Do You Know That Tangerines May Protect the Body From Coronary Artery Disease?

An article on Everyday Health.com reports that tangerines are metabolic masters

A flavonoid (a type of antioxidant) in this citrus fruit may protect the body against the triad of diseases known as metabolic syndrome — coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes — according to research from the University of Western Ontario published in the journal Diabetes. When researchers fed mice a typical “western” diet (high in fat and refined sugar) that was supplemented with the tangerine antioxidant nobiletin, the mice experienced no increase in cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, or blood sugar, but mice who didn’t get the nobiletin did see a rise. Other long-term animal studies have found that the compound prevents atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Tangerines may also help cancer-proof your body — if you eat the peel. A compound in the peel called salvestrol Q40 halts the activity of an enzyme that incites the growth of cancer cells, a British study found. Try some tangerine zest in your tea or sprinkled on a salad for a citrusy twist.

We look forward to hearing your comments.

Yankees' Rivera Says Blood Clot Caused More Complications

According to the New York Yankees Blog written by Mike Fitzpatrick, AP, Mariano Rivera has a blood clot in his right calf, the latest health problem for the longtime Yankees closer who tore a knee ligament last week while shagging fly balls during batting practice.

Rivera is on blood-thinning medication intended to dissolve the clot and said Wednesday he is OK, though he was scared when he received the diagnosis. He needs to spend at least a week or two strengthening his knee before he has surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament, but said that would have been the case regardless of the blood clot.

Strengthening the knee now will put him in a better position when he begins his rehabilitation program after the operation. He must stop taking the blood thinners 24 hours before the surgery, he said.

The 42-year-old, baseball’s career saves leader with 608, said he can guarantee he will work hard and do “whatever it takes” to return next season. But if his leg doesn’t come back strong enough, then he will take it as a sign that it’s time to retire.

“If it’s my call, I don’t want to leave the game the way it happened. ... My will and my desire is to stay,” Rivera said, adding that he was leaning toward pitching in 2013 even before the injury. “The traveling, I hate it. And the game, I love it.”

Rivera was injured last Thursday in Kansas City, tearing his ACL and damaging the meniscus in his right knee, when he stumbled and fell while chasing a fly ball during batting practice, a regular part of his pregame routine. He is expected to miss the rest of the season.

The following day he announced he was determined to get back on the mound next season and he was examined Monday by three doctors at two hospitals as he prepared to decide where to have knee surgery.

While he was being examined, Rivera mentioned to the doctor that his right calf was “sore and painful.” He was diagnosed with a blood clot and spent Monday night in the hospital, beginning treatment right away.

That was the complication Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Rivera’s agent, Fernando Cuza, referred to this week when discussing Rivera’s schedule and prognosis. Cashman would not elaborate Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

“I was more concerned with the blood clot than the knee. For a minute I was like, what else is going to happen?” Rivera said. “I was scared because I never hear good things about blood clots. ... I take it like, OK, what do we have to do?”

In the worst cases, blood clots can be life-threatening if they travel to the lungs. Rivera said he’s not sure what caused the clot, and he didn’t even ask.

“I know that I’ve got to deal with it,” he said. “They don’t know if it happened before or after the trauma of the injury.”

Rivera said he planned to speak to his doctor later Wednesday and he will soon go back for a check-up. He hasn’t decided on a doctor to perform the knee surgery yet, but the clot will not affect the date of the operation.

“I really believe if Mo wants to continue to play, he’ll play,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I mean, obviously he’s got to go through a process of rehab here, but I don’t see any reason why that’s not going to happen and he’s not going to get through that, so I look forward to seeing him back in a Yankee uniform.”

Rivera appeared in good spirits at a 25-minute news conference Wednesday before the Yankees played the Tampa Bay Rays. Wearing a long-sleeve shirt and jeans, he hobbled up to the podium on a set of crutches he’s already grown tired of.

“I just feel old. Walking with these crutches is not fun at all,” he said.

Later, he joked that would begin running again in 5 or 10 minutes.

Rivera said he’ll be at the ballpark as much as possible to help his teammates however he can this season, but for the first time in his life he thinks he needs to be a bit “selfish” and focus on his rehab. He said he watched nervously from his couch at home as fill-in closer David Robertson loaded the bases Tuesday night before saving New York’s 5-3 victory over the Rays.

“It’s still tough, though, mentally. These games don’t help me. He did a good job,” Rivera said. “I was sweating and screaming. It was difficult, but I was screaming at Robby on the TV.”

And when he returns, Rivera said he’ll resume shagging flies during batting practice.

“Oh, no doubt about it,” he said. “I don’t know what the Yankees will do. They might need to tie me up,” he said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/yankeesblog/yankees_rivera_says_knee_complications_h2jC6heHleZmOTtyCZnO6I#ixzz1uZqFxkjW

Witnessing someone experiencing a stroke can be very frightening. Staying calm might just save a life.

If you have the unfortunate experience of witnessing someone having a stroke, act quickly! The sooner a person suffering a stroke gets to the emergency room, the better their chances are that doctors will have the ability to intervene quickly to restore blood flow to the affected area saving brain cells and creating better chances for a good recovery.

Many strokes are caused by blockage in an artery. These arteries, called the carotid arteries, supply your brain with blood. Approximately 25 percent of strokes are caused by carotid artery disease from atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the arteries that carry blood to the brain. Some strokes are even caused by bleeding from an artery that burst


According to the American Stroke Association, learn the many warning signs of a stroke.
Act FAST and CALL 9-1-1 IMMEDIATELY at any sign of a stroke.

Use FAST to remember the warning signs:




   F     FACE: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
    
   A    ARMS: Ask the person to raise both arms.Does one arm drift downward?
    
   S    SPEECH: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
         
   T    TIME: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.
    



Factors that put people at greater risk for carotid artery disease include:

    Smoking;
    High blood pressure;
    Diabetes mellitus
    Family history of atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in the arteries)

If you experience any of the symptoms referred to in this blog or you suspect someone else is experiencing these symptoms call 911 immediately! If you have any questions or comments about carotid artery disease or stroke please comment on our blog and we will be happy to answer you questions.

May is Stroke Awareness Month: Know The Facts It Can Happen to You

Do you know?

• Stroke is an emergency and a brain attack, cutting off vital blood flow and oxygen to the brain.
•  In the United States, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death, killing over 133,000 people each year, and a leading cause of serious, long-term adult disability. 
• There are an estimated 7,000,000 stroke survivors in the U.S. over age 20.Approximately 795,000 strokes will occur this year, one occurring every 40 seconds, and taking a life approximately every four minutes. 
• Stroke can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of race, sex or age. 
• From 1998 to 2008, the annual stroke death rate fell approximately 35 percent, and the actual number of deaths fell by 19 percent.
• Approximately 55,000 more women than men have a stroke each year.
• African Americans have almost twice the risk of first-ever stroke compared
  with whites. 

Types of Stroke:

 Ischemic stroke occurs when arteries are blocked by blood clots or by the gradual build-up of plaque and other fatty deposits. About 87 percent of all strokes are ischemic.

 Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks leaking blood into the brain. Hemorrhagic strokes account for thirteen percent of all strokes, yet are responsible for more than thirty percent of all stroke deaths.

Two million brain cells die every minute during stroke, increasing risk of permanent brain damage, disability or death. Recognizing symptoms and acting FAST to get medical attention can save a life and limit disabilities.

The prevalence of transient ischemic attacks (TIA – “mini strokes”) increases with age. Up to 40 percent of all people who suffer a TIA will go on to experience a stroke.

Women are twice as likely to die from stroke than breast cancer annually.
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Gerry's Story: Deep Vein Thrombosis

State-of-the-Art Technology and Quick Intervention Saves Limbs and Lives

59-year-old Margate, Florida resident Gerry recently became a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) statistic and is lucky to be alive. Gerry developed a two and half foot long blood clot that started below his knee, ran all the way up his leg, wrapped into his abdomen and up to the level of his belly button.

“They basically told me to go home and put my affairs in order. It was very frightening.”
Gerry is a classic case of DVT waiting to happen.  When his right leg began swelling, his primary care doctor diagnosed a blood clot behind the knee and prescribed an oral blood thinner to prevent the clot from getting bigger and potentially going into his lungs. It didn’t work. Within days his leg blew up three times its normal size and the pain was excruciating.

 Interventional Radiologists at South Florida Vascular Associates discovered that the clot had extended all the way up the leg and into the pelvis,  measuring almost 2 ½ feet long.

This type of DVT is rare and it is usually seen once every few months, if that. If left untreated, or treatment is unsuccessful, it could result in post thrombotic syndrome (PTS) in which the valves in the legs are damaged from the clot causing permanent disability.There is also risk of a piece of the clot breaking off and traveling to the lungs that can cause a pulmonary embolism, which can be life-threatening,

“I put my affairs in order and wrote a farewell letter to my wife just in case something went wrong. It was surreal, said Gerry..

Since the blood clot was so massive, and previous oral blood thinner medications failed, the best way to dissolve the clot and save Gerry's leg was to use a device called the EKOS Ultrasound Catheter.
Here’s how this state-of-the-art, minimally invasive device works.

Performed in a hospital Endovascular Lab, the EKOS catheter is inserted behind the knee and threaded through the clot. It uses ultrasonic energy to deliver clot busting drugs like TPA directly to the clot, causing it to break-up and dissolve like a melting ice cube, restoring blood flow much more quickly. In many cases, if the clot is less than 2 weeks old, it takes only 12-14 hours to dissolve, but in Gerry's case, the clot was 5 weeks old and so massive that it took 2 days.  Remarkably, soon after treatment, Gerry's debilitating leg pain and swelling resolved allowing him walk normally and finally return back to work.

Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this technology and should because it saves limbs and lives.  EKOS state-of-the art technology offers significant benefits over other methods for DVT treatment. It’s faster, reduces the risk of post thrombotic syndrome, and requires less clot busting medication greatly reducing the risk of bleeding complications such as brain bleeds.

Based on U.S. statistics, up to 600,000 people develop DVT each year with an estimate of over 100,000 pulmonary embolism deaths each year in the U.S.

The number of DVT cases is concerning. There’s a vital need to make people aware of the risk factors and how to prevent it and recognize early warning signs. This is the only way we can reduce these staggering statistics.

Obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, sitting too long at our desks or during long commutes; birth control pills and being over age 40 are the biggest risk factors.

As a restaurant supply sales person, Gerry spends long hours behind the wheel of his car, is overweight and was a smoker.

This experience was a real wake-up call and a great learning experience for Gerry. He quit smoking, is exercising, eating healthy and even gets out of his car when he’s been sitting too long to stretch his legs and walk around.“I’ve got a second chance at life and I’m doing it right this time!” he says. 

U.S Adds More on Blood Clot Risk to Some Birth Control Pills

In a recent article published by Reuters, US regulators are adding information to the labels on a popular class of birth control pills that includes Bayer AG's, Yaz, and Yasmin to show that they may raise the risk of blood clots.
  
All common birth control pills increase a woman's chances of getting potentially fatal blood clots.
But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said  that some studies showed the danger may be even higher for more recent pills that contain the compound drospirenone, a synthetic hormone.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the FDA said that women should talk to their health-care professional about their risk for blood clots before deciding which birth-control method to use and that doctors should consider a woman's risk for developing a blood clot before prescribing the drugs.

Most birth-control pills contain two types of hormones, estrogen and progestin. All types of pills increase the risk of blood clots, and product labels warn of such risk.

While the risk of blood clots is low among women who take birth-control pills, the FDA said it is higher than the risk among women who aren't taking the pills. However, the risk of blood clots from pregnancy and during the postpartum period is higher than that of women taking all types of birth-control pills.

Blood clots form inside a vein and are known as deep vein thrombosis. The clots usually form in the lower leg or thigh, but can break loose and travel to other areas of the body such as the

The FDA's own study found that 10 in 10,000 women taking pills with drospirenone would get a blood clot per year, compared with about six in 10,000 women taking older contraceptives.

A clot in blood vessels can prove fatal if it breaks loose and travels to the lungs, heart or brain.

To put the risk into perspective, the FDA added that the risk of blood clots from pregnancy is even higher than any risk from birth control pills.

The announcement comes after an advisory committee of outside experts to the FDA voted in December for a label revision for pills with drospirenone, calling for clearer information about their risks and benefits.

The experts stopped short of agreeing that these pills' risks outweighed their benefits, since some studies found the pills did not increase blood clot risks.

During a December panel meeting, some women's advocacy groups called for the pills to be taken off the market, as the studies that viewed pills favorably were industry-funded.

The consumer groups and patients shared tearful stories about sudden deaths or life-changing disabilities they or their loved ones suffered from blood clots, which they believed were caused by Yaz or Yasmin.

Most common contraceptive pills combine the hormones estrogen and progestin to help block ovulation and sperm. But they also increase the chance of a woman getting blood clots compared to not taking pills, particularly as she ages.


If you or a loved one are taking Yaz, we encourage you to check with your family physician to be sure that this is the right contraceptive medication for you.

Cancer Patients at Higher Risk of Developing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

It is well known within the medical community that cancer patients have an increased risk of developing deep-vein thrombosis -- blood clots that develop in deep veins in the lower extremities. Did you know that more than 90 percent of patients with cancer may be at risk for DVT?  According to the Coalition to Prevent DVT, a majority of cancer patients were not aware of the increased risk for DVT and its potentially fatal complication, pulmonary embolism. In fact, complications from deep vein thrombosis are the second leading cause of death among cancer patients.
 If you or a loved one have cancer, it is most important to discuss your potential risk of deep vein thrombosis with your healthcare provider because blood clots can be prevented.
Cancer may put you at an increased risk for blood clots because:
•    Surgery or chemotherapy may injure blood vessel walls, causing the blood to clot
•    Certain types of cancer treatments may reduce the body’s ability to produce blood clotting agents called anticoagulants
Complications from DVT blood clots kill up to 600,000 people in the U.S. each year — more than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
If you have pain and swelling in your lower extremities, be sure to seek medical attention as soon as possible