DO WOMEN REALLY NEED TO WORRY ABOUT HEART DISEASE?
Coronary heart disease is a disease of the heart's blood vessels that causes heart attacks. Heart disease is the number one killer of American women, claiming more female lives than the next 16 causes of death combined.
Post-reproductive age women are most at risk. However, pre-menopausal women are also at risk for cardiovascular disease if they have cardiac risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol and family history of premature cardiovascular disease.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE HEART DISEASE?
Cardiovascular disease can be silent but usually has symptoms. Lack of blood flow to the heart muscle can cause symptoms of chest discomfort, shortness of breath, fatigue and sometimes palpitations and dizziness.
Talking to your doctor about your symptoms, along with good routine follow-up care are necessary first steps to determine if any further evaluation is necessary. Many cardiac risk factors can be controlled, modified or eliminated, including hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, smoking and obesity/physical inactivity.
Women show different signs than men do prior to a heart attack. Nearly 90% of women with a heart attack will have chest pain the same as men. Historically, however, chest pain has not been perceived to be of great prognostic value in women or a great clue that heart disease is really present.
Chest pain can have different origins and women can experience uncharacteristic features of cardiac chest discomfort. The likelihood of chest pain coming from the heart depends to a great extent on the person's particular cardiac risk profile.
For example, a pre-menopausal woman who smokes is as likely to have cardiac chest pain as a postmenopausal woman with hypertension. All chest discomfort in women must be taken seriously and evaluated for its source, whether cardiac or otherwise. One should not wait to seek medical attention if there are symptoms of chest discomfort with or without physical exertion.
Some studies have shown that women who tell their doctors about chest pain are not treated as aggressively as are men. Women who are not satisfied with a physician's evaluation of their chest discomfort should be persistent and seek another opinion.
WHAT ARE PVCs AND ARE THEY DANGEROUS?
As she enters menopause, a woman experiences changes in her system that can result in PVCs (premature ventricular contractions). A woman who experiences irregular heart beats or *PVCs* may have extra beats that are relatively harmless or it may be a sign of some form of heart disease.
If a woman has palpitations (the sensation of fast and/or irregular heartbeat) or other symptoms such as dizziness or shortness of breath, she should inform her doctor. Your doctor can take a careful history and perform a physical exam.
In some cases, further testing of your heart may be necessary to determine the specific heart rhythm that may be causing the sensation of palpitations. In some individuals, caffeine products, alcohol and stress can provoke extra beats.
Menopause alone does not predispose a woman to palpitations unless she has other medical conditions or cardiac risk factors that could lead to heart disease. However, menopause creates an estrogen-deficient state that poses a risk to the cardiovascular system. This is because estrogens have a number of properties that protect the blood vessels and lowers LDL-cholesterol levels, while raising the HDL-cholesterol.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST FACTORS THAT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES FOR HEART DISEASE?
The three biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease that you can do something about are:
*Cigarette smoking
*High blood pressure
*High blood cholesterol
Other risk factors:
*Diabetes, or high blood sugar, is a serious disorder that raises the risk of coronary heart disease. The risk of death from heart disease is about three times higher in women with diabetes.
*Diabetic women also are more apt to have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.
*The risk of heart attack or stroke is higher for women who both smoke and use high-dose birth control pills (oral contraceptives).
*Excess body weight in women is linked with coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and death from heart-related causes. The more overweight you are, the higher your risk is for heart disease and many other ailments and diseases.
*Studies show that physical inactivity is a risk factor for heart disease. Heart disease is almost twice as likely to develop in inactive people as in those more active.
Just one risk factor will raise your chances of having heart-related problems. The more risk factors you have, the more likely you are to develop cardiovascular diseases.
HOW CAN YOU REDUCE YOUR RISK OF HEART DISEASE?
General recommendations to avoid heart disease:
*Quit smoking
*Cut back on foods high in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
*Check blood pressure and cholesterol levels
*Get more exercise
*Lose weight if you are overweight
Regular physical activity can help you reduce your risk of coronary heart disease. Being active helps women take off extra pounds, helps to control blood pressure, lessens the need for insulin, and boosts the level of *good* HDL-cholesterol.
CAN DIET AND EXERCISE REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Following a low fat, low cholesterol diet, and regular exercise plan are excellent health habits for all to follow. They help lower blood lipid analysis, blood pressure and blood sugar. These are all factors that contribute to the development of arteriosclerosis (hardening and blockage of the blood vessels).
Physically active women have an approximately 75% lower risk of heart disease than sedentary women. Being physically active does not necessarily mean an aggressive exercise regimen. It can be simple activities like daily walking, climbing stairs, gardening etc. Unfortunately, however, over 50% of all women in the U.S. are physically inactive.
If you would like information that will help you get started on a healthy diet and exercise program, learn about one of the most effective exercise and weight loss systems available, the
BURN THE FAT program: http://www.ezniche.com/data/article.php?l=18
How To Have A Healthy Sleeping Environment
People who have trouble falling asleep may attribute their problem to a lot of things - a tight and busy schedule, caffeinated drinks and food, and maybe, high stress rate.
But what about the very environment that they sleep in?
A room is a reflection of one's personality. So what does a messy, dirty room say about the person sleeping inside it? It implies that his thoughts and personality are just as haphazard as his room. If a quiet, deep sleep is what you're after, then pay close attention to your sleeping environment.
There are types of therapies aimed at people with insomnia. One of them is stimulus-control therapy, which teaches them how to have a proper sleep hygiene. To learn more about this, here are some pointers.
First off, use your bed only for sleep and sex. You know that a lot of people do their homework, read, or eat on it. Don't follow them. Don't associate your bed with stress by lying on it thinking about your problems. When this happens, go out omewhere to a certain spot in the house where you can think about them. Having a designated spot where you can mediate is recommended.
There must be ventilation in your room, unless you want to wake up because it's too hot. You can open the window to let the air circulate. There are noises that easily disturb you while trying to sleep. To hypersensitive people, a short buzzing sound could easily perk them up. In that case, use earplugs. While there are disturbing sounds that are irritating to the ears, there are types of noises like that coming from the fan that doesn't disturb us at all. They are called white noise. To
prevent lights from distracting you, use eyeshades or blinds.
If you're a busy person, do your office or school work anywhere else except in your room. Computers, TV and stereos must be
placed somewhere. Watching TV or surfing the 'net hours before bedtime will only stimulate your visual cortex, so avoid it.
Also, avoid caffeinated drinks and food. Why? They stimulate you which will make impossible for you to fall asleep. Unless you are one of those rare people who drink coffee and can still sleep afterwards, consume your last caffeinated drink 3 hours before your bedtime. Though alcohol can lull you to sleep, you will wake up again feeling dehydrated, which could only become worse as you try to fall asleep again.
Also, you might develop an addiction to alcohol as a form of sleep aid, which is not healthy.
Smoking is an activity that should be avoided as the hours get nearer towards your bedtime. You might wake up as your body craves for more nicotine, and besides, it's a fire hazard.
During these hours when all you are anticipating is your sleep, you can turn off the lights so your body will start winding down just in time for sleep.
Sleeping is an activity that gives the brain ample time to rejuvenate and to revitalize the body for the next day, so treat it with utmost care. Don't neglect it, or else you'll pay for the consequences later.
How To REALLY Have A Good Night's Sleep, Part Two
Aside from the things previously mentioned in the earlier article, here are other
things to consider to fight insomnia.
IV. Sleep Restriction Therapy
For some insomniacs, it is hard to fall asleep first with their minds racing. They may be in bed for 10 hours but stay asleep for 5 hours. In this type of therapy, patients are advised to reduce the number of hours they spend in bed to hours they spend in sleeping, until those hours are increased. For more information, go to your nearest sleep center.
V. Melatonin For Insomnia?
Another popular insomnia relief is melatonin, a hormone released by the pineal gland.
Melatonin levels are high during nighttime, and low during daytime. It is stimulated by darkness and is suppressed by light.
Advertised heavily on the internet, it is believed to be an effective insomnia cure, especially since it is naturally produced in the body and is responsible behind the body's circadian rhythm. People think that as they get older, their
melatonin levels decline. But how effective it really is remains to be thoroughly
studied, as findings so far are mixed.
In one small study, however, it was found out that melatonin may help night shift workers sleep during the day.
Dr. James K. Wyatt of Rush University Medical Center and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School assigned a group of people free from sleep disorders to be put on a 20-hour sleep-wake schedule, simulating a traveler crossing four time zones eastward every day. They were asked to take 0.3 or 5 mg of melatonin or a look-alike placebo pill 30 minutes before each scheduled sleep period, which lasted for 7 hours.
People who took melatonin had longer sleep time during the day when the body doesn't normally produce it, compared to those who took placebo, the study found out. But when they were given melatonin at night when the body produces its own melatonin, no added benefits were discovered.
Another factor that consumers must consider before buying melatonin is the fact that it is not FAD-approved. Its safety is not guaranteed, and its production is not closely monitored. Available forms in health stores may contain other substances and are untested for long-term use.
VI. Sleep Medications
So the abovementioned tips don't work, what now? Sleep medications may be your last resort when sleep is still elusive, but you should exercise caution. Don't view them as your main weapon against insomnia, because you will fail. While there are many of them in the market that seem promising, thanks to their companies' clever marketing strategies, sleep experts advise you to take them only in small doses, and only when all else fails. They are not for long-term use. Check for your doctor's
advice before taking any drugs for possible interactions with other medications. They are habit-forming. Quit slowly or else you will suffer from rebound insomnia, the kind that will worsen when you stop taking them.
VII. Conclusion
While you may be experiencing sleepless nights, your insomnia can still be cured. Just go to a sleep center, ask for advice, and who knows, you'll be sleeping soundly again.