Have you ever heard your heart? I did once when a cardiologist connected the stethoscope to a speaker on his computer and my heart sounded like a monster taking a mud bath! It has just been revealed that the old stethoscope is about to be made redundant! Why? Doctors have found that an Mp3 is much more effective. At a recent conference in Stockholm medics reported that the old stethoscope is quite adequate but the doctors listening to those sounds from your heart and lungs have problems in interpreting them. So, some doctors place a Mp3 device on the patient’s chest and the sound quality is not only much better which means they can better interpret them but also that other doctors can listen in when there is a doubt about the diagnosis.

What if there were a significant identifiable risk factor for the cause of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease (fatty deposits in peripheral arteries). Is this something that you would want to know about? More importantly would you want your doctor checking your status with regards to this risk factor during your checkups?

By significant I mean that 40% of the 12.5 million deaths due to strokes that occur globally each year are a result of this risk factor. What about the estimated 16.7 million people who die each year (globally) from cardiovascular disease. Of those 16.7 million this risk factor increased their risk of heart attack by 50%. Of course we hear a lot about Alzheimer’s disease, but we don’t hear that our chances of developing this disease are increased by 150% by this very same risk factor.

“You have coronary heart disease.” When your doctor says those words to you or to someone you love, it’s frightening and confusing. You probably have dozens of questions: What is coronary heart disease? Do I need to change my lifestyle?

Think about your heart this way, it’s like a big pump, and a big pump needs big amounts oxygen and nutrients. It needs large quantities of both in order to survive. It has to get its oxygen and nutrients from your blood because it doesn’t have a direct link to your lungs.

When your arteries get clogged (as they do with our poor western diet) they also get narrowed. This narrowing restricts the flow of blood through the passageways which are the arteries. So if the flow is restricted then the amount of oxygen is reduced and the heart has to pump harder to get the oxygen it needs. It has to work very hard indeed.

Heart disease is the number-one killer of Americans. What does it take to keep your heart healthy? I want to outline in this article some of the basic things you need to know, especially diet and in particular the Mediterranean Diet.

The key to a sound heart is lifestyle, not a strict diet, according to new guidelines from the American Heart Association. The best diet for a healthy heart is rich in fruit and vegetables, fibre, unrefined carbohydrates such as wholegrain cereals and root vegetables, and low in fatty, sugary foods and that is exactly what the Mediterranean diet contains. You cannot go wrong!

One of the hot topics of discussion pertaining to high blood pressure control lately deals with taking omega-3 fatty acids. It has been talked about on the news and has generated a lot of interest. But, does adding omega-3 into your diet really help with controlling blood pressure? Let’s take a look.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in various types of fish, nuts, seeds, and also in a supplement form. The nutrients are said to help lower blood pressure.

According to a recent study that was published in the American Heart Association Journal, almost 5,000 men and women were tested.