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.”

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.

It is widely known that heart disease is the #1 cause of death for men, but only about one third of women know that heart disease is also the top killer of women in the U.S. (1 of every 3 women die of heart disease). One reason for this lack of knowledge could be that women show different signs of heart attack than men. Signs such as nausea, dizziness, and anxiety are common symptoms of a heart attack in women. Here are some other signs to watch for:

• Chest pain, which can include back pain and/or deep aching and throbbing in one or both arms.
• Breathlessness and/or inability to catch your breath when waking up.
• Clammy sweating.
• Dizziness, including unexplained lightheadedness and possible blackouts.
• Anxiety, unusual nervousness, feelings of impending doom.
• Edema, fluid retention and swelling usually of the ankles or lower legs.
• Fluttering, rapid heartbeats, palpitations.
• Nausea–gastric upset.
• Feeling of heaviness, such as pressure-like chest pain between the breasts that may radiate to the left arm or shoulder.

While heart disease is the #1 killer in this country, it is also the most preventable. So take a little time to know the signs and make the small life changes you can make that can keep your heart healthy such as exercising regularly, eating right, and cutting out smoking and alcohol as much as possible!

A new source of stem cells was discovered and these new stem cells can become heart cells to repair the heart. These new stem cells are called human amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal (undifferentiated) cells or hAMCs. The best part about hAMCs is their noncontroversial origins. Researchers in Japan obtained hAMCs from the amniotic membrane, the inner lining of the sac in which an embryo develops. The amniotic membrane is medical waste and can be collected before or after delivery.

Experimentation with rats has yielded many positive results. Rats that had a heart attack were injected with hAMCs two weeks after the heart attack showed a 34% to 39% improved function. There was also a 13% to 18% decreased scarred area of rat hearts when injected after a heart attack. The hAMCs survived for four weeks without being rejected by the rat heart, even without the use immunosuppressive medications.

Despite all the great results with hAMCs, there is still quite a while before testing hAMCs on humans. The next steps are to start testing hAMCs on larger animals and to increase the amount of heart cells created by hAMCs.

Often times, people choose to ignore symptoms. The odd swelling in the leg or a rash that just won’t go away, people forget about them. However, there are some serious medical symptoms you should not ignore.

• Paralysis of the arms or legs, tingling, numbness, confusion, dizziness, double vision, slurred speech, trouble finding words, or weakness, especially on one side of the face or body.
  • This could be signs of a stroke.
  • Arteries that bring oxygen to the brain become blocked or even ruptured which leads to the death of brain tissue.
  • Symptoms vary depending on which vessel is blocked or ruptured. If a large vessel is compromised, then an entire side of the body may suffer symptoms. Though if a small vessel is blocked then a smaller region of the body may be affected, like an arm or a leg.

• Chest pain or discomfort; pain in the arm, jaw, or neck; breaking out in a cold sweat; extreme weakness; nausea; vomiting; feeling faint; or being short of breath.
  • A heart attack may be imminent.
  • Chewing a full-strength aspirin during an attack may prevent heart damage

Plenty of other symptoms may lead to some serious complications. So never delay medical help. As soon as symptoms appear, get immediate medical help.

The resting heart rate of a woman is a good indicator of heart attack risk. Even after taking in account of other risk factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption, the resting heart rate still proves to be an accurate predictor of heart risk.

According to WebMD, 129,135 records of postmenopausal women who had no history of heart problems were studied by a team of scientists. Their heart rates were taken at the start of the studied and were followed up for the next 8 years. What the researchers discovered were women with heart rates of 76 beats or above had a much more likely to have an heart attack than women with the lowest heart rates of 62 beat per second.

The correlation was still relevant after factoring in physical activity levels, race, high blood pressure, and even cholesterol abnormalities. Then also amending the study for factors that affect heart rate like smoking, body mass index, and other variables, the relationship held steady. The results were more prevalent in women under 65 years of age.

Despite more complex and expensive methods to assess heart risk, resting heart rate is still a straightforward indicator to predict coronary events (not stroke) in post-menopausal women.

The prescription drug Plavix, the second best-selling drug in the world, helps prevent previous blood clot related heart attack and stroke victims of another deadly incident. Plavix helps keep platelets in the blood stream from sticking together and forming clots, which is a direct cause of heart attack and stroke.

Recent news has shown that normal doses of Plavix have a potentially deadly lack of effect in 2% to 14% of patients. These patients are known as “poor metabolizers” who carry a variant CYP2C19 gene affecting the enzyme that converts Plavix into its active form.

The first warning about the effect on poor metabolizers appeared on Plavix labels in May 2009. But with recent findings from a drug maker-funded study and other research, the FDA has now strengthened the warning.

A person can identify if they are a poor metabolizer with a genetic test. These tests cost about $500, but the cost isn’t the only issue. The time to get the test results varies. It may be a few hours to a day or two, or other labs can take up to a few weeks; and for many patients at risk of a second heart attack or stroke, time is of the essence.

Click here for more heart attack information.

There’s no doubt that pets can make their owners feel happy and relieve stress at the end of a long day. But house pets can provide additional health related benefits like boost heart health, and encourage stronger immune systems. Pets can even encourage people to stay active and be conscious of their daily exercise routine.

According to several studies, heart attack patients who have pets tend to survive longer than those without. Pets can help lower blood pressure and lessen anxiety. Male pet owners even have fewer signs of heart disease, like lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than non pet owners.

Additional studies have shown that children who grow up around furry pet animals can reduce their risk of allergies and asthma later in their life. They can also have higher levels of some immune system chemicals, which signify an overall stronger immune system.

Click here for more information on the heart effects of high blood pressure.