Let us be honest here, salt is delicious. Maybe not by itself, but it sure makes food taste better. I personally add salt to all the food I eat: eggs, soup, meat, and of course fries. Salt is a must to pretty much every great tasting dish. But too much salt is dangerous to our health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report stating that nine out of ten American citizens each too much salt daily. This means that 90% of the U.S population is overindulging on this delicious yet dangerous spice. The recommended daily intake of salt is 2,300 milligrams. If you have certain conditions or are over the age of 50, your daily limit should be around 1,500 milligrams. However, the average American consumes about 3,250 milligrams a day, not including salt added at the table. Why is this a problem? High sodium levels increase blood pressure and the risk for heart attack and stroke. Heart attacks are the leading cause of death for Americans. So if we could lower the number of heart disease cases by simply reducing salt intake, why wouldn’t we?! And if you are not worried about your heart health, think of this problem from a financial point of view. Heart disease and stroke cost the American population over $273 billion in health care costs annually.

Staring at breasts lengthens life expectancy…

1) Heart Disease – 7.20 Million people (12.2%)
With obesity on the rise and more people leading increasingly inactive lifestyles, it's not surprising that the leading killer of both men and women is heart disease. So people, start eating healthy, exercise, maintain your weight and stop smoking.

Every minute someone in the world is having a stroke. When this happens, a blood vessel becomes blocked or bursts cutting off all the blood flow to a part of your brain. Without this critical oxygen going to your brain, your brain cells will quickly start to die off and never be able to come back. Depending on the area of your brain suffering the stroke, you could be paralyzed on side of your body, lose complete feeling in that area, balance could be lost, loss of bladder of control, sight, difficulty swallowing, talking or remembering things. Worst case scenario, strokes can even lead to death.

Every year about 160,000 Americans die of strokes, making the stroke the third leading cause of death in the United States. A stroke is a condition where a blood clot, ruptured artery or blood vessel disrupts blood flow to an area of the brain resulting in a lack of oxygen and glucose flowing to the brain, which leads to death of the brain cells and brain damage. Out of those three possible causes of a stroke it is blood clotting that is the leading cause of a stoke. In order to treat this symptom doctors often prescribe aspirin to prevent blood clots and reduce the chances of a stroke. Unfortunately, there are several people who are unable to take stronger medications, and more often than not these are the people who are at the greatest risk of suffering from a stroke. All this may change though because recently researchers have developed a new anti-clotting agent vastly greater than aspirin in reducing stroke risk in atrial fibrillation patients and patiens unable to take stronger medications.

Firstly, what is atrial fibrillation? Atrial fibrillation is an abnormality in the heartbeat that can cause blood clots and increase chances of a stroke. This new agent, apixaban, is specifically designed for AF patients and is superior to aspirin at preventing stroke or systemic embolism (blood clot) because it blocks factor Xa, a crucial step in blood clot formation. In a randomized trial called The AVERROES: Apixaban Versus Acetylsalicylic Acid (ASA) to Prevent Strokes trial, 5,600 AF patients, ages 50 and over, were used to test how much better this drug performed compared to an oral vitamin K antagonists like warfarin, a drug commonly prescribed to prevent blood clots in people with AF. All patients in this study were at either a moderate or high risk of stroke because they all had at least one other stroke risk factor besides AF. In the trial participants were randomly chosen to receive either 5mg of apixaban twice a day or 81-324mg of aspirin once a day, but the study didn't stop there. Each patient that was to receive the apixaban actually received an aspirin-placebo, and each that was to take aspirin actually took an apixaban-placebo and the results were astounding.

During a 1.1 years follow up, researchers have discovered 51 strokes and systemic embolism events in the 2,808 patients taking apixaban and 113 strokes and systemic embolic events in the 2,791 patients taking aspirin. What this means is that compared to aspirin, apixaban has about half the relative risk of stroke or systemic embolism. Actually, in an interim anlaysis done in May 2010 apixaban worked so much better than aspirin that the researchers were advised to end the trial early.  

The main endpoint of the study was the reduction of ischemic stroke (stroke caused by blockages in the circulation of the brain), hemorrhagic stroke (stroke as a result of bleeding in the brain) and systemic embolism (blockages due to blood clots elsewhere in the body). Apixaban also shocked researchers because of its lack of bleeding complications. Being such a powerful agent, many expected to see a side effect of heavy sever bleeding, but in the end although there was a slightly larger amount of bleeding with apixaban its significance felt short compared to the overall statistical success. Researchers are still testing this new drugs under different scenarios in order to improve its success rate, but based off of current results it is believed by some that this is the end of asprin as a drug to prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation.

On the heels of yesterday’s stem cell update, today ReNeuron, a British biotechnology company has announced that it has started a ground-breaking new clinical trial in Scotland to test stem cell use for stroke patients. The company has already injected a man in his 60s with stem cells and he has been successfully discharged from the hospital. Just like StemCells, ReNeuron is using neural stem cells, or cells from human fetuses, as opposed to embryonic stem cells.

Did you know that heat waves are the most lethal type of weather phenomenon in existence? They have caused more deaths than all other weather conditions, including floods. A heat wave is an extended period of prolonged heat, combined with excessive humidity. 

In warm climates throughout the summer, areas of high pressure with little to no rain or clouds, the air and ground heat excessively. Static high pressure areas can cause persistent heat waves. There is no universal definition of a heat wave however, as temperature conditions that are normal in warmer climates could be considered a heat wave in a cooler area if they are different than the usual patterns for that area. Severe heat waves have resulted in thousands of deaths from hyperthermia, power outage due to the increased usage of fans and air conditioning, psychological stress and damaging crop failures.

Hyperthermia is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body absorbs more heat than it can dissipate. During hyperthermia, the body’s temperature is normally greater than 100°F and the person is likely to experience hot, dry skin. Lips may be swollen and the body can appear hot as it is unable to perspire to cool off. Heat stroke can cause hyperthermia even when the body is at rest. It can exertional or non-exertional depending on whether the person has been exercising in the heat. The body’s ability to cope with the environmental temperatures can be too limited. Heat edema, heat rash, heat cramps and heat syncope can also be a result of high temperatures.

To deal with the heat wave you must stay hydrated, take breaks if working outdoors, avoid strenuous exercise during the hotter parts of the days, eat small meals and often, avoid caffeine and alcohol and avoid exposure to direct sunlight. Prepare for potential power outages and have an emergency preparedness kit just in case you may need it.