scholarly journals Role of Functional Food in Treating and Preventing Cardiovascular Diseases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mpho Edward Mashau ◽  
Shonisani Eugenia Ramashia

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are still a major cause of mortality worldwide and are a serious health problem. Various factors that contribute toward CVDs include hypertension, tobacco use, physical inactivity, diabetes mellitus, obesity and overweight, alcohol, dietary factors and psychosocial aspects such as stress, anxiety and depression. Nutraceuticals and diet are very important for prevention of CVDs. The potential of nutraceuticals or functional food in mitigating risk of CVDs is discussed. Functional food with health related properties include fruit and vegetable, fish, legumes, nuts, soya protein, coffee, tea, chocolate, animal based functional food. In addition, some diet plans have shown the potential of reducing the incidence of CVDs. This includes the Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Okinawan and vegetarian diets. This chapter examines the risk factors of CVDs, including hypertension, tobacco usage, physical inactivity, diabetes mellitus, overweight and obesity. The chapter also brings to the fore, functional foods with properties related to health and effect of dietary patterns in the treatment and prevention of CVDs.

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daria V. Seliverstova

Aim. Identification of risk factors (RF) for myocardial infarction (MI) among women with preserved menstrual function. Material and Methods. 121 Female patients under 55 years of age, who were hospitalized with MI in the cardiology departments of Ryazan in the period 2010-2016, were studied. All patients were divided into 2 groups. The first group included women with a regular menstrual cycle without menopausal symptoms (n=60, mean age 48.0±6.1 years). The second group consisted of postmenopausal women (n=61, mean age 49.8±4.3 years). Of a cohort of studied  women a group of women was isolated (n=18 from group 1 and n=15 from group 2) who, during hospitalization with MI in 2015-2016, filled in questionnaires on nutrition and physical activity. Results. In women of group 1 such risk factors as burdened heredity for cardiovascular diseases (58.3%, p=0.02) and smoking (46.7%, p=0.03) were more common than in women of group 2. Only women of group 1 took oral contraceptives before the onset of MI (15%, p=0.005). The most common RFs were: arterial hypertension (˃80% of patients in both groups; overweight and obesity (78.3% of women from group 1 and 83.6% from group 2); type 2 diabetes mellitus  (23.3% in group 1 and 24.6% in group 2). According to the results of the questionnaire on food habits, insufficient use of fruit and vegetables was detected among all patients of both groups. In analysis of the results of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), 72.2% of patients in group 1 experienced insufficient physical activity, and 53.3% of patients in group 2 showed pronounced hypodynamia. Biochemical analysis of blood revealed increased average levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins and triglycerides, with high-density lipoproteins within the normal range in both groups. Conclusion. The most common risk factors for myocardial infarction in women with preserved menstrual function in comparison with postmenopausal women were: positive heredity for cardiovascular diseases, smoking and taking oral contraceptives. Besides, a wide spread of arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus, overweight and obesity, low physical activity and lack of fruit and vegetables in the diet of women in both groups should be noted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Jakovljevic ◽  
Dusica Djordjevic

AbstractOver the last decade, the quantity and quality of scientific literature examining the relationship between physical activity (PA) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have significantly increased. Data from the literature now unequivocally show that physical inactivity is one of the major risk factors for CVD. It is believed that obesity, the prevalence of which has tripled over the last three decades, and physical inactivity among children are the main factors that will increase the prevalence of CVD in this century. The cardiovascular benefits of exercise are multifactorial and include important systemic effects on skeletal muscle, the peripheral vasculature, metabolism, and neurohumoral systems, as well as beneficial alterations within the myocardium itself. Thus, exercise does much more than change traditional risk factors, such as blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose tolerance and insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and overweight and obesity. Evidence from epidemiologic studies suggests that the preventive effects of PA may be achieved by 150 minutes of moderate PA a week, while increases in the intensity and volume of exercise lead to further health benefits. This dose–response gradient is curvilinear, with the largest gains from the first hour of weekly exercise. However, although much progress has been made in this field, existing studies performed on human subjects do not clearly show what type, intensity, and duration of exercise is most beneficial to cardiovascular fitness and metabolic optimization. Animal-based exercise studies may provide more information and help to elucidate the abilities of different training regimens to reduce the risk of CVD.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-68
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Michalska

Abstract Nowadays, thanks to greater awareness of society and development of restorative medicine, more and more attention is paid to preventive care. That is caused by the fact that there is little progress for both sexes in the frequency of healthy behavior: girls fall much worse than boys in terms of frequency of physical activity, they do not eat breakfast either; boys do not maintain a healthy diet and are reluctant to eat vegetables and fruits, they often drink high-calorie sodas and less frequently brush teeth. Though with age some improvements in oral hygiene and certain eating behaviors can be noticed. It has been determined that overweight and obesity is a serious problem, as they can contribute to developmental disorders. In this respect it should be the responsibility of teachers to provide individual physical education (according to medical qualifications), prevent various forms of discrimination and bullying among peers, provide individual counseling and health education, weight control of students. It has been defined that for modern teachers it is a difficult task as students rarely eat fruits and vegetables, do not care about hygiene and frequency of meals, have passive mode of leisure. The acquisition of health during puberty allows functioning smoothly in society. However, despite the continuous work on improving and introduction of new programs of health education classes into schools of Poland, children still suffer from health-related problems. According to epidemiological research most of children in Poland fall on obesity, overweight and accompanying disorders and allergies. Youth is also exposed to accidents and related injuries. The problem is that students do not receive assistance and necessary information.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricio Lopez-Jaramillo ◽  
Jose Lopez-Lopez ◽  
Daniel Cohen ◽  
Natalia Alarcon-Ariza ◽  
Margarita Mogollon-Zehr

: Hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus are two important risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular diseases worldwide. In Latin America hypertension prevalence varies from 30 to 50%. Moreover, the proportion of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension is very low. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus varies from 8 to 13% and near to 40% are unaware of their condition. In addition, the prevalence of prediabetes varies from 6 to 14% and this condition has been also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The principal factors linked to a higher risk of hypertension in Latin America are increased adiposity, low muscle strength, unhealthy diet, low physical activity and low education. Besides being chronic conditions, leading causes of cardiovascular mortality, both hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus represent a substantial cost for the weak health systems of Latin American countries. Therefore, is necessary to implement and reinforce public health programs to improve awareness, treatment and control of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus, in order to reach the mandate of the Unit Nations of decrease the premature mortality for CVD.


Author(s):  
Daiane Sofia Morais Paulino ◽  
Maira Pinho-Pompeu ◽  
Fernanda Raikov ◽  
Juliana Vasconcellos Freitas-Jesus ◽  
Helymar Costa Machado ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To evaluate the influence of health-related behaviors including food intake, physical activity, sleep time, smoking habits, stress, depression, and optimism on excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) among women with overweight and obesity. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Women's Hospital of the Universidade de Campinas, Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil, with 386 mediate postpartum women that fit the inclusion criteria of ≥ 19 years old, first prenatal care visit at or before 14 weeks, and single live baby. Dietary habits, physical exercise practice, sleep duration, smoking and alcohol habits were self-reported. Psychosocial history was evaluated using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). Sociodemographic, obstetric, anthropometric, and neonatal data were retrieved from medical records. Descriptive statistics and stepwise logistic regression were performed. Results The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 29.27% and 24.61%, respectively, according to the body mass index (BMI). Excessive GWG was observed in 47.79% of women with overweight and in 45.26% of women with obesity. Excessive GWG among overweight and obese women was associated with inadequate vegetable and bean consumption (odds ratio [OR] = 2.95, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35–6.46 and OR = 1.91; 95%CI: 1.01–3.63, respectively) and stress (OR = 1.63; 95%CI 1.01–2.64). After adjustment by maternal age, multiparity, sleep duration, smoking, and alcohol intake, we found that stress (PSS ≥ 20) was associated with excessive GWG in women with overweight or obesity (OR: 1.75; 95%CI: 1.03–2.96). Conclusion Among women with overweight and obesity, stress is the main variable associated with excessive GWG. Inadequate vegetables and beans consumption also showed association with excessive GWG.


2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (8) ◽  
pp. 1223-1231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa S.Y. Thong ◽  
Lonneke van de Poll-Franse ◽  
Richard M. Hoffman ◽  
Peter C. Albertsen ◽  
Ann S. Hamilton ◽  
...  

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