Showing posts with label cardiovascular. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardiovascular. Show all posts

May 5, 2009

Exercise Back Pain Away

Back pain can be a serious problem that is commonly caused by issues, such as injury, sitting too long, overuse of back muscles, muscle strain, and bad posture. Regular exercise can help with stiffness and weakened back muscles and reduce the occurrences and severity of future back pains. It can also help a person to recover faster from an injury, prevent reinjuries in the back, and reduce the chances of disability from back pain. When exercise is done in a controlled, gradual, and progressive way, it can distribute nutrients into the disc space and soften the tissues in the back to keep the discs, muscles, ligaments, and joints healthy.

There are certain exercises that can be done to strengthen back muscles. Strength-training is good at working the upper and lower body muscles. Lifting weights at least 3 times per week is a good way to reduce back pain. Stretching exercises are good at lengthening back muscles, increasing mobility of the joints of the spine, and relieving back pain. Doing cardiovascular and aerobic exercises, such as walking, bike riding, swimming, and jogging, a few times a week for 30 minutes each session are also a good way to strengthen muscles. Having strong abdominal muscles is just as important as having strong back muscles when it comes to supporting the lower back and preventing lower back pain.

April 2, 2009

The Benefits of Olive Oil

Olive oil can have a positive effect on blood cholesterol levels, heart disease, skin cancer, earaches, constipation, colon cancer, upset stomach, dry skin, and stretch marks. It also contains vitamins E, K, A and hundreds of micronutrients. Many of its health benefits are due to its high amount of monounsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and moisturizing properties.

Olive oil has a positive effect against heart disease by controlling LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It is good at activating the secretion of bile and pancreatic hormones and lowering the chance of the formation of gallstones. When it is taken orally, it can increase metabolism, help digestion, and lubricate mucous membranes. Putting extra virgin olive oil on skin after sunbathing can help to prevent skin cancer.

July 14, 2008

Heart Doctor Pioneer Michael DeBakey Dies

Dr. Michael DeBakey, the famous cardiovascular surgeon that pioneered the bypass surgery and inventor of many devices to help people with heart problems, has died at the age of 99 from natural causes at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX. In 1932, while he was still in medical school, he invented the roller pump, which later became the most important part of the heart-lung machine. The machine takes over the responsibilities of the heart and lungs during surgery. He was also the pioneer in the development of artificial hearts and heart pumps to help people waiting for transplants. He had helped to create more than 70 surgical instruments in his lifetime.

In the 1950s, DeBakey was the first person to perform the replacement of arterial aneurysms and obstructive lesions. He had developed bypass pumps and connections to replace parts of diseased arteries.

He had performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries in his career that lasted 70 years. His patients had included the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Nicaraguan leader Violetta Chamorro, President Kennedy, President Johnson, and President Nixon. He was a consultant when Russian President Boris Yeltsin had surgery.

He served as the chairman of the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke during President Johnson’s administration. He had helped to establish the National Library of Medicine and was the author of more than 1,000 medical reports, papers, chapters, and books on surgery, medicine, and similar topics.

In 1953, he performed the first Dacron graft to be able to replace part of occluded arteries. In the 1960s he started coronary artery bypasses. In 1966, he was the first person to successfully use a partial artificial heart. In the 1990s, he helped to create the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Instititute at Hays Medical Center.