Sex for heart patients
After a heart attack, you may be leery of resuming an active sex life because of concern that you could have a second heart attack during intercourse.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that of 1,774 heart attack patients, the patients at highest risk had just a 20 in a million chance of having a second heart attack during sex.
However, anger is three times more likely than sex to cause a heart attack.
Before resuming intercourse after a heart attack, patients should attend an 8- to 12-week cardiac-rehabilitation program and ask their doctor specifically about sexual activity, according to an article in the February issue of the Johns Hopkins Medical Letter Health After 50.
Generally speaking, intercourse requires as much energy as walking on a treadmill at 2 to 3 miles per hour or climbing two flights of stairs.
If you can do so without experiencing symptoms such as irregular heartbeat, chest pain, difficult breathing or a spike in blood pressure, it’s time to dim the lights and spin some Barry White tunes.
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The downside of makeup
Allergies and even cancers could result from the makeup you use daily, some scientists say. Check out the products you use at cosmeticdatabase.com, the Web site of Skin Deep, a cosmetic safety database developed by the Environmental Working Group.
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Too busy to stay well
Young women with busy lives may wait too long to see their doctors when they are ill because they ignore the symptoms, says cardiologist Nieca Goldberg in the February issue of Glamour.
She lists the following as the five most common red flags signaling that it’s time to see your physician:
* Out-of-control cravings: If you’re always hungry or thirsty and especially crave sweets, it could be a sign of diabetes.
* Feeling faint or light-headed: Have your blood-sugar levels tested if it happens more than once.
* Weight loss or gain: If the change is more than 10 to 15 pounds in two months, have your thyroid checked.
* A lump: Check any bump that doesn’t disappear in two weeks.
* Not feeling right: If it seems as if something is wrong, there may be. Check it out.
