heart health Archives - Elite Care Family Medicine

In 2010, the American Heart Association(AHA) unveiled its heart health scorecard. Maintain a healthy weightDon’t smokeBe physically activeEat healthy foodsControl blood pressureManage cholesterolControl blood sugar For over ten years, doctors have used those seven items to gauge your risk of heart disease. This month, the AHA added sleep duration to the list. The new AHA heart health scorecard also updates the evaluation criteria for diet, exercise, and smoking...

Medical marijuana is currently legal in 33 states and counting. Mississippi is among the states set to vote on legalizing medical marijuana in the next election. Multiple studies have shown medical marijuana to be beneficial in treating epileptic seizures, PTSD, and opiate addiction. Many cancer patients in legal states use it to treat side effects of cancer therapies. But like any drug, medical marijuana is not without risks.  Studies on the short-term and...

Twenty years ago, the vegan diet was regarded by many people as little more than another diet fad popular with West Coast hippies and Hollywood types and the cool kids of Brooklyn and Greenwich Village in NYC. Today the diet is taken much more seriously as the rest of the U.S. learned from numerous studies that vegan and vegetarian diets host a number of health benefits, including protecting your heart.  What's a Vegan Diet? Today the more popular term for...

Spring is always torture for people with allergies. Usually sometime in March or April there’s a sudden shift away from wintry weather that encourages plants to release pollen into the air. Windy conditions then send that pollen into our noses, throats, and eyes. The pollen trigger allergy symptoms that range from congestion, sneezing and itchy eyes to headaches, diarrhea, and even depression. So what can you do if allergies are hitting you hard this year? Determine...

Do you have the “sitting disease?” How much of your time do you spend sitting in a chair or on a sofa? We all know the adverse health effects of obesity. New research, however, shows us that even people with a normal BMI who do nothing but sit all day are also at risk for medical problems. A growing body of research shows that long periods of physical inactivity raise your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Not getting enough exercise...

There’s no doubt that Type II diabetes is on the rise in the United States and around the world. If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes there’s a lot you can do to improve your health. The secret to managing Type II diabetes isn’t necessarily found in a pill. In most cases, the best way to treat/prevent Type II diabetes is to practice healthy habits on a regular basis. Keep close tabs on your diet. A healthy diet for people with Type II diabetes should include...

E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid that contains nicotine, other chemicals, and flavors. Heating the liquid turns it into a vapor which is what the user inhales and exhales. They’ve been advertised as an alternative to tobacco products. They’re growing in popularity among smokers who want to quit, but there are hazards associated with them as well. Vaping may damage the heart Because they do not burn tobacco but infuse water vapor with nicotine, people who vape...

When considering overall health, recognizing how stress affects the body is important. What is stressful to one person may not be to another. Stress can come from happy events (a new marriage, job promotion, new home) as well as unhappy events (illness, overwork, family problems).While the American Heart Association has not found a direct link between stress and heart disease, stress can negatively affect your health and cause issues which affect your heart. Stress is...

Many say smoking is a bad habit, but it’s not. Smoking is more than a bad habit. It’s a chemical dependence on nicotine. Chemical dependence is a condition in which a person experiences physical withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking certain drugs. If you’ve ever tried to quit smoking before and experienced irritability, anxiety, depression, impatience, insatiable hunger, weight gain, difficulty concentrating, or difficulty sleeping, you experienced nicotine...

Are you one of those people who seem to only have high blood pressure while the nurse is wrapping the monitor around your arm? You might have white coat hypertension. White coat hypertension occurs when the blood pressure readings at your medical care provider's office are higher than in other settings, such as your home. It's called white coat hypertension because the health care professionals who measure your blood pressure often wear white coats. If you have white...