Tiny seeds of the flax plant, high in fiber and omega-3s, produce big drops in blood pressure and may prevent heart attacks and stroke, according to new research.

In the study, people with clogged leg arteries taking flaxseed supplements reduced their top blood pressure (systolic) reading by 10 points and the bottom (diastolic) by seven after six months. This change is the largest decrease in blood pressure ever shown by a dietary intervention, says Dr. Delfin Rodriquez of Cuba who presented the results at the American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions.

The promising findings suggest that people with hypertension turn to the safe and inexpensive dietary supplement before starting drug therapy.

Flaxseed Slashes Blood Pressure The Saturday Evening Post

Miniature electronics that power smartphones and gaming consoles are sparking new innovations in cardiology. Wireless devices monitor the heart 24/7 to save lives in specialized hospital units. Now, the sophisticated gizmos are standing watch over heart patients after they go home.

Today’s tiny implants monitor blood flow or heart rhythm, among other key measures. Then, when something goes wrong, the device signals a medical professional and alerts the patient to seek help immediately. Research proves that implanted heart failure monitors reduce hospitalizations and improve outcomes. Pacemaker and defibrillator monitors with wireless communication features routinely perform checkups without a trip to the doctor’s office.

On the horizon: an early warning system to detect heart attacks before symptoms occur, ensuring the best, most timely treatment possible. Clinical trials of the AngelMed Guardian device (the ALERTS study) are recruiting patients at nearly 80 study locations nationwide.

Innovations in Heart Health The Saturday Evening Post

The answer depends on whether the oil is extracted from the fruit versus the kernel (pit) of the Elaesis guineensis palm plant. Both oils are high in saturated fats, which the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute warns can increase heart attack and stroke risk. But emerging data suggest that palm fruit oil used in moderation delivers a unique blend of fats that provide health benefits and also contain antioxidants.

So check labels carefully when selecting palm oil products. And another caution: Avoid palm oils sold in processed or fractionated form. It increases shelf life but reduces potential health gains.

Do Palm Oils Increase Heart Risk? The Saturday Evening Post

We frequently use this space to talk about heart-healthy behaviors. The first things that usually come to mind are good nutrition, physical fitness, and stress reduction. These are all vital to heart health, but one subject that doesn’t get as much attention is the importance of healthy social ties—more specifically building on positive relationships and letting go of toxic ones. A 2012 UCLA study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal suggests that a key factor in lowering the kind of stress that poisons your heart is extracting yourself from hurtful relationships. The study found that social friction causes a spike in the body’s production of pro-inflammatory proteins that raise cardiovascular risk.

What are toxic friendships? Anyone who’s survived the tortuous high school years should have a pretty good idea. One example might be a friend who drives you crazy with snide remarks, but always says he’s “just kidding” when you try to confront him. Another example: the narcissist whose every comment is about himself or who dominates conversations with self-centered tirades. According to the research, such people are more than just an annoyance: Spending time with them can stress the heart and clog the arteries!

It’s not always easy to extract yourself from toxic relationships. But, if you can muster the willpower, your heart will thank you for it!

Life Saver

Bypass surgery for clogged arteries can increase the odds of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)—the number one reason Americans die suddenly. To mitigate that danger, inventors have come up with a novel kind of defibrillator that slips on like a vest.

Current practice is to wait three months after bypass surgery before implanting a defibrillator because data now suggest the SCA risk can drop as the heart heals. But wearing the Zoll LifeVest protects patients who may still be at high risk during the 3-month window of time.

The Skinny on Fitness

Is it better to be fit or trim? New evidence declares that the winner is … being fit. Statistics clearly show that you’ll live longer (and feel better!) if you’re fit—even if you’re not completely happy with the digits that show up on the bathroom scale, according to recent research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the study of 14,345 men, being less fit was a more significant risk factor than being overweight for dying from a heart attack, stroke, or other cause. “This is good news for people who are physically active but can’t seem to lose weight,” said Duck-chul Lee, Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher and physical activity epidemiologist in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health in Columbia. “You can worry less about your weight as long as you continue to maintain or increase your fitness levels.”

Heart Beat supplements the advice of your health care provider, whom you should consult for personal medical problems.

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medicalmailbox@saturdayeveningpost.com or Medical Mailbox, 1100 Waterway Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202. Please include your mailing address.

Heart Beat The Saturday Evening Post

Caffeine: You’re probably well aware that coffee can cause erratic or rapid heartbeats. It can also lead to atrial fibrillation in susceptible people. Some feel palpitations when they consume caffeinated soda, tea, or chocolate.

Overeating: For some individuals over-indulging at the buffet table may cause symptoms. Why? A full stomach can irritate nearby nerves, stimulating the heart and triggering extra heartbeats.

Red Wine: Small amounts of alcohol, particularly red wine, can benefit the heart. In excess, however, alcohol may cause heart arrhythmias and “holiday heart,” or palpitations on Monday after a weekend binge.

Supplements: It’s impossible to say which dietary supplements can potentially affect the heartbeat (or interfere with heart medicines) because most are unregulated and untested. “Natural” does not mean “safe,” and consumers can unknowingly take products that contain hidden and potentially harmful ingredients. Diet pills can be especially dangerous. For example, the FDA warned last October that 20 brands of dietary supplements for weight loss were tainted with sibutramine—the active ingredient in prescription weight-loss drug Meridia that was linked to elevated blood pressure, heart rhythm problems, heart attacks, and stroke and removed from the U.S. market in 2010.

Common Causes of Irregular Heart Rhythms The Saturday Evening Post

Breakfast: Start the day with omega-3s, fiber, and antioxidants from a steaming bowl of oatmeal sprinkled with blueberries and walnuts.

Lunch: Get energized with healthy fats and vitamins from canned or grilled salmon (the wild variety has less contaminants than its farmed counterpart) and an avocado salad topped with extra virgin olive oil.

Dinner: Savor an edamame appetizer (with soy to lower cholesterol). For the main event, take your choice of grilled chicken or scallops (low in saturated fat) set off with non-fat, plain Greek yogurt (twice the protein of ordinary yogurt) on a baked sweet potato (high in vitamin C and potassium), and a spinach salad (for vitamin A, calcium, and iron) sprinkled with almond bits (for B vitamins, zinc, and selenium). Chase with red wine and finish with a piece of dark chocolate for a generous dose of plant chemicals for better blood pressure and circulation.

Douglas P. Zipes, M.D., an internationally acclaimed cardiologist, professor, author, and inventor, is an authority on pacing and electrophysiology (rhythms of the heart).

Heart-Healthy Holiday Foods The Saturday Evening Post

A: An electrocardiogram (ECG) records the heart’s electrical activity (heartbeat) while the echocardiogram records the mechanical or muscular activity (heart contraction). The ECG tells doctors about electrical problems that can cause arrhythmias while the echo diagnoses abnormal contractions that can cause heart failure.

Cardiac Test Basics The Saturday Evening Post

A: As you are well aware, there is an extreme shortage of organs, including hearts, suitable for transplantation. In 1982, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) was formed to provide equitable distribution of transplant organs. Located in Richmond, Virginia, UNOS is a nonprofit organization that administers the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to facilitate organ matching and placement according to equitable policies based on objective medical criteria such as blood and tissue type, medical urgency of the patient, time spent on the waiting list, distance between the donor and recipient, and so on. There are about 2,500 heart transplants yearly in the U.S., with many thousands more on the waiting list. The waiting time varies from several days to several months or longer.

Give the Gift of Life The Saturday Evening Post

I came through the stroke fine because I went to the hospital right away and have been on warfarin ever since. My question is: If there’s no shunt, is the hole present?

A: The heart defect (or hole) responsible for a stroke is usually located in the top chambers of the heart, or atria. Diagnostic tests may detect an atrial septal defect (ASD) or a patent foramen ovale (PFO), both of which are “holes” in the tissue separating the right and left atria. A “shunt” is the term used to describe blood flow across such a defect. In your case, the concern is a right-to-left shunt, meaning that a blood clot could travel from the right to the left side of the heart, and then on to the brain and cause a stroke. Even if testing did not show a right-to-left shunt, it could still happen on occasion, such as after coughing or sneezing. Ask your cardiologist whether you indeed do or do not have a shunt. Treatments include closing the shunt via a device implanted during a heart catheterization (rather than open-heart surgery) or lifelong anti-coagulation with warfarin.

Heart Defect Often Causes No Symptoms The Saturday Evening Post

A: Aspirin inhibits blood clotting by reducing the “stickiness” of platelets. This helps lower the incidence 
of stroke and heart attacks, but may increase the risk of bleeding. In general, people at low risk of having a heart attack or stroke shouldn’t take daily aspirin because the chance of bleeding outweighs any potential benefit. In contrast, low-dose aspirin therapy is beneficial for those who carry an increased risk of heart attack or stroke, including people with the irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation.

Low-Dose Aspirin for Heart Health The Saturday Evening Post

A: Bypass vessels, particularly when veins are used in contrast to arteries, can clog or narrow (note President Bill Clinton’s recent incident), but it usually occurs years after the surgery. Damage to the bypass vessel during surgery sometimes triggers early scarring. In any event, an obstructed bypass vessel can often be propped open with a heart stent, a wire mesh tunnel that is inserted with a catheter, as Clinton had done.

Heart Scars The Saturday Evening Post

A: It is safe for your pacemaker—but it may not be safe for your wallet!

Pacemaker Safety The Saturday Evening Post

A: The Maze procedure is open heart surgery to eliminate rapid heartbeats. It involves making a series of incisions in the top portion of the heart, the atria. In experienced hands, the procedure is successful in more than 90 percent of patients. A far less invasive option, ablation, utilizes heart catheterization for the same purpose. While its success rates are somewhat lower (60 percent to 75 percent), catheter ablation is often recommended unless the patient is scheduled for surgery to bypass a clogged vessel or correct a valve during which the Maze procedure can also be performed.
To find an expert near you, visit hrsonline.org.

Surgery Corrects Heart Rhythm The Saturday Evening Post

A: Doctors commonly prescribe five types of medicines that lower high blood pressure in different ways. In almost all patients, some combination of drugs (usually at least two, and sometimes more) are tolerated and are effective. As I mentioned in my March 2010 column, a new procedure involves threading a catheter into the renal artery and burning key nerves in the wall of the artery that help regulate blood pressure. Ask your cardiologist about it.

Help for Hypertension The Saturday Evening Post

A: Ten premature beats per minute is a fair amount that can be perfectly harmless. However, we now know that premature beats sometimes cause heart failure and shortness of breath, and can be eliminated by a heart catheterization ablation procedure. I suggest consulting a cardiologist or electrophysiologist (hrsonline.org).

Heart Is Skipping Beats The Saturday Evening Post