Posted from: http://www.lisanelsonrd.com/reduce-stress-dont-time-activity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

A further fine piece of writing on the subject of heart health.

When you are stressed your body releases stress hormones to prepare the body for “fight of flight”. This hormone release causes heart rate to increase and blood vessels to constrict. The combination leads to elevated blood pressure. With short term stress, this is a temporary rise in blood pressure that resolves itself once the stressful situation is resolved.

But what about when you live with chronic stress?

There is no direct scientific link between chronic stress and high blood pressure. However, stress is connected to many behaviors directly tied to high blood pressure and heart disease, such as consuming alcohol, lack of sleep, and overeating.

Physical activity for stress relief… but what if you don’t have time?

Being physically active is a proven method you can use to reduce stress levels. Activity triggers the brain to release “feel-good” chemicals to ease stress. Exercising and being active are also proven ways to lower blood pressure.

However, time and location may not always be conducive to employ activity to lower stress levels. Here are ten alternate techniques for reducing stress.

Eat a healthy diet

Include foods rich in vitamins and minerals to counteract stress, such as fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, fish, and yogurt.

Avoid alcohol

This potential short term “fix” to alleviate stress can quickly turn into a long term problem.

Stop smoking.

Smokes may claim smoking reduces stress, but research shows those who smoke experience slightly higher stress levels than those who do not.

Get enough zzz’s.

Not getting enough sleep causes the body to release more of the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels increase risk of insulin resistance leading to obesity and diabetes. Plus, difficulties are always more challenging when you are sleep deprived, which equals increased levels of stress.

Decrease sugar and caffeine intake.

Tea, coffee, and cocoa contain neuro-stimulators, such as caffeine, which increase stress. You also want to avoid foods high in sugar to prevent additional increases in blood sugar… stress on its own triggers the body to raise blood sugar levels via cortisol release.

Meditate.

Meditation leads to reduced mental overload and a heightened sense of peace and balance, benefiting both emotional and overall health….as well as stress reduction. Keep in mind meditation take practice.

Socialize.

Social support has a protective effect on health. When it comes to stress reduction friends and family provide essential support to allow you to relax and stress less.

Practice deep breathing.

Simply paying attention to your breathing and focusing on slow deep breaths can lead to relaxation and stress reduction.

Laugh

Laughter triggers physical changes within your body, stimulating organs and circulation while promoting muscle relaxation. A good laugh counteracts the body’s response to stress.

Change your thinking.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Recognize what you can and cannot change. Don’t waste time (and damage your health!) on things you cannot change. Focus on what you can.

The post How to Reduce Stress When You Don’t Have Time for Activity appeared first on Lower Cholesterol and Blood Pressure with Lisa Nelson RD.

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Posted from: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/High-Blood-Pressure-or-Hypertension_UCM_002020_SubHomePage.jsp

A unique serious terrific editorial pertaining to heart health.

What is high blood pressure or hypertension? The American Heart Association provides information on blood pressure, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, high blood pressure, hypertension, hypertensive crisis, monitoring blood pressure, preeclampsia, systolic, diastolic, risk of high blood pressure, tretment of high blood pressure, prevention of high blood pressure, lower blood pressure

Sigmaceutical is passionate about spreading health and strongly advocates the idea of strengthening the body’s defenses against sickness and disease through world class nutritional supplement formulations.

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Posted from: http://pulmonaryhypertensionrn.com/congenital-heart-disease/congenital-heart-disease-and-sleep-apnea/

A new excellent article with reference to heart health.

Co-Authored By Tabitha Moe and Jeremy Feldman

As of 2011, there are more adults than children with congenital heart disease.  Children with congenital heart disease who were born in the 1980’s and 1990’s were given exercise restrictions that were quite limiting.  This kept them from participating in competitive sports, recreational sports, or even playing in gym class at school.

The unfortunate outcome is that we now have an entire generation of adults who were born with congenital heart disease that are now accustomed to a very sedentary lifestyle.  Many of them feel as though they have always been told what they couldn’t do, and they have carried these outdated ideas into adulthood.  Unfortunately, when a sedentary lifestyle intersects with an American diet of fast food and take-out pizza there are many health consequences such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity.  Another important consequence is the development of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) describes a problem whereby when you sleep your tongue slides backward in your throat and blocks your airway resulting in an inability to breath.  Gradually your oxygen saturation falls as you continue to be unable to breath.  Eventually your brain recognizes that you are not breathing and you awaken with a big gasp.  Your bed partner may hear this as choking sounds followed by a big loud breath.

The consequences of severe OSA may be quite profound.  Untreated sleep apnea increases your risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, traffic accidents, and reduced work productivity.  Patients with sleep apnea complain of fatigue, sleepiness, falling asleep at inappropriate times such as at work, in the doctor’s office, while talking, eating or driving.

Diagnosis of Sleep Apnea

A history of loud snoring, sleepiness during the day, waking up with headaches and witnessed choking episodes during sleep can suggest the diagnosis.  However, proving the diagnosis requires a Sleep Study (polysomnograph).  This test may be done either at a sleep laboratory where you spend 1-2 nights or at home.

Treatment of Sleep Apnea

An ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure.  To that end, the best strategy to prevent sleep apnea is to avoid being overweight.  As our weight increases, so does the risk of sleep apnea.  Weight loss leads to improvements in sleep apnea and in some patients may even lead to resolution of the problem.  The first line of treatment after weight loss is CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).  This involves using a small air compressor connected to a facemask or nose-mask.  The air creates a pneumatic splint that keeps your airway open preventing you from choking yourself while you sleep.  Some patients are unable to tolerate CPAP and there are a variety of other options.  Oxygen alone is not adequate treatment of sleep apnea.

Ask your congenital heart disease cardiologist or pulmonary hypertension specialist if you should be evaluated for sleep apnea.

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Posted from: http://www.health.am/hypertension/more/prolonged-shortened-sleep/

Any more admirable comment pertaining to heart health.

People exposed to prolonged periods of shortened sleep have significant increases in blood pressure during nighttime hours, Mayo Clinic researchers report in a small study of eight participants.

Results of the study will be presented Sunday, March 15, at the American College of Cardiology’s 64th Annual Scientific Session in San Diego.

In this study, eight healthy, normal weight participants, ages 19 to 36, participated in a 16-day inpatient protocol, consisting of a four-day acclimation period followed by nine days of either sleep restriction (four hours of sleep per night) or normal sleep (nine hours of sleep per night), and three days of recovery. Twenty-four blood pressure monitoring at regular intervals was measured at each study phase.

During the nighttime, in the sleep restriction phase compared to the normal sleep phase, systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure averaged 115/64 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) versus 105/57 mm Hg, respectively, researchers found. Furthermore, the expected fall in blood pressure during the night was suppressed when subjects had inadequate sleep. They also found that nighttime heart rate was higher with sleep restriction than in normal sleep.

Sigmaceutical is passionate about spreading health and strongly advocates the idea of strengthening the body’s defenses against sickness and disease through world class nutritional supplement formulations.

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