In Britain, people are dying to be thin -- literally -- and one company is pulling in a profit of about $30 million because of it, according to this article from the Daily Mail.

A popular diet program in the UK, called LighterLife, is wildly successful these days, but it's costing some people their health -- and their lives. The program advocates an extreme calorie deficiency -- participants consume shakes that give them a total daily caloric intake of only 500 calories, and they end up losing weight at an alarming rate. LighterLife claims it's all perfectly fine because the body doesn't need those excess calories, adding that this type of starvation has been used healthfully for over 30 years. Yeah, right.

But now, some people are speaking out about the side effects of this diet. One former participant claims her vision is now permanently blurred and she suffers from ongoing memory loss; another, a dentist, says the lack of calories ruined his wife's teeth; another claims it led her to become anorexic. Other side effects include hair loss, menstrual disruptions and constipation. And if that's not frightening enough for you, consider this: One 25-year-old participant died from heart troubles believed to have been caused by the diet. Click here for some more horror stories.

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Have you had your heart checked recently? While ultrasound is becoming more popular for arterial scans (no radiation), speaking with your doctor about possibly heart disease -- and exact specifics -- may help you form a battle plan for winning.

In other words, detail and more detail. A recent study suggested that those at risk for developing coronary heart disease do better with treatment when doctors give exact information on risk and overcoming that risk. Not "eat better" or some generality, but specific suggestions related to the exact type of coronary risk you may have.

never underestimate the way patients take in information and incorporate that into their daily lifestyles, no matter how averse they may seem to detailed information. At least, that is what this study is saying to me. How about you?

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Urine collection just isn't used for drug presence testing any longer -- and if you have a small amount of a protein called albumin in your sample, you could have a heightened risk for coronary death -- even if you have coronary artery disease that doctors label as stable.

3,000 patients were studied (aged 50 an up) and reported in on the current issue of Circulation, and although albumin is normally located in blood, its presence in urine indicates potential life-threatening kidney issues.

Specifically, leakage in the kidney filtration system and possible damage to cells that line the kidney's blood vessels. Next time you have a urine test, ask for the specific results yes?

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In a recent study, scientists observed the dietary habits of about 1,300 women to see if there was a link between a person's eating habits and the risk of preclinical cardiovascular disease (PCD).

The maximum carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) was the measurement taken from these women as an indicator for heart disease. The higher the cIMT, the higher the risk for heart disease.

The conclusion showed that those women consuming "empty-calories" such as high total and saturated fat products and those products that contained high amounts of sugars did in fact have a significantly higher level of cIMT in their bodies. Fat and sugar overconsumption causes heart problems -- who knew?

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Another study from Europe concluded that the long-term use of oral birth control pills may contribute to the chances of having heart disease later in life.

Well, many studies need confirmation (many times) before what they put forward is taken as gospel, but with an estimated 100 million women across the globe on the pill, this is quite a far-reaching issue.

The existing problems with blood clot formation and high blood pressure are well-known for those on the pill, and further heart problems may just be a result of those issues alone. Still, do you feel safe taking the pill as a form of birth control? Why or why not?

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Are most pharmaceutical drugs safe? There is always intense debate when I pose that question, as many drugs do indeed help patients (albeit with nasty side effects) while other seem to create a dependence environment more than actual biological health increases.

In the latest edition, Natrecor -- a drug used to help heart failure patients -- is being given credit for helping those patients. The cost? $500 per dose (ouch!). Critics say it's a waste of money and does little to help patients with severe heart problems. In fact, they say kidney failure is a side effect of the drug. That's not exactly encouraging.

A recent study refutes this, saying that there was no such trend in looking at 75 patients on the drug. However, the drug should only be used for a very specific type of heart ailment: acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). When other generalizations are used in talking about the drug, that's when the lines become blurry, say supporters. But then again, ADHF is a blurry area in and of itself.

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It's amazing to hear that diabetes is the fifth-leading killer of Americans, isn't it? It's just not a condition I hear of that often in relation to early death -- cancer, heart disease and strokes top the list. But therein lies the problem, according to experts -- two-thirds of those with type I or type II diabetes will actually pass away from a heart attack or stroke.

Those two causes of death are the leading causes of death among all diabetics in the U.S., and there are more 'living' problems like limb removal or blindness that can result from poor condition control.

In other words, the management of diabetes is of paramount importance. Included are living with the disease without letting it rule you. The top two things that anyone should make integral to their lifestyle -- excellent nutrition and exercise -- are the most important. What do you think?

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Marriage is full of dedication, compromise, arguments, happiness and other things, but when marital stress becomes commonplace (for any reason), your heart can suffer along with your mind, according to new research.

How married couples respond to stress may affect how the heart is affected as well, suggesting some type of level correlation according to the research results.

Females have hostility to blame for possible heart issues when marital stress rears its ugly head, and men have a "controlling manner" scenario -- from themselves or their wives -- to blame for an increasing possibility of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

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We generally think of competitive athletes as super-duper healthy, but doctors at a heart conference pointed out that heart problems like arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) actually pose a greater risk to those who go for gold. Athletes may not know they have a heart issue, and adrenaline produced during exercise can overstimulate the heart. However, screening all athletes for these kinds of problems could reduce the rate of death. Right now Italy is the only country that mandates this kind of screening for its pros.

The issue has garnered more attention lately following the deaths of football (that's soccer for the Americans) players Antonio Puerta, Chaswe Nsofwa, and Anton Reid. The docs estimate that Italy's screening program costs about $82 per athlete, but many countries hesitate to implement screening due to the relatively rare incidence of the conditions and questions about the effectiveness of the tests. I dunno, still seems like a small price to pay to potentially prevent 16-year-olds from dropping dead on the field.

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A recent study shows that age-related illnesses like heart problems, depression and dementia can lead to self-neglect, meaning that seniors afflicted start to lose the ability to perform the tasks necessary to live on independently. And often, a lack of social and family support is to blame for their declining mental state.

This doesn't come as a surprise to me, or I imagine anyone else who has a senior with dementia in their life -- my great aunt would avoid meals at her assisted-living facility because she didn't like being surrounded by what she called the crazy old people (riiiiiight ... ) She often forgot to do her laundry and wore dirty clothes. She left dairy products in her fridge for months and didn't bother to check the expiration date before eating them. She could go for weeks without showering. Now that she's in a full nursing home, we don't have to worry about much because the nurses make sure she eats healthy food every day, and they ensure that she is clothed and clean. But if she had a choice, you bet she'd be living on her own again. Thank goodness she has a family who can see what's going on and make the necessary arrangements for her.

But it's important to note that while some seniors are unable to take care of themselves, others do a fantastic job of it. What do you think separates the capable from the incapable?

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It's a hard decision for many of us -- to drink regular soda or diet soda. One has refined sugar and way too many empty calories, while the other has less calories but artificial sweeteners.

But those who drink diet drinks may have reason to partially celebrate that activity (for what it is worth), as heart disease rates between the drinkers or normal sodas and diet sodas are roughly the same.

Scientists thought that diet soda drinkers may eat more sugary treats, causing more cases of heart disease. But, when it comes to heart issues, all soft drink drinkers are the same it appears.

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Do you spend quite a bit of time daily in that commute, breathing in fumes? Many of us do, and if so, you may be putting your heart at risk compared to those not regularly breathing all that smoggy mess.

A German study said this week that fumes not specifically linked just to freeways could have hardening of the arteries, which results in a greater heart attack risk.

Oddly, the artery hardening was linked to damage commonly seen in people who ingest secondhand smoke, noted the researchers. Keep those windows rolled up, eh?

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Are you the life of the party, or the guy who hides in the corner by the food? Your confidence in these sorts of situations might seem like it wouldn't affect much beyond your social life, but a recent study finds that being shy could mean serious consequences for your health.

Conducted by Northwestern University, the 30-year study concluded that men who are antisocial are 50 percent more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than their more outgoing counterparts.

There are a few possible reasons for this correlation, though the exact cause isn't entirely clear. Some speculate that it's merely because those who are shy are generally of lower social status, which is also known to cause poor health. Others, however, think the two are related -- noting that those who feel socially inferior could adopt unhealthy lifestyle choices as a result. Still others suggest that gregarious people are generally type "B" (easy-going) personalities -- the only personality type that isn't associated with an increased risk of serious disease.

While there are still questions left to be answered, the results do highlight the importance of social anxiety when assessing a person's overall health.

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We continue to hear of pharmaceutical drugs that are more harmful than helpful (in many cases), so it comes as little surprise that ranolazine (a drug used for angina, or heart pain) has been found by a major trial that it did nothing to reduce the incidence of death due to cardiac events.

While the drug is still thought of as "an effective anti-anginal" product, the first line of defense still will be products known as "beta blockers" for angina patients.

Is the "importance of medical [drug] therapy" affected here (according to researchers)? You bet. Although some drugs are important in saving lives, some are destined to never really help anyone (and can even be very dangerous). As always, a good lifestyle means that you know the phrase "the best defense is a good offense". For those with genetic heart problems, drugs still will come along for the ride when needed.

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It's always a very good idea for patients to ask doctors about remedies for certain ailments outside of prescription drugs (how about lifestyle changes). In my view, there are many prescription drugs that have such horrid side effects a radical change in behavior seems easier than dealing with possible side effect complications.

In the latest news about prescription drugs having heat problem side effects, British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline stated that a drug to treat gastrointestinal side effects of opioid painkillers was indeed linked to higher risk of heart attacks and other serious heart problems.

So, we have another painkiller that causes heart issues as a side effect. Which is worse -- getting rid of pain with an increasing potential for heart problems? You have to make that call.

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