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Merry Lindsey, PhD [Research Health Scientist, Research Service G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VAMC and Professor, University of Mississippi Medical Center] Boehm JK, Soo J, Chen Y, Zevon ES, Hernandez R, Lloyd-Jones D, Kubzansky LD. Psychological well-being’s link with cardiovascular health in older adults. Am J Prev Med. 2017; 53:791–798. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.06.028 Figure 1.1 Innervation of the major organs by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Parasympathetic fibers are primarily in the vagus nerves, but some that regulate subdiaphragmatic organs travel through the spinal cord. The sympathetic fibers also travel through the spinal cord. A number of health problems can arise in part because of improper function of the ANS. Emotions can affect activity in both branches of the ANS. For example, anger causes increased sympathetic activity while many relaxation techniques increase parasympathetic activity.
With this wealth of information available, the next step will be to identify more of the factors that leave people at high risk of each disease – and inform public health policy aimed at improving both bone and heart health. Your heart, blood and blood vessels together make up your cardiovascular system (or heart and circulatory system).
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Many conditions can affect your great vessels. These include congenital heart diseases (present at birth) as well as conditions you develop later in life. Listed below are the great vessels and some of the conditions that can affect each one:
Q. When the HeartMath Institute recommends that I do heart-focused breathing, what exactly is that? You can’t actually breathe with your heart. Right?Aorta: The first part of your aorta, called your ascending aorta, carries oxygen-rich blood directly out of your heart’s left ventricle. From there, blood flows into your aorta’s many branches to nourish the rest of your body. Your great vessels are a vital part of your circulatory system. There are two main circulatory system circuits: the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit. Here’s a breakdown of what those circuits do and the role your great vessels play: Pulmonary circuit Atriuretic peptides, adrenomedullin, endothelin, orexin, neuropeptide Y, corticotropin releasing factor We are never too young or too old to make healthy lifestyle choices," Jefferson said. "Emerging evidence suggests vascular risk factors in mid-life may have important implications for cognitive decline in late life." Glucocorticoids, glucocorticoid receptors, mineralocorticoid receptors, corticotropin-releasing factor
Some of the first researchers in the field of psychophysiology to examine the interactions between the heart and brain were John and Beatrice Lacey. During 20 years of research throughout the 1960s and ’70s, they observed that the heart communicates with the brain in ways that significantly affect how we perceive and react to the world. Similar to PTSD, HF is defined by a presentation of a constellation of symptoms rather than the underlying causality or etiology ( Tanai & Frantz, 2015). HF consumes over 25% of total US health expenditures and is predicted to reach unsustainable levels by 2050 ( Writing Group et al., 2016). The spectrum of HF symptomatology is usually one of increased fluid accumulation, reduced exercise tolerance, and as the disease progresses, activation of a number of neurohormonal systems and inflammatory cascades. One important development in the clinical management of HF was to recognize that HF is a generalized term and not a specific diagnosis. Thus, two distinct HF phenotypes have emerged which are defined not by symptom presentation, but rather by underlying pathophysiology. Specifically, patients presenting with HF and reduced left ventricular (LV) forward stroke volume, or ejection fraction, are defined as HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) whereas patients presenting with HF, a relatively normal LV ejection fraction but impaired LV filling are defined as HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The predominant cause for HFrEF is ischemic heart disease such as following MI, whereas the predominant cause for HFpEF is prolonged LV afterload such as with hypertension; however these CVD conditions are not mutually exclusive and are also influenced by age, body mass index, and other environmental factors ( Ezekowitz et al., 2009). In a recent study, nearly 10% of the Veterans diagnosed with HFrEF had PTSD, and these patients had a higher burden of comorbidities ( Fudim et al., 2018). These specific HF phenotypes are also important in terms of guiding therapy whereby device driven therapies such as cardiac resynchronization therapy and LV assist devices have demonstrated efficacy in HFrEF, but not in HFpEF. On the other hand, pharmacotherapies such as inhibition of sympathetic or renin-angiotensin pathways can be effective in both forms of HF. Thus, not dissimilar to PTSD, identifying the specific form and feature of HF as well as the activation of underlying pathways hold relevance as to therapeutic strategies. Abreu AR, Molosh AI, Johnson PL, & Shekhar A (2018). Role of medial hypothalamic orexin system in panic, phobia and hypertension. Brain Res. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2018.09.010 [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar]
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They support each other with their goals and dreams. They want their partner to succeed and don’t feel threatened by their success. American Heart Association News covers heart disease, stroke and related health issues. Not all views expressed in American Heart Association News stories reflect the official position of the American Heart Association.Statements, conclusions, accuracy and reliability of studies published in American Heart Association scientific journals or presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the American Heart Association’s official guidance, policies or positions. Mindfulness meditation, which has become one of the most popular relaxation practices over the past decade, combines heightened, non-judgmental awareness of one’s surroundings and feelings with slow deep breathing exercises. A stress-reduction program based on mindfulness has been associated with improvement in hypertension and depression, while strengthening the immune system and raising activity of telomerase, an enzyme that slows biological aging. On the other hand, reduced sympathetic or increased parasympathetic or vagal tone enables the heart to manage stressors, keeping blood pressure and heart rate under better control during stress, and shortening recovery time after activities that raise heart rate (such as aerobic activity). Relaxation strategies like those described above are among the most effective ways to improve parasympathetic tone. Their benefits are also indicated by tests using heat mapping to evaluate the expression of genes that promote oxidative stress and inflammation, important biomarkers for cardiovascular disease.
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