If you eat a steady diet of cheeseburgers, butter, fried chicken, milkshakes, and bacon, you’re probably increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. It’s common knowledge; bad diet equals heart problems.
But where you live might be a factor too.
According to a new study in the journal Epidemiology, researchers say middle-aged and older adults who live near busy roads may have a higher risk of dying from heart disease.
The culprit is air pollution.
Motor vehicles release toxins such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrogen oxides.
For the study, scientists gathered data on more than 450,000 Vancouver, Canada residents between the ages of 45 and 88, and people who lived within 500 feet of a highway or within 165 feet of a major road were more likely to die of heart disease, compared to residents living farther away.
The researchers presented air pollution data to show that people living close to highways are exposed to higher levels of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and other pollutants associated with traffic.
So the scientists are encouraging people to consider air pollution, along with diet, exercise, and smoking habits, as a risk factor for heart disease.
In 2008, a study found open-air poultry trucks traveling down the road leave a trail of bacteria, including bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
Image credit: Corey Leopold
Eat a diet of fried bacon, canned Spam, potato chips, and pork rinds, and odds are you’re going to get a touch of heart disease.
Trans-fat is 
Heartburn sounds like the funny cliché you get after an evening of spicy food and beer, but for heartburn sufferers it’s no picnic.
After 50 years of “the curse” women get rewarded with another couple years of menopause. Menopause is the natural cessation of ovarian function; meaning women stop getting their period and can no longer have children.
Smoking bans are all the rage, with states like New York and New Jersey banning smoking in bars, and countries like Germany and England doing the same.
The Mediterranean diet has long been associated with better health, especially reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The traditional Mediterranean Diet – rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil, wine, and fish, and low in meat and dairy – has long been associated with good health, especially for the heart.
Just say the word chocolate and most people start salivating like a grizzly Rottweiler staring down a mailman.
Brushing your choppers keeps the dentist and that ungodly drill away – that alone is reason to brush a billion times a day.
