers also found that people without the ApoE4 gene, who regularly consumed omega-6 rich oils -- such as sunflower or grape-seed oil -- but not omega-3 rich oils or fish, were twice as likely to develop dementia as people who didn't eat omega-6 rich oils!

Guard your mind while protecting your body--- because a mind is a terrible thing to lose!

Deadly Vitamin Toxicity: Are You Poisoning Yourself to be Healthier?

"Moderation always, in all things." --- Ancient Maxim



Sudden death, birth defects, lung cancer, osteoporosis? From vitamins?

Warning! Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)!

You, who take mega-doses of vitamins--- Beware! You could be killing yourselves!

Studies show that over 80% of Americans have zero awareness of vitamin toxicity. Every day, 44% of Americans take vitamins and dietary supplements.

You need to know what UL means. This is urgent, a heads-up for all Vitamin junkies.

Popular vitamins like C, vitamin E, and multivitamins, are all top best-sellers. And if you abuse them, they are poison--- potential KILLERS.

Iron-containing vitamins are the most toxic (especially in pediatric-acute ingestions). Fat-soluble vitamins have even higher potential for toxicity--- due to their capability to accumulate in the fat-storage system of the human body.

Death is certainly possible. The first documented vitamin poisoning was Xavier Mertz, a Swiss scientist. Mertz died in January 1913, on an Antarctic expedition. They lost their food supplies, and in desertion, they ate their sled dogs.

Mertz died of poisoning. He had consumed lethal amounts of vitamin A. How? By eating the livers of his dogs, (where Vitamin A was stored in great concentration). The dogs themselves were sick with a vitamin A overdose from a diet of fish.

In fact, vitamin A toxicity is common in Arctic explorers. A 30 to 90 gram chunk of polar bear liver can kill a human, and sicken or kill sled dogs.

Here's a baseline UL--- the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for Vitamin A, for a 25-year old male, is 3,000 micrograms/day, or about 10,000 IU.

For females and older people the fatal UL can be much lower. The UL for other Vitamins varies.

How tragic, for you to work so hard to be healthy, only to poison yourself with "Hypervitaminosis"!

Symptoms associated with vitamin toxicities include nausea, blurred vision, fatigue, weight-loss, menstrual abnormalities, etc. Symptoms of poisoning!

Excess vitamin A can cause osteoporosis, and studies show an increase in lung cancer (When Vitamin A excess was studied in a lung cancer prevention trial in male smokers. However, in non-smokers, the opposite effect was noted.)

Excess preformed vitamin A in mothers with no vitamin deficiency, during early pregnancy, can increase birth defects--- some severe, life-threatening--- just twice the DRA (daily recommended amount) can cause severe birth defects! (Experts say most women carry plenty of vitamin A in their fat cells, so over-supplementation should be strictly avoided.)

However, with all this said, vitamins are essential to life. Vitamin deficiencies can be lethal too--- to mothers and babies alike. In sane amounts.

Recent studies emerging from some developing countries (India, Bangladesh and Indonesia) show that dosing expectant mothers, in a Vitamin A deficient population, can greatly reduce maternal mortality ratio. Similarly, dosing newborn infants with vitamin A significantly reduces neonatal mortality.

So, moderation in all things--- with Vitamins, take care.

With a healthy balanced diet, plentiful with fruits and veggies, your body makes most (and probably all) of the vitamins you require.

Don't destroy your healthy with megadoses of supplements that can do much much more harm than good.

Beyond the right UL you are taking poison!

Consult your health practitioner before assuming you know what you body needs or doesn't need!

Excercise and Depression - Is your own Energy a Blues-Breaker?

"It's not a magic bullet, but increasing physical activity is a positive and active strategy to help manage depression and anxiety." --- Kristin Vickers-Douglas


When you have depression or anxiety, exercising may be the last thing you think you can do. But you can overcome the inertia.

Exercise has long been touted as a way to maintain physical fitness and help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases.

A growing volume of research shows that exercise can also help improve symptoms of certain mental health conditions--- including depression and anxiety.

Research suggests that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve depression symptoms. But smaller amounts of activity — as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time — can improve mood in the short term.

"Small bouts of exercise may be a great way to get started if it's initially too hard to do more," said Dr. Vickers-Douglas, Ph.D., a psychologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Just how exercise reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety isn't fully understood. Some evidence suggests that exercise raises the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain.

Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release muscle tension, help you sleep better, and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Physical activity also increases body temperature, which may have calming effects.

All of these changes in your mind and body can improve life quality.

The Mayo Clinic identifies several highly positive exercise results--- gaining confidence, taking your mind off your worries, creating more social interaction, and coping in a healthy way.

Meeting exercise goals or challenges, even small ones, can boost your self-confidence. (Getting in shape improves your self-image, you feel better about your appearance.)

Exercise is a distraction that can get you away from the cycle of negative thoughts that feed anxiety and depression. Also, exercise breaks the cell of isolation, it gives you the chance to meet or socialize with others. Just exchanging a friendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood can help your mood.

Drinking alcohol, or dwelling on how blue you feel, or hoping anxiety or depression will go away on their own, all lead to worsening symptoms, putting you ever deeper into the emotional hole. Life-damaging symptoms--- sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness--- should be the alarm that wakes you up.

Combined with the right treatment regimen, exercise can be the best pro-active reaction you can have, when the Blues threaten your quality of life.

More amazingly, researchers have found that your own exercise may also help prevent a relapse, following medical, clinical, and drug treatment, for depression or anxiety.

Doing something positive, taking charge, empowers you. It cuts through the sense of helplessness.

Your own power to manage anxiety or depression is a healthy coping strategy. A regular exercise routine retrains your mind to fight back against the Blues!

The "Dash Diet" and Orlistat - Low Carbs mean Lower Blood Pressure?

"There are many paths to weight loss." --- Registered dietitian Karen Congro, director of the "Wellness for Life" Program at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, NYC



Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center just announced the results of a new important study. They've found that a low-carbohydrate diet helps people shed as many pounds as a low-fat diet plus the powerful weight-loss drug Orlistat.

(Orlistat is marketed as Xenical, a prescription medication, and Alli, available over-the-counter.)

The low-carb plan could definitely help lower blood pressure, the researchers reported. The Duke scientists compared the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet alone, and in combination with exercise and weight management.

Their study (published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine), says both diets are weight-effective--- both helped participants lose almost 10 percent of their body weight!

Researcher Dr. William Yancy is an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and a staff physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

He said he believes that both diet plans can work well against the many ills of obesity, if the plan chosen were followed. Two other studies (in the same issue of the journal) compare the effectiveness of the anti-hypertension DASH diet, and a physician-supervised plan.

Dr Yancy said, "Weight loss was similar but substantial in both groups we studied, but blood pressure improved more in the low-carb dieters. There are options out there. Pick a diet you think you could stick to better, and work with your physician to help you target the right intervention for you."

An editorial in the same journal, by Dr. Robert Kushner of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, pointed to obesity as the cause of many illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a long list of cancers.

Dr Kushner said that over one-third of American adults are obese--- worse, the incidence of obesity has gone up 140 percent over the past decade alone!

Dr Yancy's researchers studied 146 overweight or obese adults. Some were randomly assigned to a low-carb diet.

Others were assigned to treatment with Orlistat and a low-fat diet. The average age of the study participants was 52. Their average BMI was 39 (over 30 is considered obese).

The low-carb diet group began with a carb intake under 20 grams/day. The group taking Orlistat received a 120-milligram dose 3 times daily; they also were limited in diet to 30 percent calories from fat.

Over 48 weeks, the low-carbohydrate group lost 9.5 percent of their body weight, while the Orlistat group lost 8.5 percent. "Good" cholesterol (HDL) and triglyceride levels improved in both groups.

However, LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, was only reduced in the Orlistat group.

Insulin and glucose markers improved only in the low-carb group.

Blood pressure improved in the low-carb group, compared to the Orlistat group.

Also, researchers combining the DASH diet with weight management and exercise, got results in a 16.1 mm Hg drop in systolic blood pressure--- compared to 11.2 mm Hg on the DASH diet alone.

Combining the exercise, weight management and DASH plan, brought an average weight loss of 19 pounds over four months! This result is amazing, compared to less than one pound for the DASH diet alone.

Another every more proactive third study compared an Internet weight-management program, with a physician-managed program, for extremely obese people. This included a liquid diet component, followed by a structured diet, behavioral counseling and diet medications.

The more intensive intervention was even more successful--- 31 percent of the group dropped more than 5 percent of their body weight, compared to just 9 percent of the Internet group.

What often makes the difference in whether or not a diet is successful, one researcher stated, is whether or not there's a counseling and support component to the plan.

Bottom line, these studies show that you don't necessarily need to get to your "ideal body weight" to make substantial improvements to your health. Losing 5 percent to 10 percent of your body weight can make life-saving changes in blood pressure, in cholesterol and in glucose control.

So which diet plan is most effective and best suited for endangered individuals?

Regular exercise, a low-carb diet, the medication Orlistat?

"If it can make you a healthier person, then a diet is a success," said Registered dietitian Karen Congro, director of the "Wellness for Life" Program at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, NYC.

There are many paths to weight loss, yes. But the plan you follow is always the best plan. On this all researchers AGREE!



(SOURCES: William Yancy Jr., M.D., M.H.S., associate professor, medicine, Duke University Medical Center, and staff physician, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, N.C.; Karen Congro, R.D., C.D.N., director, Wellness for Life Program, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York City; Jan. 25, 2010, Archives of Internal Medicine)