cardiovascular health

WASHINGTON (AP) - Life's frustrations can raise a person's blood pressure, but exercise and weight control can rein in the health risks, a study finds. The boss can be just as demanding, and the kids just as ornery. However, a healthier lifestyle can reduce the chance that stress-related high blood pressure, over time, will lead to a heart attack or stroke, researchers said. "The Read more...

From Harvard Health Letters Few of us take advantage of the closest thing we have to a magic bullet -- exercise -- for preventing or controlling heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and a host of other physical woes. If you can't stand the thought of toiling hamster-like on a treadmill, walking purposefully around a mall, or doing other forms of formal exercise, take heart: Daily Read more...

Around December, a little voice inside of each of us starts making promises. "Next year, I'll stop getting lunch from the vending machine," mine whispers, as I press D12 to release a bag of M&M's. "Next year, I'll renew my gym membership," it assures me, as I zone out in front of the television after work. "Next year, I'll get healthy." Getting Read more...

The good news about stroke is that it's now more treatable than ever before. However, clot-dissolving agents -- most notably tPA -- are most likely to improve a patient's condition if administered within the first three hours -- and the sooner the better. Beyond three hours, treatment options become much more limited. So the best way to treat a stroke emergency is to recognize its early Read more...

Several studies have found that transcendental meditation can help reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Transcendental meditation involves sitting quietly and focusing on a repeated sound, called a mantra, for about 20 minutes every morning and evening. But ThirdAge expert Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. exposes a form of meditation he calls “medical meditation.” In his book, Read more...