The study, conducted by a team of researchers from the Athens Medical School in Greece, shows that drinking tea improves blood flow and expands arteries, making it easier for the heart to pump blood.In the study, blood flow was measured after volunteers drank green tea, caffeine or hot water. Consuming green tea had an immediate short term effect (within 30 minutes) of improving the function of cells that line the circulatory system.

With its high flavonoid content, green tea has been previously shown to offer cancer-fighting and cardiovascular benefits. The same antioxidants found in red wine and dark chocolate, flavonoids are found in certain plant foods and can lower cholesterol, prevent inflammation and protect arteries from hardening.

While black tea also offers health benefits, green tea comes highly recommended as it is made from unfermented tea leaves and undergoes less processing. Green tea is also lower in caffeine and has higher antioxidant properties.

image credit: Green for Tea by Alexia

Topping the list of heart friendly cities for women include Minneapolis, Washington, DC and San Francisco. And the worst cities? With some of the highest female cardiac death rates in the country, Nashville, St. Louis and Detroit metro areas were among the most challenging places for women to lead a heart healthy lifestyle. In contrast, Minneapolis has the lowest female cardiac death rates, San Francisco women are among the thinnest and Washington, DC reported the lowest stress rates in the country.

The rankings were based on a number of factors. For instance, heart friendly cities had the lowest cardiac death rates for women, low hypertension and high exercise rates. The least friendly cities had high smoking and obesity rates and were not conducive to walking.

Top 10 Heart-Friendly Cities for Women

1.  Minneapolis—St. Paul-Bloomington
2.  Washington D.C.—Arlington, Va.—Alexandria, W.Va.
3.  San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland, Calif.
4.  Denver—Aurora, Colorado
5.  Boston—Cambridge—Quincy, Mass.
6.  Seattle—Tacoma—Bellevue, Wash.
7.  Portland—Vancouver—Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
8.  San Diego—Carlsbad—San Marcos, Calif.
9.  Los Angeles—Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.
10.  Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.

Ten Least Heart-Friendly Cities for Women

1. Nashville-Davidson—Murfreesboro, Tenn.
2. St. Louis, Mo.
3. Detroit—Warren—Livonia, Mich.
4. Pittsburgh, Penn.
5. Dallas—Fort Worth—Arlington, Texas
6. Columbus, Ohio
7. Cincinnati—Middletown, Ohio—Ky.—Ind.
8. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
9. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio
10. Indianapolis, Indiana

Source: American Heart Association; Fox News

The growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing blood vessels is an essential part of the uterine or womb phase of the menstrual cycle. Cells collected from the menstrual blood of women include types which can be cultured in the laboratory, which replicate almost 70 times in a very rapid time span. This replication rate is far faster than cells which are currently used, taken from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. Full Story from Science Daily

“We’ve been concerned about the assumptions we had to make for African American women and other racial and ethnic groups for some time,” said Mitchell H. Gail, a biostatistician at the National Cancer Institute who led the reevaluation of the formula he himself developed. “It turns out that we have been underestimating the risk for African American women.” Full Story from The Washington Post

Research presented at the annual European Society of Cardiology meeting in Vienna suggested that surgeries that typically save men’s lives can actually be deadly for women.  Read the full story

Take away message: we should try to relax about our birthdays. Rather than look at them as a sign of us getting older, we should celebrate the fact that we have lived another year. But we don’t want to go overboard with the festivities.

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