February 17, 2012

In the News: February Week 2

Terry Lynam

Can fish oil be used to treat or prevent mental illness? Can human genome sequencing help unravel the mystery of who is susceptibile to Alzheimer’s disease? Check out these stories and you'll find out what Feinstein Institute investigators are doing to answer those and numerous other questions about the brain.

When it comes to matters of the heart, learn about the book project that LIJ geriatrician Dr. Gisele Wolf-Klein is working on with some of her patients, who got together for a news conference on Valentine's Day to share their stories of true love and strong marriages. In other stories involving the heart, take a look at the heart health roundtable video featuring clinicians from throughout the health system, as well as coverage of the "Walk to Paris" employee wellness competition announced this week by North Shore-LIJ President and CEO Michael Dowling.

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February 17, 2012

To Be Fit—or to Lose Fat? That Is the Question

Cacciabaudo, Jean MD

The great debate in wellness focuses on fitness vs. fatness. Most healthcare professionals encourage overweight patients to get down to a healthy weight. However, recent research suggests that getting to a healthy weight and maintaining it may be daunting, since patients often yo-yo between weight loss and gain. 

So where should we focus our efforts? A large study recently published in Circulation comes down on the side of physical fitness. Small studies had suggested this previously, but the new research followed 14,358 middle aged men over 11.4 years--90 percent of whom were overweight or obese. The study used BMI (body mass index) as the marker of weight and aerobic activity in METs (metabolic equivalents).
                              
The participants who were most fit, shown by their aerobic activity measured on a treadmill using METs, had a lower overall risk of death or dying from cardiovascular disease during the follow-up period. Men who maintained their fitness levels from the start of the study lowered their risk of death by 30 percent compared to those who became less fit. If the men improved their fitness levels over the study period, they could lower their risk of death up to 44 percent.
 
Furthermore, BMI changes did not significantly affect overall mortality. Becoming a normal weight did not reduce mortality while adding excess pounds did not increase mortality rates when adjusted for the level of fitness. In the end, it was clear that physical activity is the most important factor men can modify to reduce their overall mortality rates.
 
Since this study neither included women nor men with a healthy BMI, researchers need to see if similar outcomes occur in these groups. Bottom line: Nearly two thirds in the US are currently overweight or obese and struggle with their weight daily. They may be more successful achieving better health if we encourage them to improve their fitness levels while making smarter and healthier food choices. Full Post - to Detail View

February 13, 2012

Women, Know Your Heart Disease Risk!

Suzanne Steinbaum, DO

If you’re a woman, heart disease is your greatest health threat so knowing your risk is essential. 

How you live can have serious consequences. For instance, atherosclerosis (plaque in the arteries) builds up when there is damage to the lining of the arteries, frequently due to lifestyle. But high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, obesity, sedentary habits and stress are all factors we can control through diet, and exercise and stress management.

Family health history is also significant. The risk for cardiac disease goes up for women whose father had heart disease at 55 or younger or whose mother had heart disease at 65 or younger. The greatest risk is if a sibling has developed atherosclerosis or has suffered a cardiac event like a heart attack.

Prevention is key, since heart disease is often harder to detect and treat for women. That’s because women’s heart attacks often look different than the crushing central chest pain typically depicted in movies or TV. Instead, women may complain of shortness of breath, jaw pain, back pain, nausea, fatigue or even flu-like symptoms. Such varied symptoms may delay diagnosis and treatment.

Before symptoms can develop, get a diagnosis--especially if you are Full Post - to Detail View

February 07, 2012

Women’s Heart Attack Symptoms May Surprise You

Stacey Rosen, MD

Think heart health is a “men’s problem”? Guess again. In fact, more American women die from heart attacks (also called myocardial infarction or MI) than men every year. 

Almost everyone knows that severe chest pain, shortness of breath and light-headedness can signify an MI. While many women experience heart attacks this way, they are more likely to feel “atypical” symptoms than men.

Such atypical MI symptoms include mild chest discomfort that does not always feel like “pressure,” back or neck pain, increased fatigue or mild nausea. Sometimes these warning signs fade and return, which can falsely lower the concern that they may indicate a serious problem. So such subtle heart attack signals can unfortunately—and dangerously--go unheeded.

Recognizing the warning signs of a heart attack can save lives. Some heart attack treatments are only effective when used early, so fast action--calling 911 within five minutes of the onset of symptoms--can save a life. Even if you’re not sure if you are having a heart attack, check with a doctor immediately. Better safe than sorry.

See Dr. Rosen and other North Shore-LIJ experts in our new heart health video in the North Shore-LIJ Health System video portal.

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February 03, 2012

In the News: February Week 1

Terry Lynam

LIJ Medical Center opened the Katz Women’s Hospital, welcoming its first baby on January 25. LIJ Medical Center was in the news again thanks to its cardiothoracic team, which implanted a new heart valve device to treat patients with failing heart valves without performing surgery – the first hospital on Long Island and in Queens to perform the procedure.

Both Lenox Hill Hospital and North Shore-LIJ Laboratories were on Dr. Oz over the past week. Lenox Hill and its electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) were featured in a two-part segment that Dr. Oz did on the success of ECT in treating depression. On Wednesday, North Shore-LIJ Lab staff performed blood tests on the studio audience for a story about C Reactive Protein testing in women to determine heart disease risk.

There was also a nice story in the Staten Island Advance about a new history exhibit at Staten Island University Hospital that honors a local NYC firefighter killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

And we get a look into the mind of  North Shore-LIJ President & CEO Michael Dowling, who gave his thoughts on the Full Post - to Detail View