A common indicator of cardiovascular disease may also detect cancer

One of the most common signs of cardiovascular diseasee can also detect cancer, found a new study. Microvascular endothelial dysfunction, a common early sign of cardiovascular disease, maybe a useful marker for predicting risk of solid-tumour cancer, the finding was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Researchers in the study involved 488 cardiac patients whose cases were followed for up to 12 years.

"The study demonstrated that noninvasive vascular function assessment may predict the future development of cancer," said senior author, a cardiologist and director of cardiovascular research at Mayo Clinic.

Microvascular endothelial dysfunction involves damage to the walls of small arteries in the heart, which affects their ability to expand and limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood.

Hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes are among the causes, and symptoms of dysfunction include chest pain. The condition is treatable but difficult to detect.

The study reviewed the cases of 488 patients who underwent microvascular endothelial function assessment at Mayo Clinic between 2006 and 2014.

The noninvasive procedure, called reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry, measures blood flow to the fingers during blood pressure inflation and release.

Dysfunction was defined as a tonometry index at or below 2, and the median follow-up period was six years. Of 221 patients identified as having dysfunction, 9.5 per cent were diagnosed with solid-tumour cancer during the follow-up period.

The findings were consistent after adjusting for age, gender, coronary artery disease and other factors.

Moreover, the association between the sign and cancer was independent but more prominent among men and in patients with factors such as hypertension, significant coronary artery disease, smoking and obesity.

"This risk prediction appears to precede the development of the disease by more than five years," the Dr. said.

Patients with microvascular endothelial dysfunction tend to have other health issues, as well, and that may have drawn more medical attention to these patients, resulting in higher levels of incidental detection of cancer, according to the study.

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7 Tricks That Will Help You Stop Worrying

Worrying is a harmful habit that disguises itself behind a real intention to solve a problematic situation. Unlike problem-solving, worrying usually leads nowhere and has a tendency to spiral out of control. Furthermore, psychologists point out that worrying is practically never helpful and can even disrupt our thinking processes.

In fact, by teaching our brains to react to stressful situations through ruminations, it decreases our problem-solving skills. That’s why it is necessary for everyone to learn a few tricks that can help stop this terrible habit. Here are 7 great practical strategies that will enable you to put an end to worrying.

1. Know What Triggers You

It is often the case that a specific topic or situation triggers anxiety, worries and repetitive thoughts. Learn what your buttons are to be able to avoid them. Plus, the very awareness of a triggering situation can make you more capable at controlling yourself.

A good exercise is to record or notice any events, situations or even people that make you worry. I, for one, know that I get very anxious when I have an unfinished project at home or at work, but the things that make you worry can be anything ranging from the news to the neighbors’ dog constantly barking.
Now that you have a more-or-less full list of potential triggers, it’s time to replace them with a positive alternative that will help you relax. For example, if you can’t fall asleep at night, turn on some calming music or watch TV for a few minutes. Switching from one task to another will help you cope with the stressful situation instead of thinking yourself into insanity.

2. Externalize the Things That Bother You

People who worry a lot tend to internalize the things that bother them by overthinking. This thinking process sometimes seems endless, and it is usually very difficult to stop.

To be able to break from the endless chain of thoughts, it can be useful to distance yourself from them. Imagine your thoughts and worries floating away from from you like clouds, or leaves on a stream.

3. Distract Yourself With Something Funny

Who said distractions can’t be useful? When you realize you’re beginning to worry, imagine something funny that could distract you from the worrisome idea. A famous psychological study tackling the subject of thought suppression showed that participants persist thinking about a specific image until they’re given an alternative.

In that study, participants were instructed NOT to think about a white bear, and guess what? It resulted in them not being able to think about anything else but the white bear, until they were given an alternative. I suggest thinking about this monkey with a funny haircut eating a banana, but the image you choose is up to you.

Every time you catch yourself worrying, just think about this monkey. Chances are, it will distract you from your ruminations.

4. Ask Yourself: “Is Worrying Useful in the Given Situation?”

Asking yourself this question can be a way for you to think critically about your own behavior. By “useful” we mean whether or not you can see any productivity in worrying: have you found any practical solutions to the problem at hand while worrying? Did the ruminations let you see the situation in a more positive light?

If not, then the worrying is not worth all that time and effort you are spending on it. In fact, in most cases, it works the other way around: instead of feeling relieved after thinking about a problem and solving it, you feel exhausted, angry, and depressed. This means that worrying will get you nowhere.

5. Be Mindful of Your Thoughts

We have written about mindfulness meditation and other mindfulness practices before, and many psychologists agree that this method is quite useful for worriers, too. Learn to interrupt your ruminations by having a short mindfulness practice. To do this, close your eyes and check in with your body: do you have any spot that carries a lot of tension or even pain?

Imagine that point softening and the tension releasing as you start breathing more deeply. Associate your worries and ruminations with that spot. and imagine it disappearing as you breathe into that area.

6. Designate a “Worry Space”

It may sound silly at first, but our brains often associate mental states and memories with a specific location. You can take advantage of this feature by reserving only 1 place in your home (or outside) for worrying. This can be a worry bench in a park, for example.

At first, allow yourself to worry for 10-15 minutes in this spot, and then leave and don’t allow yourself to worry anywhere else. Repeat this several times, and soon, you will associate this spot with the process of worrying, which will ultimately let you control how often and how much you worry.

7. Learn To Stop Your Thoughts

When you see that no other method is helping you get out of your head, it may be necessary to resort to thought-stopping. The idea is to do anything to switch to another, less stressful topic. For some people, visualizing a stop or detour street sign is enough to direct them to a new topic.

Others need more physical manifestations, like shouting out “Stop!”, or even snapping themselves with an elastic band wrapped around their wrist when they begin ruminating. Choose the method that works best for you. In the end, all of these tricks and methods can and should be customized to suit your needs and habits.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                         FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/           

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3 Stress-Relief Techniques You Might Not Have Tried Yet

We’ve all read countless articles about how we need to cut back on work, sleep more, avoid stress and generally have a healthy work life balance.
 
We know we need to make changes, but this is the real world. We know that stress is part of the deal.

But wouldn’t it be nice if it was just a little bit easier to manage? If there were ways to help yourself feel less stressed in those pre-meltdown moments? If there were ways you could help yourself get through your day… while you’re going through your day?

Good news! There are, indeed various ways that we can de-stress.
 
An expert understands that most of us don’t live the most healthy lifestyles. And that sometimes it feels like we don’t even have time to blink let alone close our eyes and meditate. She teaches stress-relief techniques that are a type of meditation that she says people can actually “do in everyday life.”

The world has changed a lot since the cave-woman days, but our nervous systems haven’t changed very much at all. “Our bodies think that deadlines are the same thing as being chased by a bear,” she explains. “So, when we get stressed, our nervous system gets disregulated and we go into a fight, flight, freeze mode.The sympathetic nervous system is in charge of the fight and flight modes. When we get stressed it increases our heart rate and blood pressure. The parasympathetic is the system that makes us freeze. It lowers the heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. 

Basically it’s what makes you feel calm. So, the goal of meditation is to find and keep the balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.”

Take notice

Of course it’s ideal to have a seated meditation and mindfulness practice. To take even just a minute to turn everything else off and sit with your eyes closed, notice your breathing, and do a body scan so you can notice all your sensations—but that’s not always possible.

“If you can’t get a minute, there are ways to still notice your breath or notice body sensations, even with your eyes open,” she explains. “You may notice your heart beating really quickly, but you may also notice the calm sensation of the breath at the same time. So when noticing different sensations that have different qualities, you’re actually toggling between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems and creating balance. It’s a very quick, accessible way of self-soothing.”

She says this can be done anywhere; she used to do it on the subway in New York. It helped her stay aware of the chaos going on around her, but let go of the stress attached to it. “You can even do it while in conversations with people, if you get really advanced,” she says.

Use your sense of sense

Many of us see, smell, hear, taste, and touch innumerable things on a daily basis. We see our computer screens, smell the overpowering cologne  someone wears, hear car horns honking during our commute, taste the stale coffee in the break room, and touch the conference room door handle. It can feel like sensory overload.

But zeroing in on just one of your senses can actually be a point of mindfulness.

“Anytime you tap into one of your senses, you’re giving yourself a point of your concentration for your mindfulness practice,” she says. “You could pay attention to smells when you’re at a restaurant if you’re super stressed out at a business dinner. Just taking a moment to notice the smells, even in the midst of a very intense conversation, can help to regulate your nervous system. You have five senses; use them all.”

Remember: variety is the spice of life

Sometimes stress can make us feel like we want to curl into the fetal position. Other times, it can make us want to jump up and down and kick and punch. Most of the time we ignore those impulses. But she says we shouldn’t.

“Ask yourself: ‘What does my body need right now in terms of movement?’ and allow for yourself to do that,” she says. “Kids do this all day long. They don’t have a process around ‘Should I move my body?’ If they want to do jumping jacks and go bananas and jump up and down, they’ll just go do that. As adults, we have to give ourselves permission to take a minute to close the door. If you need to be in a restorative posture and lay down on the floor for a minute, you should do it. Even a minute makes a difference to your nervous system.”

Obviously this works best if you have the luxury of having an office or work from home, but locking yourself in the conference room or another open room for a minute is also an option. And if you’re not sure what your body wants,she recommends “putting on music and letting it guide your movement. Giving that to yourself can be really helpful.”

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                
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Can puppy love heal cancer?

The unconditional and unflinching love dogs shower on humans might be useful in curing various ailments including cancer, says a study. 

A new research titled 'Canines and Childhood Cancer Study' is analysing the effect of animal-assisted therapy on children diagnosed with cancer.

"It is important to bring evidence-based science and rigorous data to what we already know...," said Robin Ganzert, president of the American Humane Association.

Children will be enrolled during the next 15 months and the study will review the child-animal bond, she added.

Health professionals and animal lovers have myriad anecdotal stories that the study will attempt to quantify in data.

"With a therapy dog visit, our young cancer patients stop being patients and become children again," said Stephanie Cooper Greenberg, who is part of a therapy dog team at John Hopkins University.

They provide a much-needed break from the crushing demands of treatments, tests and infusions, Greenberg added.

Five children's hospitals will collect data in the clinical trial.
"Studies like this are vital for providing an evidence-based medicine which will help us improve public health," said Deborah Linder, principal investigator for the trial in Massachusetts.
In addition to cancer patients, the study will also consider the impact on parents or care givers, healthcare workers, the dog and its handler.

As many as 200 therapy dogs may be involved in the study.

PS- THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.

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