Heart Attack Can Lead To Rupture Of The Heart

Individuals who have survived a heart attack are at risk to die of heart rupture which is literally the heart bursting out of the arterial wall. This is the result of a new study at the University of Iowa where researchers discovered a single protein that acts as a risk factor in the “biochemical cascade” that will ultimately lead to heart rupture.

The findings of this study was published last November 13, 2011 as an Advance Online Publication of the journal Nature Medicine which focuses experts attention to blocking the action of this specific protein known as CaM kinase. It is known that after a heart attack, the body produces chemicals that are known to be involved in healing and repair of the heart tissue. But too much chemicals can be too much for a frail and injured heart which may cause further damage which can lead to total heart failure and ultimately death due to heart rupture. This study further assesses the effects of the different medications prescribed after a heart attack. Beta-blockers which block the action of adrenaline and medication that block the angiotensin receptor. Mark E. Anderson, MD PhD, UI professor and head of internal medicine and senior study author also stresses the third phases of prescription medication which must be composed of drugs that block aldosterone action.

Aldosterone is known to increase after a heart attack and the high levels of this particular hormone can increase the risk of death days after a heart attack. Aldosterone is also thought to work with CaM kinase which can ultimately lead to techniques in preventing heart rupture through blocking this protein.

This study will surely be beneficial to individuals who have just suffered a heart attack to further preserve heart health and ultimately preventing heart rupture which leads to death.

Adopt these healthy office habits today

You spend approximately 6 to 8 waking hours in your office. But are you aware of the fact that for most of us, the office is a hub of bad diet decisions accompanied with a sedentary lifestyle. Bid farewell to these unhealthy office foods with these healthy office habits from Ms. Divya Choudhary, Senior Nutritionist at Fortis Hospital, New Delhi.

Eat breakfast to keep hunger pangs at bay. Office life can wreck your diet decisions if you are are not careful. One of the most common reasons behind our urge to overeat at work is the lack of an adequate breakfast. Skipping breakfast leads to an erratic lifestyle pattern. It's the most important meal of the day, and we end up neglecting it. Come lunch, and we are so hungry that we hog on almost anything and everything. Click here for a few healthy breakfast ideas.

Also Read – Healthy Office Canteen Snacks

Be friendly with your Coffee Machine. Caffeine stimulates the heart and respiratory systems. But don’t be too friendly. Limit your coffee consumption to just two cups a day. Make sure that for every coffee you drink, you drink two full glasses of water, to help your system replenish what the caffeine takes out.

Also Read – Fun ways To Stay Healthy For Desktop Dweebs

Try and replace normal water intake with lukewarm water. Warm water has many health advantages, such as:

     It flushes out toxins from our system, which if accumulated can lead to aches, pains and headaches.
    Warm water helps our digestive system work more efficiently, while keeping gastro and colon related diseases at bay. 
    Warm water keeps our skin hydrated. Drinking enough water can combat skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, dry skin, wrinkles etc.


Carry healthy meals from home. If possible, one should always carry home food because it has all the advantages of being infection free, and hygienic. Canteen or restauran food, when eaten too often, can also lead to all sorts of problems that arise from lack of essential nutrients since most cooking methods in fast food kill the nutrient value of food.

Also Read – Healthy Lunch Ideas

If you must exist in a cubicle, at least make it a healthy one. Eat your meals on time and preferably in a relaxed environment. Drink lots of water through the day. Always carry fruits (excellent snack without making you gain weight). Look at other snacks like roasted chana and 100% whole grain crackers instead of biscuits. Keep them in your desk drawer. You can also try unsalted almonds, walnuts or unsweetened figs.

Health Me Up’s Tip for Eating Healthy in the Office: Maintain a well-stocked office box or bag that contains healthy snacks and foods like yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, low fat string cheese, your favourite fruits, hummus, and raw veggies and put them in your office refrigerator. Don't forget to seal and mark it with your name. This will give you a great excuse to get off that chair every couple of hours, and will also serve your need to eat healthy at work. And yes, don’t be too food-friendly when it comes to enjoying colleagues' birthdays, baby showers and receiving high calorie gifts from clients. Respect your limits!

Why human brains can't get any smarter

Human brains can't get any smarter because they seem to have hit an evolutionary roadblock. You can't have too much of a good thing when it comes to mental performance because there is an upper limit somewhere, researchers suggest.

"In other words... if you go beyond that spot, just like in the fairy tales, you have to pay the price," says Thomas Hills from the University of Warwick in Britain.

"These kinds of studies suggest there is an upper limit to how much people can or should improve their mental functions like attention, memory or intelligence," said Hills, the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science reports.

"Take a complex task like driving, where the mind needs to be dynamically focused, attending to the right things such as the road ahead and other road users - which are changing all the time," he said, according to a university statement.

"If you enhance your ability to focus too much, and end up over-focusing on specific details, like the driver trying to hide in your blind spot, then you may fail to see another driver suddenly veering into your lane from the other direction," he added.

This seems to explain why people with enhanced intelligence suffer from autism, debilitating synaesthesia and neural disorders.

Hills, who conducted a comprehensive review study with Ralph Hertwig from the University of Basel in Switzerland, said drugs like Ritalan only help people with lower attention spans.

But when people who don't have trouble focusing, take these attention boosting pills, they can actually perform worse.

"Or if you drink coffee to make yourself more alert, the trade-off is that it is likely to increase your anxiety levels and lose your fine motor control. There are always trade-offs," Hills concluded. 

How to enjoy delayed motherhood

What it is: Having a baby before the 37th week of pregnancy.
Risk factors: Uterine or cervical abnormalities, recurring bladder or kidney infections, clotting disorder.
Call your doc: If you have increased vaginal discharge, vaginal bleeding or spotting, increased pressure in the pelvic area, abdominal cramping.
Rx: Medication including calcium channel blockers, terbutaline drugs, steroids and synthetic progesterone help delay the delivery.
The old saying 'better late than never' is not entirely applicable while planning a baby. Doctors at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London, advise that women should ideally have babies within ages 20 to 35.

The good news is that you can easily outsmart agerelated pregnancy complications if you are running a bit late. Identify the risks, report them to your doc and be safe. Be a happy, healthy post-30s mommy!

Intra-Uterine Growth Retardation (IUGR)
What it is: Retardation of the baby's growth in the uterus.
Risk factors: Hypertension, anaemia, kidney disease.
Call your doc: If you are not gaining adequate weight, your abdomen looks abnormally small.
Rx: Your doc will probably suggest bed rest. Sleep in the left lateral position. Follow a high-carb, high-protein diet. Available treatment options include low-dose aspirin therapy, zinc supplementation, fi sh oil and oxygen therapy.

Cut down the risk of giving birth prematurely

Pregnant women can now have the perfect excuse to munch on few chocolate bars, as a new study has claimed eating chocolates regularly may halve a woman's risk of giving birth prematurely.

Researchers at the Yale University in the US found that those who consume higher rates of chocolatey snacks--including hot chocolate drinks -- were less likely to develop pre-eclampsia, one of the most common causes of premature birth that affects nearly 6 million births annually.

It is characterised by high blood pressure and can cause convulsions, blood clots, liver damage and kidney failure, leading to the death of the baby and sometimes the mother, the Daily Mail reported. The findings of the new study are based on the dietary habits of about 2,500 women during pregnancy.

"Women who reported regular chocolate consumption of more than three servings a week had a 50 per cent or greater reduced risk of pre-eclampsia," the researchers wrote in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.

"Regular chocolate intake during the first or third trimester was equally protective." There have been a number of studies which suggested that chocolate has some health benefits if eaten moderately.

Premature kids likely to face behavioural problems

Children born prematurely have greater chances of experiencing behavioural or emotional problems or both in the pre-school years, a study reveals.

While the rate of premature births has remained more or less constant for some time, the rate of moderately premature births has been rising, Dutch researchers say.

They based their findings on more than 1,500 children whose behaviour and emotional development was assessed for four years, the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood reported.

About 1,000 children born between 32 and 35 weeks of pregnancy, were classified as moderately premature and just under 600 were born at term.

All the children were part of a long term study - The Longitudinal Pre-term Outcome Project or Lollypop - that looked at the growth, development, and general health of children born prematurely.

The study was conducted by paediatricians and neonatologists Marieke R. Potijk, Andrea F. de Winter, Sijmen A. Reijneveld, Arend F. Bos and Jorien M Kerstjens from the University of Groningen Medical Centre, The Netherlands.

Seven behavioural or emotional components were assessed, including anxiety or depression, aggression, attention disorders, and somatic complaints - conditions with no obvious physiological cause, according to a university statement.

"Our results demonstrate that moderately premature children are more likely to have behavioural and emotional problems before they enter school," said a researcher.

These types of problems tend to persist into later childhood and adolescence of the pre-mature children and is likely to affect their academic performance and friendships at school.