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"I’m proud to be part of the foundation that brought 9Health Fair to Colorado communities. It gives me a great sense of purpose, particularly in the rural communities. I’m the lucky one. I get back far more than I give."
Karen Zink, Durango CO
9Health Fair volunteer since 1980
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Seven months after her father passed away from a heart attack, Mickie went to a 9Health Fair. Her blood screening results indicated that her cholesterol levels were high. She went to her doctor who referred her to a cardiologist. An angiogram showed a partial blockage in her artery. Since then, she has made important changes in her life – she is on medication, receives regular checkups and goes to 9Health Fair every year - except last year to attend her son’s wedding! She believes 9Health Fair helped save her life and prevented her from suffering a heart attack like her father.
Mickie O.
9Health Fair participant
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Can Citrus Fruit Compound Lower Your Stroke Risk?
By: Nurse.com News
A compound in citrus fruits may reduce stroke risk, according to research from the Nurses' Health Study.
The researchers said the prospective study is one of the first to examine how consuming flavonoid sub-classes affects the risk of stroke. Flavonoids are a class of compounds present in fruits, vegetables, dark chocolate and red wine.
"Studies have shown higher fruit, vegetable and specifically vitamin C intake is associated with reduced stoke risk," Aedin Cassidy, PhD, the study's lead author and professor of nutrition at Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, said in a news release.
"Flavonoids are thought to provide some of that protection through several mechanisms, including improved blood vessel function and an anti-inflammatory diet."
Cassidy and colleagues used 14-years of follow-up data from the Nurses' Health Study, which included 69,622 women who reported their food intake, including details on fruit and vegetable consumption, every four years. The researchers examined the relationship of the six main subclasses of flavonoids commonly consumed in the U.S. diet — flavanones, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavonoid polymers, flavonols and flavones — with risk of ischemic, hemorrhagic and total stroke.
As expected, given the difference in biological activity of the sub-classes, the researchers did not find a beneficial association between total flavonoid consumption and stroke risk. However, they found women who ate high amounts of flavanones in citrus had a 19% lower risk of ischemic stroke than women who consumed the least amounts.
In the study, flavanones came primarily from oranges and orange juice (82%) and grapefruit and grapefruit juice (14%). However, the researchers said consumers should increase their citrus fruit intake rather than juice because of the high sugar content of commercial fruit juices.
A previous study found that citrus fruit and juice intake, but not intake of other fruits, protected against risk of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage. Another study found no association between yellow and orange fruits and stroke risk, but did link increased consumption of white fruits such as apples and pears with lower stroke risk. An additional study found that Swedish women who ate the highest levels of antioxidants — about 50% from fruits and vegetables — had fewer strokes than those with lower antioxidant levels.
More studies are needed to confirm the association between flavanone consumption and stroke risk, and to gain a better understanding about why the association occurs, the authors said.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is scheduled for publication in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. To read a study summary and access the study via subscription or purchase, visit http://bit.ly/yTLcRM.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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