| |
Can anger cause a heart attack?
The heart is like any other muscle in the body, contracting in response to signals transmitted as small electrical currents. Anger triggers a surge in adrenalin, a stress hormone that affects the autonomous nervous system, heart rate and blood pressure. This can lead to a cascade event that causes a blood clot to form in the body, which could result in a heart attack. The rise in blood pressure and heart rate due to the anger could also dislodge deposits in a coronary artery and block the artery's blood flow. This, too, could lead to a heart attack.
Can diabetic risk factors of heart disease be changed?
Some of the factors, including age, sex, family history, and the fact of having diabetes, cannot be changed. But several significant risk factors, namely, cigarette smoking, obesity, inactivity, and high blood pressure, can be changed by actions you take. Another major risk factor that you can help control is your cholesterol level. In fact, studies show that reducing blood cholesterol by 1% reduces the risk of a heart attack by 2%. This means that a drop in total cholesterol from, say, 230 mg/dl to 200 mg/dl (cholesterol is measured in milligrams per decilitre of blood) can reduce the risk of a heart attack by approximately 30%. Why are some medicines prescribed after meals?
When there is food in the stomach, it reduces the rate of absorption. Some medicines may irritate the stomach lining and may upset an empty stomach. Usually medicines, which need slow absorption, are usually prescribed after meals Can alcohol reduce the symptoms of stress?
While some research studies show that alcohol in low doses may lessen the body's response to stressors, paradoxically, many studies show just the opposite effect- that alcohol actually increases the stress response, by stimulating production of the same hormones the body produces when under stress. These observations are particularly interesting given that most people report that they drink alcohol to reduce stress, and the explanation for this apparent contradiction remains unknown. It may be that the mild arousal effect of the stress hormones is not entirely unpleasant. Genetic variations in the ways our bodies respond to stress also likely play a role in how alcohol affects our bodies in stress situations. |
|
