Monthly Archives: July 2013

One more reason to eat your breakfast: missing it can increase your chances of a heart attack! A survey of older men discovered those who routinely missed breakfast had a 27 percent greater risk of a heart attack than those who ate a morning meal. And there’s absolutely no reason the results wouldn’t apply to other people, too, the Harvard researchers say. Other surveys have suggested a link between breakfast and obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other health related issues viewed as precursors to heart problems. Why would not having breakfast be a risk factor for a heart attack? Specialists are not 100% certain, but here’s what many think: People who do not eat a morning meal are more likely to be hungrier later in the day and eat larger meals. Those meals mean the body must process a larger amount of calories in a shorter amount of time. Doing this can spike sugar levels in the blood and possibly lead to clogged arteries. But is a stack of syrupy pancakes, greasy eggs and bunches of bacon really better than eating nothing? Researcher did not ask what the study participants consumed for breakfast, and were not prepared to pass judgment on whether a fatty, sugary breakfast is better than no breakfast at all. The study was conducted on nearly 27,000 men about their eating habits in 1992. About 13 percent of them said they routinely bypassed breakfast. They all were educated health professionals – like dentists and veterinarians – and were at least 45. Over the next 16 years, 1,527 suffered fatal or non-fatal heart attacks, including 171 who had said they frequently missed breakfast. During this time over 7 percent of the men who skipped breakfast had heart attacks, compared to nearly 6 percent of those who ate breakfast. The researchers calculated the increased risk at 27 percent, considering other factors like smoking, drinking, diet and health complications like high blood pressure and obesity. So bottom line… eat your breakfast… it may just be the most important meal of the day!   The post Missing breakfast could heighten the risk of heart attack in men appeared first on Boone Heart Institute | Preventive Cardiology | Denver, Colorado.

If you are planning a trip to the beautiful mountains this summer to try and escape the city heat, keep your heart’s health in mind…

Rapidly rising to a high altitude can be difficult on even the healthiest people, but it can mean more troublesome for individuals with heart issues. How your heart will react to the challenges of high altitude is dependent on how high you are going, what you plan to do there, the state of your heart, and your overall physical fitness.

How high altitude affects these common conditions:

Coronary artery disease: If you’ve had a heart attack, bypass surgery, or angioplasty, and your heart function is good, or you have well-controlled angina, you should have the capacity to handle a high-altitude trip. If you plan to hike, ski, or do another strenuous activity, be sure you have the ability to do similarly stressful activities at lower elevation. Have a stress test to see what type of activities you may be able to do and talk with your doctor about whether you might need to change your medications.

High blood pressure: Blood pressure has the tendency to increase at higher elevations, so it’s best to obtain blood pressure controlled before taking a trip in high elevation. Bring a blood pressure meter and make a plan with your doctor for changing your medications if your pressure increases.

The post Trying to escape the heat this summer by heading to the mountains? appeared first on Boone Heart Institute | Preventive Cardiology | Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Jeff Boone of the Boone Heart Institute joined some local NFL Alumni at Sports Authority Field at Mile High this past Friday June 28th, 2013 to provide them with special medical screenings to determine and monitor their heart health. Check out the video below for the full story on this great event.

The post ProHeartMD Local Denver Testing appeared first on Boone Heart Institute | Preventive Cardiology | Denver, Colorado.