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Small air pollution particles, birth control found to hurt heart |
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Written by Bryan Scribner
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Thursday, 31 January 2008 |
Though heart disease and stroke death rates are down about 25% since 1999, the two conditions remain the No. 1 and No. 3 leading causes of mortality in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association.
While stress, obesity, sedentary lifestyles and smoking can all contribute to heart problems, some recent studies reveal new factors that could contribute to poor heart health. In January, reports linked heart problems with pollution, high blood sugar, birth control pills and even diet soda.
- Take a human hair. Now, reduce its size by 1,000 times. That size particle, a source of which can be pollution from vehicle exhaust, could cause plaque build-up in the arteries, according to a story from HealthDay. Plaque build-up, or arteriosclerosis, is a condition that can lead to heart attack and stroke. The University of California study is published in the online edition of Circulation Research, according to HealthDay.
- For women, a new study suggests increased levels of blood sugar can indicate a higher risk for heart disease, according to a story at forbes.com. Even at lower levels of blood sugar than men, women were found to have a greater chance of developing heart disease.
- Another study reveals that birth control pills might increase the development of artery-clogging plaques that could hurt the heart. Researchers found that for every 10 years of pill use, the probability of finding the plaques in certain arteries increased 20 percent to 30 percent, according to a story in USA Today.
- Finally, U.S. researchers now report that eating two or more servings of red meat per day can significantly increase the risk of developing conditions that lead to heart disease and diabetes. The finding, reported in the journal Circulation, also revealed that diet soda could increase the risk factors, according to a Reuters story.
In other heart-related news, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans in June to provide consumers with comparisons of heart attack and heart failure death rates at U.S. hospitals, according to USA Today. Death-rate data from July 2005 to June 2006 will be used to compare hospitals with the national average. Consumers will be able to view how hospitals compare to the average, albeit without the actual numbers, at hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 31 January 2008 )
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