Strauss Newsletter
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HEARTNEWS February 2010
(The following are news items and opinions. This is not medical advice.)
Four steps to determine if a person has had an ischemic stroke
Quick diagnosis of a stroke is essential. But this can be difficult because early signs are often subtle. If irregular behavior raises suspicions of a stroke, here's an easy four-step stroke test that can help you spot a problem:
1) Ask the suspected victim to smile
2) Ask him to repeat a simple sentence
3) Ask him to raise both arms
4) Ask him to stick out his tongue straight out
If any one of the four tests can't be completed, call 911 immediately and describe symptoms to the dispatcher.
Then be ready to move quickly. The quicker the better.
A test to see if your digestion problem is due to too little acid.
Stomach acid decreases with age. As a teenager, you pump out 3� times more acid than you do in your 60s.
Most digestive problems are usually caused by too little acid-not too much. If food stays undigested for too long, it causes stomach upset. When it gets pushed up into the delicate esophagus, it causes your heartburn.
To see if your digestive problems are caused by too little acid, take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar before you eat. (This stimulates acid production.)
If that doesn't help, get a common acid supplement called betaine hydrochloride (HCI). Take the recommended dose with your meals. (But not if you have an active ulcer.)
If either method improves your symptoms, your problem was too little acid. Just continue as needed. Forget those antacids and get your doctor to take you off acid blockers.
Remember: Low acid doesn't just affect your digestion. When food isn't digested properly, vitamins and nutrients aren't absorbed, leaving you open to a host of degenerative and other diseases.
Isn't caffeine bad for you?
Patients coming to the Whitaker Wellness Institute sometimes express surprise that they serve coffee. Doesn't it increase the body's acidity? Aren't health-conscious people supposed to drink tea instead? Isn't caffeine bad for you?
Research shows that drinking coffee reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease by as much as 80 percent and protects against other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's. It increases insulin sensitivity, and a high intake- at least six cups a day- lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 54 percent in men and 30 percent in women.
Coffee improves concentration and alertness, boosts mood, and decreases suicide risk. In fact, just the smell of coffee relieves stress in animals. This popular drink also controls asthma and can even halt a full-blown attack in its tracks. Additionally, coffee can stop migraine headaches, curb appetite, prevent tooth decay, and increase the effectiveness of aspirin and other analgesics (Anacin and Excedrin both contain caffeine). And if you drink it before working out, your endurance will improve and you'll have less exercise-induced muscle pain.
Compared to people who avoid coffee, those who drink at least two cups a day are 80 percent less likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver (even if they drink a lot of alcohol), half as likely to have gallstones, and 25 percent less apt to get colon cancer. Coffee is also protective against cancer of the liver and kidneys, and although it's long been suspected of increasing risk of breast cancer, a recent study spanning 22 years and involving nearly 86,000 women found a weak inverse association between the two in postmenopausal females.
Finally, coffee may even increase longevity. A large 2008 study found that drinking up to six cups of regular or decaffeinated coffee daily is associated with a slightly lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and other causes.
What Makes Coffee So Healthful?
So what is it in coffee that provides such remarkable benefits? First, that cup of java is a terrific source of protective antioxidants. Researchers evaluating both the antioxidant levels of various foods and drinks and the frequency with which those items are consumed have found that the average amount of coffee consumed by American adults per day- 1.64 cups- provides 1,299 mg of antioxidants. Tea, the second richest source, supplied only 294 mg, followed by antioxidant-rich (but sparingly eaten) fruits and vegetables, which provide fewer than 75 mg each of antioxidants per day. Believe it or not, coffee even contains fiber- nearly 2 g per cup.
But these aren't the only components that make coffee a health food. Although some studies reveal that regular and decaffeinated coffee both have benefits, oft-maligned caffeine gives the drink much of its oomph. In addition to perking up the nervous system, caffeine increases the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine and enhances delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the muscles and brain.
So, the next time you feel like a cup of Joe, indulge yourself. It's a good way to boost your mood, your energy, and your overall health.
Home made high blood pressure treatment.
Mix together the following:
3 Teaspoons of Aloe Vera Juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1.5 Glass mineral water
0.5 Glass cucumber juice
Take 1 Tablespoon of this mixture on empty stomach once per day for 7-10 days.
Recheck blood pressure.
Niacin more beneficial than cholesterol drug.
A recent study found that niacin, a form of vitamin B, is far more beneficial to heart patients with high cholesterol than is the popular cholesterol drug Zetia. Dr. Anthony DeMaria, a leading cardiologist and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology stated that the findings will eliminate Zetia from the preferred treatment options list. niacin is much more effective at boosting the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), commonly termed "good cholesterol".
Dr. Jim Stein of the University of Wisconsin was one of several who emphasized over-prescription of Zetia, stating that doctors fail to practice evidence-based medicine when using the drug. He recommends utilizing safer, more effective alternatives like niacin that are proven to reduce incidences of heart attack, stroke, and death.
Studies consistently show that therapeutic doses of niacin alone can raise HDL levels by up to 35 percent and lower LDL levels by 20 percent. When incorporated into a well-balanced diet with regular exercise, the benefits increase even more. Proper diet and exercise will actually cause arterial plaque to dissipate over time, unlike statin drugs which have never been proven to break up arterial plaque.
How to tell if trans fats are in your peanut butter.
Peanut butter is a truly wonderful food for healthy eating as well as long-term preparedness storage. But be sure to buy natural peanut butters that aren't made with partially-hydrogenated oils. Nearly all the popular mainstream brands are hydrogenated and contain trans fats, including some that claim "zero" trans fats. Go with natural brands where the oil separates at the top. That's your indication that it's not hydrogenated.
What are the chances of having a second ischemic stroke?
Recently, Harvard Medical School researchers followed more than 800 ischemic stroke patients for 90 days. Each patient was given a brain scan and answered detailed questions about their health status.
Within three months, 60 patients suffered a second stroke. Risk of a second stroke was about 2.5 percent in the first two weeks, and about six percent over the full three months.
No stroke patient should feel complacent about the risk of a second stroke. A positive outlook is always healthy, but it's just good sense to keep a cautious watchfulness when red flags are flying.
If you begin to feel a stiffness in your limbs or face or if one or more of your limbs start to become difficult to control immediately chew up a couple of aspirin and head for the nearest hospital or clinic.
Don't procrastinate or try to tell yourself it's going to go away. You only have three hours from the time you feel a stroke coming on to get a shot of tPA into your system to break up the blood clots that are causing the stoke. So don't play with your life, get help.
Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a drug that quickly clears blood clots. Sometimes you've just got to go with the drug.
Take magnesium citrate for leg cramps.
There are many magnesium supplements, but the what you need for leg cramps is magnesium citrate.
During a randomized, crossover placebo controlled trial, 46 patients supplemented with magnesium citrate. After 6 weeks 67% told Keele University researchers their legs felt better overall!
Is salt really one of the causes of high blood pressure?
In recent years, more and more nutritionists have come to recognize the importance of balancing potassium and sodium.
According to the Linus Pauling Institute, more than 20 percent of your body's resting energy is devoted to maintaining a balance of high potassium inside cells and high sodium outside cells. When the balance is right, cells function properly to do their important work. When the balance is off, lots of things go wrong - such as blood pressure control.
The late Robert C. Atkins, M.D. knew that high blood pressure wasn't a high sodium problem.
In his "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution" he cited numerous studies that came to this
conclusion: Blood pressure can be lowered simply by increasing potassium intake.
No reduction in sodium is necessary unless a patient's intake is unreasonably
high.
One of those studies demonstrated that with just one daily serving of a
potassium-rich food, the risk of death by stroke might be cut by as much as
half!
You can get the potassium from bananas of course, but several other fruits will bump up potassium levels: apricots, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and citrus fruits. Potassium-rich vegetables include asparagus, avocados, green beans, lima beans, cauliflower, and winter squash. Red meat, poultry, seafood, and dry beans such as peas and lentils are other good potassium sources.
Try increasing your potassium and see if your blood pressure improves.
Saturday Mornings Marbles (Author Unknown) The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net.
Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles."
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!" You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids."
Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND MAY ALL YOUR SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!
Pass this on so that someone might be encouraged to have hope because of you!
https://straussheartdrops.com/
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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~
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