CPR123 Newsletter, August 2, 2011

Industry News for Health Care Professionals from CPR123

Have you made the switch?

---

At the beginning this summer, Health Force Solutions changed its name. The new CPR123 will bring you the same great programs as Health Force Solutions but with more on-line classes, easier class registration and certification renewal reminders.
Make sure to change your facebook and twitter to keep up with CPR123! We’ll continue to bring you interesting health and industry news through this newsletter, Facebook and Twitter. If you were signed up to receive the Health Force Solutions Twitter feed, you are automatically signed up with the new CPR123 feed. Unfortunately, we can’t transfer our Facebook friends, so please LIKE us by clicking the LIKE thumb here!

---

 

The classes at CPR123 are not only for health practitioners.

We also teach many non-medical people CPR and first aid, as well as implement corporate AED programs for non-medical businesses.

On facebook and twitter, we share amazing stories of a quick-thinking bystanders who have saved lives because of a CPR course they took to be certified to babysit, coach, teach–you name it. Regular people, making a huge difference in the lives of others.

If you are receiving this email, it’s because you took a class with us or registered to receive updates and information from us. We’d like to hear from you. Let us know what topics you would like to hear more about, what topics make you think, what makes you laugh in the middle of your busy day. Contact us here or join us on twitter and facebook for health tips and industry discussion!

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.

Industry News for Health Care Professionals from CPR123

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.

Obesity and Cardiovascular Health

The effects of obesity on cardiovascular health and disease are many, one of the most profound of which is hypertension. Risk estimates from population studies suggest that ≥75% of hypertension can be directly attributed to obesity. However, the precise mechanisms of hypertension related to obesity are not fully understood.

Contemporary thinking concerning the link between obesity and subsequent renal failure has evolved from repeated observations of the relationship between body weight and blood pressure. It is well documented that blood pressure increases with weight gain and decreases with weight loss. In addition, there is increasing evidence that obesity may provide the impetus for sympathetic nervous system activation as well as for changes in renal structure and function.

There is considerable evidence that renal dysfunction, characterized by increased tubular sodium reabsorption and resetting of pressure natriuresis, plays a key role in increasing blood pressure in obese subjects. The increased tubular pressure reabsorption is closely related to the sympathetic nervous and renin-angiotensin systems, as are structural changes that cause compression of the renal medulla. Renal vasodilation, glomerular hyperfiltration, and increased arterial pressure are compensations that help overcome increased renal tubular reabsorption and maintain sodium balance in obesity. This also leads to increased glomerular capillary wall stress, which, along with activation of the neurohumoral systems, increased lipids, and glucose intolerance, eventually causes glomerulosclerosis and loss of nephron function in obese subjects.

Further research is needed to identify the mechanisms involved in sympathetic nervous system activation and changes in renal structure and function that accompany obesity. Read the entire article here.

On Nutrition: Diet for a princess

By: Barbara Quinn, The Monterey (Calif.) County Herald / MCT
Women are designed differently from men and have unique health needs, experts find.

Women are softer because we are endowed with a higher percentage of body fat. The American Heart Association says that nearly 2 of every 3 women in the U.S. are now overweight or obese. And heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women. Here are the AHA's “uniquely female” guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women.

I was totally enchanted with the set designed by my friend Nicole for a charming play last week. And how sweet that it was nutritionally inspired – a musical fable of “The Princess and the Pea.”

Alas, the pea had a minor role in the production. The princess, however, had amazing strength and endurance (I imagine from eating a good diet and getting plenty of exercise around the castle).

Women are designed differently from men and have unique health needs, experts find. Men are stronger because their bodies are more muscular. Women are softer because we are endowed with a higher percentage of body fat.

Many women, however, have accumulated too much soft tissue, says the American Heart Association. Nearly 2 of every 3 women in the U.S. are now overweight or obese. And heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women, as well as those in every major developed country.

And so, without further ado, the AHA presents its “uniquely female” guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women:

• Do not smoke. Period.
• Exercise. At least 150 minutes a week of “moderate” exercise plus 75 minutes a week of “vigorous” activity.
• Maintain a healthy body weight. Our goal is a Body Mass Index of 25 or less.
• “DASH-like.” Evidence-based “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” can help assure a longer, more fruitful life for all princesses in the kingdom.
• Fruit and vegetables: 4 to 5 cups each day, including fresh, canned, dried, frozen, raw, cooked and juiced.
• Fish (preferably oily types like salmon, tuna and sardines): two servings a week. (A serving is 3 to 4 ounces of cooked fish.)
• Fiber: At least 30 grams a day. Hint: fiber is found in plant foods such as fruit, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.
• Whole grains: Three servings a day. A serving is one slice of bread or cup cooked rice, cereal, or pasta or 1 ounce of dry cereal.
• Nuts, legumes and seeds 4 times a week. Unsalted nuts, please. One serving is approximately 1/3 cup or 1 ounces of nuts or 2 tablespoons of nut butter or cup cooked dry beans or peas.
• Sugar: No more than 5 tablespoons of sugar, jam or jelly a week. And less than 450 calories a week from sugar-sweetened beverages. (Caution: One 16-oz-, nonfat, white chocolate mocha Frappuccino contains 440 calories.)
• Saturated fat. No more than 7 percent of total daily calories; less than 10 to 15 grams per day for most of us. (Warning: 2 measly ounces of regular cheese can easily meet this quota.)
• Cholesterol. No more than 150 mgs. a day.
• Alcohol. No more than 1 drink a day, ladies. That’s 4 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1 to 1.5 ounces other alcohol.
• Sodium. Less than 1,500 mgs. a day.
• Trans-fatty acids. Zero. None. Nada. Many foods these days are trans-fat free.

That’s good for a princess heart. Read the entire article here.

Cholesterol screening in kids

By Dr. John L. Pfenninger
It is well known and we are bombarded by the fact that obesity is a major problem in the United States. This includes children. High cholesterol blood levels often accompany obesity.

The National Lipid Association (NLA) has now published guidelines for screening children for high cholesterol. The problem is often genetic and called "familial hypercholesterolemia" (FH). It may occur as often as one in every 300 children, with some populations being as high as one in 100. Inherited high cholesterol levels (FH) are more prevalent than cystic fibrosis, type-1 diabetes, and Down's syndrome. It is under-diagnosed and under-treated.

The new NLA guidelines recommend that all children between the ages of 9 and 11 be screened. A full fasting lipid profile is recommended. Alternatively, a non-fasting blood test to determine non-high-density cholesterol is acceptable. This means the total cholesterol level minus the high-density lipid (HDL) portion. Remember, HDL is a good type of cholesterol that is protective. It is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that is harmful. So, take the total cholesterol level, subtract the HDL amount, and use the resulting number to make decisions.

The NLA is not the only association to recommend screening. The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree. Children as young as 2 should be screened with a fasting lipid profile if they are at high risk. High risk children include those with a family history of early heart disease or a family history of high cholesterol. Children with congenital heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, who are overweight or obese, or who are smokers or who are exposed to smoking also must be screened early.

If the non-HDL levels are greater than 190, the child most likely has a diagnosis of familial hypersholesterolemia.

Treatment for the elevated cholesterol is similar to adults. Diet changes are essential. Physical activity needs to be increased. Weight must be reduced if it is high. If these measures do not reduce the cholesterol, then medications may be needed. Just as in adults, statins are preferred and have been prescribed for children as young as eight years of age. They appear safe and do lower the cholesterol to prevent later illness.

Atherosclerosis (cholesterol buildup in the arteries) does not just start in middle or old age. It begins in early life. Early diagnosis and treatment to lower cholesterol is being increasingly stressed to reduce long-term complications. Read the entire article here.

Other Kinds of Protein

Soy and milk protein could help with high blood pressure, new study reveals
The Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association study focussed on 352 adults, who were at risk of high blood pressure or had experienced mild hypertension. The participants were given refined complex carbohydrates or powdered milk and soy every day over an 8 week period and were told to consume the same amount of calories and sodium and take their usual amount of exercise.

Over the period, no significant drops in diastolic blood pressure readings were registered, although differences in systolic readings were noted. A diastolic reading measures how the heart contracts when force is placed upon the arteries and blood is pushed through. A systolic reading is the force generated between heart beats.

The participants who took the milk protein saw a drop in systolic blood pressure of 2.3-mmHg in comparison to when they had consumed the carbohydrate supplement. Those who took the soy protein supplement saw a drop in systolic blood pressure of 2-mmHg again in comparison to when they had consumed the carbohydrate supplement. Notably, no substantial blood pressure reading changes registered during the time that the participants took the carbohydrate supplement.

Dr. Jiang He, an epidemiologist, and leader of the study said: “Some previous observational research on eating carbohydrates inconsistently suggested that a high carbohydrate diet might help reduce high blood pressure”. He then went on to add: “In contract, our clinical trial directly compares soy protein with milk protein on blood pressure, and shows they both lower blood pressure better than carbohydrates.” Read the entire article here.

Teaching Children Heart Healthy Habits

By Mary Kyle
Photo: Getty Images
One would have to live in a media free protected bubble not to know that obesity, one of the leading risk factors for heart disease, is on the rise in the United States.

Once considered primarily an adult’s condition, obesity is now impacting more children than ever, raising concerns about increased risk of heart disease and other obesity-related conditions in children. Even First Lady Michelle Obama has jumped on the childhood obesity bandwagon with her Let’s Move campaign. See, http://www.letsmove.gov/ for more information.

Just how bad is the obesity problem in the United States? It’s not good. According to the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, the obesity rates are alarming.

Obesity rates have doubled in the last 30 years. Currently, more than 34 percent of all adult Americans are obese, with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or greater.

The rate of obesity in children has tripled during the same time period and is currently at 17 percent. This is only a part of the story as a full 68 percent – yes, you read that correctly, 68 percent – of all adults are considered overweight, with a BMI of 25 or greater. Approximately 33 percent of all children are also considered overweight. The story is even worse when examined by ethnicity, as the rates of overweight and obesity are even greater in persons of Hispanic or African-American ethnicity.

With obesity rates such as these, it’s easy to see why so many people and organizations are sounding the alarm and seeking to proactively reverse the trend and prevent childhood obesity – along with its many potential health problems such as heart disease. Read the entire article here.

Need CPR, BCLS, ALS, Basic EKG, NRP, PALS, AED or Instructor training?
Visit us at www.cpr123.com

Need CPR, BCLS, ALS, Basic EKG, NRP, PALS, AED or Instructor training?
Visit us at www.cpr123.com