Category: Women's cardiac risk factors

– posts here focus on how to address your risk factors to help prevent heart disease

Four ingredients in the heart patient’s recipe for stress

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

While what stresses you is different from what stresses your neighbour, the recipe for stress is universal. So are the four ingredients in this recipe, according to the Centre for Studies on Human Stress at the University of Montréal.

This Centre, by the way, is a remarkably helpful resource if you’re one of those people who have become so chronically stressed day to day that you no longer think this state of being is even abnormal anymore.

Your body’s natural response to psychological stressors – the release of stress hormones – can lead to poor health outcomes if it becomes chronic.

It struck me that the Centre’s list of four ingredients that reliably elicit this stress response are also those that make a heart disease diagnosis itself so continually stressful.  They include:   Continue reading “Four ingredients in the heart patient’s recipe for stress” →

Cats or dogs: which pet is better for your heart health?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 12 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I adopted my little Lily*, world’s cutest and most affectionate feline, three months after my heart attack. My daughter Larissa, who helped us pick out Lily at the shelter, gave me strict instructions about the kind of cat needed for cardiac recovery: a calm and snuggly lap cat (quite unlike the psycho-special needs-high-anxiety – yet adorable – Lucy who had been my last pet).

About 38% of Canadian households now include a cat like Lily, while 35% of us are dog owners.

But apparently, owning a cat may also reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by nearly one-third, researchers told delegates to the International Stroke Conference recently. Their study findings provoked a mixed reaction from heart experts and veterinarians.  And probably dog lovers, too.   Continue reading “Cats or dogs: which pet is better for your heart health?” →

Long distance running: safe for women’s hearts?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

 

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

Eighteen years ago, when my YWCA running group completed our very first Half-Marathon event, we all crossed the finish line together holding hands. And weeping. Tear-streaked race number bibs are how you can spot first-time distance racers.

There was interesting news for distance runners last month from the European Society of Cardiology meetings in Stockholm: distance runners appear to develop some transient heart changes during races, but overall these activities don’t seem to mean long-term cardiac harm for the vast majority of runners.

But there do seem to be some gender differences in heart changes, particularly among black women.   Continue reading “Long distance running: safe for women’s hearts?” →

Is everyday stress gnawing at your arteries? Take this quiz to find out

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association’s useful little publication called Coping With Stress, it is sometimes easier to recognize the damaging effects of chronic stress in others than in yourself.

“You may have learned to endure rather than overcome emotional chaos caused by stress. And your problems may already have begun to feel familiar and “normal”.  This can negatively impact your physical health – sometimes drastically. Yet many of us are unaware or unwilling to admit that we are under stress.”

Does this sound familiar?  It sure did for me. In fact, it was only after my heart attack that I was able to accurately assess the more-or-less chronic state of stress that had somehow become normalized for me. We now know that this kind of stress can have deadly consequences as a risk factor for both heart disease and stroke. People who are having problems dealing with extreme ongoing stress may live with high blood pressure, elevated levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, obesity, diabetes and perhaps most deadly of all – stickier blood platelets that are more likely to clot inside coronary arteries.

Take this quiz to help you rate your own stress index – just answer YES or NO to each of these questions, and give yourself one point for each YES:  Continue reading “Is everyday stress gnawing at your arteries? Take this quiz to find out” →