CARDIAC ATHLETIC SOCIETY EDMONTON

Heart Murmurs
September 2010

 

SEPTEMBER EDUCATION PROGRAM

The first Education Session for the fall of 2010 will be held Monday September 27 at 7:00 PM at the Alberta School for the Deaf at 6240-113 Street, Edmonton

Our guest speaker will be Jo Whitford from the Minerva Senior Studies Institute at Grant MacEwan University. The mission of the Institute is to provide learning opportunities for older adults (50 plus) by developing, sponsoring, promoting, offering and participating in educational activities designed to enhance seniors' intellectual pursuits that enrich their lives.

In fall of 2010, the Minerva Institute is offering courses in art, computers, health/wellness, history, languages, math, music and writing. They also offer presentations on Latin, spirituality, travel and geology. They have a walkabout series to explore facilities in our community that will include touring Little Italy, the waste management centre, the Mac Taggart Art Collection and viewing Xmas at the Hotel Macdonald.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING... STAY TUNED

At the end of the Executive Meeting on September 13, President Glen Gregory tendered his formal resignation effective immediately for health reasons. He indicated that he believes that the President should come from the exercise membership to have knowledge of the needs of the members. He assured all those attending that the health issues were not 'heart related' but that his problems left him with insufficient energy to devote to CASE along with his other family and business responsibilities.

The Executive members who were present expressed their sorrow at his leaving the executive. CASE and all its members wish to express its heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Glen for his leadership and efforts on their behalf over the last several years. Ron Torgerson has moved from the position of Vice President to accept the Presidency. We all wish him well in his new and challenging role with CASE.

Later in the week Barry Latham delivered a bombshell notice that Thursday afternoon exercise classes would be held in the basement of the School for the Deaf rather than in the gymnasium, effective immediately. Apparently, the School for the Deaf has plans for an expanded after hours recreational program that conflicts with our use of the facility.

This is bad news for CASE. While the basement is adequate for occasional use when ASD has conflicting events such as school concerts or graduation, it really is not acceptable space for an ongoing exercise program. We will have to consider our options further.

HEARTS AND FLOWERS

On Saturday June 19, we were sorry to hear of the passing, of Norbert (Dusty) Dust at the age of 89. He was a long time member of CASE with a history of service in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and, since 1966, in Edmonton.

If you are aware of any member who has taken ill, has been confined to their home, or has been hospitalized, please e-mail this information info@edmontoncase.org or call at Donna Haugh at 780-463-0644.

STUDY SAYS OBESITY MEASURE CAN BE MISLEADING FOR SOME HEART PATIENTS

"A new University of Alberta study of heart failure patients casts doubt on a common obesity test, suggesting instead that muscle mass may be a better indicator of such patients' potential lifespan. The research led by PhD student Antigone Oreopoulos was, in part, an attempt to delve into a medical puzzle known as the "obesity paradox."

The conundrum is that while obesity has been linked to numerous health problems, the trend doesn't seem to hold in all cases. Recent studies have found patients who experience heart failure tend to have a better prognosis if they are obese rather than a more lean shape. Obesity increases the risk of developing heart failure, but those who already have heart failure appear to benefit from the extra body fat.

"It doesn't make sense because how can obesity be providing protection to people in one case and then in other cases be causing all these problems?" Oreopoulos asked. "What are the implications of that? Should we be telling these patients to lose weight or not?" Oreopoulos began to wonder if something was wrong with the way obesity is measured. She noted the previous studies typically used body mass index, or BMI, a simple equation in which a person's weight in kilograms is divided by their height in meters squared.

Exploring the effectiveness of that test seemed a good idea, so Oreopoulos recruited 140 Edmonton-area patients for a study. The people, with different types of heart conditions, were given high-tech scans to determine muscle mass and body fat.

Based on the results, Oreopoulos found that 41 per cent of her study group had been wrongly classified by BMI. Some patients who had high body weight but lower body fat were mistakenly considered obese, and conversely, patients of low weight and high body fat were often labeled as normal. "What it showed is BMI doesn't really mean much. It's not a good measure of risk," she said. Instead, Oreopoulos found a stronger correlation with muscle mass. Patients with more muscle tended to have better nutrition levels and a lower severity of heart disease. Those with more body fat were associated with increased inflammation and a reduced ability to exercise. "It showed there may be a potential benefit to maintaining or increasing muscle mass," Oreopoulos said.

The next step in the research is to explore the potential benefits and problems that could result from prescribing intentional weight gain or weight loss. Her research was published in this month's Mayo Clinic Proceedings."

The preceding article was written by Keith Gerein, and published in the Edmonton Journal July 22, 2010 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Obesity+measure+misleading+heart+patients+study/3307233/story.html#ixzz0uRX0CSRq

 

ON THE OTHER HAND... A LAYER OF ABDOMINAL 'VISCERAL' FAT IS LINKED TO A GREATER RISK OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

In a study published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers from Laval University report that a large waistline and high triglycerides substantially increases the risk of coronary artery disease in both men and women.

Obesity has long been linked with a litany of health problems, but not every obese person has the same "metabolic abnormalities" associated with excess body fat, according to the research team.

When it comes to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, what matters most is abdominal fat. Abdominal, or "visceral" fat, is a deep layer of fat that wraps around internal organs, which is distinct from the subcutaneous fat just beneath the skin that you can pinch with your fingers.

Waist circumference alone doesn't tell the entire story, because it doesn't distinguish between how much of the fat is visceral and how much is subcutaneous. Researchers have found that people with excess visceral fat have elevated blood levels of triglyceride. The term "hypertriglyceridemic-waist phenotype" was born. The researchers thought it could be a useful and inexpensive way to screen people at risk of coronary artery disease and Type 2 diabetes.

They looked at 21,787 men and women, age 45 to 79, living in Norfolk, U.K., who are participating in a large study investigating cancer and nutrition. After an average of nearly 10 years of follow-up, 2,109 developed coronary artery disease.

The rather unwieldy "hypertriglyceridemic-waist phenotype" is defined as a waist circumference of 90 centimeters or more, and a triglyceride level of 2.0 millimoles per litre of plasma or more in men, and a waist circumference of 85 centimeters or more, and a triglyceride level of 1.5 millimoles per litre of plasma or more in women.

In both men and women, a large waist circumference or elevated triglycerides increased the risk of developing heart disease. But the combination of the two was associated with the highest risk for both sexes. Among men, those with a hypertriglyceridemic waist had a 2.4-fold increased risk of developing coronary artery disease over the follow-up period, compared with men without the "phenotype." For women with the unhealthy high-waist-high-blood-fat combination, their risks for heart disease increased nearly fourfold.

It doesn't take expensive testing to identify those at risk -- just a tape measure and a standard lipid test. A lipid test measures total cholesterol. It also measures levels of fat in the blood -- triglycerides.

Derived from an article by Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News July 20, 2010

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Simple+test+detects+high+risk+heart+attack/3298171/story.html#ixzz0uRYt8Tvt

 

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

 

Event	Date	Time	Place
Sept Education/Self Help Session	Mon Sept 27	7:00 PM	ASD
October Education Self Help Session	Mon Oct 25	7:00 PM	ASD
Social Breakfast	Wed. Oct 27	9:00 AM	SEESA
Nov Education Self Help Session	Mon Nov 29	7:00 PM	ASD
Social Breakfast	Wed. Nov24	9:00 AM	SEESA
Christmas Party 2010	Sun Dec 5	4:30 PM	Malmo

 

Notes: SEESA:            The South East Edmonton Seniors Assoc.   address is 9350 82nd Street, Edmonton

            ASD:              The Alberta School for the Deaf                 address is 6240-113 Street, Edmonton

            Malmo:            Malmo Community League                       address is 11525 48th Avenue Edmonton