Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Can vitamin D help prevent certain cancers and other diseases such as type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain autoimmune and chronic diseases? To answer these questions and more, UCSD School of Medicine and GrassrootsHealth bring you this innovative series on vitamin D deficiency. Join nationally recognized experts as they discuss the latest research and its implications. In this program, David Sane, MD, discusses the prevention of cardiovascular disease through vitamin D.

Jerusalem Arabs have higher rate of heart attacks than Jews
"The authors write that differences in access to ambulance services, as well as lifestyle factors, may also help to explain the high mortality among Palestinians."

The British Heart Foundation is sooo worried about Asian patients.

I want to know why the patients aren't worried. One was just telling me to believe him that he never eats meat, poultry or sweets...but I was seeing him for his v.high fat levels in his blood and his uncontrolled diabetes. There was no way he could possibly do any exercise (not even 10 mins a day) to help this situation, or cut down on his meals. He would rather increase his medication to deal with it. Sooo frustrating.

Keeping Cholesterol In Check

BHF Warns Of Urgent Need For South Asians To Address Heart Health:

"South Asians living in the UK have a 50% greater risk of dying prematurely from coronary heart disease1 (CHD) than the general population. This is despite a drop in deaths from CHD nationally and improved availability and access to treatment, according to new British Heart Foundation (BHF) statistics launched today.

CHD remains the most common cause of premature death in the UK, leading to 23% of deaths in men and 14% in women. In the South Asian community the rates are around 50% higher: an estimated third of premature deaths in South Asian men and a fifth in women are due to CHD."

It's time to give up - British Heart Foundation (BHF) Anti-Smoking Campaign Ramadan is an excellent time to stop. "Smokers are up to four times more likely to give up successfully if they use their local NHS Stop Smoking Service together with Nicotine Replacement Thearapy, than if they rely on willpower alone." For more advice ring 0800 169 1900.

Baby milk clue to future health

SubhanAllah, why are we not surprised?

"Formula milk may boost the size of infants excessively, placing them at risk of serious illness later in life, researchers are now warning.

A new study suggests new reasons why breast-feeding is good for babies.

According to the British researchers, breast milk enables a baby to grow at a natural pace.

Writing in the Lancet, the team from the UK Medical Research Council tell how they conducted a series of studies of the impact of early growth on later life.

They found that babies that experienced rapid growth in their early months became prone to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels - in turn placing them at risk of heart disease and stroke.

Researcher Professor Alan Lucas, director of the MRC's Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, said the researchers had conducted randomised clinical trials over a period of 20 years.

He said: "We assigned babies to different diets and then followed them into adult life. Such studies had not been done before and have taken us over 20 years.

"Now that the results have come through they have greatly changed our understanding of the importance of early nutrition and growth for long-term health.

"The evidence is very strong and supports a clear message. Slower growth as a baby reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke in adult life and the best way to achieve this is to breastfeed."

The researchers' latest analysis of some 216 teenagers finds that breast-fed infants had a 14 per cent better mix of cholesterol than bottle-fed babies by the time they reached their teens.

Researcher Dr Atul Singhal, of the Institute of Child Health, London, said: "Our findings suggest that breastmilk feeding has a major beneficial effect on long-term cardiovascular health."

Lancet 2004; 363: 1571-78; 1642-45"

more evidence