What are the risk factors for coronary heart disease

EVER wondered what your risk of a deadly heart problem is? Well now you can face the truth with an online quiz that gives your heart health a score out of 100. Seeing your heart health scored on paper could be the kick you need to make lifestyle changes. Many heart and vessel conditions - such as heart disease and stroke - can be prevented with healthy habits . That includes stopping smoking, eating a healthy diet and exercising. There are eight factors the American Heart Association (AHA) considers crucial for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health, called “Life’s Essential 8”. Read more on heart health GREEN FINGERS Urgent warning to gardeners as soil ‘increases risk of killer heart disease’ PUT A SOCK IN IT How your SOCKS can help you spot symptom of silent killer Since 2010, there were only seven components. However, last week it was revealed sleep would be added as the eighth key … [Read more...] about Take online quiz to work out YOUR risk of deadly heart problem

IF you're single, you might look at people in relationships longingly. Alternatively you might rejoice in evenings to yourself and not having to spend time with annoying in-laws. But experts have now found that while we all have preferences as to what sort of relationship we would like to be in, your status could also speak volumes when it comes to your health . Medics in China found that the single life could mean you have a higher risk of dying from stomach cancer . In the UK each year there are around 6,500 new cases of the illness. That accounts for around 18 cases each day, with it being the 17th most common cancer in the country. Read more on stomach cancer RED FLAGS The 5 early signs of stomach cancer to know as Kelis' husband dies of illness TOBY'S PAIN Inside Toby Keith's secret stomach cancer battle as tour could be canceled While medics found being single is dangerous, they also claimed that … [Read more...] about What your relationship status says about your HEALTH – and your risk of dying from cancer

A MAN so sick that doctors thought he had cancer had in fact overdosed on a common supplement. And NHS experts are concerned that taking excessive amounts of vitamins is becoming a growing problem. The unnamed middle-aged man, from Kent, started taking a cocktail of supplements after seeing a nutritional therapist. He took 20 over-the-counter pills every day in the pursuit of health. The daily requirement for vitamin D is 600mg, but the patient was taking more than 80 times that, at 50,000mg each day. He was also taking around 20 times the recommended daily dose of omega-3, vitamin B2, vitamin B6 - 2000mg twice daily compared to 200-500mg. Read more on supplements DRUG ALERT How many paracetamol are dangerous? DRUG DEAL Major change to NHS prescriptions announced - are you affected? The body makes vitamin D in response to sunlight, but it can also be consumed in some foods, such as oily fish. In … [Read more...] about Doctors shocked to discover true cause of man’s illness after fearing cancer

GOING through cancer can be a lonely, painful experience. For one mum of two though, Dame Deborah James was a shining example of how to live with cancer, through the incredibly hard moments and the good. Rebecca Scott, 43, a teacher from Ipswich was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer at the age of 38. Her only initial symptom was weight loss and then severe anaemia, around a month before her cancer diagnosis. "I was losing so much blood constantly. I was running on half levels. "I was told I basically shouldn't have been functioning." Read more on Deborah James SHINING LIGHT Leave your messages of tribute to Dame Debs in our online book of condolence BREAK THE TABOO The poo checks Dame Deborah wanted YOU to do - they might save your life She was eventually admitted to hospital with anaemia and sent on her way, the assumption being the blood loss was related to heavy periods. But Rebecca wasn't … [Read more...] about Deborah James shone so brightly – it’s thanks to her I know how to live with cancer

DAME Deborah James' parents have celebrated their daughter a week after her death. The 40-year-old had been living at her mum and dad's home after being moved to palliative care . Campaigner and Sun writer Debs died on June 28, after raising £6.7million in her final days. Just one of her legacies, the BowelBabe fund, has since shot up to £7.3m. Debs was relentless in her drive to raise awareness and funds to help "more Deborahs have more time". One of the contributors to the fund had been through the sale of a rose named after the mum-of-two from the Harkness Rose Company . Read more on Deborah James 'LOVE YOU FOREVER' Deb's mum says 'my heart is broken' & shares clip of Sun writer dancing 'DEB'S LEGACY' Deborah James's family call for support of Bowelbabe Fund - as it hits £7M Yesterday at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, Debs' mum Heather and dad Alistair raised a glass at the stand … [Read more...] about Deborah James’ parents celebrate their daughter a week after her death

THE family of Dame Deborah James has issued a heartfelt update on her final mission. Sun writer Deborah has been receiving at-home hospice care since the start of May . Debs today admitted she has been struggling with the side effects of sleeping pills, but revealed she had been able to enjoy a sleepover with her nearest and dearest. As she continues to make memories, the 40-year-old has had a rose named after her , launched a fashion collection and even had her very own Lego mini-me sent to her. While she has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds through these partnerships, her biggest passion and mission to date is the BowelBabe fund . The podcaster has so far raised over £6.6million for charities such as Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Bowel Cancer UK and the Royal Marsden. In an update on the fund's Instagram page today, the campaigner's family thanked everyone for their donations. TO DONATE to BowelBabe Fund visit www.bowelbabe.org Read … [Read more...] about Deborah James’ family give heartfelt update on Dame’s final mission as she has one last girly sleepover with loved ones

MEAT eating Brits could be at risk of a deadly superbug after traces of it were found in supermarket products. An investigation discovered that some British pork has been infected with enterococci bacteria. This bacteria can be dangerous as it can cause issues such as urinary tract infections (UTIs). In serious cases, the bacteria can enter the bloodstream, infecting it and impacting both the heart and brain. Tests found that more than 10 per cent of products had the strain - which showed resistance to an antibiotic used to treat serious illness in humans. Products tested include some that were marked 'Red Tractor assured' as well some organic lines. Read more on bacteria BUG BEAR Warning over rise of Victorian disease as bacteria become 'immune to drugs’ GERM SPIKE Warning over killer bacteria found in hedgehogs and deadly to humans Bacteria was present in items such as mince, chops and joints. … [Read more...] about Urgent warning over traces of deadly superbug found in supermarket meat

S ometime around 2010, about two-thirds of the way through his 13 years at the helm of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)—the world’s largest mental-health research institution—Tom Insel started speaking with unusual frankness about how both psychiatry and his own institute were failing to help the mentally ill. Insel, runner-trim, quietly alert, and constitutionally diplomatic, did not rant about this. It’s not in him. You won’t hear him trash-talk colleagues or critics. Listen to the audio version of this article: Feature stories, read aloud: download the Audm app for your iPhone. Yet within the bounds of his unbroken civility, Insel began voicing something between a regret and an indictment. In writings and public talks, he lamented the pharmaceutical industry’s failure to develop effective new drugs for depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia; academic psychiatry’s overly cozy relationship with Big Pharma; and the paucity of treatments produced by the … [Read more...] about The Smartphone Psychiatrist

A DIETICIAN has revealed four signs that your body is screaming for more carbs. And what could be better than being told to eat more pasta, potatoes and bread? Many trendy weight loss diets encourage cutting out carbs , claiming it’s the secret to dropping pounds. Both the keto and Atkins diet say to instead focus on eating protein and fats. As the body has less carbs to use for energy, it burns body fat instead. But a dietician would say this is the wrong way to approach healthy eating, and potentially dangerous. Read more on diet MEATY ISSUE Urgent warning over traces of deadly superbug found in supermarket meat BURGER ME! Minute by minute - what eating McDonald’s does to your body in just one hour The body turns to stored fat when there is a lack of carbohydrate, but it also eats away at protein tissue such as in the heart or muscle, The Britician Association of UK Dieticians says. Each … [Read more...] about I’m a dietitian – here’s 4 physical signs you need to eat MORE carbs

More than 11,000 lives could be saved by simply reinviting people who miss key bowel cancer test, research suggests. A yearly reminder would boost uptake by nearly 14 per cent and catch thousands more cases of the disease, the Cancer Research UK study found. Everyone aged 60 to 74 who is registered with a GP in England is automatically sent an at-home stool test every two years. It looks for traces of blood, which can be a sign of bowel cancer or polyps – small growths in the bowel that may turn into cancer over time. But people from deprived communities are significantly less likely to complete the test and therefore benefit from an early diagnosis. Mortality rates for bowel cancer in England are 30 per cent higher for men living in the most deprived areas compared with the least, and 15 per cent higher for females. Late presenter Dame Deborah James - known as 'bowel babe' - shone a light on the killer disease and raised millions for charity in her final days battling the … [Read more...] about More than 11,000 bowel cancer deaths could be prevented by simply reinviting people who miss their tests