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Nutrigenomics A New Way To Prevent Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among men and women in most countries in the world, especially in the United States. It is also projected that in 2020, heart disease and stroke will be the leading cause of death and disability of people around the world.

Contrary to our old belief that cardiovascular disease can only affect the stressed, over-weight, middle-aged men; studies show that it is now prevalent among men, women and children regardless of their age, race and ethnic groups. According to Dr Robert Beaglehole, WHO Director of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, “Today, men, women and children are at risk and 80% of the burden is in low- and middle-income countries.

Heart disease and stroke not only take lives, but also cause an enormous economic burden.” This only shows that children are now adopting unhealthy lifestyles. Thus, awareness and education are necessary precautions for heart disease and stroke prevention. Educating people about the effect of food and nutrients to the body would greatly help them to live healthy lives. This will also open there mind that achieving good health need not be expensive. They only need to know what nutrients are needed in their body to improve its immunity against diseases and nutrigenomics will help them understand this.

Cardiovascular disease occurs when our cardiovascular system, -heart, arteries, and veins- malfunctions due to genetic and environmental factors. Atherosclerosis, the building up of fatty substance like cholesterol to the arterial wall, is the underlying cause of this disease. Other cardiovascular diseases include aneurysm, angina, stroke, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction or heart attack, and many others. It was discovered that the process of atherosclerosis starts as early as childhood and eventually develop in to a disease as the child matures.

Tobacco use, lack of physical activity, and poor nutrition are the causes of cardiovascular disease. There is substantial evidence that links diet to the development of heart disease. Dr. Richard M. Fleming identified in his book, “The Healthy Heart Program”, several dietary factors that can lower the risk of heart disease such as reducing saturated fat intakes, reducing consumption of sugary and processed foods, reducing homocysteine levels by supplementation with Vitamins B6 and B12, and folic acid, higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, and cutting back on foods such as red meat, dairy products, poultry and eggs.

This only proves that nutrition plays a vital role in the prevention of this disease. The application of nutrigenomics in relation to cardiovascular disease is a vital tool in improving the patients’ awareness on how unhealthy foods destroy our body’s natural protection against this heart disease.

Cardiovascular disease is treatable and reversible. The therapy for this disease includes alteration in patient’s diet, physical activity, and medical treatments. However, genetic variations produce different responses from patients. This is because each individual has different sensitivity and susceptibility to the disease. Thus, it is important to test the patients to find out their genetic makeup in order to optimize the efficacy of the therapies employed to them.

Researchers and nutrition specialists believe that analyzing the individual nutritional needs and tailoring the food according their genotype will greatly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disorder to people. Studies show the influence of the genetic makeup to the responsiveness or lack of it to dietary factors.

Nutrigenomics aims to develop functional foods that will provide people’s individual nutritional needs by demonstrating how food nutrients affect health and how health foods affect health. Though this field of science is still in its early stages, nutrition specialists have seen its potential for the advancement of health and nutrition technology to combat cardiovascular disease.

High Prevalence Of Heart Disease Expands Job Opportunities For Technicians

Heart disease has become widespread in the United States because of the increasing rate of chronic medical conditions related to a poor diet and the lack of routine exercise. Diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure negatively affect the ability of vital organs to function and can result in debilitating illnesses and even death. The poor health behaviors of the general public along with an increase in the size of the population and the number of Baby Boomers now entering retirement has created a spike in demand for cardiac care services. Because many healthcare facilities lack the advanced personnel and resources needed to meet the current demand, many administrators have begun hiring unlicensed technicians to perform many of the routine tasks associated with the provision of daily care. This trend has created many new job opportunities for EKG technicians as well as those who are working in other specialties.

The heart is one of the most important organs contained within the human body because of its role in circulating blood through the vast network of vessels that supply oxygen to tissues and transport waste to organs that specialize in filtration and excretion. Like all other organs, the heart requires oxygen to survive and must have a healthy network of vessels that supply it with the nutrients it needs. Individuals who suffer from clogged cardiac arteries are highly susceptible to developing heart attacks and may even die if a severe cardiac event occurs. Many of these patients must receive regular treatments in a cardiac unit in order to ensure that their heart remains functional. An EKG technician is someone who works under the supervision of a registered nurse or licensed physician and whose job it is to carry out the basic tasks associated with the delivery of care to heart disease patients.

Some of the most common responsibilities that an EKG technician has include vital sign collection, medical history documentation, procedure preparation, electrocardiogram administration, telemetry, Holter monitoring, new technician training, and a variety of administrative tasks. The contributions of the technician to the patient care team is very important because it allows advanced medical personnel to spend their time evaluating new patients, developing treatment plans, and managing cases that involve complex heart diseases. Without the technician, access to cardiac care would become severely limited and many patients would not receive the life-saving treatment that they need. For this reason, many facilities have begun hiring more technicians to help manage the growing demand for care.

In general, the technician may only perform patient care tasks that are considered routine and that have a predictable outcome. Responsibilities that require advanced medical knowledge, judgment, or skill must be carried out by the nurse or physician and can never be delegated to the technician under any circumstances. The nurse or physician must evaluate a task before delegation to ensure that it has very little chance of jeopardizing the health and safety of patients and they must provide supervision as the technician is performing the task. These requirements are designed to protect patients and to ensure that the interests of medical personnel are preserved in cases of negligence. Most healthcare facilities have policies and procedures that determine how a task may be delegated and the steps that must be taken prior to assigning a responsibility to an unlicensed member of the team.

The fact that the EKG technician is an unlicensed member of the medical team means that most states do not regulate the profession. Employers often set their own education, training, and certification requirements for new technicians. While some employers will consider hiring individuals who have only a high school diploma or GED, they generally prefer those who have at least a two-year college degree and prior patient care experience. Those who do not possess formal credentials may still be able to secure employment after completing a training program provided by the hiring institution and successfully passing a nationally recognized certification exam. Direct contact with potential employers is the best way to ensure that their expectations are being met.

Higher Diabetes Incidence In Southeast United States

Dr. Munsif reported that the incidence of diabetes is higher in the South when compared to states in the Northwest. Among other states with low incidence of diabetes is Vermont. Incidence in these states was 10 to 12 cases per 1000 when compared to 4 to 6 cases in the Northwest. Similar data was reported for obesity and physical inactivity.
Regional imbalances in incidence of diabetes have been reported. Regions of the country with higher incidence of diabetes signifies existence of environmental factors which trigger such higher numbers.
Diabetes is a major public health problem in the United States and the world.
There are 23 million people (7.9% of total population)who suffer from diabetes in North America and 194 million (5.1% of total population) in the world.
Distinction between incidence and prevalence of a disease
Incidence of a disease is defined as the occurrance of new cases of a disease over period of one year in a given population per 1,000 population. This is different from prevalence of a disease, which refers to all cases of a disease (old and new cases).
Regional imbalances in incidence of diabetes
In the United States, the states with higher incidence of diabetes (10.8 to 12.8 per 1000 population) include not only the states in the south (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia), but also Texas and Arizona and Puerto Rico. States with lower incidence (5.0 to 7.6 per 1,000 population are not only in the northwest (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin) but also Colorado, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont, with Vemont with the lowest incidence of 5 cases per 1,000 population. Virginia has lower incidence of diabetes, although it is surrounded by states with much higher incidence.
Modifiable risk factors for diabetes and correlation of prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity with geography
The South also has higher incidence of the modifiable risk factors for type 2 diabetes, viz. obesity and physical inactivity. The prevalence of obesity is greatest in the south (27.3%) and least in the northwest (23.1%). The Midwest (25.5%) and Northeast are in the middle with regard to prevalence of diabetes. Therefore, the higher incidence of diabetes in the south is not surprising. Obesity prevalence exceeded 30% in three southern states: Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
The South had greater prevalence of physical inactivity (17.4%), compared with the Northeast (15.7%), Midwest (14.1%), and West (11.2%).
Conclusions
Diabetes statistics reveal regional imbalances. The causes of these regional imbalances (primarily higher incidence in the south) are not known. However, an inference ccan be made from statistics which reveal higher incidence of modifiable risk factors for diabetes (obesity and physical inactivity) in the same geographical area. Copyright (c) 2009 A. N. Munsif.
1. Diabetes mellitus handbook, Morristown Publishing Company, P.O. Box 672, Livingston, New Jersey 07039, 2009.
2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC),MMWR 2008; 57(43);1169-1173 (http://cdc.gov).
3. Geiss LS, Pan L, Cadwell B, Gregg EW, Benjamin SM, Engelgau MM. Changes in incidence of diabetes in U.S. adults, 1997–2003. Am J Prev Med 2006;30:371-7 (http://www.ajpm-online.net/).
4. CDC. State-specific prevalence of obesity among adults—United States, 2007. MMWR 2008;57:7658 (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/).
5. Knowler WC, Barrett-Conner E, Fowler SE, et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention. N Engl J Med 2002;346:393-403 (http://content.nejm.org/).
6. United Nations – Department for Economic and Social Information – Population Division. World urbanization prospects: the 1994 revision. Estimates and projections of urban and rural populations and of urban agglomerations. United Nations, New York, 1995. (http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wup2007/2007wup.htm).
Reference URLs:
1. Diabetes Mellitus Handbook – Morristown Publishing Company, P.O. Box 672, Livingston, New Jersey 07039.
2. Centers for Disease Control – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A.
KEYWORDS
Diabetes, Incidence, Prevalence, Obesity, Risk factors
Description
Dr. Munsif reported that incidence of diabetes is higher in the southern states of the United States when compared to states in the Northwest. Among other states with low incidence of diabetes is Vermont. Incidence in these states was 10 to 12 cases per 1000 when compared to 4 to 6 cases in the northwest. Similar data was reported for obesity.

Blood Test To Predict Risk Of Heart Disease For Diabetics

Diabetes has long been regarded as a risk factor of heart disease. The specific relationship between the two was unclear although diabetes is known to double the risk of heart disease. As a result, many people living with diabetes have to monitor their health for well-known risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Despite the fact that the role of blood sugar levels in managing their risk of developing cardiovascular disease remains as a big unknown, diabetics are still advised to achieve a well-controlled level of blood sugar.

In 2004, researchers from United States revealed that a new blood test (at that time) can predict risk of developing heart disease for people with diabetes.

Two separate studies had suggested that people with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes should regularly take the hemoglobin A1c test, on top of their regular checks of blood sugar. The HA1c test looks for glycated hemoglobin, also called glycosylated hemoglobin, and is a measure of how well blood sugar is controlled.

In one study, the researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reanalyzed the data from 13 studies involving nearly 10,000 people from North America and Europe, and found that those with higher levels had much higher risks of heart and artery disease.

Being published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the research reported that 1 percent point increase in HA1c predicted an 18 percent increase in risk for total cardiovascular disease and a 28 per cent risk for peripheral vascular disease (clogged arteries in the legs).

Similar results were found in the second study. The researchers from the Cambridge University and Britain’s Medical Research Council studied 10,030 people aged between 45 and 79 for 6 years. They found that a 21 percent increase in cardiovascular events such as heart attack, for every 1 percent point increase in hemoglobin A1c above 5 percent. Persons with HA1c concentrations less than 5 percent had the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality. This was true even when patients were older and fatter and regardless of blood pressure or cholesterol levels.

In conclusion, the 2 studies clearly prove that the glycosylated hemoglobin level is an independent progressive risk factor for incident cardiovascular events, regardless of diabetes status. Glycosylated hemoglobin level can be added to the list of other clearly established indicators of cardiovascular risk, such as blood pressure and cholesterol level.

America’s Most Trusted Doctor Reveals … How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease – Without Drugs or Surgery. Read more about his confession at: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com/heart-disease-prevention-dr-robert-article.html