High Blood Pressure In Young Adults More Likely To Go Undiagnosed Than Older Adults

Younger people with high blood pressure are 28 percent less likely to be diagnosed with the condition than older people, according to a new study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012

It's important to understand just how many young adults are not being diagnosed with hypertension because "we know that once high blood pressure is diagnosed and young adults receive the treatment they need, they can achieve pretty high control rates," study researcher Dr. Heather Johnson, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine in the cardiology division of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said in a statement.

The study included 13,593 people ages 18 and older who had gone to a doctor two or more times over a three year period. All of these people also had high enough blood pressure levels to merit a diagnosis of hypertension, yet after four years, researchers found that 67 percent of people between ages 18 and 24 still had undiagnosed hypertension, while 54 percent of people ages 60 and older had undiagnosed hypertension.

The researchers also found that 65 percent of people between ages 25 and 31 had undiagnosed hypertension, as well as 59 percent of people between ages 32 and 39.

In addition, they found that younger people who smoked were less likely to receive a diagnosis of hypertension, while younger people who have diabetes, are minorities, who have severe hypertension or who made a lot of trips to clinics were more likely to receive a hypertension diagnosis.

Female doctors were more likely to diagnose hypertension than male doctors, and internal medicine doctors were more likely to diagnose hypertension than family medicine doctors, the researchers said.

High blood pressure may not manifest with any symptoms, but it's important to get under control because it can lead to heart attack and stroke, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Last year, an Epidemiology study from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill researchers found that high blood pressure affects nearly 20 percent of young adults, between ages 24 and 32, USA Today reported.

"We were surprised by the figure," Kathleen Mullan Harris, the researcher of that study and a professor of sociology at UNC, told USA Today. "Nobody really knows or had known what the prevalence was of high blood pressure among young adults. This is the first estimate we have on this."

The Best Way To Eat Fruit

I have read many articles saying to eat fruit on an empty stomach because it can ferment when eaten with other foods. Then some articles say it does not matter when you eat fruit because it takes hours for your body to digest anyway. So when is the best time to eat fruit? 

-- Jacquelyn


Fruit is an incredibly healthy food group: packed with vitamins, nutrients, fiber and water. But there have been some nutritional claims circulating that suggest fruit can also be damaging if eaten in conjunction with other foods. The basic premise is that high-sugar fruits help to ferment the other digested foods in a "full" stomach, causing gas, indigestion and other problems. While it's true that fruit helps accelerate fermentation in things like bread starters, the idea that it could do so in a stomach is completely false.

"There is no need to eat any food or type of food on an empty stomach. This myth has been around for a long time. There is no science to support it even though proponents make scientific-sounding statements," Jill Weisenberger, MS, RD, CDE, author of Diabetes Weight Loss -- Week by Week, told HuffPost Healthy Living by email.

Fermentation is a process in which bacteria, fed by sugars, colonizes on food and changes their compositions. Fermented foods include things like wine, yogurt, bread and kombucha. To occur, a ferment requires bacteria. But stomachs, with their high concentrations of hydrochloric acid, are hostile environments that kill bacteria far before they are able to colonize and reproduce.

"One of the main purposes of the stomach is to sterilize food by mixing and churning it within the muscular, acid-containing stomach,” Dr. Mark Pochapin, director of the Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center told the New York Times in an article on the topic.

Another claim, that the body has trouble digesting the carbohydrates in fruit in combination with other foods is also not supported by the science. "The body produces digestive enzymes for protein, fat and carbohydrates and releases them from the pancreas together," says Weisenberger. "If we could not digest mixed meals, we would not even be able to digest most foods since most foods are a combination of nutrients. For example, even vegetables like green beans and broccoli are a mix of carbohydrate and protein."

What's more, gas is produced by the colon -- not the stomach. So while fruit can cause gas in some people, the contents of their stomachs will have little relevance. But Jacquelyn is correct about one thing: according to Pochapin, food reaches the colon about six to 10 hours after we eat it. So while fruit isn't damaging to eat at any time, it is also true that we spend many hours digesting it anyway.

Ultimately, the better question is how much -- rather than when -- we eat healthful foods like fruit.

"The concern should not be empty stomach or with a meal. Rather the concern should be how can I eat more of this health-boosting food group," explains Weisenberger.

Prostate Cancer Research: 10 Things We've Learned So Far This Year

November marks the recognition of "Movember," the month where moustaches are heralded to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues, including prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common kind of cancer and the second leading cause of death from cancer for men in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This year alone, there are estimated to be 241,740 new cases of prostate cancer and 28,170 men are projected to die from the disease, the National Cancer Institute reported.

But it isn't all bad news -- each year, we make progress in understanding the disease. This year was no different. Is it good to undergo screening for prostate cancer or not? What can we do to lower our risk, and what are we doing now that's inadvertently raising it?

Healthy Ways To Warm Up This Winter

Spend Time Being Social 

If you're flip-flopping between a night out with friends or a night under the covers, consider this: Spending time socializing could make you feel physically warmer than being alone. A study conducted by the University of Toronto researchers found that social exclusion literally feels cold. So despite the frigid temperatures and the temptation to hibernate, make an effort to spend some time with your buddies.

Get Nutty 

Foods that are high in healthy fats -- like nuts -- help the body regulate its temperature, which is why people whose diets are deficient in fat often report feeling cold, Self magazine reported. So grab a handful when you feel the chill (just be mindful of portion sizes) and reap the many other benefits of nuts.

Snuggle Up 

As if you need more reason to cuddle up! Aside from the extra body heat, cuddling releases that feel-good hormone, oxytocin, that reduces stress and lowers blood pressure, according to Shape.

Get Moving 

Make an effort to exercise and you'll reap benefits beyond mood-boosting endorphins and maintaining a healthy weight.

Fitting in a sweat session will increase blood circulation throughout your body, which can help you stay focused, handle stressful situations and, of course, warm up. That's because when it's cold out, circulation in parts of the body, like the fingers, decreases, which is why those extremities are often the first to feel cold when the temperature drops, Livestrong reported.

Sip On Something Steamy 

Drinking a hot beverage will warm you right up (and of course, there's nothing like a piping-hot mug against your frigid fingers). And, if you pick the right drinks -- like teas and coffees (preferably sans the added sugar and cream) -- you could be sipping on some serious health perks:

Green tea, for example, is high in antioxidant polyphenols which are able to help our bodies fight against the cell-damaging free radicals acquired through the environment. And coffee, which also contains antioxidants, has been shown in several studies to lower the risk of some cancers.

Start With Soup 

Like tea, a hot soup can warm you from the inside out. But it could do more than help you heat up -- soup is filling, which means it could help if you're trying to cut calories. A 2007 Penn State study found that participants who first ate soup before their lunch entree reduced their calorie intake by 20 percent, compared to their soup-less counterparts. Start with a broth-based, fiber-filled (that means veggies!) soup to cut your calorie-intake and warm up.

Spice It Up 

Incorporate some more herbs and spices into your next dish and you'll heat up while adding some extra flava'.

Ginger, in particular, can get blood circulation going and the body temperature up, WebMD reported.

 "It warms you up from the inside," Judy Griffin, the author of "Mother Nature's Herbal," told WebMD.

For other great herbs and spices and their health benefits, check out our list for some inspiration.

Take A Warm Bath

Escape the cold with a warm soak in the tub -- and sleep better, too.

That's because our body temperatures naturally cool down around the time we should go to sleep. Health.com reports that taking a nice warm bath a couple hours before bedtime can raise your body temperature, prompting a greater drop in body temperature before bed -- helping you feel more relaxed.

Probiotics May Improve Cholesterol, Small Study Suggests

New research shows that probiotics -- live microorganisms in foods like yogurt that are known to be good for digestive health -- could also do the heart some good.

Taking two doses a day of a kind of probiotic seemed to decrease levels of total and "bad" cholesterol in people with high cholesterol, according to the study.

The probiotic used in the study was a specially formulated form of Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242, which has been shown in past research to have positive effects on cholesterol.

The study included 127 adults who had high cholesterol. Half were given two doses a day of the probiotic, while the other half were given a placebo for nine weeks.

By the end of the study period, people who took the probiotics had 11.6 percent lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol than those who took the placebo, as well as 9.1 percent lower levels of total cholesterol. However, the probiotics group experienced no decreases in "good" HDL cholesterol levels.

It's important to note that the study was funded by the maker of the probiotic, Micropharma. Bloomberg News noted that Micropharma does not yet have any probiotics on the market, but will soon be releasing the probiotic supplement used in the study next year.

And because the study was only presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012, and not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, the findings should be regarded as preliminary.

But still, this is not the first time probiotics have been shown to have positive effects on health. For some other ways live active bacteria could benefit the body, click through the slideshow:

Kids who eat out eat more in a day

Kids and calories: Take a kid to a restaurant or serve him take-out food and chances are that child will end up eating more calories that day than on a day with only home-cooked meals, a new study confirms. The findings may not be surprising, but parents may find some of the details eye-opening. For example, kids ages 2 to 11 got more excess calories from sit-down restaurants than fast food places. And meals from either type of establishment cut the day's milk consumption while raising soda intake.(Reuters)

Smoking at the hospital: Quitting smoking is hard. Latest evidence: Nearly one in five hospitalized smokers kept smoking during their stay at one Massachusetts hospital, despite getting onsite smoking cessation counseling and despite the fact that smoking was only allowed in outdoor shelters. (HealthDay)

Meningitis update: Thirty people have now died in a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to tainted steroid injections, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The case count is at 419 and includes ten joint infections. (Associated Press)

Today's talker: Guys, here's a quick test to take in the shower: Look down. If you can't see your own genitals, it may be time to admit you have a weight problem. That's the concept behind a new campaign in England called The Big Check. Researchers there say about one third of guys in a recent study failed the test. It might be a good way to get U.S. men to focus on their weight, too, one doctor tells NBC News: "While it may be a crude judging tool, it's certainly not a bad eyeball test."

Even fit aging people won't escape heart problems

CHICAGO -- Here's a reality check for health-conscious baby boomers: Even among those in good shape, at least 1 in 3 will eventually develop heart problems or have a stroke.

The upside is that that will happen about seven years later than for their less healthy peers.
The findings come in an analysis of five major studies involving nearly 50,000 adults aged 45 and older who were followed for up to 50 years.

The best odds are in the healthiest adults – those who don't smoke, have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Still, among 55-year-olds in that category, about a third can expect to develop heart or other cardiovascular problems as they age.

Dr. Vincent Bufalino, a Chicago area cardiologist and spokesman for the American Heart Association, said the study is "a wake-up call that this disease is very prevalent in the United States and even if you're doing a good job, you're not immune."

The researchers estimated risks older people face for developing these ailments in their lifetime, or by their 80s or 90s. They also estimated how many years they'll live free of heart disease and related problems, depending on the most common risk factors.

Pooling follow-up data from the five analyzed studies, the researchers found that the healthiest 45-year-olds lived up to 14 years longer free of heart ailments than those with at least two risk factors. The healthiest 55-year-olds lived up to about seven years longer than their less healthy peers.

The study was published online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association and released in connection with the American Heart Association conference meeting in Los Angeles. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute paid for the research.

The authors estimated higher lifetime risks than previous studies, but their analysis involved a broader range of ailments, including heart failure and strokes.

While prevalence of heart disease and related deaths have declined nationwide in recent years, more than 82 million Americans – roughly one-third – have some form of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association.

Most people in the analysis had high blood pressure or at least one of the other risk factors.

The results shouldn't be discouraging, said lead author Dr. John Wilkins, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and cardiology at Northwestern University's medical school in Chicago. Maintaining an optimal lifestyle, by eating sensibly and staying active, is still the best way to live a long, healthy life, he said.

Heart disease remains the nation's leading cause of death, and the study reinforces the idea that "cardiovascular disease is part of the aging process," said Cleveland Clinic heart specialist Dr. David Frid, who was not involved in the research. Bodies wear out, "and ultimately, just exposure to living is going to cause people to develop some of these underlying problems," Frid said.