Category: Psychology

Being healthy and heaving a balanced diet won’t prevent heart disease if you don’t follow this instruction correctly.

Either too little sleep or too much sleep can increase the risk of a heart attack, as well as heart disease and stroke, new research finds.

Although regular exercise, a balanced diet and avoiding smoking are important for heart health, the right amount of sleep is also critical.

Sleep duration is a vital health factor since a study of almost half a million people shows that less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours sleep will higher the chance of a heart attack dramatically.

Subjects who slept less than 6 hours nightly had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack.

The risk was increased to 34 percent for those who had more than 9 hours sleep.

The risk of heart attack increased to 52 percent in people who slept five hours compared to those who had 7 to 8 hours sleep per night.

The risk was even higher for those who slept 10 hours as they had double the chance of having a heart attack.

People genetically prone to heart disease cut the risk by 18 percent when sleep duration was more than 6 hours, but less than 9 hours per night.

Mr Iyas Daghlas, the study’s first author said:

“It’s kind of a hopeful message, that regardless of what your inherited risk for heart attack is, sleeping a healthy amount may cut that risk just like eating a healthy diet, not smoking, and other lifestyle approaches can.”

Due to modern lifestyles, lack of sleep is spreading fast and resulting in serious global health issues.

Previous studies have suggested that less than 7 hours sleep will increase the chance of heart disease and stroke.

This study is taking a step further and showing the impact of sleep duration on heart health.

Lack of sleep can cause damage to the lining of the heart and blood vessels and increase inflammation in the body.

It also promotes unhealthy lifestyle behaviours such as ill-timed eating and poor dietary choices which leads to gaining weight, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Sleeping to much will also increase inflammation, cardiometabolic risk factors such as diabetes, heart disease or stroke.

Dr Celine Vetter, the study’s senior author, said:

“This provides some of the strongest proof yet that sleep duration is a key factor when it comes to heart health, and this holds true for everyone.”

The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Daghlas et al., 2019).

This treatment is a traditional technique that can resolve chronic pain, fatigue and poor sleep.

Acupressure can reduce lower back pain, new research finds.

Acupressure is a technique similar to acupuncture that involves applying physical pressure with special devices or the elbows, palms and fingers on specific points on the body.

This can be performed as a self-massage technique to relax the muscles in the targeted area.

The are two types of self-administered acupressure treatments, which are known as stimulating and relaxing.

Both stimulating and relaxing acupressure treatments have been shown to lessen fatigue in survivors of breast cancer.

Additionally, the relaxing acupressure technique can effectively improve sleep quality.

Researchers found that self-administered acupressure can reduce pain in people with cancer or osteoarthritis.

Now a new study shows self-administered acupressure can reduce the pain and fatigue in people with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Dr Susan Murphy, the study’s first author, said:

“Acupressure is similar to acupuncture, but instead of needles, pressure is applied with a finger, thumb or device to specific points on the body.

Relaxing acupressure is thought to be effective in reducing insomnia, while stimulating acupressure is thought to be effective in fatigue reduction.”

Participants in this study were trained to apply acupressure to certain points of the body for 30 minutes every day for six weeks.

There was another group in the study, these participants were in the usual care group and were asked to continue their usual treatment for back pain and fatigue.

Dr Murphy said:

“Compared to the usual care group, we found that people who performed stimulating acupressure experienced pain and fatigue improvement and those that performed relaxing acupressure felt their pain had improved after six weeks.”

Patients with chronic pain cannot easily overcome the pain and its additional symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbance and fatigue.

These type of non-pharmacological treatment options can be effective in managing the pain and the above symptoms.

Dr Murphy said:

“Better treatments are needed for chronic pain. Most treatments offered are medications, which have side effects, and in some cases, may increase the risk of abuse and addiction.”

The study was published in the journal of Pain Medicine (Murphy et al., 2019).

Cholesterol in this food is linked to cardiovascular disease and death.

High consumption of eggs increases the risk of heart disease and death, research suggests.

This finding is based on the collected dietary data from 6 studies on 30,000 American adults over 31 years.

They show that consuming large quantities of eggs has a negative impact on health.

The recommended daily dietary cholesterol intake is below 300 milligrams (mg).

One egg contains 200 mg of cholesterol, which is almost the same amount as a 230 gram steak.

The study found that the risk of cardiovascular disease increased by 17% and risk of death was higher by 18% when an additional 300 mg of dietary cholesterol was consumed per day.

Professor Katherine Tucker, the study co-author, said:

“Eating several eggs a week is reasonable.

But I recommend people avoid eating three-egg omelets every day.

Nutrition is all about moderation and balance.”

The evidence on whether egg consumption or dietary cholesterol is tied to heart disease and death remains contradictory.

For example, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland suggests that eating up to one egg per day or a moderately high intake of dietary cholesterol won’t elevate the risk of stroke.

Cholesterol helps the body make certain hormones which we need and this common nutrient comes from the diet and the liver.

One major source of dietary cholesterol is egg, a food that includes important nutrients for eye and bone health.

The first study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Zhong et al., 2019) and the second study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Abdollahi et al., 2019).

Surprisingly, this easy technique is as effective as following a dedicated muscle strengthening program.

Taking a walk a few times a week for 20 to 40 minutes is one of the best treatments for lower back pain, research finds.

Surprisingly, a leisurely stroll is as effective as following a dedicated muscle strengthening program, the study found.

Walks are easy to fit into everyday routines and require no specialist care or equipment — plus, they cost nothing.

The conclusions come from a study of 52 people with lower back pain who were randomised to either a muscle strengthening program or told to go for a few walks.

Those told to walk did so two to three times a week for six weeks.

They started at just 20 minutes each time and worked up to 40 minutes.

The results showed that both groups improved the same amount.

Dr. Katz-Leurer, study co-author, said the walking treatment was…

“…as effective as treatment that could have been received in the clinic.”

In fact, those in the walking group were able to walk further than the muscle strengthening group after treatment.

People who keep active regularly tend to suffer fewer aches and pains.

Walking also lowers blood pressure, boosts the brain and even reduces stress and inflammation in the body…

…and all without costing anything at all.

The study was published in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation (Shnayderman et al., 2012).