Researchers compared the drinking patterns and heart health of people in France and Belfast, Northern Ireland. People in both these places drink the same amount, but in Belfast, people drink in binges. Belfast people drink heavily in one or two days the same amount of alcohol French people drink over a week.

9,758 men in France and Belfast were examined over 10 years. The scientists separated the men into four different age groups: never drinkers, former drinkers, regular drinkers, and binge drinkers. These men were all in between the ages of 50 to 59 and did not suffer from ischemic heart disease. Researchers then weighed out their cardiovascular risk factors.

The result of the study was men who binge drink have twice the risk of having a heart attack. Not only heart attack, but binge drinkers were also twice as likely to die of heart disease over a 10-year period.

Binge drinking is dangerous, but people still do it. Young people especially because at that age heart disease risk is so low. No matter the age or situation, binge drinking is just unhealthy in general.

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It is recommended to call 911 when heart attacks symptoms appear and do not improve within 5 minutes. These symptoms include chest discomfort, shortness of breath, and discomfort in any areas of the upper body.

Heart attacks vary in severity, but it is impossible for people to tell the difference between a big heart attack and a small one. This is why getting help for a heart attack quickly is so important. Yet in recent years, people have still have not shorten the average time of 2 hours to seek help.

In a new study, researchers examined 104,622 who suffered from heart attacks from 2001 to 2006. They found the average delay between symptoms and arriving at the hospital was 2 and a half hours. Around 60% delayed more than 2 hours and 11% delayed more than 12 hours between the appearance of symptoms and arriving at the hospital. Older, female, nonwhite, diabetic, or currently-smoking individuals were more likely to have more delays. Also, people who arrived at the hospital at night had 25% shorter delays compared to people on a normal business day.

Researchers conclude more most be done to get people to seek help right after heart attack symptoms first appear. So if you should feel chest discomfort, shortness of breath, and discomfort in any areas of the upper body, see a doctor immediately.

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The increase in risk is small. But applied to an entire population, it means an estimated 146,000 heart attacks a year in the UK. This means 200 heart attack victims for every 1 degree Celsius drop per day.

In their study, 84,010 hospital admissions for heart attack in England and Wales were studied. Krishnan Bhaskaran and colleagues found people ages 75 to 84 with a history of heart disease were most vulnerable to cold weather. However, a temperature increase does not affect heart attack risk.

More studies need to be done to narrow down who is at the most risk and whether adaptive measures, like wearing more clothes, is a good solution. In another article, Paola Michelozzi and Manuela De Sario of the Lazio Region Department of Epidemiology in Rome said extreme weather conditions, hot and cold, are triggers for coronary events. So doctors should tell patients to prepare for harsh weather changes.

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Researchers attribute the higher survival rate to many things. First, chest-compression CPR is much easier to remember than traditional CPR. Also, people may be less willing to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on strangers. Medically, chest-compression only CPR does not involve interruptions for mouth-to-mouth which can hamper the blood flow.

The idea of chest-compression CPR being the most efficient form of CPR is part of a growing trend of promoting this form of CPR over the tradition methods. Though the research only shows “modest” survival benefits of chest compression.

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Heart attack risk rises in the winter just like the flu which suggests a connection. If a person suffers from a heart attack when infected with the flu, it can trigger a plaque rupture in the arteries. 16,012 people who had a heart between November, 2001 to May, 2007 and 62,694 people who did not have heart attacks were included in the study. People who had a flu shot during the past year had a 19% reduced risk for a heart attack compared to people who did not receive a shot during the same year.

Researchers also concluded the earlier in the flu season a person receives their shot, the lower the chances of a first heart attack. However, other vaccinations did not have the same effect on heart attacks like the pneumonia vaccine.

The Center of Disease Control (CDC) recommends flu shots for all, regardless of the benefits it has towards heart disease.

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Smoking rates surprisingly increased with greater educated level among women from higher income countries to middle income countries to lower income countries. These higher educated women also had tiny increase incident rate of fatal and nonfatal heart attack and stroke.

Low and middle income countries have not achieved a balanced level of industrialization relative to their population which means a low to medium standard of living in these nations. This means studies done high income nations cannot be applied to low and middle income nations as the socioeconomic situations vastly differ. However, smoking continues to be one of the main factors of heart disease.

Smoking is one of the major causes of heart disease and stroke. Usually, the rate of smoking decreases as formal education increases. However, researchers found educated women from low and middle income nations smoked more than the less educated women from the same nations. The cause is a mystery as more and more developing nations are suffering from a seemingly cardiovascular disease outbreak. What researchers are calling for is more thorough studies to be done within these nations to help figure out the cause. Only then can they get to the source of this plague.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.”

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