Prevent heart attacks and strokes by lowering LDL cholesterol

Benefits of lowering LDL cholesterol are:

• Reducing or stopping the formation of new cholesterol plaques on the artery walls
• Reducing existing cholesterol plaques on the artery walls and widening the arteries
• Preventing the rupture of cholesterol plaques, which initiates blood clot formation and blocks blood vessels
• Decreasing the risk of heart attacks
• Decreasing the risk of strokes
• Decreasing the risk of peripheral artery disease

Determine the level of LDL cholesterol

The liver manufactures and secretes LDL cholesterol into the blood. It also removes LDL cholesterol from the blood by active LDL receptors on the surface of its cells. A decrease number of liver cell LDL receptors is associated with high LDL cholesterol blood levels.

Both heredity and diet have a significant influence on a person's LDL, HDL and total cholesterol levels. For example, familial hypercholesterolemia (hyper= more + cholesterol + emia= in blood) is a common inherited disorder whose victims have a diminished number or nonexistent LDL receptors on the surface of liver cells. People with this disorder also tend to develop atherosclerosis and heart attacks during early adulthood.

Diets that are high in saturated fats and cholesterol raise the levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood. Fats are classified as saturated or unsaturated (according to their chemical structure). Saturated fats are derived primarily from meat and dairy products and can raise blood cholesterol levels. Some vegetable oils made from coconut, palm, and cocoa are also high in saturated fats.

Related to nursing diagnosis

A nursing diagnosis is part of the nursing process and is a clinical judgment about individual, family, or community experiences/responses to actual or potential health problems/life processes. Nursing diagnoses are developed based on data obtained during the nursing assessment.

The primary organization for defining, dissemination and integration of standardized nursing diagnoses worldwide is NANDA-International formerly known as the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association. For nearly 40 years NANDA-I has worked in this area to ensure that diagnoses are developed through a peer-reviewed process requiring standardized levels of evidence, standardized definitions, defining characteristics, related factors and/or risk factors that enable nurses to identify potential diagnoses in the course of a nursing assessment. NANDA-I believes that it is critical that nurses are required to utilize standardized languages that provide not just terms (diagnoses) but the embedded knowledge from clinical practice and research that provides diagnostic criteria (definitions, defining characterisitcs) and the related or etiologic factors upon which nurses intervene. NANDA-I terms are developed and refined for actual (current) health responses and for risk situations , as well as providing diagnoses to support health promotion. Diagnoses are applicable to individuals, families, groups and communities. Contributing diagnostic associations include AENTDE (Spain), AFEDI (French language), and JSND (Japan). NANDA-I also has several regional networks including Brasil, Peru, Honduras, Nigeria-Ghana and a German-language group. The taxonomy is published in multiple countries and has been translated into 18 languages; it is in use worldwide. The terminology is an American Nurses' Association-recognized terminology, is included in the UMLS, is HL7 registered, ISO-compatible and available within SNOMED CT with appropriate licensure.

Information about Medical imaging

Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body (or parts and function thereof) for clinical purposes (medical procedures seeking to reveal, diagnose or examine disease) or medical science (including the study of normal anatomy and physiology). Although imaging of removed organs and tissues can be performed for medical reasons, such procedures are not usually referred to as medical imaging, but rather are a part of pathology.

As a discipline and in its widest sense, it is part of biological imaging and incorporates radiology (in the wider sense), nuclear medicine, investigative radiological sciences, endoscopy, (medical) thermography, medical photography and microscopy (e.g. for human pathological investigations).

Measurement and recording techniques which are not primarily designed to produce images, such as electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), Electrocardiography (EKG) and others, but which produce data susceptible to be represented as maps (i.e. containing positional information), can be seen as forms of medical imaging.

medical practice diagnosis

A physician's job is to know the human body and its functions in terms of normality (homeostasis). The four cornerstones of diagnostic medicine, each essential for understanding homeostasis, are: anatomy (the structure of the human body), physiology (how the body works), pathology (what can go wrong with the anatomy and physiology) and psychology (thought and behavior). Once the physician knows what is normal and can measure the patient's current condition against those norms, she or he can then determine the patient's particular departure from homeostasis and the degree of departure. This is called the diagnosis. Once a diagnosis has been reached, the provider is able to propose a management plan, which will include treatment as well as plans for follow-up. From this point on, in addition to treating the patient's condition, the provider educates the patient about the causes, progression, outcomes, and possible treatments of his ailments, as well as providing advice for maintaining health.
It should be noted, however, that medical diagnosis in psychology or psychiatry is problematic. There are differing theoretical views toward mental conditions and few objective tests available for various major disorders (e.g., clinical depression), so a causal analysis with respect to symptomatology and disorder/disease is not always possible. As a result, most if not all mental conditions function as both symptoms and disorders. There are often functional descriptions provided for psychological disorders and these are vulnerable to circular reasoning due to the etiological fuzziness inherent of these diagnostic categories. (BDG, 2006)

Looking Twice at Supplements for Infants

Nearly one in 10 babies are given supplements or plant-based teas to soothe colic or help with teething during the first year of life, even though the products are unproven and may contain contaminants or spur allergies, a new study says.

The report, published in the journal Pediatrics, is believed to be the first to look at supplements given specifically to infants.

The researchers drew data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, a survey of women in late pregnancyFood and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2005 to 2007, the study included a nationwide sample of 2,653 healthy mothers and newborns. and through their babies’ first year of life. Conducted by the

The most common products were chamomile and other teas, teething tablets and “gripe water

The most frequently given reasons for using supplements were to help with fussiness, digestion, colic, relaxation and teething.

Sara B. Fein, who researches consumer habits at the F.D.A. and is one of the paper’s authors, said mothers may think of dietary botanical supplements as natural and therefore of less concern, even though they may contain biologically active ingredients.

Excercise makes Fitness

Mr. Jackowski, who also wrote the book “Jump Into Fitness,” describes jumping rope as an intensive cardiovascular workout that has one-fifth the impact on the back and the knees as running and burns more calories in less time.

“Jumping rope for 10 minutes at 150 turns per minute is equal to 30 minutes of running between six and seven miles per hour,” he said.

Exude offers one-on-one sessions at your home or at one of its eight locations in the city, but there are other places to jump in a group setting.

Aerospace, a boutique gym in the meatpacking district, incorporates ropes in many of its classes, including boxing and sculpting. It also has a dedicated class called Aerojump offered in 30- and 60-minute sessions.

Classes start with two-foot jumps and progress to jumping jacks, arm crossovers, forward and back steps, jumping on one foot and making double turns that require exercisers to jump up and spin the rope twice before landing. The only short breaks involve the use of light weights for upper- and lower-body work. Classes, for 10 to 15 participants, take place in a spacious room.

Michael Olajide, the former boxer who teaches the classes, said that skippers of all levels were welcome and that there was no pressure to do every move.

“It’s natural to start slow and take breaks,” he said. “But eventually you will build up your endurance enough to be able to do the whole class.”

Jeremy Abelson, a 30-year-old from the West Village who works in finance, said that he had been attending twice a week for the past two years and that the program had transformed his body. “I lost more than 15 pounds right away and went from undefined abs to an eight-pack,” he said.

Adding Food and Subtracting Calories

To lose weight, eat less, right?

Not always. New research shows that eating more of certain foods can stave off hunger pangs and control calories.

The foods, which include cayenne pepper and puréed vegetables, are natural appetite suppressants. As diet pills fall into increasing disrepute — since Abbott Laboratories withdrew its drug Meridia last year, the Food and Drug Administration has rejected three new diet drugs in recent months — these foods offer a welcome option to people struggling with their weight.

For the research, published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, scientists at Purdue studied the effect of just half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper on a group of 25 diners.

While hot red pepper has been studied before as an appetite suppressant, this study was notable in that it compared people who liked spicy food with those who did not. At various times, diners were given a bowl of tomato soup laced with a half teaspoon of pepper, plain tomato soup, or plain tomato soup with a supplement of red pepper in pill form.

Medical Detectives New Disease

Ms. Benge’s family doctor in Mount Vernon, Ky., was at a loss, as were a vascular specialist, a hand specialist and a kidney specialist. Her two sisters and two brothers had the problem too, but no doctor could figure out why.

It was clear from X-rays why Ms. Benge could barely walk: The blood vessels in her legs, feet and hands were accumulating calcium deposits like the scale that sometimes forms inside water pipes. The deposits had grown so thick that blood could hardly squeeze through. But calcium was only in those blood vessels of her legs and hands; her heart’s vessels were spared, so she was not in immediate danger of dying.

A doctor prescribed weekly infusions of a drug, sodium thiosulfate, Ms. Benge said, thinking it might bind to the calcium so her body could flush it out. But the drug did not work — it only made her vomit.

Finally, Ms. Benge’s family doctor sent her medical history to a detective agency of sorts, the Undiagnosed Diseases Program at the National Institutes of Health. Set up in the spring of 2008, the program relies on teams of specialists who use the most advanced tools of medicine and genomics to try to figure out the causes of diseases that have baffled doctors.

Complications in other parts of the body

Small bits may break off from the vegetations on the infected heart valves. These get carried in the bloodstream, and lodge in other parts of the body. This can cause various symptoms. For example:

• Small spots may appear under the fingernails, in the eyes, or other parts of the body.
• Infections may develop in other parts of the body.
• The spleen may enlarge as it is the main organ that fights off blood infections.
• If a larger chunk of vegetation breaks off then it can block the blood flow in a main artery. For example, if it gets stuck in an artery in the brain it can cause a stroke or sudden loss of vision in one eye.

How does infective endocarditis occur and progress?

Most cases are caused by infection with bacteria. A small number of cases are caused by infection with fungi.

To develop this infection you need to have some bacteria or fungi in the bloodstream. The blood usually does not contain any bacteria or fungi. However, some may get into the blood if you have an infection or wound in another part of the body.

People who inject street drugs may also inject bacteria or fungi into their bloodstream if they use dirty or contaminated needles.

Most bacteria that get into the bloodstream are killed by the immune system. However, sometimes some bacteria survive and settle on a heart valve (particularly if the valve is already damaged in some way), or on another section of the endocardium. Once a small focus of infection develops in the endocardium it is difficult for the immune system to clear it.

In time, small clumps of material called vegetations may develop on infected valves. The vegetations contain bacteria or fungi, small blood clots, and other 'debris' from the infection. The vegetations may prevent affected valves from opening and closing properly. The infection can also damage affected valves, and may spread to other areas of the endocardium or heart tissue. Fragments of the vegetations may also break off and travel in the bloodstream to other parts of the body.

Slowly developing infection

In many cases the infection develops quite slowly. This is sometimes called 'sub-acute bacterial endocarditis' or 'SBE'. Symptoms can develop gradually, over weeks or months, and can be vague at first. You tend to feel generally unwell and may have general aches and pains, tiredness, and be off your food. A fever (a high temperature) develops at some stage in most cases. As these first symptoms can be caused by a lot of other conditions, the cause of the symptoms may not be diagnosed for some time.

Heart murmurs tend to develop. These are sounds that can be heard by a doctor listening to your heart with a stethoscope. Murmurs are caused by abnormal flow of blood through faulty or damaged valves. If you already have a heart murmur from an existing valve problem, the murmur may change or become more intense. A new or changing murmur is often what alerts a doctor to suspect infective endocarditis.

Who gets infective endocarditis?

Endocarditis is uncommon. In the UK it occurs in about 20 in a million people each year. It can occur in anybody, but the risk of developing it is increased in people who have:

• Heart valve problems or an artificial heart valve. Heart valves that are already damaged or abnormal are more likely to become infected.
• Had surgery to a heart valve.
• Certain congenital heart defects.
• A heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
• Had a previous episode of infective endocarditis.
• Been injecting street drugs such as heroin with dirty or contaminated needles.
• A poor immune system. For example, people with AIDS.

Diabetes Prevention

Eat Better

A daily diet of foods that are low in fat and calories—fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—is a simple and effective way to lower your risk of developing diabetes. Learn more healthy eating tips for diabetics.

Get More Exercise

Getting 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day—a bike ride, light swimming, or a brisk daily walk—can help reduce your risk of diabetes and benefit your overall mental and physical health. Get tips on starting and maintaining a safe exercise routine.

Lose Excess Pounds

To keep your weight in a healthy range, especially as you age, you’ll need to maintain a healthy diet and continue to exercise regularly. If you’re overweight, losing even five percent of your body weight can reduce your risk of diabetes.

Diabetes Tests

Fasting Blood Glucose (FPG) Test

This is one of the most common and preferred tests; it measures blood glucose in a person who has not eaten anything for at least eight hours. Both diabetes and prediabetes can be diagnosed this way. A blood glucose level of 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher indicates diabetes.

Random (Non-fasting) Plasma Glucose Test

This measures blood glucose without fasting. This test, along with an assessment of symptoms, is used to diagnose diabetes but not prediabetes. A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher indicates diabetes.

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)

This blood glucose test, administered after fasting for at least eight hours, is performed two hours after drinking a glucose-containing beverage. It is also common to test blood prior to the glucose drink and then every 30 to 60 minutes afterwards for up to three hours. Both diabetes and prediabetes can be diagnosed this way, and it is routinely used to screen for gestational diabetes. A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher (two hours after drinking a beverage containing 75 grams of glucose) indicates diabetes. Because glucose levels are normally lower during pregnancy, gestational diabetes is based on slightly different numbers: 155 mg/dL two hours after drinking the glucose beverage.