We all know what hypertension is. Many of your friends and relatives may be suffering from this chronic serious (although it does not seem serious because only a minor percentage of individuals suffering from high blood pressure have troublesome symptoms) disease. Hypertension (and its complications) is a silent killer and it is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide.

What exactly is hypertension or high blood pressure?

Different experts explain/define blood pressure in different ways. Hypertension or high blood pressure is the high (more than normal) lateral pressure blood puts to the walls of the blood vessels, while flowing through it. It can be compared to water flowing through a rubber tube and if water puts excess pressure than the rubber tube can handle, there is a great risk of bursting of the rubber tube.

The same is true for blood vessels also, which are also elastic in nature and if excess pressure continues for long duration, aneurysms may develop, especially in smaller blood vessels of the brain and this is the reason brain stoke (most commonly due to bursting of aneurysms) is so common among individuals with high blood pressure.

From the above example it is not difficult to understand why and how hypertension develops. But the fact is we still do not know causes of most of the cases of hypertension, hence it is called essential hypertension. Practically more than 95% of cases are essential hypertension and very small percentage the cause is known.

Some of the causes of hypertension are:

• Hypertension can develop if the walls of blood vessels become less elastic.
• Hypertension can occur if there is excess blood volume for any reason.
• Hypertension can develop if blood vessels constricts for any reason.
• Hypertension can occur if osmotic pressure of blood increases, which puts excess lateral pressure to the blood vessel walls with same amount of blood in it.
• Hypertension can occur if walls of blood vessels become thick, as seen in atherosclerosis (deposition of cholesterol in blood vessel walls).

Why the above mentioned things occur/happen is not clear and hence, we do not know the causes of hypertension.

Hypertension is classified as given below:

• Normal blood pressure: systolic/diastolic: <120/<80 mm of Hg (mercury)
• Pre-hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <120-139/<80-89 mm of Hg
• Mild hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <140-159/<90-99 mm of Hg
• Moderate hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <160-179/<100-109 mm of Hg
• Severe hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <160-179/>110 mm of Hg
• Isolated systolic hypertension: systolic/diastolic: >140/>90 mm of Hg

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Field of dreams: saw palmetto thriving in Florida's Osceola National Forest.

Geoff Gallice/Flickr

Field of dreams: saw palmetto thriving in Florida's Osceola National Forest.

If you're one of the millions of men who takes the supplement saw palmetto for prostate trouble, there's more evidence that it's not worth the money.

A clinical trial that gave saw palmetto every chance to succeed â€" eventually increasing the daily dose of the stuff to three times the usual amount â€" found it was no better than a placebo.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study, which involved 369 men who got a placebo or various doses of saw palmetto extract for a year and half. A European maker of the supplement donated the saw palmetto and matching placebo capsules.

"There was no evidence that saw palmetto at any dose had any influence on men with lower urinary tract symptoms," urologist Kevin McVary, an investigator on the study team, said in a video interview. In fact, saw palmetto had no effect on the rate of urinary flow, sleep quality or any measure of quality of life, including sexual function.

 

In case that isn't clear enough, McVary puts a point on it: "Our study suggests that the utility of saw palmetto in improvement of urinary health is probably not existent." Health problems and side effects were mild and about the same in both groups, except for physical injuries, which, curiously, were higher among men taking saw palmetto.

The findings were published this week in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

This isn't the first big study to cast doubt on saw palmetto as a remedy for symptoms of an enlarged prostate, such as frequent bathroom visits at night or difficulty urinating. Another randomized study published five years ago also found no benefit of saw palmetto over placebo. But it didn't test doses as high as those in the latest trial, which used up to 960 milligrams of saw palmetto extract a day.

To be sure, the JAMA study did find that men taking saw palmetto did have better scores on a standardized measure of prostate-related symptoms. But the reduction of 2.2 points to a 12.22 rating over the course of the study wasn't statistically different from the 2.99 point drop to 11.7 for those taking a placebo. So you choosing saw palmetto or a sugar pill is a tossup.

We all are aware of the potential health benefits (cardiovascular health benefits, not cardiovascular health benefits such as prevention of certain cancers, anti-inflammatory, immune function etc.) of omega-3 fatty acids (ALA or alpha-linolenic acid, EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA or docosahexaenoic acids), but very few of us are aware of the health risks involved with excess (more than recommended daily intake) consumption of omega-3 fatty acids.

Some health risks are associated with excess consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, mainly EPA and DHA. It is reported that intake of EPA and DHA more than 3 grams per day is associated with health risks. The health risks associated with excess intake of EPA and DHA can be cardiac health risks and non cardiac health risks. The potential of health risks associated with excess consumption of omega-3 fatty acids of DHA and EPA is endorsed by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements as well as United States Food and Drug Administration.

Cardiac health risks associated with omega-3 fatty acids:

The patients who are suffering from CHF (congestive heart failure) and recurrent angina should discuss with their doctor before taking dietary supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA and EPA, as these are responsible for cardiac health risks. In CHF heart is able to pump only the minimum blood that is required for survival of cardiac cells and in these patients excess omega-3 fatty acids may remove some of these pumping cells and the heart will not be able to pump enough blood for survival. This may lead to increased risk of sudden cardiac death.

Non cardiac health risks of omega-3 fatty acids:

The non cardiac health risks of omega-3 fatty acids include increased risk of bleeding tendency, hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain occurs due to rupture of minute aneurysms). Omega-3 fatty acids oxidation produces some active oxidation products which may be harmful. There is report that omega-3 fatty acids may cause control of blood glucose difficult. Patients with diabetes and hyperlipidemia, there may be increase level of LDL cholesterol, which is bad for health.

In general the health benefits far outweigh the health risks even if a person consumes more than recommended amount of omega-3 fatty acids, as seen among the Inuit tribe of Greenland. So, you can consume dietary supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids, without much health risks.

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Construction at the new Nemours Children's Hospital, at the medical city at Lake Nona, Fla., in late 2010.

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel

Construction at the new Nemours Children's Hospital, at the medical city at Lake Nona, Fla., in late 2010.

Many children's hospitals started out humbly, like Children's Hospital Boston, which began with 20 beds in a row house shortly after the Civil War.

Today, Boston Children's and many other leading independent children's hospitals are health care juggernauts with extensive facilities, lots of assets and millionaire CEOs, Kaiser Health News reports in a series of articles.

The hospitals are nonprofits, but you wouldn't know that looking at the bottom lines of many of them. They're pouring billions of dollars into new buildings, adding beds and equipment and staff at the same time Washington, the states and employers grapple with budget-busting increases in health care spending.

Hospitals strongly defend the need for new and bigger facilities, and often claim they're good for the economy because of all the jobs created. But nothing is free in health care: tax exemptions accorded nonprofits help to fund the construction, and all the costs of care ultimately are borne by taxpayers, employers and workers.

The average American doesn't focus on the question of cost, says Martin Gaynor, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on hospital spending. "They look at children's hospitals and think, 'my goodness, we're helping poor kids," he says. "But who do you think is paying for all this?"

Omega-3 fatty acids have several potential health benefits. Several studies have proved that Omega-3 fatty acids, DHA (docosahexaenoic acids) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) have cardiovascular health benefits and even the other omega-3 fatty acid i.e. ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) have the same health benefits as ALA can be converted by the body to DHA, which provide the health benefits.

The important health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids include cardiovascular health benefits and anti-cancer properties. There are other health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids include anti-inflammatory property, boost body immunity, prevention/delay of certain psychotic disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, dementia etc., seen in several studies, although not conclusively proved.

There are several nutritional supplement products in market which claim to have Omega-3 fatty acids, but some of them contain only ALA of plant origin, as DHA and EPA are mainly found in fish.

Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory property (according to available current research/study), although not confirmed. The anti inflammatory property of Omega-3 fatty acids is also evident from the fact that patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (a chronic inflammatory condition) have reduced pain, if they consume foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids or take supplements, in compare to patients taking only standard NSAIDs (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs), such as piroxicam, diclofenac, etc., which are standard drugs for management of rheumatoid arthritis.

Omega-3 fatty acids as Immunity Booster:

Some studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids can improve immune function, if given to infants or young children.

Omega-3 fatty acids and psychotic disorders:

There are some statistically significant evidences (from several studies) that omega-3 fatty acids (especially DHA and EPA) can delay/prevent progression of certain psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease etc. Children with high risk of developing schizophrenia, taking omega-3 fatty acids rich foods or supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids, show decrease in progression to schizophrenia, in compare to high risk children not taking omega-3 fatty acids.

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No so spontaneous: A stuntman burns during a controlled stunt in Ontario.

iStockphoto.com

No so spontaneous: A stuntman burns during a controlled stunt in Ontario.

Lead singer of the fake rock band Spinal Tap, David St. Hubbins, famously uttered these words in the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap: "Dozens of people spontaneously combust every year. It's just not widely reported."

If you believe today's news reports out of Ireland, St. Hubbins might have been onto something: Spontaneous human combustion can happen. But, we thought, really?

 

Here's a quick refresher for those who might have forgotten: Spontaneous combustion occurs when something (or someone) bursts into flames that originate internally. And according to the BBC, The Telegraph, The Irish Independent, and sundry other media outlets, an Irish coroner deemed it the cause of death in a 9-month investigation of a mysterious fire which killed a Mr. Michael Faherty, 76, in his home in December 2010.

"This fire was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation," West Galway coroner Dr. Ciaran McLoughlin said in a statement.

Faherty's badly burnt body was discovered in his sitting room. Though there was a fire in the fireplace not far the body, McLoughlin said it wasn't the source of the fire that killed Faherty. He also said there was no damage to the room except for the ceiling above him and the floor beneath him.

And McLoughlin, it seems, was no novice detective. He said it was the first time in 25 years of investigating deaths that he had come to such a conclusion.

Yet we had to wonder, how does spontaneous combustion jibe with the laws of physics? So we called up Stephen Cina, a forensic pathologist and former deputy chief medical examiner of Broward County, Fla., to get an expert opinion on the matter.

Though Cina has written on thermal injuries and has more than 20 years in the field, he says he's never come across a single case of spontaneous combustion as a cause of thermal injury or death. The problem he says, is that "it's not well-documented that you could generate enough focal energy inside the body and burst into flame. It would have to start at some focus point, somewhere."

The notion has been posited by U.S. coroners before, he says, but usually when fully investigated, these cases turn out to be caused by cigarettes.

Will there be further inquiry into the fate of Faherty? It's not clear, but if there's any small lesson to be gleaned, it's that the wisdom of Spinal Tap hasn't been lost over the years.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids. They are poly-unsaturated fatty acids which are considered very much important for cardiovascular health and also in many other aspects such as prevention of certain cancers. Essential fatty acids (EFA) are fatty acids (molecules) that can not be synthesized by human body and must be supplied in diet or by supplementation, if dietary intake is inadequate. The essential fatty acids are vital for normal metabolism in human body and health. Other than family of omega-3 fatty acids, there are also other types of essential fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids perform several important metabolic functions in humans.

For human nutrition there are three important omega-3 fatty acids namely alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA). The rich sources omega-3 fatty acids are fish oil and some plant oils such as flaxseed oil, also known as linseed oil.

United States FDA, status for DHA and EPA is “qualified health claim”, which indicate that there are supportive evidence (research) that consumption of EPA and DHA can reduce risk of CHD (coronary heart diseases), but conclusive research/evidence is still lacking. The Canadian government accepted that ” DHA or docosahexaenoic acids (an omega-3 fatty acid), supports the normal development of the brain, eyes as well as nerves”.

The discovery of health (especially of cardiovascular health) benefits of omega-3 fatty acids (such as DHA and EPA) were made when researchers studied Inuit tribe of Greenland, in 1970s. It is well known that the people of Inuit tribe of Greenland consume large quantity of fats and read meat (meat is staple diet for them), but actually have no cardiovascular diseases. Researchers found that, the virtually non existence of cardiovascular disease among Inuit tribe’s people was due to consumption of high level of omega-3 fatty acids which prevent cardiovascular disease by reducing blood pressure, atherosclerosis, triglycerides etc.

In most countries omega-3 fatty acids are sold as dietary supplements, but in US and EU some highly purified and more effective omega-3 fatty acids are sold as prescription medicines. Many nutritionists and doctors prefer use of highly purified products of omega-3 fatty acids, may it as dietary supplement or as prescription medicine.

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