Healthy Heart Program Updates
In this Issue
As you have probably realized, this issue of Healthy Heart Beats is coming to you at a different time. Due to an increase in the responsibilities in this office and department, we have decided to provide this resource to you on a quarterly basis rather than bi-monthly. Pat Kendall has started a transitional retirement that results in a reduction of her time, and thus, Shirley and I are adding responsibilities to our schedules. If and when we are able to bring in more staff, we may return to a bi-monthly publication. We see Healthy Heart Beats as an opportunity to focus on the number one killer in the U.S. and Colorado, namely heart disease. It is important to maintain electronic communication on a regular basis that allows us to help you. Providing some of the latest research, new nutrition facts and articles for your own work remains our intent.
As an example, the following highlights two recent findings on heart disease. The first finding indicates that lack of sleep is linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure. Did you know that if you're middle aged and sleep five hours or less a night, you may be increasing your risk of developing high blood pressure, according to research reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
According to the study, 24 percent of people ages 32 to 59 who slept for five or fewer hours a night developed hypertension, versus 12 percent of those who got seven or eight hours of sleep. "Sleep allows the heart to slow down and blood pressure to drop for a significant part of the day," said James E. Gangwisch, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. For details, go to http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038708.
The second report tells us that sustained blood pressure treatment lowers dementia risk in the elderly. Maintaining high blood pressure treatment may reduce the risk of dementia in old age, researchers reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. "For every year of hypertension treatment, there is increased protection against dementia," said Rita Peila, Ph.D., lead author of the study and an epidemiologist at the National Institute on Aging. The study, which analyzed data on 848 Japanese-American men born between 1900 and 1919, found that the risk of dementia was 60 percent lower in men who had been treated for hypertension for more than 12 years, and 48 percent lower in those treated from five to 12 years. For more information, go to http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038785.
The advice we recommend in all the Healthy Heart materials and distance education course focuses on the role of nutrition to reduce risk. Read more in this issue!
Jennifer Anderson, Ph.D., R.D.
Food and Nutrition Extension Specialist
Shirley Perryman, M.S., R.D.
Extension Specialist
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Updated Tuesday, September 25, 2007.
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