New blood fat heart disease link

A type of blood fat different from cholesterol may play a key role in heart disease, a study suggests.

Cambridge University researchers looked at the role of triglycerides, which is produced in the liver and derived from foods such as meat and dairy products.

The analysis of 350,000 people from 101 previous studies found those with higher levels of the blood fat were more likely to have heart disease.

But experts warned more research was needed to confirm the link.

The analysis centred on a specific gene which is known to influence the levels of triglycerides, the Lancet medical journal reported.

Previous research has looked into the issue, but has been inconclusive.

But the latest study found those with the variation in the gene which boosted triglyceride levels had an 18% greater risk of heart disease than those that did not.

Lead researcher Dr Nadeem Sarwar said the findings suggested the blood fat could be causing heart disease in some way.

But he added further research involving the lowering of the levels of the blood fat was now needed to confirm the suspicion.

"Such trials should help establish whether lowering triglyceride levels can reduce the risk of heart disease."

Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "It could yet prove to be an important step towards tackling cardiovascular disease but we mustn't get ahead of ourselves.

"There still needs to be larger trials before we can know whether lowering triglyceride levels can reduce heart disease risks.

"For now, people should continue to follow advice on diet, exercise, stopping smoking and medication which are still the best ways to tackle your heart disease risk."

Dr Sonia Anand, of Canada's McMaster University, agreed.

"The true nature of triglycerides effect on coronary risk still needs further clarification."

Too much sugar increases heart disease risk

High cholesterol a dangerous side effect to extra sweeteners

 

CHICAGO - Eating a lot of sugar not only makes you fat. It may also increase a person's risk for heart disease, U.S. researchers said.

They said people who ate more added sugar were more likely to have higher risk factors for heart disease, such as higher triglycerides and lower levels of protective high-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol.

"Just like eating a high-fat diet can increase your levels of triglycerides and high cholesterol, eating sugar can also affect those same lipids," Dr. Miriam Vos of Emory School of Medicine, who worked on the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said in a statement.

The study adds to mounting pressure on U.S. food companies to make their foods healthier as newly passed U.S. health reform legislation shifts the nation's focus on ways to prevent, rather than simply treat disease.

A report by the influential Institute of Medicine released on Tuesday recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration start to regulate sodium intake in foods.

And several states, including New York and California, have weighed a tax on sweetened soft drinks to defray the cost of treating obesity-related diseases.

The addition of sweeteners to prepared foods and beverages in recent decades has sharply increased Americans' daily intake of sugar and overall calories, according to Vos and colleagues.

But no major studies have looked at the impact of too much sugar on levels of fat in the blood.

The researchers asked 6,000 adults what they ate and then grouped them by sugar intake and cholesterol levels.

On average, nearly 16 percent of people's daily calories came from added sugar.

The highest-consuming group ate an average of 46 teaspoons of added sugar per day, while the lowest-consuming group ate an average of only about 3 teaspoons daily.

"It would be important for long-term health for people to start looking at how much added sugar they're getting and finding ways to reduce that," Vos said in a statement.

Too much sugar not only contributes to obesity, but also is a key culprit in diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association.

 

Walking shrinks women's stroke risk

Study: 2 hours a week lowers stroke chance by 30 percent

DALLAS - Women can lower their stroke risk by lacing up their sneakers and walking, a new study suggests.

Women who said they walked briskly had a 37 percent lower risk of stroke than those who didn't walk. Women who reported walking at least two hours a week at any pace had a 30 percent lower risk, according to a study published online Tuesday in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

While previous studies have shown that physical activity decreases the chances of having a stroke, the new study focused on what kind of exercise might be most beneficial for women.

"This certainly speaks to walking for a certain amount of time and walking briskly as well," said Jacob Sattelmair, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Those walking at a brisk pace should be able to talk — but not sing, he said.

The research involved about 39,000 female health workers 45 or older enrolled in the Women's Health Study. The women were periodically asked about their physical activity. During 12 years of follow-up, 579 had strokes.

Besides walking, the study looked at vigorous activities like running, swimming and biking, but researchers didn't find a link between those vigorous activities and a reduced stroke risk. The researcher said there may not have been enough women in that group to show a difference. It's also possible, they said, that moderate activity is better at lowering blood pressure, a strong risk factor for stroke.

The researchers took into account age, aspirin use, smoking and other things that could influence stroke risk.

"I think what's encouraging is that moderate activities are powerfully effective in reducing the risks of stroke," said Dr. Anand Rohatgi, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

In addition to high blood pressure, risk factors for stroke include heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

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"The things that directly correlate with stroke are improved with physical activity," Rohatgi said. "They all line up."

Dr. Tracy Stevens, director of Saint Luke's Muriel I. Kauffman Women's Heart Center in Kansas City, Mo., said people can see the benefits of exercise by taking their blood pressure after exercising to see how much lower it is.

"It takes hard work," she said, adding, "It doesn't have to be anything fancy."

The American Heart Association recommends that adults do 2½ hours a week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity or a combination.