Research has shown for many years that almonds are a heart smart food; but, new, preliminary research published in this month’s Journal of Nutrition provides further insight into how the antioxidants in almonds may help maintain a healthy heart.

Almonds aren’t typically known for their antioxidants beyond vitamin E, but in previous research, experts determined that almonds contain phenols, flavonoids and phenolic acids in their skins similar to fruits and vegetables. Researchers arrived at these results using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/electrochemical detection, UV detection and mass spectometry.

In a previous study, 27 men and women with high cholesterol levels consumed three supplements with the same calories each for one month. Supplements consisted of full-dose almonds (73+/-3 g/d), half-dose almonds plus half-dose muffins, and full-dose muffins. Significant reductions from baseline were seen on both half- and full-dose almonds for LDL cholesterol(4.4% and 9.4% respectively)(4). The current study, conducted in collaboration by researchers at the University of Toronto and Tufts University, sought to investigate other factors, beyond lowering cholesterol, that make almonds a heart-smart food, specifically almonds’ antioxidants.

The effects of almonds on two markers of oxidative stress, a process which can contribute to clogged arteries, were measured by a team at the Tufts University Antioxidants Research Laboratory led by one of the single-most pioneering researchers in antioxidant research, Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg. The researcher team found that when men and women with elevated cholesterol ate about two and a half servings of almonds every day for a month, their levels of these two established markers - blood malondialdehyde (MDA) and urinary isoprostane - statistically significantly decreased. MDA significantly decreased by 18.75% from baseline in the full-dose almond group and isoprostane decreased by 27% in both almond groups compared to controls.

The researchers hypothesize the antioxidants in almonds are causing this positive effect, and further, that the antioxidants in almonds combined with almonds’ favourable effects on blood cholesterol levels may help to explain the overall effects of almonds on maintaining a healthy heart. Although this ground-breaking study provides support for the role of almonds’ antioxidants in health, further research is needed to verify these findings.

Almonds deliver a dose of monounsaturated fats, the good kind found in avocados and olive oil. A recommended serving of almonds (about a handful, or 23 almonds) is an excellent source of vitamin E and magnesium, a good source of fibre, riboflavin and phosphorus, and offers protein (6 grams), calcium (75 mg) and potassium (200 mg). Not only can almonds boost nutrition, but they also add great taste and crunch to any meal or snack.

For additional information about almonds, including easy recipes and snack ideas, visit www.AlmondsAreIn.com.

One of the studies also showed that cholesterol-lowering medications could cut the risk of heart problems by about one-third—and suggested that Viagra and other compounds in the same drug family might offer similar protection.

The research, which was published in the May 27, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), underscores the importance of encouraging men to report ED to their physicians, and of focusing treatment not only on overcoming sexual dysfunction but also on improving overall cardiovascular health.

“The development of erectile dysfunction should alert both patients and healthcare providers to the future risk of coronary heart disease,” said Peter Chun-Yip Tong, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Medicine & Therapeutics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong. “Other risk factors such as poor blood glucose control, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, smoking and obesity should be reviewed and addressed aggressively.”

Diabetes, erectile dysfunction and heart disease share an ominous link: damage to the blood vessels by high blood sugar levels. The same process that hinders the extra blood flow needed to maintain an erection can have even more serious consequences in the heart. “The first event is probably endothelial dysfunction—when the smoothness and reactivity of the blood vessel are damaged,” said Dr. Tong. “This process encourages local inflammation on the inner surface of the blood vessels and the deposition of cholesterol, resulting in formation of clots and atherosclerosis. Therefore, there is a high risk of blockage of blood vessels in the heart, which can lead to a heart attack.”

Men typically show signs of ED more than three years before the onset of symptoms of coronary heart disease. In one study of diabetic men, symptoms of ED always preceded coronary symptoms.

In the Hong Kong-based study, Dr. Tong and his colleagues set out to determine whether ED could be used as an early warning sign of poor cardiovascular health. Researchers recruited 2,306 men with type 2 diabetes, performing a thorough medical evaluation of diabetic control and complications, including damage to the kidneys, eyes and cardiovascular system. At the beginning of the study, just over one-quarter of the study participants had ED. None of the participants had any signs or history of heart disease, vascular disease or stroke.

The researchers followed-up the patients for an average of four years. During that time, 123 men either suffered a heart attack, died from heart disease, developed chest pain caused by clogged arteries, or needed bypass surgery or a catheter procedure to restore blood flow to the heart. Men who had ED at the beginning of the study were far more likely to develop one of these signs of coronary heart disease—or a “CHD event”—than were men who initially did not have ED. Statistical analysis showed that out of every 1,000 diabetic men with ED, 19.7 could be expected to experience a CHD event each year, as compared to only 9.5 of 1,000 diabetic men without ED.

The research team then performed an analysis that included many different characteristics that, like erectile dysfunction, were associated with the development of CHD, including age, high blood pressure, the need for cholesterol- or blood-pressure-lowering medications, the duration of diabetes, and damage to the kidneys or the eyes as a result of diabetes. Even when these characteristics were taken into account, ED was found to be an independent early warning sign of coronary heart disease. In fact, ED signaled a 58 percent increase in the risk of CHD. Only spillage of large amounts of protein in the urine—a sign of extensive kidney damage—was a stronger warning sign, doubling the risk of heart disease.

The second study, conducted by researchers from four medical centers in Italy, focused on 291 men who not only had type 2 diabetes but also silent CHD discovered by stress testing and confirmed by x-ray angiography. Of these, 118 had ED at the beginning of the study. Lead investigator Carmine Gazzaruso, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues followed-up patients for an average of nearly four years, documenting major adverse cardiac events (MACE), which they defined as not only CHD events but also stroke, mini-stroke (transient ischemic attacks) and arterial disease in the legs. They found that patients who had ED at the beginning of the study were twice as likely to suffer a major adverse cardiac event when compared to those without ED.

The study also showed that among patients who were taking cholesterol-lowering statins, the risk of MACE was reduced by one third (hazard ratio, 0.66, p = 0.036). Viagra and other medications in a family known as 5-phosphodiesterase (5PDE) inhibitors also appeared to reduce the MACE risk (hazard ratio, 0.68); however this finding was just beyond the cusp of being statically significant (p = 0.056).

“These are important studies,” said Robert A. Kloner, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.C., a professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and director of research for the Heart Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. “While we have known that ED shares many common risk factors with CHD, such as hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia and diabetes, what is new here is that ED remained a significant risk factor for developing heart disease after controlling for other cardiovascular risk factors.

“Men should know that ED is a true harbinger of atherosclerotic coronary heart disease,” he said.

Dr. Kloner, who wrote an editorial about the new studies in the same issue of JACC, also noted that not only have statins been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular illness in diabetic patients, controlling blood pressure and other risk factors is also critical.

“In diabetic patients, it is important to not only control the blood sugar level, but also to keep blood pressure below 130/80 mmHg and reduce ‘bad’ (low-density-lipoprotein, or LDL) cholesterol to less than 100 mg/dL. If a patient smokes, a smoking cessation program is crucial,” Dr. Kloner said.

Dr. Tong said that he and his colleagues are continuing to analyze a database of nearly 10,000 patients with diabetes in an attempt to answer several remaining questions about the link between ED, diabetes and heart disease. For example, will improvements in the control of blood sugar and other cardiovascular risk factors reduce the likelihood of developing erectile dysfunction or suffering a heart attack or other serious heart disease” Are patients who have ED in addition to diabetes-related eye problems and kidney problems at higher risk for death or cardiovascular disease” And if so, how great is the increased risk”

“All of these questions are relevant to those who suffer from diabetes,” Dr. Tong said. “The information we find will help patients to focus on improving their own health.”

This is according to researchers at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex and Imperial College London.

The new therapy inserts a gene, known as SERCA2a, carried by a modified virus, known as an adeno-associated virus, into the heart muscle cells.

The treatment helps the heart recover from the damage caused during a cardiac arrest by helping the muscles around damaged heart tissue to beat harder and faster.

This helps the heart to recover most of its original function.

A small safety trial on the technique will begin in January next year.

Dr. Kelly Decorde of the Universite Montpel said that fruit juices had a more powerful anti-atherosclerotic effect than the fruit itself.

This is the first time that a study showed that processing fruit can have a “major impact” on its health benefits.

The animals that were fed purple grape juice had the lowest risk of developing artery problems.

Scientists said the juice’s benefits came from its high levels of phenols - an antioxidant.

Other antioxidant compounds in the fruits, such as vitamin C and carotenoids, could also contribute to their effects, they added.

A person weighing 70 kilograms (154 pounds) should drink four glasses of grape or apple juice daily.

The study was published in the Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

According to the data, unveiled today at the American Society of Hypertension’s Twenty Third Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2008), men who drink more than 21 units of alcohol per week and women who drink more than 14 are putting themselves at serious risk of CV events, such as hypertensive heart disease, heart failure and strokes.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer globally. Currently, an estimated 17.5 million people die from CVD each year and this figure is set to rise to almost 20 million by 2015.1

“These shocking findings illustrate the extreme risks that heavy drinkers are exposing themselves to—some of which are particularly pronounced in women,” said lead investigator Azra Mahmud MD, PhD, Lecturer Cardiovascular Pharmacology & Hypertension Specialist, from the Hypertension Clinic & Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St, James Hospital, Dublin.

“We want to make sure people aren’t getting mixed messages about alcohol. The potentially fatal effects of heavy drinking may more than counteract the well documented benefits of sensible alcohol intake.”

The study examined the relationship between chronic alcohol intake, arterial stiffness and cardiac structure and function in men and women undergoing check-ups for possible high blood pressure. Two hundred healthy men and women took part (100 men and 100 women) with a mean age of 46 years. Subjects were categorized as non drinkers, moderate drinkers (males <21 unit per week; females <14 units per week) and heavy drinkers (males >21 unit per week; females >14 units per week). Study measurements included ultrasound of the heart to assess heart muscle structure and function, pulse wave velocity to assess arterial stiffness and pulse wave analysis to measure aortic blood pressures and wave reflections in the aorta.

Findings illustrate that high alcohol intake is associated with arterial stiffening and impaired left ventricular (LV) relaxation in males, and LV structural changes, including LV enlargement (hypertrophy) in females. Importantly, women who drank excessively had an enlarged heart even without high blood pressure or stiff arteries.

“The excessive consumption of alcohol causes significant arterial and ventricular stiffening and an enlarged heart; factors associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes in hypertensive populations,” said Mahmud. “Trends in heavy drinking continue to rise, and it is high time to recognize the potential of an alcohol-induced epidemic of cardiovascular disease. Binge and heavy drinkers must consider their behavior and control their intake before it’s too late.”

About the American Society of Hypertension
The American Society of Hypertension (ASH) is the largest U.S. professional organization of scientific investigators and healthcare professionals committed to eliminating hypertension and its consequences. ASH is dedicated to promoting strategies to prevent hypertension and to improving the care of patients with hypertension and associated disorders. The Society serves as a scientific forum that bridges current hypertension research with effective clinical treatment strategies for patients.

Canadian research found that people given Trasylol (also known by its generic name aprotinin) face a 53% increased risk of death.

Bayer AG suspended marketing in the United States last November after preliminary results revealed problems with the medication.

Now, following release of the new results, the FDA said the manufacturer had begun removing any remaining stock of the drug from the U.S. market.

However, Bayer continues to sell Trasylol in some areas of the world. So far, Bayer said more than 80 lawsuits have been filed over Trasylol.

The results, published by the New England Journal of Medicine, show that for every 100 patients who received Trasylol during surgery, two more would die compared with a similar group receiving one of the other anti-bleeding agents.

The United States, along with many other countries, is experiencing an epidemic of obesity, according to background information in the article. Between 1960 and 2000, rates of obesity increased from 11 percent to 28 percent in men and 16 percent to 34 percent in women. “The obesity epidemic has the potential to reduce further gains in the U.S. life expectancy, largely through an effect on cardiovascular disease mortality [death],” the authors write.

Gregory L. Burke, M.D., M.S., of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., and colleagues assessed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), which involved 6,814 individuals age 45 to 84 who did not have cardiovascular disease when the study began (2000 to 2002). Participants completed a standard questionnaire with information about demographics and health risk factors and also underwent testing for a variety of cardiovascular disease markers.

“A large proportion of white, African American and Hispanic participants were overweight (60 percent to 85 percent) and obese (30 percent to 50 percent), while fewer Chinese American participants were overweight (33 percent) or obese (5 percent),” the authors write. “A higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with more adverse levels of blood pressure, lipoproteins [cholesterol] and fasting glucose despite a higher prevalence of pharmacologic treatment.”

Obesity also was associated with the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke:

* A 17 percent greater risk of coronary artery calcium, which may be a marker of coronary artery disease

* A 45 percent greater risk of having artery walls thicker than the 80th percentile in the common carotid arteries, which is a marker for atherosclerosis

* A 2.7-fold greater risk of having a left ventricle (the lower chamber of the heart that pumps blood throughout the body) with a mass higher than the 80th percentile

“These data confirm the epidemic of obesity in most but not all racial and ethnic groups,” the authors conclude. “The observed low prevalence of obesity in Chinese American participants indicates that high rates of obesity should not be considered inevitable. These findings may be viewed as indicators of potential future increases in vascular disease burden and health care costs associated with the obesity epidemic.”

According to a new Canadian study, people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy often suffer from heart failure, but Viagra might prevent or delay the onset of this condition.

Canadian researchers gave sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, to mice with an animal version of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and found that it improved their heart performance.

However, they said it would be premature to give Viagra to people with the disease. But, the findings open up the possibility of Viagra being used to prevent or delay heart failure in these patients.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a less severe variant called Becker muscular dystrophy affect about one in every 3,500 to 5,000 boys in the United States.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Fewer than half of heart attack patients in Germany are given an angioplasty, however, and nearly half of the country’s 439 rural districts lack angioplasty facilities.

According to Professor Christian Hamm of the Kerckhoff Cardiac Centre in Bad Nauheim, 19 of 20 heart attack patients survive an angioplasty, if they were hospitalized in good time.

The figure is 18 of 20 with fibrinolysis, he said.

An angioplasty involves the insertion of a catheter carrying a balloon, through an artery in the groin, into the blocked artery in the heart. The balloon is inflated to remove the blood clot that caused the heart attack.

In fibrinolysis, an enzyme that is injected into the artery dissolves the clot.

A new study has found that a stone-age diet of berries, nuts, lean meat and fish helps reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at Karolinska Institute in Sweden put volunteers on a caveman diet while cutting out cereals, dairy products and refined sugar.

After just 21 days they dramatically reduced levels of a clotting agent in the blood linked to heart attacks and strokes.

In addition, they had lost 5 pounds in weight, their waistlines were slimmer, and their blood pressure was lower.

The results were published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.