Santa Barbara County News and Events

Inflammation: The hidden driver of heart disease you need to be testing for

Kraig Pakulski 0 39 Article rating: No rating

A blood sample tube for hs-CRP (high-sensitive CRP) test.

Saiful52 // Shutterstock

 

Most adults know the drill before an annual physical: routine blood work, a few numbers to scan, and hope nothing jumps out. These tests are meant to catch serious illness early. But when it comes to cardiovascular disease—the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women—standard screenings still miss critical risk factors.

The problem starts with how doctors typically test for heart disease. Traditional lipid panels focus on cholesterol—a waxy substance that can build up in arteries—and triglycerides, a type of fat that can raise your risk of heart disease. While lipid panels are important, they don’t fully explain who develops heart disease or why.

Newer findings point to a previously missing factor in heart disease: chronic, low-grade inflammation. This chronic condition plays a direct role in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease—heart disease caused by plaque buildup that stiffens and narrows your arteries.

Cholesterol provides the building blocks for that plaque, but inflammation is what activates disease, says integrative cardiologist Abid Husain, M.D. “Cholesterol is very much like fuel. It can be inert and stay in the artery and not cause any problems,” he says. “But inflammation is heat. It’s fire. It ignites that fuel. Ultimately, the combination can become explosive and turn into a heart attack.” This helps explain why some people develop cardiovascular disease despite having normal lipid levels.

Most people aren’t tested for inflammation unless they already have heart disease or another diagnosed inflammatory condition. Chronic inflammation, also known as “inflammaging,” rarely causes clear red flags, and when symptoms show up, they often look like everyday issues—stress, low energy, or metabolic slowdown—rather than heart risk. As a result, some 50% of U.S. adults have moderate or higher inflammatory risk and don’t know it.

The gap in testing is now being addressed. The American College of Cardiology has recommended checking for inflammatory biomarkers as a core part of cardiovascular risk assessment.

Tests for inflammatory markers in the blood are inexpensive, widely available, and can identify risk earlier—when heart disease can still be slowed or prevented. Hone Health shares what to test, how often, how to interpret results, and what comes next.

What Is Chronic Inflammation—and Why Does It Raise Heart Disease Risk?

Unlike acute inflammation—your body’s short-term response to

What to do immediately after discovering a roof leak

Kraig Pakulski 0 26 Article rating: No rating

Roof and shingles damaged from water leak.

Chad Robertson Media // Shutterstock

 

There’s never a good time to find a leak in your roof, but it may feel like it always comes at the worst possible time. It can also lead to additional problems that cause further damage to your property if not addressed immediately.

Knowing what to do immediately after finding a leak can dictate how the rest of the situation goes. In this guide, AmeriPro Roofing shares how to make your roof leak problem less stressful while prioritizing safety and long-term solutions.

What to Do When Your Roof Starts Leaking

Every second matters when you notice a leaking roof, and how you react to the situation makes all the difference. It’s easy for people to lose sight of being calm and rational in these moments. However, having a fast and sensible plan in place is key to being safe while you resolve the issue.

If your roof starts leaking, follow these simple but effective steps immediately:

  • Call a professional roofing company and notify them of the leak.
  • Let any other people in the house know about the leak.
  • Make sure no one else gets near the area of the leak.
  • Try to spot any immediate safety concerns.
  • Gather towels and buckets.

Then, implement the steps below to ensure you’ve covered all ground.

An infographic on what to do when your roof starts leaking.

AmeriPro Roofing

1. Locate Where Water Is Entering Your Roof

Household leaks can be a challenge to find. It’s one of the main reasons why households can waste almost 1 trillion gallons of water per year. Some of the regular problem areas stem from things like damaged roof flashing, vents or broken shingles.

For roof leak detection, it’s important to be aware of these pain points, as water often enters through them. Broken or missing shingles are common areas for water to get into your home. Discolored spots on ceilings or high up on walls can also signal where water is entering.

2. Inspect Your Attic for Roof Leak Causes

Checking your attic is an important part of any roof leak detection protocol. Easy-to-spot signs like musty odors, dampness and mold can lead you to the potential source. Safety should always be a priority, so if you cannot safely check your attic, leave this to the professionals so you don’t risk harming yourself.

Documenting vital information, like the date and areas of damage, can be helpful later for insurance purposes. Filming any leaks or suspect areas on your phone can also speed up the process, as these can be sent to your chosen professional roofer. Taking these steps can expedite the

59% of companies are betting on incentives to drive growth, but most are doing it wrong

Kraig Pakulski 0 29 Article rating: No rating

A sales team listening to a presenter in the office.

Life and Times // Shutterstock

 

It’s annual planning season, and as we head into another year, companies are doubling down on incentive compensation as a growth strategy.

According to CaptivateIQ’s 2025 State of Incentive Compensation Management Report, 59% of organizations are leaning on their incentive compensation programs to help drive business growth.

On paper, it makes perfect sense.

Budgets are tight. Revenue targets keep rising. Teams are expected to do more with less. In that environment, incentives feel like an elegant solution. They are flexible, can drive fast results, and unlike new headcount or major tools, they usually do not require long approval cycles.

However, there’s a disconnect. While leaders are looking towards incentives to foster growth, most organizations still struggle to execute them in a way that actually drives performance. The intent is right, but the follow-through isn’t.

Companies are spending more on incentive programs without achieving the results that would actually move the needle. That means most of the 59% of companies betting on incentives aren’t seeing the growth they’re paying for. In this article, CaptivateIQ examines why.

Why Most Incentive Programs Don’t Work as Intended

The biggest misconception in incentive compensation is that the payout itself drives behavior. Many teams assume the payout alone drives behavior. Research in behavioral psychology, including work by Daniel Pink, shows that rewards by themselves are not enough.

Sales reps are also motivated by clarity, predictability, and trust. If those are missing, incentives lose most of their impact.

Here are five issues keeping incentive programs from achieving desired results.

Complexity Kills Action

Incentive structures have become increasingly elaborate, including anything from tiered accelerators and product-specific bonuses to seasonal adjustments, sales performance incentive fund (SPIF) overlays, and intricate quota mechanics. The structures may be mathematically precise, but they’re difficult for reps to digest and act on. If a rep can’t understand how they earn, they can’t optimize how they perform.

Limited Visibility Creates Confusion

Visibility is one of the strongest predictors of motivation. Almost all payees (92%) say that clear visibility into compensation is a major motivator. Yet, according to our 2025 report, only half of companies offer visibility into current and potential earnings, and only 52% provide real-time performance tracking.

This information gap creates a predictable cycle: confusion leads to uncertainty, which leads to shadow accounting, which leads to mistrust, which ultimately leads to disengagement.

If your reps are disengaged, they’re less likely to consistently focus on the tasks tha

The copper collapse: How modern farming Is quietly undermining human health

Kraig Pakulski 0 31 Article rating: No rating

A set of copper coffee set tools.

AlexDonin // Shutterstock

 

Human health in the modern world is a conundrum. On the surface, we should be healthier than ever. We have more access to food and clean water than at any time in history. Doctors are more capable than ever, and medications can address almost any condition.

And yet, here we are. Human health is not improving. In even the richest nations, many health markers have declined in recent years.

Life expectancy in the United States, as one example, has been mostly flat for the last two decades. It was calculated by the World Health Organization at 76.8 years in 2001, and twenty years later, it had fallen slightly to 76.4 years.

We are looking for answers everywhere. Obesity is often blamed and is surely part of the problem. A lack of physical activity in modern life could also be contributing, as could mental health issues.

But what if the answer was simpler than any of those explanations? What if it was right under our feet the whole time? World CopperSmith looks at how modern farming techniques have diminished the amount of essential copper in our diets.

A Divorce from Nature

For nearly all of human history, people grew and harvested their own food. Growing food was just part of life. It was impossible to exist any other way, and being one with the land was as natural as breathing.

Things are different today. Most people have no idea where their food comes from or how it was grown. Nature is more commonly seen as an enemy — bugs, bad weather, and the like — than it is an ally. The change has been dramatic, and not necessarily beneficial.

According to the Food System Primer from Johns Hopkins University, widespread agriculture has existed for around 7,000 years. Yet industrial agriculture has only been a feature of the system within the last century or so. As it has spread, and the use of synthetic fertilizers has grown, we have become even further separated from the natural world around us.

The Essential Role of Copper in Human Health

Copper plays a surprisingly vital role in human health. This is not an optional mineral. It’s not something that is just nice to have. It’s essential, and it’s becoming harder and harder to find.

What is it that makes copper so important to our collective health? The National Institutes of Health reports that copper is needed for energy production, iron metabolism, neuropeptide activation, and many other functions. While only a modest amount of copper is stored in the body, it is critical that the necessary levels are maintained. For men and women, intake of approximately 900 mcg/day of copper is ideal.

Industrial Farming Has Robbed Our Food

It’s easy to be seduced by the positive sides of industrial-scale farming. Yields are off-the-charts compared to previous forms of farming the land. Crops are resistant to many types of diseases that would have wiped out entire fields previously. And, in some cases, the price of staple foods is kept incredibly low.

Those a

Can a 50-year mortgage fix housing affordability? The data says mostly no

Kraig Pakulski 0 28 Article rating: No rating

A hugging couple stand in the house in front of the door with two cardboard boxes in front of them.

fizkes // Shutterstock

 

Longer loan terms could open the door to home ownership for 1 in 85 renters in America’s 100 largest cities, but not all will benefit equally.

A 50-year mortgage term could reduce monthly payments by an average of just around $84 while ballooning interest by roughly $561,000 on an average home in each of America’s 100 largest metros. That’s a controversial proposition.

Nevertheless, at the end of that lengthy term, buyers would own their own homes. And that can seem like a better deal for millions of renters who currently see 0% of their monthly payments converted to equity.

MoveBuddha wanted to know where the 50-year mortgage (plus property taxes) would lower monthly expenses enough to get more Americans into their own homes, dropping the monthly cost of home ownership below 30% of total monthly income.

Because monthly payment differences are slight, there are just 10 cities where a significant number of renters could choose homeownership under the new plan and come out ahead on monthly expenses.

Key Takeaways

  • 1.17% of renters in America’s 100 largest metros will find themselves newly able to buy with the option of a 50-year mortgage. That’s 366,213 by this study’s calculation.
  • Lakeland, Florida, is the only city where more than 2% of renters stand to benefit, about 1,745 renters. While NYC (0.53%) and Dallas (1.62%) would each see about 18,000 of their renters benefit.
  • Who doesn’t benefit? Renters in these eight metros: San Jose, San Francisco, Honolulu, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and Oxnard, California, where rent is over $1,000 cheaper per month than a 50-year mortgage.
  • Who benefits most? Buyers in cities where the monthly rent is already mortgage-sized, like Lakeland, Florida; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Indianapolis, Indiana. However, barely 2% of the renters in these “Goldilocks Zones” would see any benefit.
  • But is it less than rent? In 49 of the country’s largest 100 metros, the 50-year mortgage would save them monthly vs. average rent.
  • Where does a 50-year mortgage save buyers the most money? In Columbia, South Carolina; New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Springfield, Massachusetts; and McAllen, Texas, monthly payments fall at least $400, and as much as $600 in McAllen.
     

A U.S. map shows where 50-year mortgages can help renters in the 100 largest cities.

moveBuddha

 

Lakeland, Florida, Could See the Highest Rate of New Owners Un

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