Red Meat Butchers Years Off Life

(Image from Flickr - Thanks to IwateBuddy)
The carnivore-like instinct within us cannot resist a burger or steak every now and then. We cannot deny that this desire occurs more frequent in many of us.
Unfortunately, according to a10 year long study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who consistently add red meat to their diet are at a 31% higher risk of dying earlier. The study links the early mortality rate amongst red meat eaters to the development of heart disease and cancer. These two diseases are two of the highest leading causes of death among Americans.
This study can further shed light on a study done in 1995 which resulted in similar conclusions. Because of the carcinogens that are produced when cooking meat in addition to high fat and iron intake involved with eating red meat, there seems to be higher risks for heart disease and cancer.
Living in the United States, we are surrounded by foods we must avoid in order to live a healthy life. Especially with the current economy, there is a need for increasing our nutrition intake because of the lack of nutrients our diets consists of. Many people want to increase the public's education when it comes to picking out the proper diet. In addition to the American diet, there is also a lack of physical activity. Promoting exercise and proper dieting is key in educating the public to live healthier lifestyles. Maybe this can even reduce our national medical expenses in the long run.

Traffic and the Heart

Image from Flickr (Thanks to nicpic)
Rather drive in the city than take public transportation? Other than preparing for some delays because of the possibility of traffic, you should also be prepared in case of a heart attack.

Previously, I wrote about some studies and the link of stress and anger to heart attacks. In addition, there has been many studies that have linked increased heart attack risk in those who live in high polluted areas. Combined, being stressed in a high polluted area increases the chances of an occurrence of a heart attack by 3.2 times.

German researchers have studied more than 1,400 heart attack cases and analyzed their environmental factors before the heart attack occurred. They concluded that many of their heart attacks were triggered by being stuck in traffic about one to six hours prior to having the attack. The heart attacks were likely to have been triggered more by the presence of toxic fumes than the level of stress experience. They currently are further studying these factors to narrow and specify the study further.

Other than being exposed to pollution and stress, other factors come into play in the increase risk of having a heart attack. These include lack of exercise, unhealthy diets, age, smoking, and history of heart disease.

Living in New York City, I try to avoid driving because of heavy traffic and the amount of time it takes me to find a parking spot. However, the times that I do drive I can say, it is fairly easy to get stressed and be exposed to the exhaustion of fumes from cars, especially during rush hours. I have seen mismanaged cars during traffic jams expose the air with filthy fumes. Breathing in this unfiltered gas can certainly cause some damage to the lungs in addition to the heart. This study can shed some light to those who are exposed to these factors and can help prevent some unforeseen consequences to an everyday activity.


Here are some additional tips by the American Heart Association on managing stress.

Warm Weather Migraines

Image from Flickr (Thanks riot jane)

While many of us are looking forward to the coming of summer, others may be more comfortable in the current temperatures.

A recent study on migraine sufferers, provided by a team of Harvard researchers, have linked higher temperatures to an increase of migraines. The study examined 7,000 patients and tried to find a correlation of weather changes and the impact it had on their migraines. The study used monitors which measured change in temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, and various particles such as carbon and sulfur dioxide to measure pollution factors.

It is one of the first in depth studies that have provided direct evidence of linkage of environmental factors to migraine headaches. It concluded every 5 degree Celsius temperature increase (9 degrees Fahrenheit for us Americans), there is an 7.5 percentage increase of risk within the following 2 or 3 days of getting a migraine. Pollution and humidity did not seem to be significant in the increase of migraines in this study.

Even though, this is one factor that one has no control over, sufferers can prevent a uncomfortable episode by taking medications ahead of time. Prevention in health is always the best way to live a healthy life.

Also, People's Pharmacy has this and various answered questions on readers' concerned on migraines and use of vitamins.

And as for those who are concerned about increased temperatures on the long run, here's a blog of one of my classmates (Dlopeznyc) on Global Warming.