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Heart Disease and Women

Did you know that heart disease is the leading killer of females in America? Not only does heart disease kill more women than men each year, but females who survive a cardiac event fare much worse than their male counterparts. Yet many women fail to recognize the toll that cardiovascular disease (CVD) can take on their bodies, and thus fail to do what is necessary to reduce the risk of getting …

Is Interval Training Safe for CAD Clients?

According to the American Heart Association (AHA 2004), over 79 million Americans have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD). One in three deaths in th…

Heart Disease: Is There a Gender Divide?

Although many women worry about their risk of getting breast cancer, heart disease is actually the leading killer of females in America. Not only does heart disease kill more women than men each year (Thom et al. 2006), but females who survive a cardiac event fare much worse than their male counterparts (Blomkalns et al. 2005). Yet many women and their physicians fail to recognize the toll that…

Simulated CPR Results Show Lack of Force

How long has it been since you’ve practiced your cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills? Recent findings show that the majority
of people untrained in CPR, and even many trained emergency personnel, do not push with enough force.
The research, detailed in the June issue of Cardiovascular Engineering, tested 104 adults untrained in CPR and 83 trained firefighters. Find…

Study to Test Exercise in Heart Failure Patients

The results of a new international study may support your efforts to design programs for clients who have experienced heart failure (and who have a doctor’s release). The “largest randomized clinical trial of exercise training ever performed” is now underway, involving 83 sites that will test 3,000 people to determine whether exercise is good for heart failure patients.
…

Yoga May Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

Leading cardiologists, including Dean Ornish, MD, have helped increase the popularity of yoga by touting its ability to assist in preventing and managing heart disease. Now investigators at the Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies at the …

Stress Increases Risk of Unexplained Cardiac Arrest

News stories are filled with incidents of cardiac arrest after earthquakes, fires and other traumatic events. What has puzzled researchers is that sometimes the victims do not have underlying heart disease. A recent study, published in Psychosomatic Medicine (2005; [67], 359–65), suggests that emotional stress may trigger unexplained, or what is referred to as “idiopath…

Heavy Kids, Heavy Hearts

Gaining weight during childhood apparently takes a heavy toll on future heart health. According to a report in the November 23, 2004, issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, obesity that starts in childhood is a consistent predictor of an overdeveloped left ventricle of the heart in early adulthood.
The researchers followed 467 children for an average o…

Baby Boomers Not Being Heart-Smart

According to “Boomer Coalition Reality Check: When Boomer Optimism Becomes Denial,” a new survey conducted by RoperASW on behalf of the Boomer Coalition and the American Heart Association, Baby Boomers in the United States are very aware of cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately this knowledge is not spurring them to take action to combat the disease. For example:
Only 47% of survey respondents eat a
healthy diet each day.

Only 55% exercise more than three
times each week.

Cholesterol and Exercise, Client Handout

Client Handout

o you have–or want to avoid–high cholesterol? Last year, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued new criteria for categorizing cholesterol levels as healthy or unhealthy, many more Americans suddenly found themselves in the high-cholesterol category. The good news is that exercise can help. Fitness experts Chantal A. Vella, MS, and Len Kravitz, PhD, of the University …