Filipino Americans make up the 3rd largest Asian American group with about 4.2 million living in the United States1. The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in this group is significant, with 1 in 3 having CVD and a 48% increase in Filipina women undergoing coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous intervention (from 3% to 51%)2. Even … Read more
The American divide regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is a passionate topic for everyone. This article is not intended to prove to readers why getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is safe but to provide some insight on the daily decisions we don’t think twice about that have both theoretical and established health consequences. The beef you eat … Read more
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in Western countries and accounts for 17.3 million deaths/year globally1. In the United States, one in every three deaths are caused by CVD, and more than 130 million adults are projected to express CVD by 2035 clinically1. The unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, obesity, stress, smoking, … Read more
You are what your mother eats: launch a new generation into a lifetime of ideal cardiovascular health ––#AHA21 Recap from presidential lecture by Dr. Don Lloyd-Jones, AHA President My PhD research was focused on maternal nutrition and epigenetics. When I started graduate school, the field of epigenetics just started to make some splash in the … Read more
Nutrition is one of many lifestyle factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease. Specifically, both sodium and potassium are known to influence the regulation of blood pressure (raising and/or lowering). The dysregulation of blood pressure is related to either too much sodium or little potassium (1-2). Jackson et. al., 2018, surveyed 765 participants to obtain estimates … Read more
March is both Women’s History month and National Nutrition month. It’s a good time of the year to pay attention to women’s health in a more constructive way. Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in women, according to a 2017 CDC report1. One in 4 women in the United States dies of heart … Read more
As we embark on this new year, we are bound to field questions from our patients (and likely, family members) centered around the most popular new year’s resolution: Eating healthier. Reflecting upon my own answers to these questions in clinic over the years, I realize they have been some combination of: “Eat smaller portions.” “Eat … Read more
A new year presents a new opportunity for improvement. Each year, thousands of advertisements beckon us to join or buy the most recent fitness and wellness craze – wearable technologies, personal coaching, pea protein and oat milk. However, if trends are not your thing, you may find it reassuring that “traditional” fitness and wellness strategies (e.g., … Read more
There has been an ongoing misconception of weight being a consequence of over-nutrition. The relationship between calorie intake versus calories spent continues to overshadow the biological forces that resist the maintenance of weight. Although scientists started to recognize obesity as a chronic disease in 1985, it was about 28 years later before the American Medical … Read more