Vitamin users have lower heart risk

Good news for those who take vitamin supplements: people who take a multivitamin and vitamin E nearly every day for 10 years seem to have a slightly lower risk of death from heart disease, study findings hint.

Those who take vitamin E and C supplements may also have a lower risk of death overall in a five-year period, while those who take vitamin C may have a lower risk of death from cancer, note study authors Dr. Gaia Pocobelli, at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, Washington, and colleagues.

Vitamins E and C are antioxidants that are thought to protect against damage the body's cells, but scientists have "no clear evidence" that their use staves off death.

While the findings of the current study back earlier studies, many of the decreased risks are small, and may have more to do with other healthy behaviours in which people who take vitamins are likely to take part, the authors are quick to add in their report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

How the study was done

The team surveyed 77 719 men and women in Washington State who were between 50 and 76 years old. Overall 67, 47, and 48% of the study group had ever used multivitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin E supplements, respectively.

Overall, there were 3 577 deaths in the group over five years. Among those who did not use vitamins, there were 350 deaths from heart disease, while there were 519 deaths among those who used vitamins between a few days and seven days per week.

After adjusting for gender and age, lifestyle, diet, and medical conditions, the researchers saw no differences between non-users and those who used multivitamins for zero to two days, three to five days, or six to seven days per week on average over 10 years.

By contrast, they saw slightly decreased risk for death from heart disease among those reporting the most frequent multivitamin use.

What the study revealed

When the researchers looked at vitamin C use, those who took more than 322 milligrams per day had a slightly decreased overall and cancer-related risk of death within five years, compared with non-users. Those with a history of heart disease who took this level of vitamin C had slightly decreased risk for death from heart disease.

Compared with non-users, men and women reporting more than 215 milligrams per day of vitamin E per day - roughly the amount found in a typical supplement -- had slightly decreased total and heart disease-related risk of death. The investigators saw no association between cancer death risk and vitamin E intake.

Even though the study took lifestyle into account, the authors that many of the findings "should be interpreted cautiously because healthy behaviours" - some of which may not have been measured - "tend to be more common in supplement users than in nonusers."


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What Is an ECG?

You probably overheard the term many times especially when you take a physical health examination. You also heard or seen it in TV shows or in movies. But many people don't know it's literal meaning as well as its functions and importance. For the benefit of all, Here is the acronym of the term and is vital importance to the heart.

What Is an ECG?

An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG or EKG, records the heart's electrical signals to determine whether the pattern is normal. Learn more about electrical signals in the heart and how ECGs work.

A Healthy Heartbeat

The heart is a beating muscle that pumps oxygen and nutrient rich blood throughout the body. Each beat is stimulated by electrical signals that pass through the heart muscle, or myocardium.

Performing an ECG or EKG

In order to examine the function of the heart, a doctor may perform a test called an electrocardiogram or ECG (also referred to as an EKG). During this test, electrodes are placed on the chest and recordings are then made of the heart's electrical signals. Sometimes the electrodes are also placed on the arms and legs.

The Heart's Electrical Signals

The electrical signals follow a set pathway through the heart beginning at a spot called the SA node, which is located in the top right chamber, or atrium. The signal then branches out through both right and left atria, which contract and push blood into the lower chambers, or ventricles.

The electrical signal also passes into the ventricles via the AV node, and then travels down the tissue that separates these two lower chambers. Finally, the signal travels back up the ventricles, which contract and pump blood to the lungs and body.

If Electrical Signals Are Abnormal

Variations from the normal electrical pattern may indicate damage to the heart due to a heart attack or heart disease.

What Is a Stress Test?

Often a patient will be required to perform a stress test during an ECG. A stress test usually involves walking or running on a treadmill at progressively increasing intensities while recording an ECG. This test allows a doctor to examine the heart's electrical activity during the stress of exercise.

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P.S., to know more Vitamin C benefits to the heart, click here.

The Human Heart

The heart is a muscular organ in all vertebrates responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods. The term cardiac (as in cardiology) means "related to the heart" and comes from the Greek καρδιά, kardia, for "heart."

The heart of a vertebrate is composed of cardiac muscle, an involuntary striated muscle tissue which is found only within this organ. One type of vertebrate w/c is the most superior form is Man or Human.

The human heart provides a continuous blood circulation through the cardiac cycle and is one of the most vital organs in the human body. It is divided into four chambers: the two upper chambers are called the left and right atria and two lower chambers are called the right and left ventricles. Normally the right ventricle pumps the same blood amount into the lungs with each bit that the left ventricle pumps out. Physicians commonly refer to the right atrium and right ventricle together as the right heart and to the left atrium and ventricle as the left heart.

The electric energy that stimulates the heart occurs in the sinoatrial node, which produces a definite potential and then discharges, sending an impulse across the atria. The Purkinje fibers transmit the electric charge to the myocardium while the cells of the atrial walls transmit it from cell to cell, making the atrial syncytium.

The human heart and its disorders (cardiopathies) are studied primarily by cardiology.


Structure

The human heart is equipped with four types of valves, which prevent the blood flowback between strokes: mitral valve, aortic valve, pulmonic valve and tricuspid valve. The mitral and tricuspid valves are classified as the atrioventricular (AV) valves. This is because they are found between the atria and ventricles.

The interventricular septum separates the left atrium and ventricle from the right atrium and ventricle, dividing the heart into two functionally separate and anatomically distinct units.

The average human heart, beating at 72 beats per minute, will beat approximately 2.5 billion times during a lifetime (about 66 years). It weighs on average 250 g to 300 g in females and 300 g to 350 g in males.