Tag: stroke;

What to Know About Calcium Channel Blockers

Calcium is very important to the human body especially to women who have given birth. It is responsible for making the bones and teeth strong. Nevertheless, a bone with high calcium content can stand the heavy stress that is given by work done by a person.

However, calcium can also be harmful to human when it is absorbed by organs not needing it. It may cause paralysis, other health complication or even death. That can happen when calcium goes into the hearts muscle. Calcium can make the muscle of the heart to contract and can narrow the arteries which may later be able to cause heart attack or stroke.

The pharmaceutical society developed a drug that can block the entry of the calcium to the heart and its components. The drug is commonly known as calcium channel blocker. There are different calcium channel blockers and some of them are dihydropyridine, phenylalkylamine and benzothiazepine.

The following questions may be asked to totally know Calcium Channel Blockers:

What are Calcium Channel Blockers?

They are drugs formulated to block calcium entrance to the heart and its components. It prevents calcium to penetrate the heart because calcium can cause complications in the heart that may lead to heart attack and other health problems. Calcium channel blockers may lower angina (the pain experienced by a person due to low oxygen intake in the heart carried by the blood) in the heart. It can lower angina by means of dilating the arteries and lowering the pressure in the arteries to allow more oxygen intake. It can also work by means of lowering the pressure in the heart, causing the latter to pump blood easily causing it to require less oxygen.

What are the usages Calcium Channel Blockers?

Primarily, calcium channel blockers are used to prevent the entry of calcium to the heart. It is specifically used to treat angina, high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms. Calcium channel blockers are also used by cardiologists as beta-blocking drugs for heart attack patients.

What are the side-effects of the Calcium Channel Blockers?

Most medicines have side effects and can cause negative reactions in the human body. A person treated with calcium channel blocker may experience constipation, headache, edema or the swelling of the legs, nausea, dizziness and drowsiness. A person may also experience low blood pressure due to high concentration of the medicine to lower high blood pressure.

Those are the basic things to know about calcium channel blockers. Do not be afraid of the side-effects of the medicine because they are still tolerable. When cure is assumed, side-effects are neglected.

The Health Benefits of Sugar-less Belgian Chocolates

It seems like a nightmare for some to realize that there does exist sugar-free Belgian chocolates. After all, doesnt it sound crazy? Chocolates, especially those made by heavenly Belgian chocolatiers, are supposed to be sweet and without the magic touch of sugar the taste would be entirely different!

Is this a joke? Has the world gone mad? Well, no and yes. It is not a joke and the world is still crazy about chocolates. Even the diabetics crave for it and the concoction of a sugar-free Belgian chocolate will finally allow them to have a little taste of this legendary sweet. Whats more is that being sugar-free doesnt mean that it does not taste as good as those with sugar. Who would think of the day when Belgian chocolates would not cause any rise in blood sugar levels. Its amazing how science today can make these things happen.

What makes these chocolates still taste sweet even without the presence of sugar is the substance Maltitol. Maltitol is a corn-based sweetener. It tastes, functions, and gives massiveness to food just like what sugar does. With all these factors, the use of maltitol is beneficial for diabetic individuals as well as those who eat low carbohydrate diets. And maltitol also prevents tooth decay.

Being sugar-free, just about anybody who needs to cut down on sugar can taste, at least, this kind of Belgian chocolate. Some attest to the fact that there is no difference at all, but still there are others who say there is a distinct taste of the prized chocolate being sugar free.

With sugar-free Belgian chocolates, diabetics and the health conscious can freely experience the pleasure of eating this mouth watering delicacy, feeling the meltdown of these sweets in the mouth, which then leads to the release of endorphins. Endorphin is a kind of hormone that can make you feel good. Thats why people who feel a bit down crave chocolates.

But the best feature of a chocolate that is sugar-free is that it has its health benefits which recent studies have proven. These chocolates are not only sugar free but have also have low amounts of calories. Moreover, Belgian chocolates that are sugar-free compared to green tea and red wine contains more antioxidants. An antioxidant is a group of substances that are organic which may include vitamins A, C, and E, carotenoids, and selenium. Antioxidants are believed to be efficient in the prevention of stroke, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.

In addition to antioxidants, sugar-free Belgian chocolates may also contain flavonoids. Flavonoids, which its activities resemble that of antioxidants, can prevent allergic reactions, fights off viruses, prevent inflammation, and an abnormal increase in platelets. It is basically benefits the cardiovascular system as it lessens blood platelets and thwarts off abnormal clotting. It is also believed to prevent the occurrence of cancer.

Being sugar-free, you dont have to worry about the rise in sugar blood levels while thinking that chocolates contradictorily reduce the danger of high blood pressure. Without sugar, this contradiction is eliminated. The reduced incidence of high blood pressure is due to the fact that cocoa beans have nitric oxide and nitric acid that is associated with low blood pressure.

So, with Belgian chocolates that are free of sugar, there is no way that diabetics and the health conscious can avoid this sweet taste of heaven. Nothing will stop them anymore from taking a bite of these precious little things. Just dont eat more than you can digest, though.