‘Sweet’ New Way to Prevent Heart Disease

Preventing heart disease never sounded so sweet.

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal in late August 2011, people who ate more chocolate reduced their risk of heart disease by 37 percent, their risk for stroke by 29 percent.

Eating chocolate clearly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, but this should come as no surprise. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, and the less it is processed, the greater the health benefits to the human body. When selecting chocolate to eat, the less fat content and the more cocoa, the better. Dark chocolate is a palatable way to get your daily fix. Eating about 150 calories worth of chocolate each day, at 60-percent or higher cocoa content, should be part of a heart-healthy dietary plan for many at-risk patients.

Consumption of dark chocolate lowers your bad cholesterol and blood pressure, and also protects your blood vessels. It raises good cholesterol and may even increase cognitive function by increasing blood flow to the brain. This commonly available candy also reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease.

Chocolate, like meditation and walking, increases the feel-good compound nitric oxide in the bloodstream. The production of nitric oxide can help with sexual dysfunction in males. Cocoa consumption can even help guard against the damaging effects of sun exposure.

In a challenging financial climate where medical and pharmaceutical costs are skyrocketing, we finally have a sweet answer to several cardiovascular threats: Daily chocolate consumption.

Look out Lipitor – we have a better over-the-counter product that is cheaper, safer and widely available to adults and children alike.

New Guidelines for Fighting Obesity and Heart Disease in Children

There are new recommendations on cholesterol screening, and much more, just issued by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). TheirBob Tozzi at the November 2011 AHA Conference mission is clear from the document’s title: “Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents: The New NHLBI Guideline.”

The document is in direct response to the alarming proportion of children who have markedly abnormal cholesterol levels and evidence of atherosclerosis – a disease normally thought of as an adult medical problem. These recommendations are designed to help reverse the epidemic of obesity and the related diseases that are growing at an alarming rate in our children.

At the November 2011 American Heart Association Convention in Orlando, as I observed the NHLBI presentation about these new and much-anticipated recommendations for preventing heart disease in children, I looked around at the sparsely-filled room. It was set up with seats to accommodate 600 professionals. There were fewer than 200 in attendance. Perhaps this was because it was an evening presentation, or maybe it reflects physician frustration at the enormity of the public-health issue of obesity, with its secondary problems of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and resultant heart disease.

In any case, the guideline document needs to be widely disseminated within the medical community.

The comprehensive NHLBI review began with a computer-generated initial list of 1 million articles. The final document incorporated the best-of-the-best research on the topic, representing a derived-consensus document.

These are the significant take-away points:

  • High cholesterol in children is related to the development of heart disease in the adult.
  • With the obesity epidemic, cholesterol levels are rising even higher. Reduction in obesity will lower cholesterol levels.
  • Early intervention is needed for hypercholesterolemia and poor health habits in children (the behaviors as well as the diseases continue into adulthood).
    Initial management for abnormal serum cholesterol is education about healthy diet and exercise.
  • Healthy diet-education is best handled with the entire family involved and a dietitian.
  • Examples of healthy diet include the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet.
  • There should be universal screening for elevated cholesterol for ages 9-11 years.
  • There should be earlier screening for high-risk individuals.
  • Medications may be needed in about 1percent of children (upwards of 200,000 children).
  • Parents must increase the activity level of children and reduce TV and computer time. The recommended activity level for 5 years and older is one hour of moderate to vigorous exercise per day.

Quite simply, this list should be posted in every pediatric physician’s office across the United States.

Video: The Watanabe Rabbits

Where Have All the Parents Gone?

It was a typical office day…

“Dr. TOZZI, she will not LISTEN to me!” shrieked the irate mom, pointing to her daughter. “Tell her that she CANNOT have Chicken McNuggets and supersized fries for dinner. That’s all she wants to eat!”

Rebellious teenager gone wild? Not this time: This was about an overweight four-year-old girl.

Truth be told, I could substitute a boy or girl of any age for this four-year-old, and the story would be the same.

I remember listening to this particular mom because it was not one of my shining moments as a giver of good counsel. Perhaps like any parent with a history of disciplining unruly youngsters, I had heard enough by the time the woman uttered the word “McNuggets,” and this time I responded poorly.

I turned to the mother and said, “Why should I tell her? Is she old enough to drive? No – she’s a child – you have a responsibility here.”

It was, as I say, an unfortunate reaction.

We as parents, teachers and health professionals must slow down and take the time to teach by structured example.

We must support each other as parents, and share experiences and knowledge. Most of all, we must be willing to set limits and make the tough choices. It may be fast food now, but it will be drugs, alcohol, and risky behavior next.

Confronting our responsibilities as parents in the early years earns us the moral authority (and respect) that we will need in those later years to steer our growing children away from harmful temptation and the pitfalls of peer pressure.