These ‘collateral vessels’, as they are known, are able to keep the blood flowing to the heart, even when a main artery has completely closed. These vessels usually disappear after bypass surgery, ‘sensing’ a new flow of blood to the heart.

Collateral vessels tend to grow when artery narrowing and blocking is a slow process. A vessel that is only slightly narrowed, and then suddenly blocks completely, is likely to cause a myocardial infarction (heart attack) that the body can do nothing to prevent.

‘The common practice of rushing patients in for emergency or urgent surgery because of a severely narrowed coronary artery is completely unnecessary, and needlessly frightens the patient and his family’, says Dr Howard Wayne of the Noninvasive Heart Centre.

His view is supported by a study that found that chances of survival following a mild heart attack are higher if the hospital does not immediately operate but instead adopts a conservative approach. Overall, 80 of 138 people who underwent invasive treatment such as a bypass died during a 23-month follow-up period, compared with 59 of a group of 123 patients who had received conservative treatment, including drug therapy.

(Source: What Doctors Don’t Tell You March 2004; New England Journal of Medicine, 1998; 338: 1785-92).

* This article is one of many revealing pieces about bypass surgery in this month’s What Doctors Don’t Tell You. If you want to start subscribing, click on this link: http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=330

Serves 3-4 persons as a side dish

Sweet potatoes are just lovely; I am almost as much in love with sweet potatoes as with beets. They’re full of carotenoids and other goodies for your health, and they please the palate as well as satisfy the appetite. What more can one want from a food?

Cooking Instructions

1) Bake the sweet potatoes in their jackets in a 425° F (220° C) hot oven for approximately 1 1/2 hours – you can either place them in a pan with a little water added or arrange them on a baking sheet – until soft and tender. You should be able to pierce them at easily with a fork or thin knife at the thickest point.
2) Peel the outer skin off the top half of the head of garlic to reveal the individual cloves, place it in a small pan, add 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water, and bake it along side the sweet potatoes for 25-30 minutes.
3) Peel the baked potatoes and whizz them in a blender or food processor along with the lemon juice. The result should be a thick, velvety mash. Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
4) Split the head of garlic into individual cloves and peel each of these. Also cut the base off each clove.
5) Arrange the sweet potato mash in bowls, drizzle with a bit of oil, scatter the peeled cloves of baked garlic on top, and serve.

Serves 3 persons – approx. 4 cups (1 L)

Beets can really shine at the dinner table. They just need a bit of help. The heat of an oven helps mellow their taste bringing out their natural sweetness and helps make them soft. A blender and some olive oil and the spices do the rest, letting the beets shine at the dinner table and providing your palate with a silky smooth sensation upon ingestion. The beets are rich in vitamins, minerals, carotenoids and related color pigments, fibre, and betaine, which will do wonder for your liver. Just lovely eh?

Cooking Instructions

1) Place the beets in a suitable pan, add enough water to cover the bottom, and bake in a 475° F (250° C) for 1 1/2 hours until tender. You should be able to pierce the beets easily with at fork. Immediately plunge the hot beets into a large bowl of cold water and leave them there for 10 minutes or so, until they’re sufficiently chilled to be handled with your bare hands. Peel the skin of the beets – you should be able to pull or rub it off using your fingers only – and chop them roughly.
2) Toast the nori sheets very shortly over an open flame if you have a gas stove. Otherwise, use a very warm hotplate. Gently hold one half of the nori sheet against the hotplate for a few seconds until it starts wilting and the color changes to a greenish yellow. Do the same with the other half of the sheets. Roast all of the sheets in this manner and rip them into large shreds. If you have an induction stove or a microwave, then you’re in trouble.
3) Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds inside using a small knife or a fork. Save the seeds and discard the pod itself, unless you can use it in another recipe.
4) Combine beets, toasted nori, vanilla seeds, boiling water, extra virgin olive oil, shiro miso, and the roasted spices in a blender and process into a thick, velvety soup. Perfect the taste using a few teaspoonfuls of good vinegar, a bit of Tabasco sauce, sea salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. If the soup is too thick, add a bit more boiling water. If you want the soup to be even more velvety and creamy, add a bit more extra virgin olive oil.

If you think your marriage is killing you, you just may be right. While it’s well-established that stress is a clear-cut cardiac risk factor for men, new data is finally demonstrating a similar and important association for women.

A research team headed by Kristina Orth-Gomer, MD, PhD of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden recently reported “marital stress but not work stress predicts poor prognosis in women aged 30-65 years with coronary heart disease.”

In their article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on December 20, 2000, Orth-Gomer and colleagues documented marital stress levels in 292 women hospitalized for heart attacks or unstable angina between 1991 and 1994. Participants were studied for a period of almost 5 years after the original hospitalization.

Realizing many issues could cloud their results, the researchers specifically factored in age, sedentary lifestyle, estrogen status, education, smoking, lipid levels and a host of other potential variables that could have altered the outcome of their study. Yet after careful analysis, the data was clear.

Among women who were married or cohabitating, marital stress was associated with almost a three-fold increase in recurrent cardiac events and death. While work stress was not established as a significant risk factor, the authors do not infer this may not be detrimental under certain circumstances as well.

Your boss is not off the hook yet!

And while the cardiac prognosis for married men seems to be better than for single men, such was not the case for these women. According to the researchers, “in fact, being married or cohabitating in itself did not provide any extra protection, but strain from a problematic spousal relationship significantly contributed to a poor prognosis over and above the effect of clinical predictors.”

What does this tell us?

The bottom line is simple. Marital discord increases the risk of cardiac death in women.

Yet there’s more to consider. Women view relationships with their spouses far less supportive than one might assume. Actually men are much more likely than women to consider their spouse as the primary provider of social support. Coupled with significant biological differences and other risk factors, the unique needs of women must be addressed in the evidence-based spectrum of cardiac risk factor management.

Where does this leave us?

Let’s not rush to the divorce court yet!

Instead, let’s seriously consider marital stress as a major cardiac risk factor for women. Simple categorization by the medical establishment isn’t enough. With these new findings, we must now address the issue of marital relationships with the same level of seriousness as estrogen replacement, diet, exercise, blood pressure, lipid levels and smoking.

This is a wake-up call. Mind-body connection risk factors are simply not going to evaporate into thin air. These issues require serious attention in the conventional medical arena. When will we as a society realize that antidepressant medications are not a panacea? When will insurers appropriately cover psychosocial interventions?

It’s time physicians, learning about marital conflict from their patients, take a proactive stance and prescribe counseling as a potential life-saving intervention. Ignoring what may very well be a critical risk factor for a given patient may be tantamount to sealing one’s fate. The medical profession must not avoid addressing these issues for fear of letting Pandora out of the box. The latest drug is not going to cure a broken marriage … or a broken heart.

And for women reading this column who are downtrodden by a relationship metaphorically perceived as a time-bomb, it’s time to take a closer look at your life. Realize the importance of your psychological, spiritual and physical well-being, and prioritize your time to work things out with your partner … or begin again.

Yes, your marriage may be killing you – but only if you allow it to do so. Weigh the pros and cons of your relationship and realize if you both care enough, your differences can be resolved. Perhaps it’s time to work it out … heart to heart – Mind Over Matter!

Serves 4

This lovely soup will do as a small meal or as an appetizer. It goes very well with steamed fish or dense bread made from whole flour and can also be served cold. Garlic, chili, and fennel seeds bring warmth to the soup and your body making it perfect for cold fall and winter days. The soup is also very rich in B-vitamins and enzymes good for your digestive system, both coming from the miso. And in potassium and magnesium from the parsley.

Cooking Instructions

1) Scrub and wash the parsnips thoroughly, cut off the ends, place in an ovenproof dish with, add approx. 1/2 cup (1dl) of water, and bake for 45 minutes in a 400° F (200° C) hot oven until tender.
2) Combine garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and toasted spices in a large pot and saute over medium heat for 15-20 minutes together with a pinch of sea salt and a dash of freshly ground black pepper until soft, fragrant, and lightly golden brown.
3) Add kombu, cinnamon, and water, and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on.
4) Meanwhile, wash the parsley well, cut 1/2 inch (1 cm) off the bottom of the stalks, and chop finely. Add chopped parsley to the garlic soup after it has simmered for 15 minutes.
5) Take the soup off the heat, remove kombu and cinnamon, and puree in a foodprocessor together with miso and extra virgin olive oil until smooth.
6) Place the baked parsnips in four bowls, pour a ladle of soup over each, drizzle with a bit of freshly pressed lemon juice, and serve.

]]> 6417 https://healthy.net/2000/12/06/preserved-lemon-rind-or-everything-from-lemons/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=preserved-lemon-rind-or-everything-from-lemons Wed, 06 Dec 2000 13:28:52 +0000 https://healthy.net/2000/12/06/preserved-lemon-rind-or-everything-from-lemons/ The following recipe addresses the special diet considerations for: Dairy-free, gluten-free, low fat, low glycemic index, vegan, vegetarian, anti-cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases.

Often people only use the juice and the outermost layer of the rind from lemons. Here’s a way to use almost the whole lemon and thus gain full advantage of all the culinary and health promoting qualities lemons have to offer. With this recipe, you’ll get preserved lemon rind, similar to that eaten with tagine in North Africa and the Middle East, lemon stock, and cider-lemon vinegar, as well as fresh lemon juice.

Cooking Instructions

1) Cut the lemons in half and squeeze all the juice out of them. Save both the juice and the lemon rind. Use the fresh lemon juice to make a salad dressing, ice tea, freeze it, or whatever you might fancy. It isn’t part of this recipe, but it would be a waste to throw it away.
2) Place the lemon rinds in a pot and cover completely with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and leave to simmer for 35-40 minutes with a lid on.
3) Remove the lemon rinds from the water, which has now become lemon stock, and leave to drain and cool in a colander. Remember to collect the stock that runs off the lemon rinds.
4) Strain the lemon stock through a fine-meshed sieve to remove any pips, debris, and impurities.
5) Carefully scrape out any remaining pips, membranes, or lemon flesh from the rinds, so that only the rind itself and the innermost layer of pith is left.
6) Place the cleaned lemon rinds in a clean container, cover with organic cider vinegar, and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours before using.

A recent study by Linda Luecken and her colleagues at Duke University
Medical Center in North Carolina provides the first solid evidence of
the physical impact of “role overload” among working mothers–
evidence that the increased demands on working moms often result in
physiological changes associated with ill health.

The study examined 109 women with full-time clerical and customer-service jobs. Some had children at home, some did not. Urine samples were collected over 2 days to measure levels of stress hormones. The women were also asked to rate their jobs and their home lives in terms of these questions: How hectic is the pace? How psychologically demanding is it? How much privacy do you have? How much control do you have over how to spend your time? How much freedom do you have to make decisions?

The results: Employed women with children at home, when compared to employed women with no children at home, have:

• higher levels of cortisol excretion. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is thought to reflect “distress,” lack of personal control, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
  
• similar levels of work strain but higher levels of home strain including both greater demands and less control

The increased strain in working mothers comes from the reality that women still carry most of the child-rearing and household responsibilities. They come home from work to the “second shift”– laundry, cleaning, cooking, chauffeuring, tutoring. Working women have up to an estimated 21 hours of work more per week than men have.

Another factor is that working mothers seldom have a chance to “unwind,” so they have increased sympathetic nervous system arousal both during and after work. While many husbands may be pitching in more at home, they often finish their assigned tasks and then relax. A working mom is virtually always on call and responsible for managing the details of home. There’s always something unexpected to cope with– spilled milk, lost homework, a sick child, the search for new child care.

Does marriage or social support at home protect working mothers? Apparently not. The presence of a spouse or significant other at home did not buffer the physiological and psychological consequences of stress in working mothers. Higher income, ethnicity, or the number of children at home also did not influence the levels of stress.

Rx: Self-Care Tips


Here are a few suggestions for working moms to help balance the demands of job and home:

• Set limits. Schedule and honor your own time to relax, put your feet up, and play. Learn to say no.
  
• Cultivate a mental picture of the many sides of “you” besides your “other-centered” roles at home or at work–e.g. artist, lover, poet, gardener, runner.
  
• Make frequent written lists of your own priorities, from the largest (spend time with my children, go to work) to the smallest (take out the recycle boxes). Put them in the order you want and match up your activities and commitments to make sure you’re getting the things done that are truly most important to you. Let the rest go.
  
• Ask for help: Say exactly what you want from your spouse, significant other, or children; then negotiate to share responsibilities at home.
  
• Remember that perfection is the enemy of happiness. Be willing to accept less than perfect performance on household chores.
  
• Team up with other parents to share the load — child care, dinner clubs, or shuttling.
  
• Celebrate the healthy pleasures of parenting. Pay attention to the moments of joy that make all the effort worthwhile. Plan regular, specific activities– no matter how small or trivial– to connect with your spouse, child and significant other.

For More Information


Luecken LJ et al: Stress in Employed Women: Impact of Marital Status and Children at Home on Neurohormonal Output and Home Strain. Psychosomatic Medicine 59:352-359, 1997.

Light KC: Stress in Employed Women: A Women’s Work Is Never Done If She’s a Working Mom. Psychosomatic Medicine 59:360-61, 1997.

Excerpted with permission from the Quarterly Newsletter, Mind/Body Health Newsletter. For subscription information call 1-(800)-222-4745 or visit the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge website.

Marinated ginger deserves to be used with other foods than sushi. With such a heavenly taste and lovely appearance, anything else would be a crime. This version uses mature ginger as opposed to baby ginger, which can be very hard to come by. But if you’re lucky enough to get a hold of organic baby ginger, then by all means use that.

Cooking Instructions

1) Scrub the pieces of gingerroot meticulously until very clean and cut off any small knobs, bits, and ends. Cut the pieces of ginger in half lengthwise, and then cut these pieces into paperthin slices.
2) Place the ginger slices on the bottom of the container and add sufficient vinegar to cover all the pieces completely.
3) Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 72 hours before using.

In a recent study of over 1200 men and 500 women subjects were
confidentially interviewed about their sexual activity in the hours,
days, and year preceding their heart attack. The fndings: a little bad
news, but mostly good news.

The Bad News


Only half of the patients (age 20-92) reported having any
sexual activity in the year preceding their heart attack. (This raises
an interesting question as to whether lack of any sexual activity
itself increases the risk of heart attack.)

Among those who were sexually active, the act of intercourse about
doubles the risk of heart attack in the subsequent 2-hour period. But
not to worry . . .

The Good News


The absolute increase in risk of heart attack following sexual
activity is so slight that even doubling it is not much of a danger.
For example, the risk of having a heart attack in the two hours
following intercourse might rise from one chance in a million per hour
to two chances in a million per hour÷probably not something to lose
sleep or sex over.

There’s more good news. For those who exercise regularly, there is no increased risk of heart attack following sexual intercourse. Habitual physical exertion two to three times per week protects against all heart disease and effectively eliminates any excess risk associated with sexual activity. In other words, if youâre physically fit, you can put your heart into sexual activity without taxing it!

These findings should be reassuring to the half a million people in the US each year who survive a heart attack and over 11 million patients who have existing heart disease. Patients, partners, and physicians can now reassure themselves that:

sexual activity after heart attack is generally very low risk

regular physical activity promotes a healthy heart and safer, satisfying sex life

As Stanford cardiologist Robert F. DeBusk put it: “Patients should be interested not only in the years in their lives, but also the liveliness of their years.”

For More Information:


Muller JE, Mittleman MA, Maclure M, et al: Triggering myocardial infarction by sexual activity: Low absolute risk and prevention by regular physical exertion. JAMA 1996; 275:1405-1409.

DeBusk RF: Sexual activity triggering myocardial infarction: One less thing to worry about (Editorial). JAMA 1996;275:1447-1448.

Excerpted with permission from the Quarterly Newsletter, Mind/Body Health Newsletter. For subscription information call 1-(800)-222-4745 or visit the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge website.

This bread is every bit as substantial and savory as wholegrain bread,
but contains no grains, which makes it suitable for people allergic to
gluten, those following the “Specific Carbohydrate Diet”, and those
following other low carbohydrate diets. The large amount of flaxseed
provides plenty of Omega-3 PUFAs and phytoestrogens. Try adding grated
vegetables, green herbs, or a dash of fish sauce for variation. The
bread must be stored in a closed plastic bag in the refrigerator –
where it will keep for 3-4 days – to prevent it from going stale.

• 4/5 cup (125 grams) flaxseed, ground finely
• 1 1/2 cup (3.5 dl) cold water
• 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbs brown rice vinegar
• 1 tbs tamari
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground finely
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, roasted and ground finely
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, roasted and ground finely
• 3 3/4 cup (500 grams) hazelnuts, ground finely

Cooking Instructions

1) Combine flaxseed, water, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, brown
rice vinegar, tamari, honey, cumin, fennel seeds, and
coriander seeds in a bowl and mix well.

2) Add the ground hazelnuts little by little while stirring
constantly. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes until the ground hazelnuts
are evenly distributed.

3) Transfer the dough to a loaf shaped baking tin approx. 9.5x4x6
inches (1L) lined with baking paper and bake the bread for 1 hour in a
400 degree F (200° C) hot oven.

4) Leave the hazelnut bread at room temperature to cool down before
removing from the baking tin.