Latest news with #cardiovascularhealth
The Independent
a day ago
- Health
- The Independent
Drinking Diet Coke has been tied to heart health risks. Here's what you should know
Drinking Diet Coke and other similar beverages may be associated with a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, among other health issues, according to new research. Although the reason remains unclear, some scientists say the drink's artificial sweeteners may trigger inflammation and alter metabolism, gut and blood vessels. Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said the sweeteners may promote type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels. 'Do not take it for granted that drinking low-sugar and low-calorie artificially sweetened beverages is healthy, it may pose potential health risks,' Dr. Ningjian Wang, a researcher at the Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital in China, said in a statement. People with diabetes or those trying to lose weight may turn to artificial sweeteners and could already be at risk for potential problems. But the overall message from medical professionals is clear. A study from U.C. Irvine found people who consumed the most artificial sweeteners had a 9 percent higher risk for cardiovascular disease and an 18 percent greater risk for stroke or other disease. The American Heart Association found that adults who drink about two liters or more of artificially sweetened drinks per week had a higher risk of an irregular heartbeat. "Avoiding added artificial sugars makes sense, and this study helps to support that," UC Irvine health cardiologist Dr. Elizabeth H. Dineen said. Several sweeteners appear to be the most problematic, including those used in Diet Coke and Coke Zero, researchers found. A request for comment from Coca-Cola was not immediately returned. The sweetener aspartame — which is also widely known as the brand Equal — and sucralose, or Splenda, have been linked to a higher risk of stroke and coronary artery disease. Aspartame is also used in chewing gum, ice cream, cereal, cough drops, and yogurt. It's 200 times sweeter than regular sugar and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a general-purpose sweetener in 1996. It is widely recognized as one of the most researched ingredients in the world. The FDA says it disagrees with conclusions that studies support classifying aspartame as a possible carcinogen to humans. 'Scientific evidence has continued to support the FDA's conclusion that aspartame is safe for the general population when made under good manufacturing practices and used under the approved conditions of use,' the agency says. 'The assessments of aspartame have indicated that, while safety is not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used, potential effects have been described that need to be investigated by more and better studies,' the World Health Organization's Dr. Francesco Branco said. That doesn't mean people cannot consume it. Moderate use should be fine. Coca-Cola notes that people with the rare hereditary disorder phenylketonuria should strictly limit their intake of phenylalanine: a common amino acid found in aspartame. 'A 2022 study found that people who consumed higher amounts of aspartame had a slightly higher risk overall of developing cancer, especially breast cancer and obesity-related cancers. However, it is unclear precisely what amount of aspartame a person would need to consume over time to increase their risk of developing cancer,' City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center oncologist Dr. Misagh Karimi said. So, how much is too much? Just a couple of drinks may increase your risk for negative health outcomes, Michelle Routhenstein, a New York-based registered dietitian who specializes in heart disease, told Fox News Digital.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Just three sleepless nights could be enough to strain your heart
Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Annie Curtis Wednesday 28 May 2025 11:19 BST Scientists pinpoint how many hours sleep will increase your risk of heart disease A new study from Uppsala University in Sweden reveals that just three nights of restricted sleep (around four hours) can trigger changes in the blood that are linked to a higher risk of heart disease. Researchers found that sleep deprivation caused a rise in inflammatory markers in the blood, which can damage blood vessels and raise the risk of heart failure, coronary heart disease, and irregular heartbeat. The study involved 16 healthy young men who underwent periods of normal sleep (8.5 hours) and sleep restriction (4.25 hours) in a controlled lab setting. Exercise-induced boosts in healthy proteins like interleukin-6 and BDNF were weaker after poor sleep, indicating that sleep deprivation can diminish the cardiovascular benefits of physical activity. The study showed that even short-term sleep deprivation can have significant negative impacts on cardiovascular health. In full
Medical News Today
20-05-2025
- Health
- Medical News Today
Heart attack: More sleep, exercise, less sitting can help lower risk
Written by Corrie Pelc on May 20, 2025 — Fact checked by Kevin Cyr, MD To prevent a second heart attack, replace 30 minutes' sitting time with exercise, a new study suggests. Image credit: Maskot/Getty Images. About one in five people who have experienced a heart attack will have another within 5 years. Heart attack survivors are also at an increased risk for other cardiovascular issues, such as heart failure, which can be lowered through lifestyle changes like exercising more. A new study says people who are too sedentary after experiencing a heart attack are at a higher risk of having another one or another cardiovascular event. Researchers report the risk of a secondary cardiovascular event can be lowered by replacing 30 minutes of sedentary behavior with light-intensity or moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity, or sleep. 'The risks for heart attack survivors are still substantial,' Keith Diaz, PhD, the Florence Irving Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, a certified exercise physiologist, a volunteer member of the AHA's Physical Activity Science Committee, and lead author of a new study told Medical News Today . 'Even those survivors who receive the most advanced treatments and medications still have significant risk. That's why it's urgent to find additional ways to reduce this risk,' Diaz explained. Adding to this list is a new study recently published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes — for which Diaz is the lead author — which reports that people who are too sedentary after experiencing a heart attack are at a higher risk of having another one or another cardiovascular event. However, they can lower their risk of a secondary cardiovascular event by replacing 30 minutes of sedentary behavior with light-intensity or moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity, or sleep. For this study, researchers recruited more than 600 adults between the ages of 21 to 96 who had been treated at a hospital for a heart attack or chest pain. Study participants were asked to wear a wrist accelerometer for an average of 30 consecutive days after leaving the hospital to measure how much time they spent sedentary vs moving. 'In our previous research, we noticed that a number of heart attack survivors were quite fearful of exercise,' Diaz said. 'Many of the bodily sensations of intense exercise can remind survivors of their heart attack, causing them to fear and avoid it. As a result, we were finding that many survivors were extremely sedentary, spending over 13 hours a day sitting.' 'Given all that has been learned from research on the health hazards of sitting, we were concerned that heart attack survivors were unknowingly increasing their risk of having another event,' he continued. 'That's why we decided to investigate the link between sedentary behavior and secondary heart attack risk.' At the study's conclusion, Diaz and his team found that study participants who spent an average of more than 14 hours a day being sedentary more than doubled their chances of having another cardiac event or to be hospitalized again within a year after their first cardiac event. 'This finding highlights that sedentary behavior is a toxic, harmful behavior which can impact recovery and future health risk after a heart event,' he explained. 'A big misconception among both patients and physicians is that sedentary behavior doesn't matter as long as you are getting your exercise in. Many people focus solely on meeting exercise recommendations, treating it like a checkbox. 'I got my 30 minutes in, so I'm good and don't need to move [for] the rest of the day.' But exercise is just the tip of the iceberg. It only accounts for [approximately] 2% of the day for those who actually do it.' – Keith Diaz, PhD 'Our study found that patients who spent more time sitting after a heart event had a higher risk of cardiac events and death within a year, irrespective of exercise levels,' Diaz added. 'In other words, even if you're exercising, long periods of sitting can still pose a serious health risk. Reducing sedentary time throughout the day is really important for optimal recovery after a heart event,' he emphasized. On the flip side, researchers discovered that participants who replaced 30 minutes of sedentary behavior with light-intensity physical activity daily lowered their secondary heart event or death risk by 50%. Furthermore, substituting 30 minutes of sitting with moderate to vigorous activity every day cut their risk by 61%. 'The large reduction in risk from replacing sedentary time with light-intensity activity really underscores an important public health message: doing something is better than doing nothing,' Diaz said. 'Movement itself, regardless of intensity, can be beneficial after hospitalization. This is especially relevant for people recovering from a heart event who may find moderate or vigorous activity difficult or scary,' he added. 'While exercise still provides the best 'bang for your buck' in terms of the greatest health benefits, our findings are good news for people who may not have the time, ability or desire to exercise,' he continued. 'The road to a healthy lifestyle after a heart event is more accessible and achievable than we thought and is not just for gym regulars.' Diaz and his team also found that if participants replaced 30 minutes of sedentary time with an extra 30 minutes of sleep, they slashed their secondary cardiac event risk by 14%. 'Sleep is healthier than sitting,' Diaz explained. 'It's a restorative behavior that helps the body and mind recover which is especially important after a serious health event like a heart attack. Many patients struggle to find time or feel too intimidated to engage in intense physical activity.' 'Our findings offer an encouraging message,' he added. 'Even getting an extra half hour of sleep, rather than spending that time sitting on your phone or watching one more episode on Netflix, can support recovery and reduce risk. For all the couch potatoes out there, this is a small, doable step that can still make a meaningful difference for your health.' MNT also had the opportunity to speak with Christopher Berg, MD, a board certified cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, about this study, who commented that the results are concerning, but not all that surprising. 'We've long known that too much sitting is bad for cardiovascular health,' Berg, who was not involved in this study, explained. 'But this research adds an important layer: It's not just how much time patients are sedentary — it's also how that time is accumulated. Long, uninterrupted periods of inactivity appear particularly harmful.' 'What really stood out to me was the authors' statistical approach that suggested that even replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with light activity, moderate exercise, or even sleep was associated with a lower risk of heart events and death,' he continued. 'That's a powerful message that I'll be using in [the] clinic to encourage patients to stay active.' 'Still, it's important to be cautious with these results,' Berg added. 'This was an observational study, so we can't say for sure that [more] sedentary behavior caused the bad outcomes. People in the most sedentary group were generally older and had more health problems, which may have contributed to their risk. That said, the message is still a good one: if you've had a heart attack — or even just a scare — staying active in some form is likely beneficial.' Heart Disease Cardiovascular / Cardiology Sports Medicine / Fitness
WIRED
20-05-2025
- Health
- WIRED
Monitor Your Hypertension at Home With the Withings BPM Vision
When you visit your doctor's office, a blood pressure test is often the first thing you'll face. Blood pressure measures how hard your blood pushes against your artery walls as your heart beats, and it's one of the most important vital signs. High blood pressure means an increased risk of heart failure, heart attack, or stroke, which are among the leading causes of death in the US, and nearly half of the adults in the country have high blood pressure. Hypertension is one of the easiest, widespread health problems to solve because we have all the tools, and the fixes are relatively easy, if not always simple to scale: Eat less salt. Drink less alcohol. Exercise more. Still, it remains hard to monitor blood pressure at home because you need an arm cuff. You still can't get a blood pressure reading from a fitness tracker, although Apple has been developing one for the Apple Watch. Samsung has rudimentary support for blood pressure monitoring on its Galaxy Watch, but the feature isn't available in the US and has caveats. Enter: Withings' BPM Vision, the update to the no-frills BPM Connect ($100). Withings also launched Cardio Check-Up this year, a service within the Withings+ subscription that lets you send information on your cardiac health to a certified board of cardiologists for review. It is easier than ever not to let a heart attack sneak up on you. Lay Down Your Cards The BPM Vision is a tabletop unit, which makes it easier to use and see the display in contrast to the BPM Connect, which has all the electronics in the cuff. This is important for a blood pressure monitor because everything affects your blood pressure, including whether your legs are crossed and if you're sitting up or leaning back. The BPM Connect wasn't difficult to use, but it's infinitely easier to unzip the BPM Vision at my dining room table, lean back, and relax for five minutes. It also charges via USB-C, and both my spouse and I have been using it for a few weeks with no sign that the battery is low. It's a little annoying that there's no battery indicator, but again, this matters less for a tabletop unit you can plug in while using it than for a cuff. It comes with one regular-sized cuff with a range from 8.7 inches to 16.5 inches that comfortably fits both my husband's and my arms (my arm is 9 inches around and his is 15). You can also order an XL cuff for arms bigger than 15.8 inches. It's FDA-cleared and meets the validation protocols recognized by organizations such as the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation and the American Heart Association. It is hard for me to independently verify its accuracy, given that I'm not a physician, but the heart rate readings are the same when checked against a Whoop Band and an Oura Ring. It was easy to set up—just turn it on and connect it to the Withings app. You can see your readings simultaneously on the LCD and the Withings app on your phone, which is compatible with iOS and Android. (It also syncs with Apple Health, Samsung Health, and a few other apps.) You can also have someone else use it as a guest profile, although their readings will not be saved. You can subscribe to Withings+ with one month free, and then it's $100 per year or $10 per month. If you're worried enough about hypertension that you want to monitor your blood pressure at home, I think you probably already know what you need to do to improve your health, and the Withings+ Health Improvement Score won't help you. You Need to Calm Down I asked Jehan Bahrainwala, a Stanford professor with a clinical area of focus in resistant hypertension and secondary hypertension, how you're supposed to use this thing. 'It is more useful to have more readings over a short time period than sporadic readings over a longer time period,' she responded over email. 'I recommend patients monitor their blood pressure at the same time daily for one week in a row, one week per month, and keep a journal of these readings.' The display is simple—it shows your systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate. You can take one measurement at a time or three in a row, which takes about 5 minutes with 45 seconds of rest in between. I recommend taking three in a row because even if you follow every other instruction that Withings gives you, my first reading always showed elevated blood pressure. It turns out that taking your own blood pressure reading isn't as easy as lying on an exam table. To use the BPM Vision, I sat down at my kitchen table at the same time every morning. I had my back supported, with my feet uncrossed and flat on the floor. I took my sweatshirt off and drank plenty of water. I rested my arm on the table for around 5 minutes, then I wrapped the cuff around my upper arm with the tube running down the middle, along my vein.
Medscape
20-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
RZV Cuts Death but Has No Effect on Heart Health
Recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) had no significant effect on major adverse cardiovascular events; however, it reduced all-cause mortality in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases receiving Janus kinase inhibitors. The mortality benefit was particularly notable in women and patients aged 65 years or older. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a new user design study utilizing the TriNetX network (United States) to assess the effect of RZV on cardiac health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, or psoriatic diseases who were receiving Janus kinase inhibitors. Overall, 1756 patients and an equal number of propensity-matched control participants (mean age, 61.3 years; 76% women in both cohorts) were included from October 1, 2017, to March 31, 2024. Primary outcome measures were major adverse cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, heart failure, ventricular arrhythmia, and cardiac arrest, and the secondary outcome measure was all ‐ cause mortality. TAKEAWAY: No significant differences were reported in the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events between the vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts (hazard ratio [HR], 1.121; 95% CI, 0.901-1.395); this finding also persisted when specific conditions were examined. The risk for major adverse cardiovascular events also did not differ significantly based on factors such as age, sex, race, and zoster history. The vaccinated cohort demonstrated a 39% reduction in all-cause mortality (HR, 0.610; 95% CI, 0.427-0.870; P = .005). = .005). The risk for all-cause mortality was low particularly in women, those aged 65 years or older, White individuals, and those without zoster history. IN PRACTICE: 'In elderly patients, the long-term persistence of vaccine efficacy may result in greater benefit, as this high-risk group is more susceptible to mortality following zoster reactivation. These findings underscore the importance of encouraging RZV vaccination in this high-risk population to achieve better survival outcomes,' the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by James Cheng-Chung Wei and Pui-Ying Leong, Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. It was published online on March 5, 2025, in Journal of Medical Virology . LIMITATIONS: The non-population–based nature of the TriNetX database might limit the generalizability of the study findings. Potential follow-up loss could have occurred because patients may have received vaccinations at healthcare organizations outside the TriNetX network, possibly leading to misclassification of the vaccination status. Additionally, disease activity assessment could not be conducted owing to electronic health record limitations. DISCLOSURES: The authors received no specific funding for this work. No conflicts of interest were reported.
