Posts Tagged ‘constipation’

• How 40,000 People Reversed Heart Disease

  Date: 2008.07.24 | Category: Heart Tips | Response: 0

  It is well known that about two-thirds of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese. The U.S. Surgeon General has stated that approximately 75% of Western diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, gout, arthritis, excess weight gain, hypertension, diabetes, some cancers, impotence, biventricular disease, constipation, heartburn, and gallbladder disease, are lifestyle-related. They are directly correlated with our high fat diet, inadequate amounts of exercise, smoking, high intake of caffeine, and high amounts of stress coupled with insufficient support.

  Hoping to address this alarming situation, more than 20 years ago, cardiovascular epidemiologist Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, created the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP). Since then, this 40-hour community-based lifestyle intervention program has helped more than 40,000 people rediscover their health by preventing, arresting and reversing their diseases. It has been conducted in more than 150 North American cities as well as in Bangalore, India, Australia and Switzerland. Depending upon the needs of the group, the meetings are held either live with Dr. Diehl delivering the program personally (usually meeting four times per week for four weeks) or as a video-based program with certified CHIP facilitators (normally two times per week for eight weeks). In addition, Dr. Diehl is a best-selling author To Your Health, Dynamic Living, and Health Power (co-authored with Aileen Ludington, M.D.) — as well as the executive editor of a 24-page quarterly Lifeline Health Letter; he has produced scores of health videos. CHIP empowers people through its scientifically-documented, educational and inspirational program that addresses common western diseases — those that used to be seen primarily later in life. Today, these diseases increasingly appear at far younger ages. CHIP may make all the difference in ones life — even the difference between life and death.

  In 1999, CHIP launched a community health transformation template in Rockford, Illinois, a city with a population of 130,000. The intention was to transform Rockford into the healthiest city in American, thereby enabling it to serve as a model and template for cultural transformation on a community-wide level. Recently, CHIP was recognized as just such a model by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and was approved under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a STEPS to a HealthierUS applicant. In addition to live CHIP, a series of CHIP videos are offered through schools, churches, corporations, and hospitals. In Rockford, CHIP is sponsored by the Swedish American Health Systems Center for Complementary Medicine.

  Who is the typical CHIP participant? Generally, CHIP participants are over the age of 40. Most are between the ages of 50 and 59. There are twice as many women as men, and almost 90% are married. Clinical research, published in peer review journals, has found that they have the following lifestyle diseases:

  10% report having heart disease

  27% have elevated blood sugar

  42% are overweight

  49% show evidence of hypertension

  60% are obese

  89% are cholesterol above 160mg%

  Over the course of the program, strict adherents are likely to experience significant clinical improvements such as the following:

  Serum cholesterol reduction average 15 20%

  Average weight loss of six pounds

  In about half of the participants with type 11 diabetes, a dramatic reduction in need for insulin and hypoglycemic agents

  Lowering of high blood pressure levels

  Diminishing of angina

  Reduced levels of depression and increase in self-esteem

  Class & Video Lecture Schedule

  Week 1

  Modern Medicine: Miracles, Medicines, & Mirages
  The limitations of high-tech medical approaches in dealing with lifestyle related diseases
  Portrait of a Killer: Onslaught from Within
  Atherosclerosis, the culprit in many lifestyle diseases
  Stalking the Killer
  Reviewing the risk factors for coronary heart disease
  Eat More and Weigh Less
  Basic guidelines for healthy, sustained weight loss

  Week 2

  Going Up in Smoke
  Smoking the most controllable risk factor for coronary heart disease
  The Magic of Fiber
  The role of fiber in preventing and reversing lifestyle diseases
  Reversing Hypertension
  Changing the major risk factors for high blood pressure
  Disarming Diabetes
  Lifestyle factors that can arrest or reverse diabetes
  Effective Cholesterol Control
  Dietary factors that prominently affect blood levels of cholesterol
  Fats in the Fire
  The role of excessive fat intake in lifestyle diseases

  Week 3

  Fit at Any Age
  Benefits of regular exercise in preventing and arresting disease
  Boning Up on Osteoporosis
  Cause and prevention of this so-called disease of aging
  Lifestyle and Health
  Clinical studies that demonstrate how lifestyle choices are related to health
  The Optimal Diet
  Positive dietary guidelines for the prevention and reversal of Western diseases

  Week 4

  Diet and Cancer
  Dietary factors in the development and prevention of common cancers
  Atherosclerosis of the Mind
  The importance of adaptability in achieving and maintaining optimal health
  The Gift of Forgiveness
  How a spirit of forgiveness enhances emotional and overall health
  Building Self-Worth
  The development, preservation and role of self worth in a healthy person

  Connie Thebarges Story

  At the age of 59, Connie Thebarge, a patient at the Ottawa Heart Institute in British Columbia, Canada, was told that her doctors could no longer help her. After all, in addition to suffering from hypertension, she had diabetes and painful diabetic neuropathy. She had two heart attacks followed by a triple coronary bypass surgery and an unsuccessful angioplasty. Every day, she had to take 27 pills. Not surprisingly, she was also depressed.

  Yet, today, more than a decade later, Thebarge walks three miles a day, swims twice a week, dances, and travels to Florida and Europe. No longer depressed, she also requires far fewer pills. How was this accomplished? Thebarge participated in CHIP and transformed her life.

  Written by the Editors at Weight Loss Buddy Press in collaboration with Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, FACN, CNS

  Copyright © 2004, by Weight Loss Buddy Press

  May be reproduced and distributed as is.

  Joey Dweck- your Weight Loss Buddy

  http://weightlossbuddy.com

  PO Box 488 Tenafly NJ 07670

  Tel. 877-BuddyUp

  Written By: Joey Dweck

• Healthy, Heart-Warming Cereal

  Date: 2007.04.23 | Category: Heart Tips | Response: 0

  Looking for something quick, healthy and warm for breakfast on chilly mornings? Cereal manufacturers now provide you with quick, easy to prepare cereals that also pack a nutrition punch! Cereals are sweetened – or not, fortified or not, flavored with added fruit or not and packed for single servings or not. The best news of all: most hot cereals are good for you. They are typically whole-grain, low in fat and a great source of fiber.

  Separate the Good from the Bad
  Look for cereals with no added sugars. Instead, toss in some fruit in its natural state for sweetness and nutrition. Suggested fruits: Blueberries, bananas, raisins, strawberries, raspberries or even apples if you like it that way! Be wary of brands that state “fruit added” as most will add fruit powder rather than the real thing. To appropriately check the sugar content of a cereal, do not use the label because that amount includes naturally occurring sugars. Instead, check the ingredient list. Sugar, dextrose, maple sugar and/or can sugar all fall into the sugar category – avoid cereals that list these in their ingredients.

  Okay, are you one who really dislikes a cereal with no sugar and are groaning right now? If so, take heart – you can indulge somewhat. Just watch for cereals with limited sugars, or a lightly sweetened cereal. Due to variations in serving sizes we will use a percentage – try to watch for less than 30 percent of the calories from sugar. Health Valley is a good example of a lightly sweetened cereal. They have a line of cereal cups containing roughly half as much sugar as Quaker instant cereals. “Banana Gone Nuts” has real chunks of both and the entire line has added soy protein, which gives your cup of cereal as much protein as a glass of milk. They also add the U.S. recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin E and a half-day supply of selenium. For variety, try the “Amazing Apple” or the “Terrific 10 Grain”. One flavor did have too much sugar; that was the “Maple Madness”.

  Check the fiber content in your cereal. Any whole grain is a good grain but extra fiber aids in the prevention of constipation and may help lower the risk of heart disease either by lowering cholesterol (if the fiber comes from oats) or by some other means (if it comes from whole-wheat). Whole grains have more fiber than refined grains; some more than others. Oat bran is at the high end of fiber with six or seven grams per serving. Whole wheat and multigrain mixtures are in the middle with five grams. Oatmeal has four grams and brown rice, two or three. Note, these numbers only apply to unsweetened cereals. A packet of Quaker Instant Oatmeal typically has only three grams of fiber, because sugar (and perhaps some fruit) replaces some of the oatmeal.

  Written by Just Jeni of Fitness and Freebies

  http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com

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• High-dose statins lower heart attack risk

  Date: 2007.04.03 | Category: Heart Tips | Response: 0

  If you suffer from stable heart disease, a higher dose of the class of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins might decrease the risk of heart attacks and strokes for you, a new study shows.

  The study, funded by Pfizer, and called Treating New Targets, or TNT, showed that the top dose of Atorvastatin calcium decreased the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with stable heart disease, compared to the lowest dose of the same drug.

  “Atorvastatin calcium is a prescription medicine used with diet to lower cholesterol,” said Dr Graham Jackson, a British-based consultant cardiologist, who was in Kuala Lumpur last week. “Lowering cholesterol levels is a proven strategy in reducing the risk of heart attack and heart disease but it is not certain what the appropriate target for lowering cholesterol should be in individuals with known heart disease. This study helped determine that. The results could potentially change the standard of care for patients with CHD.”

  The five-year Treating to New Targets Trial (TNT) involved 10,000 patients with established coronary heart disease and elevated LDL, or “bad” cholesterol levels. The study assessed whether patients on high-dose Atorvastatin calcium who aggressively lowered their LDL-cholesterol levels to well below the current guidelines (100 mg/dL) would experience additional cardiovascular benefits compared to Atorvastatin calcium patients who maintained their LDL-cholesterol at recommended levels.

  Patients who received 80 ma doses of Atorvastatin calcium had 22 per cent fewer cardiovascular events, including CHD death, non-fatal heart attacks, resuscitated cardiac arrest, and fatal or non-fatal strokes compared to patients who took 10 mg of Atorvastatin calcium. In addition, patients treated with high- dose Atorvastatin calcium had 25 per cent fewer fatal or non-fatal strokes compared to those treated with just 10 mg of Atorvastatin calcium.

  Dr Sim Kui-Hian, head of both the department of Cardiology and the Clinical Research Centre at the Sarawak General Hospital, said that the average cholesterol levels of the Malaysian population have been increasing since 1961 and the majority of Malaysians with elevated cholesterol are not at their recommended goal levels.

  “This is despite the fact that coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in Malaysia,” said Dr Sim.

  “Everyone hates taking medicine,” he said. “But this drug is generally well tolerated. Adverse reactions usually have been mild and transient, with the most frequent adverse effects of atorvastatin being constipation, flatulence, dyspepsia and abdominal pain.”

  “The mainstay of treatment; besides medication, is exercise, diet and maintaining a healthy body weight,” said Dr Sim. If patients are on a higher dosage of atorvastatin coupled with exercises, not smoking, maintaining correct blood pressure and controlling diabetes, coronary vascular diseases can be remarkably reduced by 80 per cent.

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  Written By: Anonymous