War on Salt

[bill5]

Even if all the implications were true, there are other reasons to keep salt intake to modest/minimal levels. eg kidney stones.

Moderation and common sense should rule, but wow are those things detested in this day and age.

 

[waltky]

Xanthelasmata are mostly made up of cholesterol...

Eyelid marks warn of heart attack
15 September 2011 - Yellow markings on the eyelids are a sign of increased risk of heart attack and other illnesses, say researchers in Denmark.

A study published on the BMJ website showed patients with xanthelasmata were 48% more likely to have a heart attack. Xanthelasmata, which are mostly made up of cholesterol, could be a sign of other fatty build-ups in the body. Cardiologists said the findings could be used by doctors to help diagnose at-risk patients. The research team at the Herlev Hospital in Denmark started following 12,745 people in the 1970s. At the start of the study, 4.4% of patients had xanthelasmata.

Yellow alert

Thirty three years later, 1,872 had had a heart attack, 3,699 had developed heart disease and 8,507 had died - and the data showed that those with the yellow markings around the eyes were at greatest risk. Those with the markings were 48% more likely to have a heart attack, 39% more likely to have developed heart disease and 14% more likely to have died during the study. The authors believe patients with xanthelasmata may be more likely to deposit cholesterol around the body. A build up of fatty material in the walls of arteries - known as atherosclerosis - leads to stroke and heart attack.

For both men and women in several age groups, the data said there was a one in five chance of developing heart disease in the next decade if the patient had xanthelasmata. The authors said such patients were "generally considered to be at high risk" and should have "lifestyle changes and treatment to reduce [bad] cholesterol." However they warned that: "Today, most people with xanthelasmata are seen by dermatologists, when they want their xanthelasmata removed for cosmetic reasons. "Some of these people may not have been managed according to their increased risk of cardiovascular disease."

A review of the study, by US cardiologists Antonio Fernandez and Paul Thompson, concluded that: "Xanthelasmata could be used by general clinicians to help identify people at higher risk of cardiovascular disease." Judy O'Sullivan, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "There are many different techniques to predict someone's risk of developing heart disease in the future, none of which are perfect. The most important thing is that any one of these techniques is used in the first place."

BBC News - Eyelid marks warn of heart attack

 

[bill5]

Staying on topic just isn't your thing, is it?

 

[good7879]

Even if all the implications were true, there are other reasons to keep salt intake to modest/minimal levels. eg kidney stones.

Moderation and common sense should rule, but wow are those things detested in this day and age.

 

[bill5]

Well said. Again.

 

[Dude111]

Your GRANDMOTHER is (or probably was) a better dietician than modern medicine.

Couldnt agree more my friend!!

 

[editec]

I think Stroll hit it when she complained that processed foods have too much sodium in them.

They also often have too much sugar as well as preservatives with dubious health consequences.

The solution is to stop buying so many damned processed foods.

Easier said than done, I know, for those of you whose schedules are full.

But not only is the food you start from scratch better tasting, it is also healthier PLUS cheaper, too.

I must admit that I have an affect for progresso's fasta fagule soup with I do not doubt has too much salt in it.

Also I'm fond of Raman soups whose bullion is mostly salt.

As with most things moderation seems to be the best policy.

 

[bill5]

As with most things moderation seems to be the best policy.

Exactly....

 

[chanel]

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made it impossible for Good Samaritans to donate food to government-run facilities that feed the homeless.

For what reason would he restrict free and charitable donations?

Well, you’re probably familiar with the mayor’s crusade against salt — apparently, it’s bad for you and the government should regulate how much is in your food.

Therefore, in an effort to curb the citizenry’s dirty salt habits, the Bloomberg administration has instructed all government-run shelters to turn away any donated food items that lack specific nutritional information.

Basically, the city is dissuading private citizens from being charitable.

NYC Anti-Salt Crusade Demands Gov’t-Run Shelters Turn Away Donated Food | TheBlaze.com

Something tells me the donated food in the soup kitchens is a little tastier than the slop they feed the children at school.

I wonder if that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Get yer blood tested a-fore ya drop dead of a heart attack...

Blood test could predict heart attacks: US study
22 Mar.`12 - US researchers have found oddly-shaped blood cells in heart attack patients, indicating that a blood test could help predict whether a patient is at risk of an imminent cardiac emergency.

The study by the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) found that the endothelial blood cells from heart attack patients are abnormally large and misshapen, sometimes appearing with multiple nuclei. That could make them reliable indicators of an impending heart attack, according to the study published this week in Science Translational Medicine. "The ability to diagnose an imminent heart attack has long been considered the holy grail of cardiovascular medicine," said Eric Topol, the study's principal investigator and director of STSI.

Doctors have long been able to identify risk factors -- such as smoking, obesity and high cholesterol -- that can put patients at greater danger of heart disease, but cannot predict imminent attacks. The study involved 50 patients who showed up at emergency rooms with heart attacks at four acute care hospitals in San Diego, California, and who were found to have the unusually shaped cells. "With some additional validation, the hope is to have this test developed for commercial use in next year or two," said researcher Raghava Gollapudi.

"This would be an ideal test to perform in an emergency room to determine if a patient is on the cusp of a heart attack or about to experience one in the next couple of weeks. "Right now we can only test to detect if a patient is currently experiencing or has recently experienced a heart attack." Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, causing some 800,000 deaths every year, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Source

 

[waltky]

So why don't doctors prescribe cheaper aspirin?...

Aspirin works as well as blood thinner in heart patients
2 May,`12 - Aspirin works as well as the blood thinner warfarin, or Coumadin, in most patients with heart failure when it comes to preventing death, stroke or brain hemorrhage, said a major international study on Wednesday.

The findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine came from a landmark clinical trial that lasted 10 years and tracked 2,305 patients in 11 countries. The combined risk of death, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage was 7.47 percent per year for patients taking warfarin, and 7.93 percent per year for those taking aspirin, a difference that researchers said was not statistically significant. Patients taking the blood thinner had half the stroke risk of people taking aspirin, but warfarin patients had double the risk for major bleeding, and so those two factors cancelled each other out, researchers said.

There was some evidence among warfarin patients followed for four years or more that the blood thinner may have superior benefits in warding off death, stroke or brain hemorrhage but more analysis is needed, the study said. "Since the overall risks and benefits are similar for aspirin and warfarin, the patient and his or her doctor are free to choose the treatment that best meets their particular medical needs," said lead investigator Shunichi Homma of Columbia University Medical Center. "However, given the convenience and low cost of aspirin, many may go this route."

Heart failure can hike the risk of blood clots that may cause stroke. Aspirin prevents the blood from clotting and warfarin, available by prescription, thins the blood. "With at least six million Americans -- and many more around the world -- suffering from heart failure, the results of the WARCEF study will have a large public health impact," said Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "The key decision will be whether to accept the increased risk of stroke with aspirin, or the increased risk of primarily gastrointestinal hemorrhage with warfarin," he said.

Source

 

[waltky]

The aim is to repair damaged heart muscle using healthy new cells...

Skin cells turned into healthy heart muscle cells
22 May 2012 - Scientist say they have managed to turn patients' own skin cells into healthy heart muscle in the lab.

Ultimately they hope this stem cell therapy could be used to treat heart failure patients. As the transplanted cells are from the individual patient this could avoid the problem of tissue rejection, they told the European Heart Journal. Early tests in animals proved promising but the experimental treatment is still years from being used in people. Experts have increasingly been using stem cells to treat a variety of heart problems and other conditions like diabetes, Parkinsons disease or Alzheimer's. Stem cells are important because they have the ability to become different cell types, and scientists are working on developing ways to get them to repair or regenerate damaged organs or tissues.

'New and exciting'

More than 750,000 people in the UK have heart failure. It means the heart is not pumping blood around the body as well as it used to. Researchers are looking at ways of fixing the damaged heart muscle. In the latest study, the team from Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, took skin cells from two men with heart failure and mixed the cells up with a cocktail of genes and chemicals in the lab to create the stem cell treatment. The cells that they created were identical to healthy heart muscle cells. When these beating cells were transplanted into a rat, they started to make connections with the surrounding heart tissue.

Lead researcher Professor Lior Gepstein, said: "What is new and exciting about our research is that we have shown that it's possible to take skin cells from an elderly patient with advanced heart failure and end up with his own beating cells in a laboratory dish that are healthy and young - the equivalent to the stage of his heart cells when just born." The researchers say more work is needed before they can begin trials in humans. Dr Mike Knapton of the British Heart Foundation, said: "This is a very promising area of study. "However, we still have a way to go before these findings could be applied to the clinic."

BBC News - Skin cells turned into healthy heart muscle cells

 

[waltky]

Unnecessary salt in the diet can increase cancer risk...

Reducing salt 'would cut cancer'
22 July 2012 - Salt is in many foods, such as bread.

Cutting back on salty foods such as bacon, bread and breakfast cereals may reduce people's risk of developing stomach cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). It wants people to eat less salt and for the content of food to be labelled more clearly. In the UK, the WCRF said one-in-seven stomach cancers would be prevented if people kept to daily guidelines. Cancer Research UK said this figure could be even higher. Too much salt is bad for blood pressure and can lead to heart disease and stroke, but it can also cause cancer. The recommended daily limit is 6g, about a level teaspoonful, but the World Cancer Research Fund said people were eating 8.6g a day.

Undetected

There are around 6,000 cases of stomach cancer every year in the UK. The WCRF estimated that 14% of cases, around 800, could be avoided if everyone stuck to their 6g a day. Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: "Stomach cancer is difficult to treat successfully because most cases are not caught until the disease is well-established. "This places even greater emphasis on making lifestyle choices to prevent the disease occurring in the first place - such as cutting down on salt intake and eating more fruit and vegetables."

Eating too much salt is not all about sprinkling it over fish and chips or Sunday lunch, the vast majority is already inside food. It is why the WCRF has called for a "traffic-light" system for food labelling - red for high, amber for medium and green for low. However, this has proved controversial with many food manufacturers and supermarkets preferring other ways of labelling food.

Lucy Boyd, from Cancer Research UK, said: "This research confirms what a recently published report from Cancer Research UK has shown - too much salt also contributes considerably to the number of people getting stomach cancer in the UK. "On average people in Britain eat too much salt and intake is highest in men. "Improved labelling - such as traffic light labelling - could be a useful step to help consumers cut down."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We already know too much salt can lead to conditions such as heart disease and stroke. That is why we are taking action through the 'Responsibility Deal' to help reduce the salt in people's diets. And we are looking at clearer... labelling on foods as part of our consultation on front-of-pack labelling. "We keep these findings under review alongside other emerging research in the field."

BBC News - Reducing salt 'would cut cancer'

 

[waltky]

Netting blood clots to aid stroke recovery...

'Clot nets' help stroke recovery
26 August 2012 - Parts of the brain die when clots stop blood delivering oxygen

Using small nets to extract blood clots from patients' brains may be the future of stroke care, according to two studies. Clots block blood vessels, starving parts of the brain of oxygen, which leads to symptoms such as paralysis and loss of speech. Two studies, presented in the Lancet medical journal, suggest extracting clots with nets could improve recovery. The Stroke Association said it was very excited by the treatment's potential. There are already techniques for reopening blocked blood vessels in people's brains. Some patients will be given "clot-busting" drugs, but this needs to be in the hours just after the stroke and is not suitable for everyone.

Clot extraction

Other techniques have been developed to extract the clot. Some procedures pass a tube up through the groin to the brain. There the wire passes through the clot, forming a coil on the far side and then pulling the clot out. However, this is far from routine practice. The latest methods involve a tiny wire cage instead of a coil. This pushes the clot up against the walls of the artery and enmeshes the clot in the wires, allowing doctors to pull the clot back out of the groin. Two similar devices were compared with the current coil methods. One trial of 113 patients showed 58% had good brain function after three months, compared with 33% of those treated with the coil method, as well as a lower death rate. Another study in 178 patients showed almost double the chance of living independently after treatment.

One of the researchers involved, Prof Jeffrey Saver from the University of California, Los Angeles, told the BBC that these techniques would become more common, as they are more likely to clear clots than drugs. "Clot-busting drugs only partially reopen 40% of large blocked arteries. These devices partially reopen 70-90% of large blocked arteries. "Second, these devices can be used in patients in whom it is not safe to give 'clot busting' drugs, such as patients taking anticoagulant medications, patients who had recent surgery, and patients who are between 4.5 to eight hours after stroke onset." In the long term he can see drugs being used as a first option and then clot removal if the drugs fail or cannot be used.

'Major steps forward'

 

[waltky]

Granny says cut down on salt or ya gonna shrivel up like a pickle...

WHO Urges Reduced Salt Intake
January 31, 2013 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidelines urging adults to consume less salt and include a minimum amount of potassium in their diets.

In a statement released Thursday, the WHO says adults should consume less than two grams of sodium or fewer than five grams of salt each day. It also recommends a minimum of 3.5 grams of potassium as part of a daily diet.

The international health body says the recommendations are part of an effort to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart disease and stroke.

The WHO says sodium is found naturally in foods including milk, cream and eggs, and is present in much higher amounts in processed foods such as bacon and snack foods.

Potassium-rich foods include beans, nuts and vegetables and fruits such as spinach and bananas.

Source