CPR123 Newsletter, August 16, 2011

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Industry News for Health Care Professionals from CPR123

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The following articles and news releases have been selected by the editorial team at CPR123. They have broad applications to Emergency Care professionals in relation to career pursuits, changes in the industry and, sometimes, plain old curiosity.

For regular updates on these and other interesting news items, follow CPR123 on Twitter and on Facebook.

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Cardiovascular disease 'reduced through oestrogen in women'

By Jeanette Royston

Female patients with heart problems could be benefitting from the oestrogen sex hormone as it helps keep cardiovascular disease in check.

New research from Queen Mary, University of London suggests that the hormone helps white blood cells by preventing them from sticking to the sides of blood vessels, which can be a major cause of blockages in the circulatory system.

It also suggests why heart problems tend to be higher in men on average and also rise dramatically among women post-menopause.

"This study brings us a step closer to understanding how natural oestrogen might help protect our blood vessels," explained lead researcher Dr Suchita Nadkarni from the William Harvey Research Institute in London.

The paper, which was published yesterday (August 11th) in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, explained that oestrogen moves the protein annexin-A1 that prevents sticking from inside the white blood cell to outside of it, so helping to monitor cell adhesive rates.

In another study funded partly by the British Heart Foundation, the Lancet reported that early detection rates for congenital heart defects could be improved through a simple blood oxygen level test of babies. Read the entire article here.

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Women smokers are at greater risk for heart disease than men

Women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease than male smokers do, according to a huge, new study.

Risk increased by 2 percent for every year the women smoked, compared with men who smoked equally as long, researchers found.

Although the reason for the higher risk isn't known, researchers suspect there are biological differences in how women's bodies react to damaging cigarette smoke.

"Women may absorb more carcinogens and other toxic agents in cigarettes compared to men," said lead researcher Rachel R. Huxley, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.

In addition, women have different smoking habits from men, she added. "Despite smoking fewer cigarettes than men on average, they may smoke more of the cigarette. They might smoke right to the end of the cigarette, compared to men — we just don't know," she said.

For the study, Huxley and her colleague, Mark Woodward from the department of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, gathered data from 75 studies, involving almost 4 million people, that looked at the risk of heart disease between smokers and nonsmokers. Read the entire article here.

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Healthy snacks for the backpack

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV)– Kids are picky eaters, but its up to the parents to make sure that their picky eaters are still eating healthy. As kids head back to school, the American Heart Association is reminding parents that it is possible to send your child with healthy food that they are sure to eat and enjoy.

Amy Mendez with AHA says that the main thing is to make sure that your children's lunch box is armed with real fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. Mendez says relying on pre-packaged foods could be the downfall when it comes to your child's diet. She advises to send your child with squeeze yogurt, fresh fruits, even veggies with dips so your child will enjoy the good foods you have packed. Read the entire article here.

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Even a small amount of exercise is good for your heart

By Janice Lloyd USA Today

More research shows that even small amounts of aerobic exercise help lower coronary heart disease risk, according to a review recently published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

The mega-study is part of a growing body of research showing that some physical activity provides health benefits – even when levels fall below the recommended federal guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. For the first time since 1998, the American College of Sports Medicine updated its exercise guidelines in June, including information on how little exercise is needed to achieve health benefits.

"The biggest health benefits we saw were for those who went from doing nothing to those doing something small," says Jacob Sattelmair, author of the new AHA study. "Even a little bit of activity makes a significant difference."

A little bit means 10 to 15 minutes a day. Sattelmair says the new findings are the first to make quantitative assessments of the amount of physical activity a person needs to reduce risk.

"Early studies broke people into groups such as active and sedentary," he says. "More recent studies have begun to assess the actual amount of physical activity people are getting and how that relates to the risk of heart disease."

The ACSM guidelines also say as little as half – about 75 minutes a week – can be helpful, while stressing more is needed to maintain a healthy weight and achieve maximum benefits. Read the entire article here.

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Pet Pointers: Performing CPR on your pets

By: Lisa Chelenza

It's a scenario we would all like to avoid, finding our pet unresponsive. But what do you do? Well just as you would with a human you start CPR. Pet expert Lisa Chelenza has more on we'll learn how to do pet CPR in this edition of Pet Pointers.

Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR, on a pet follows the same principals as human CPR. Ed Moser has been teaching Human and Animal CPR for decades. Who better to teach us the basic techniques?

"The first thing you do is check for responsiveness. Then you have got to be looking for any breathing, or difficulty breathing which would be the dog scratching at his snout, or coughing, or trying to bark and nothing comes out. If that is the case then you start mouth to snout, blowing into the snout forcefully getting air into the lungs. Once you have got ventilation then you check for a pulse. You check where the hind leg meets the abdominal area. You feel for a pulse there, and if there is none, you start compressions," said Moser.

While only four percent of dogs survive cardiac arrest, that number is expected to rise as more people learn the technique and are prepared if CPR is needed.

Learning this valuable skill can give you confidence, peace of mind and may even save a life.

We'd like to thank Rural Metro and WAVES Ambulance Service, as well as the Hogue family and their dog, Tucker, who was an excellent patient. Read the entire article here.

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