Broken Heart Syndrome

Broken heart syndrome is a temporary condition that is often confused with having a heart attack. The symptoms are similar, such as shortness of breath and chest pain. It mostly affects middle-aged and elderly women and is often caused by emotional or physical stress. The condition is almost never fatal, causes no long term heart damage, and usually doesn't reoccur.

Symptoms of the condition occur when stress causes your body to be flooded with catecholamine hormones. Blood pressure and heart rate increase. There is also a sudden and temporary weakening of the mycardium. A bulging out of the left ventricular apex with a hypercontractile base of the left ventricle of the heart often happens.

The condition is commonly referred to as stress cardiomyopathy, stress-induced cardiomyopathy, or apical ballooning syndrome. Symptoms can be prevented by reducing anxiety before it increases. It is different from a heart attack because a heart attack is caused by blocked arteries and broken heart syndrome is caused by a surge of adrenaline and other hormones. One to two percent of patients who are diagnoses with a heart attack are actually experiencing the condition.

Improve Memory with Apples

It is found that eating apples could help to improve and prevent Alzheimer's disease. Eating two or three apples a day causes the levels of acetylcholine to increase. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that is important to maintaining memory that decreases with age. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are released from nerve cells that transmit messages to other nerve cells. Apples also have an antioxidant called quercetin, which has been proved in studies to help prevent Alzheimer's disease and it improves memory. Quercetin is found in the flesh and skin of an apple. The juice in apples may protect against oxidative damage that contributes to age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Therapeutic Light Used to Repair Skin Damage

There is a procedure called LED photography that exposes skin to therapeutic light to repair sun damage without causing pain or taking much time. The procedure uses light that stimulates collagen and elastin production. It has fewer side effects than using lasers or peels, even though the results aren’t as fast.

Heartburn Can Lead to Esophageal Caner

Heartburn can increase the risk of developing esophageal cancer. This is due to the backwash of stomach acids damaging the esophageal lining, which can cause cell changes that can lead to caner.

It is recommended to drink a minimal amount of coffee and citrus juices. It is also a good idea to cut back on spicy foods to control heart burn. H2 blockers, such as Zantac, and proton pump inhibitors, such as Prilosec, can help to reduce symptoms and encourage the healing of damaged tissues.

Protect Yourself Against Heart Damage

There are many factors that cause heart damage and many things that can be done to protect a person against it. Things that can affect heart damage include oral health, sleep habits, marriage, family history, and the area where you live.

Studies have found a link between heart diseased and gum disease. It is assumed that bacteria in the mouth penetrate damaged gums, enter the bloodstream, and cause inflammation. It also increases in plaque in the arteries that go to the heart. There is evidence that keeping your mouth healthy can cut the risk of heart disease. Intensive periodontal treatment can cause an improvement in cells lining blood vessels throughout the body, which causes a better and healthier blood flow to the heart. It is recommended to brush teeth twice each day, floss each day, and go to the dentist every six months for regular cleanings.

People that get five hours of sleep or less each night are twice as likely to develop high blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for heart disease. When people don’t get enough sleep, their average daily blood pressure and heart rate increases. Not getting enough sleep can also increase the risks of obesity, depression, and diabetes, which are all factors that can increase the chances of developing heart disease. Studies have shown that getting enough sleep each night can lower blood pressure.

If there is constant strain and stress in a relationship, your risk of having a heart attack increases up to 34 percent. A lot of anger and stress can cause a flood of hormones that causes the heart to beat faster and pump harder, causing higher blood pressure and more wearing on the cardiac blood vessels. People in a bad marriage are more likely to eat poorly, drink alcohol more, and smoke, which are things that are bad for the heart.

Family history can increase risks of heart disease. A family history of early heart attack can double the risk of coronary calcification, which is a buildup of calcium in blood vessels that is connected to heart disease, in people between the ages of 30 and 50. Women are more likely to have multiple risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Exercising and eating healthy can still decrease the risks even if there is a family history of heart disease.

People that live in more deprived neighborhoods that don’t have sidewalks, walking trails, and parks have a 20 percent higher risk of heart disease regardless of how rich or educated a person is. These neighborhoods discourage walking and exercise and usually encourage unhealthy eating since they are more likely to have more fast-food restaurants and convenience stores. Something can be done by petitioning officials to add more sidewalks and lights.

Food Poisoning Causes Long-Term Health Problems

It is known that food poisoning, E. coli, and other food borne illnesses can cause serious health problems for months or years after the person survives through it. High blood pressure, kidney damage, and full kidney failure could happen even 10 or 20 years later in people who had a severe E. coli infection as a child. Arthritis could happen after suffer from Shigella. A mysterious paralysis could happen to people who had mild symptoms of campylobacter.

The late effects make up a small amount of the 76 million annual food poisonings in the U.S. Other illnesses could possibly be linked to food poisoning. Some people that had food poisoning earlier in their life have to get kidney transplants later in their life. Some people get scarred intestines that cause long term digestive problems. About 10 percent of people that have suffered E. coli develop a very severe problem called hemolytic uremic syndrome, where their kidneys and other organs would fail.

Some people who suffer from campylobacter, which is a diarrhea-causing infection that is spread by raw poultry, develop Guillain-Barre syndrome at least a month later. Their body would attack their nerves and cause paralysis that would require intensive care and a ventilator to breathe.

Some people develop reactive arthritis at least six months after they have salmonella. It would cause joint pain, eye inflammation, and possibly painful urination. It could also cause chronic arthritis.