Women and Heart Attacks

Seems many folks still think that women don't get heart attacks.  Well, it's time to think again.  While women have heart attacks slightly less frequently then men they die of them more often!  Many medical personnel tend to dismiss women's symptoms and women's symptoms are often very different than those experienced by men.

The Chicago Tribune provides this list of symptoms:

Most frequent symptoms before heart attack for women:

(Most women experienced at least one symptom daily or several times a week in the month before.)

Unusual fatigue: 70.7 percent

Sleep disturbance: 47.8 percent

Shortness of breath: 42.1 percent

Indigestion: 39.4 percent

Anxiety: 35.5 percent

Chest discomfort: 29.7 percent

Heart racing: 27.4 percent

Most frequent symptoms during a heart attack for women:

Shortness of breath: 57.9 percent

Weakness: 54.8 percent

Unusual fatigue: 42.9 percent

Cold sweat: 39 percent

Dizziness: 39 percent

Nausea: 35.5 percent

Arms weak/heavy: 34.8 percent

If you experience these symptoms make sure to have then checked out - and if your doctor dismisses these symptoms - particularly if you have a family history of heart disease - find another doctor!

BPA and Your Health

You've probably heard of BPA by now - a chemical found in polycarbonate plastics (think shatterproof water bottles and baby bottles).  While concern has been circulating over this chemical for some time the evidence is steadily building that this is a chemical you should remove from your life.  BPA has been linked to Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and liver enzyme abnormalities in adults.  Here's a short list of items that often contain BPA -

Shatterproof water and baby bottle, reusable plastic food and beverage containers, paints and adhesives, linings of metal cans, CD's and DVD's, and many plastics with a recyclables code of 7.  BPA is also found in organic (and non-organic) canned foods such as tomatoes (the cans are lined with a BPA containing resin), recycled cardboard (often used for pizza boxes), wine and beers (often fermented in resin lined vats), carbonless credit card receipts, and aluminum soda cans.

Avoid using as many of these products as possible - ditch that old water bottle (and especially those baby bottles), stay away from soda (just plain a bad thing for your health, in any case), canned acidic foods, and don't reheat in plastic containers.

 For information on specific products you can visit www.safemama.com

Best Medical Prices

If you live in the Chicago area you can now go on-line to shop for prices on healthcare.  Leslie Ramirez has established a website to help those who are uninsured or underinsured shop for medical services.  Dr. Ramirez cautions that price is not the only factor in choosing a health care service provider - quality also counts.  She offers the following tips - talk to your healthcare provider about options for medication, tests, and treatments.  Shop around for price and use your findings as a starting point for negotiation with other providers.  Realize that the prices on Leslie's List are subject to change by the provider.  You can visit Leslie's List at www.leslieslist.org.

Getting the Most Out of Your Sunscreen

Farming is an occupation in which having a good sunscreen is important - eight to ten hours in the sun everyday is a challenge for any sunscreen.  The Environmental Working Group has published a list of the 10 most effective sunscreens which can be found at http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/ewg_sunscreen.pdf.

Unfortunately, most of the popular brands of sunscreen do not make the cut!  They either do not provide enough protection or they have hazardous ingredients, including oxybenzone which is absorbed into the skin and can cause hormonal disruption, allergic reactions, and cell damage.

Here is a list of the sunscreens found to be both effective and safe by the Environmental Working Group.

 The Environmental Working Group also rates a host of other products including cosmetics, baby care productions, skin care products, eye care products, nail care products, and oral care products.  Check out what you're currently using to see how safe and effective it is at http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

Summer Fruit – in the Winter?
 
Who can resist the mouth watering sweetness of a perfectly ripe peach, nectarine, or plum in mid-August?  Isn’t one of the sad times of autumn when along with cooler temperatures these taste treats have come to an end until the following summer?
 
Well, you don’t have to wait any longer, right?  Aren’t these foods now available year-round at your local supermarket?  Why wait to buy them as U.S. grown produce when Chile, Argentina, and other Latin American countries can grow, pack and ship them and we can dine throughout the year on our ‘summer’ fruit?
 
Here are some reasons you may want to rethink putting foreign grown fruit on your winter shopping list:
 
-Government food inspectors find twice the amount of pesticide residues on imported vs. domestically grown fruit.

-Air freight emits more greenhouse gases per food mile than any other mode of transport and importing fruit only adds to our carbon load.  For this reason even buying these imports organically clashes with the idea of ‘green’.

-The EPA reports that chemicals like Iprovalicarb and Tolylfluanid, and Mepanipyrim, which at times are applied to apples, tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, and other fruits in some foreign countries, are likely carcinogens, but are not even registered for use in the U.S.

 -Pesticide manufacturers are free to export pesticides that are either forbidden or severely restricted in the United States. 

-From 1997 to 2000, the most recent period for which the data are available, nearly 65 million pounds of these products went to foreign destinations for application to crops sent to the U.S. and elsewhere.  Central America might be the worst offender in the occupational use of pesticides as the Pan-American Health Organization estimates almost 400,000 pesticide poisonings occur each year in the region .

-Harm to humans aside, chemicals like Monocrotophos and Carbofuran are known bird killers.  They are at least partially restricted here but can be applied to crops overseas.  2 recent articles, from The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/american-songbirds-are-being-wiped-out-by-banned-pesticides-804547.html, and from the International Herald Tribune,   
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/30/opinion/edstuchbury.php tell the sad story of the role played by these chemicals in the rapid decline of our songbirds.
 
In wintertime when you are tempted by that luscious looking "product of a foreign country" fruit, consider instead crispy-sweet Washington State apples, juicy Florida oranges, or red-ripe strawberries from Southern California.  For more information, see "What's Fresh Near You" at www.NRDC.org.  You’ll be acting to reduce global warming, combating pesticide related illnesses in Latin America, helping our songbirds, and your family will be eating more healthfully.

This Newsletter may be excerpted, reproduced or circulated without limitation.
(Special thanks to Dr. Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy for his important contributions to this newsletter) 

Flavor Can Help with Weight Loss!

As if you really needed another reason to eat farm fresh locally grown veggies - but...a study by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago found that boosting the flavor of food helps you feel fuller faster and decreases the amount you eat!  So why eat those flavorless lettuces, tomatoes, or eggplants from the grocery store when you can get farm fresh produce chock full of flavor and nutrition - and lose weight into the bargain!  Spicing up your food with fresh garlic, onions, and peppers is also a sure fire weight to eat more flavorfully! 

Relaxation Can Turn Your Genes On and Off

Dr. Herbert Benson of Massachusetts General Hospital has conducted studies demonstrating that relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, and prayer improve health by changing patterns of gene activity.  You don't have to be an expert practicioner to reap the benefits, the study revealed similar changes in both experienced and novice practicioners.  So, slow down and smell the roses while you're tasting (really tasting!) your farm fresh produce!

Healthy Food Equals a Healthy Pregnancy 

An unhealthy diet during pregnancy can increase your child's risk of obesity and elevated blood sugar and cholesterol according to a study by British researchers.  Eating a diet of junk food leads to higher levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and insulin in offspring.  So remember - Cheetos do not qualifiy as a vegetable just because they are orange!  The evidence keeps accumulating - a healthy diet is a diet rich in whole foods with plenty of veggies, fruits, and whole grains!

Shower Curtain Hazards

No - we're not talking about the scene from Psycho - but this is just as scary.  Vinyl shower curtains and shower curtain liners emit toxic chemicals that have been linked to liver, respiratory, reproductive system, and central nervous system damage.  That new shower curtain smell - just like new car smell - is not good for your health.  A while back I switched to a linen shower curtain - check them out in the Gaiam catalog (www.gaiam.com) . 

Don't Bother with Weed and Feed - Eat Those Dandelions!

Dandelions are an early spring treat, tasty in salads - and you can make them into wine - though I've never tried that.  Warmer days make dandelions bitter but that doesn't mean you should declare war on these lovelies.  Dandelions nourish bees, attract ladybugs, and their deep roots help aerate compact soil.

On the other had, typical lawn treatments are bad for you and bad for the environment. 

Synthetic fertilizers have large amounts of water soluble nutrients that very often wash out of lawns and into natural waterways (my village has banned phosphorous fertilizers for just this reason!).  The runoff causes algal bloom which sucks oxygen out of the water and kills other aquatic life. 

Weed and Feed products are even worse.  Weed killers also run off but also leach into groundwater, end up tracked into our homes, and volatilize into the air we breath (ever notice the stench after a neighbor has had their yard chemically treated?).  A typical weed killer, 2,4-D has been linked to an increased risk for non-Hodgkins lymhpoma.  Inert ingredients may do nothing for your lawn but many of them can include harmful amount of heavy metals and pose a risk to pets and children playing on your lawn.

Pesticides also contaminate water and threaten wildlife.  Sixteen of the thirty most common pesticides are serious hazards to birds, twenty-four are toxic to fish, and eleven have adverse effects on bees.

These products are harmful to human health as well.  2,4-D is found in 63% of homes.  Children are at special risk.  Fifty percent of pesticide contact comes withing the first five years of live.  The Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that exposure to garden pesticides can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by sevenfold.  Pesticide exposure also increases miscarriage rates, breast cancer risk, and Parkinson's.  Dogs who are exposed to lawns treated with herbicides have double the risk of canine lymphoma and four to seven times greater risk for bladder cancer.

Read the entire article plus how to have a beautiful SAFE lawn by clicking here:

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-4-77-1698,00.html

Also consider lobbying your homeowner's association and community to ban phosphorous fertilizers and to restrict or abolish use of harmful herbicides and pesticides.  Communities have a public health responsibility to their citizens.

 Eat Veggies, Stay Young

According to the May 2007 issue of Organic Gardening, people who eat leafy greens keep their brains functioning longer.  A research study done by Rush University Medical Center found that large amounts of leafty green vegetables were protective of brain functioning, including memory and thinking speed.  Other research demonstrates that healthy fats such as olive oil have a similar effect.  So, have a nice big salad, today, and add a splash of a nice olive oil based vinegrette! 

Diet Basics (and Acids)

Science News, in the March 29, 2008 issue, reports on a Tufts University study that found a diet rich in potassium significantly reduces muscle wasting in adults over age 40.  And what’s the primary source of dietary potassium? Fruits and vegetables! (You didn’t really expect me to say “cookies” did you?)

Turns out that our bodies convert animal protein and cereal grains into acid residues.  (I really didn’t believe that the first 10 times I heard it – but the science is the science…) Our bodies then raid muscle and bone in an effort to balance out the excess acid – so that ham and cheese on rye or that cheese pizza you’re munching on are contributing to the breakdown of your muscles and bones rather than building them up.

Bottom line?  Cut back on or eliminate those animal products from your diet and go easy on the cereal grains.  Add lots of heart (and muscle and bone) healthy fruits and vegetables to your diet.

The link, http://www.saeure-basen-forum.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=39 , will take you to a list of the acid/base effect of common foods.

And don’t forget the exercise!