Depending on your personality and anger control can have an effect on one’s risk of heart disease and stroke. In Baltimore, the National Institute of Aging (NIA) discovered people who were quick to anger and aggression displayed a greater thickness of the carotid arteries in the neck compared to more easygoing people. A thickening of the carotid arteries is one of the main risk factors in stroke or heart attack.

People who were least agreeable and most antagonistic were 40% more likely to have artery wall thickening. The findings even go as far to suggest personality screening when testing for heart disease, the number one cause of death in America.

The NIA studied 5,614 from the village of Sardinia, Italy. The median age was 42 and 58% of participants were women. Researchers used ultrasound imaging to measure carotid artery and arterial wall thickness at five points. The researchers also screened the villagers for other cardiovascular disease risk factors like smoking and high blood pressure.

What the researchers found was that antagonistic people, regardless of age, had a thickening of the artery walls way above the expected norm based on normal risk factors alone. Though there were slight differences based on gender, both men and women with antagonistic personalities had much thicker artery walls compared to more easy-going people. Read more about the study at WebMD.

A new study in Stockholm, Sweden tested the effects of omega-3 fatty acids enhanced margarine. 4,837 heart attack survivors, aged 60 to 80, were given omega-3 enriched margarine to spread on their bread for 40 months. The participants were divided into 4 groups, each group were given a different spread.

One group was given margarine with low doses of DHA and EPA, omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil. The second group received ALA derived from soybean oil and walnuts. The third group was given margarine with all three fatty acids. The last group was given a placebo margarine.

The end of the study resulted in 14% of the heat attack survivors had experienced another cardiac event. However, women may benefit from fatty acids their margarine. 25% of women were less likely to suffer a cardiac event if they ate the ALA-enhanced margarine, but this finding could be greatly attributed to chance.

An American Heart Association spokesperson said omega-3 enriched margarine is an inefficient means of obtaining omega-3 fatty acids. Margarine on bread increases the chance of weight gain, one of the main causes of cardiac events. Instead of margarine, 2 to 3 servings of fish a week is a great way of getting omega-3 fatty acids in your diet.

Most patients who have suffered from a stroke or heart attack are prescribed a large amount of pills and vitamins to try and help prevent it from happening again. One of these is vitamin B, which is supposed to help by lowering homocysteine levels, an amino acid connected to an increase in risk of heart problems.

According to a study recently published from Australia, Vitamin B may not actually reduce the risk at all. “B vitamins are safe, but they were not, statistically, significantly more effective than placebo in preventing major vascular events among stroke and TIA [transient ischemic attack] patients,” said lead researcher Dr. Graeme J. Hankey, head of the stroke unit at Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia. “B vitamins have not been proven to have a role in secondary stroke prevention.”

The study found that B vitamins did reduce the amount of the patient’s homocysteine levels, but did not prove to lower the patient’s risk for a second stroke or heart attack.

Just being in the grocery store can be overwhelming, but to make a list of all the certain types of food to buy from this massive food warehouse can feel down-right impossible. So to help you out, we’ve put together a few tips from heart.org for the heart healthy shopper to keep in mind when looking to buy the right foods.

Fruits and Veggies:

Be sure to buy and eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables that are deeply colored throughout tend to be higher in vitamins and minerals than others.  When fresh foods aren’t available, choose frozen or canned vegetables and fruits in water without added sugars, saturated and Trans fat, or salt.

Stock up on raw vegetables for snacks such as carrot and celery sticks, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and cauliflower. It’s also a good idea fruits and vegetables that are good sources of fiber, including beans, peas, oranges, bananas, strawberries and apples.

Instead of buying more traditional desserts, try fresh or canned fruits without added sugars, dried fruit without added sugars, and gelatin that contains fruit, instead of baked goods and sweets. While delicious and very good for you, fruit juice is no substitute for the real thing. It doesn’t provide the fiber whole fruit does and it’s not as good at satisfying hunger.

Dairy:

Select fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk and try to avoid milk that contains added flavorings such as vanilla, chocolate or strawberry, as they usually have added sugars and calories.

Buy fat-free, low-fat or reduced-fat cheeses and use egg whites or egg substitutes instead of egg yolks. Watch out for the saturated and/or partially hydrogenated fats hidden in casseroles, bakery goods, desserts and other foods. Read the Nutrition Facts label to determine the saturated fat, Trans fat and cholesterol content of foods you’re considering.

Meats:

Buy and prepare more fish. You should eat one serving of grilled or baked fish at least twice a week. (A serving is roughly the size of a checkbook.) Good examples of fish to buy include salmon, trout and herring. Choose lemon juice and spices to eat with fish; don’t add cream sauces and stay away from fried fish—it can be high in fat — often Trans fat.

Select more meat substitutes such as dried beans, peas, lentils or tofu (soybean curd) and use them as entrees or in salads and soups. A one-cup serving of cooked beans, peas, lentils or tofu can replace a two-ounce serving of meat, poultry or fish.

Pick up nuts and seeds, which are good sources of protein and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats – but remember, they tend to be high in calories, so eat them in moderation.

Hopefully this information will make your grocery shopping experience a little easier and a lot healthier!

What other heart healthy grocery shopping tips do you have?

One way to keep your heart healthy is to eat the right foods! Here are a few good snacks that will help keep your heart and stomach happy:

Fresh Herbs– Fresh herbs make many other foods heart-healthy when they replace salt, fat, and cholesterol. Many fresh herbs, such as rosemary, sage, oregano, and thyme, have high levels of antioxidants.

Red Wine– A little red wine is a heart-healthy choice. Resveratrol and catechins, two antioxidants in red wine, may protect artery walls. Alcohol can also boost HDL, the good cholesterol.

Sweet Potatoes—With a low glycemic index, sweet potatoes won’t cause a quick spike in blood sugar the way white potatoes do. They also contain a good amount of fiber, vitamin A, and lycopene to add to their heart-healthy profile.

Coffee– Studies show that people who drink 3-4 cups a day may cut their risk of heart problems by 25%, and even decaffeinated coffee works.

Cayenne Chili Pepper– A small study in Australia showed that simply adding chili to a hamburger meal produced lower insulin levels in overweight volunteers.

To see what other foods are great for your hear, check out this great slideshow from WebMD.

One of the biggest worries for anyone who has recently had any sort of health issue from pregnancy to post-op surgery is, knowing if and when it is safe to fly. But that worry is one thing people who suffer from some cardiovascular diseases can check off the list. According to a recent study by a U.K. panel, “Air travel isn’t necessarily dangerous for people with some heart conditions.”

It is still recommended that patients with seriously high-risk wait until their condition is fully stable, but low-risk patients are OK to fly just three days after suffering from a heart attack. People are afraid that the pressurization in the cabin can cause heart conditions to worsen; the panel found that there is a bigger risk of heart attack before you fly, from the anxiety of traveling, anger due to delays, exertion from carrying luggage and fear of flying.

Every website, magazine, and even Doctor seems to have a general list of “Tips” for preventing cardiovascular problems. According to an article on WebMD, the American Heart Association suggests that the best “tip” for controlling and/or preventing heart disease is to personalize your approach rather than blindly following a general guideline.

One member of the team that released this finding said, “We need to do a better job finding ways to help people not only change their behaviors, but maintain them over a lifetime. As health care providers, we’re pretty good at saying that you are at risk for a disease, you need to lose weight, be more physically active, and eat more fruits and vegetables. While that’s easy to say, it’s not easy for the person to actually translate it into their everyday life.”

Here are some suggestions for easily integrating positive behavioral changes into your everyday life:

• Set realistic dietary and exercise goals

• Keep track of progress toward goals
• One-to-one counseling, which provides customized support to implementing and maintaining lifestyle changes
• Participate in small groups who share the same health-improvement goals
• See a health care provider that uses motivational interview techniques to encourage patients
• Seek counseling on how to manage setbacks
• Maintain recurring follow-up visits with doctors to update them on your progress and discuss concerns

While factors such as weight, smoking and blood pressure are much more important when it comes to risk factors of heart disease, an article published by MSNBC reports that short people (under 5’3”) have a 50% higher risk of having heart problems than tall people (over 5’9”).

The study, paid for by the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, went through 52 earlier papers written by experts with data on height and heart issues for over 3 million men and women. These papers did not focus on height alone, but it was found that short people were 1.5X more likely to die from heart issues.

Scientists are unsure exactly why shorter people are at such a higher risk for heart problems. One popular guess is that shorter people generally have smaller body parts such as arteries, which makes it easier for them to get clogged up. No matter what the scientific reason for the elevated risk, Borge Nordestgaard, a professor of genetic epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen not connected to the study suggest the only thing for short people to do is pay close attention to heart health when he said, “We don’t want to scare short people, but perhaps they should be extra cautious about their lifestyle.”

Fat is not a word most people think of when it comes to health, but according to familydoctor.org, some fats are necessary in order to maintain a balanced diet. Your body uses fat to create energy and lower your risk of disease. It also uses fat to build nerve tissue and hormones, which are used to control inflammation. Fat also helps your body absorb vitamins A, D, E and K from the foods you eat.

While some fat is good for you, you still need to be careful about how much of it you eat. Consuming too much fat can contribute to obesity; fat calories turn into body fat more easily than carbohydrates or proteins. Fat in your diet can confuse your appetite, so you can’t tell when you are full. Some fats also raise your total cholesterol and blood pressure, and may increase your risk of some cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

So what kinds of fat should you be eating and which ones are bad for you? We make it easy for you with the list below.

Bad Fats:

• Saturated fat– Usually found in animal products, such as meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products such as cheese, cream and whole or 2% milk. Many snack foods, such as desserts, chips and French fries, are high in saturated fat. A diet high in saturated fats can increase your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and can put you at risk for heart disease.
• Trans fats–A type of hydrogenated man-made fat usually found in processed foods, such as cookies, cakes, doughnuts, crackers, snacks and frozen foods, and in fried food, such as French fries and onion rings. Trans fat is especially bad for you. It lowers your HDL (“good”) cholesterol while raising your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides.

Good Fats:

• Monounsaturated fats– Found in canola, olive, avocado, and peanut and other nut oils, as well as in legumes (dried beans and peas), olives, seeds, nuts, nut butters and fresh avocados.
• Polyunsaturated fats– Found in vegetable oils like corn, sunflower and safflower oil, as well as sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, corn, soybeans, and many other kinds of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
• Omega-3 fatty acids– Usually found in seafood, such as salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel. They can also be found in flaxseeds, flaxseed oil and walnuts.

These fats, if used in place of saturated fat, can help you lower your total cholesterol level. Omega-3 fatty acids are especially beneficial because they can decrease your risk of inflammation or heart attack if you are at risk for heart disease.

Ever wonder if and how much smoking will increase your chances of having a heart attack? The NorthShore University HealthSystem website is providing an interactive tool that measures how much smoking alone can increase your risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years.

This risk assessment tool was created by the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) using information based on research from the Framingham Heart Study. The Framingham Study was established in 1948 and has been researching the causes and effects of Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD) for three generations. The study is responsible for identifying many major CVD risk factors and has provided important information on risk factors such as blood pressure, blood triglyceride and cholesterol levels, age, gender, and psychosocial issues.

The tool calculates your risk of heart attack, based on smoking alone, using the values you enter for yourself (your gender and age), as well as a systolic blood pressure of 120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), an HDL cholesterol measurement of 55 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), and a total cholesterol measurement of 200 mg/dL.

While this tool is a great way to discover how smoking by itself can increase your risk of having a heart attack, smoking can also have negative effects on CVD risk factors like cholesterol and blood pressure. So if you smoke, be sure to see a doctor and check for other risk factors for heart disease, your risk may be higher than this tool indicates.