Preventing Heart Disease

Dick Aronson asked:


To be told you have heart disease can strike fear into anyone hearing it for the first time, however it’s not as bad as it sounds.

In this article I am going to explain some of the terms, causes and remedies associated with heart disease.

Heart disease is a general term used to describe several different conditions, all of which are potentially fatal, but are also treatable and/or preventable.

Heart disease is primarily a disease of lifestyle, and is largely preventable through risk factor awareness and modification.

However it is a serious condition and if ignored it is a major cause for heart attacks (myocardial infarction), congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, stroke, sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), and ischemia (reduced blood flow).

The most common form of heart disease is coronary heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease

CORONARY

Coronary artery disease is the most common form of heart disease, it is caused by a narrowing or clogging of the coronary arteries that supply the heart with oxygen and nutrients.

Coronary artery disease and the resulting reduced blood flow to the heart muscle can lead to other heart problems, such as chest pain (angina) and heart attacks myocardial infarction).

The risk of coronary heart disease can be reduced by taking steps to prevent and control those adverse factors that put people at greater risk for heart disease and heart attacks.

CHOLESTEROL

If you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream, the excess is deposited in arteries, including the coronary arteries, where it contributes to the narrowing and blockages that cause the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

High levels of the wrong type of cholesterol (LDL) can be life threatening especially because this type of cholesterol has the capability to choke the arteries and thus cause a heart attack.

What happens is that the levels of the lipoprotein, which is made in the liver and in cells lining blood vessels, rise with things that make heart disease more likely, like smoking, obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes.

Conversely the levels fall when patients stop smoking, lose weight and get their cholesterol and diabetes under control.

Cholesterol levels should be less than 5.5. If your cholesterol level is 6.5 mmol/L or greater your risk of heart disease is about 4 times greater than that of a person with a cholesterol level of 4 mmol/L.

The best defense against high cholesterol is simply controlling the risk factors that could lead to coronary artery disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, stress, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and being overweight.

Regular aerobic activities have a good effect on blood vessels and cholesterol.

Dietary aids to lowering cholesterol

1. reduce cheese intake and/or substitute low fat varieties

2. choose reduced fat milks

3. substitute polyunsaturated margarine for butter

4. choose lean cuts of meat and remove all visible fat

5. eat skinless chicken, fish or beans

6. beware of pies, pasties, fish and chips and commercial cakes (hidden fat)

7. make cakes at home with polyunsaturated fat, cook chips with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oil

8. lose weight if overweight.

High blood pressure also causes many other types of cardiovascular disease, such as stroke and heart failure.

ARTERIES

Coronary artery diseases are diseases of the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood.

If you suffer from CAD it generally means that blood flow through the coronary arteries has become obstructed, reducing blood flow to the heart muscle.

Like any muscle, the heart needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients, which are carried to it by the blood in the coronary arteries.

When the coronary arteries become narrowed or clogged by cholesterol and fat deposits (atherosclerosis), the heart cannot get enough and the result is coronary heart disease (CHD).

STROKE

Other cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure, angina (chest pain), and rheumatic heart disease. Smoking and uncontrolled high blood pressure are important risk factors for stroke.

Although stroke is highly preventable, certain risk factors such as; family history, age, sex and race can’t be controlled.

People with diabetes are also two to four times more likely to die of heart disease and experience stroke.

PREVENTION

Although heart disease is a serious condition that requires constant monitoring, there are many things you can do to reduce your risk for cardiovascular problems and live a full, active life, even if you should suffer a heart attack.

Study results indicate that heart disease is almost twice as likely to develop in inactive people as in those who exercise regularly.

However studies have also shown that after five years of giving up smoking, the risk of developing heart disease is the same as for someone who never smoked.

As well, if you exercise on a regular basis, the chance of your developing heart disease is about half that of people who do no exercise at all.



Clyde

banananutmeg1 asked:


If I run an average of two marathons a year, will that decrease my chance of getting a heart attack or stroke. I eat relatively healthy and do not smoke or drink. My genetics are bad, though, because both my parents have heart disease and my dad has had three strokes already.

Harry

Rhonda Hoffman asked:


Congestive Heart Failure/heart disease

Weakening of the heart causing insufficient blood flow to vital organs, symtpoms include shortness of breath, fliud retention, enlarged heart, and weakend kidney function. Eating the right kind of fat is important. If you crave bad fats then your body is telling you that you really need “good” fats like Super Omega 3 which helps to reduce heart disease and inflammation. Lecithin is another “good” fat that helps liquify cholesterol and dissolve plaque. FIBER IS VERY IMPORTANT ALSO!! If u don’t get enough in your diet we have Natures 3- Fiber rich and sodium free supplement

NEVER cook with Criso. best is olive oil

Natural supplements for the heart:

L-Carnitine is an amino acid that is already in our body but depletes with age. Its function is to transport long-chain fatty acids therefore reducing and preventing fat buildup in the heart and circulatory system. Symptoms of a deficiency include progressive muscle weakness and hypoglycemia. Used for heart problems, weight control and loss of energy, Reye’s syndrome, Graves Disease…

Hawthorn Berries  is an herb that strengthens and restores the heart. Clinical and labratory research findings show that it is beneficial in treating an umber of heart conditions including, angina, arrhythmia, artherosclerosis, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It improves the tone of the heart muscle, oxygen uptake, improves circulation to the heart, energizes heart cells and dilates blood vessels. When used for blood pressure, garlic works great along with it! Completely safe for long term use However the ONLY interaction is the drug digitalis does sometimes counteract and must be reduced and your dr wean you slowly off the digitalis.

CoQ10 is probably the most important heart nutrient for the circulatory system. It lowers blood pressure,oxygenates the heart muscle, detoxification and extends life for those with congestive heart disease. Your bodies natural CoQ10 depletes with age, esp. after 50 so supplementing is essential. Great to use with hawthorn or garlic. It is beneficial to the heart, liver, gums, thyroid, muscles and pituatary. From recovery from a heart attack larger doses are required 1,000 mg daily. Also helps reduce side effects of chemotherapy.

Antioxidants are a must and this is the best and highest antioxidant level on the market today. It is the ONLY product with ORAC certified label by the Brunswick Labs. Higher antioxidant levels than all competitors including Monavie and Xango. THAI GO  clearly outperformed all other leading competitors in ORAC capacity- Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity(which is the measure of antioxidant strength) It is the only product with the ORAC stamp on the label from the Brunswick Lab.

Bioflavonoids enhance Vitamin C absorption and help maintain collagen and capillary walls.  Also aid in the bodys defense system. Antioxidants scavage and destroy damaging free radicals and benefit every organ and system in the body. Antioxidants are getting increasing attention from the scientific community.  Xanthones has attracted alot of attention also, scientists are discovering that these compounds support immune, structural and digestive systems, and the brain and skin.Free Radicals are hgih energy particles caused by pollutants that we absorb through the air, diet, drinking, through your skin..Free radicals lack an electron. Their only mission is to steal one, causing damage to your healthy cells by altering its chemical structure. In the oxidative chaos, free radicals critically damage your cells, proteins, DNA and therefore causes cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and on and on. Antioxidants are important to us because they stop damage from free radicals by providing them with the elecrons they so desperately are seeking out, leaving strong and healthy cells alone.

Mangosteen is one of the key ingredients of Thai Go, a fruit found in Thailand. Mangosteen contains the single-greatest known supply of xanthones that support the immune, structural, digestive systems, brain and skin health. Antibiotic, antifungal and anti-inflammatory benefits. Also helps rid our body of toxins and free radicals that have been damaging our bodies from  birth.Mangosteen fruit contains the highest content of xanthones.

Researchers studying xanthones, have discovered that they are a powerful aid in fighting diabetes. Mangosteens xanthones are also very helpful with high blood pressure.Xanthones have been shown to have beneficial effects on some cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and stroke, atheriosclerosis, hypertension, and thrombosis. Inflammation is one of the main causes of heart disease.  Mangosteens natural substance offer the potential of halting or reversing this inflammation. Also good to lower cholesterol. Fibromaylagia.

Xanthones have been demonstrated by scientists at the National University of Singapore to possess anti-viral properties also. Other international scientists have discovered that mangosteen xanthones can destroy salmonella and tuberculosis bacteria.

To order THAI GO or any of these supplements go to http://mynsp.com/rhondahoffman or for any questions



Kelly

Gregory Smyth asked:


In the last decade, cholesterol has become a familiar word in many homes - Dad can’t have bacon and eggs for breakfast because of the eggs’ cholesterol, we buy low-cholesterol margarine to lower our risk of heart disease, you buy the low-cholesterol sausages because they are healthier for you, even though they cost more. The reason that cholesterol has become such a buzzword in our homes is that it is linked to heart disease. But, is the link statistically and scientifically valid? We explore the concepts that cholesterol really is not to blame for the current high rates of heart disease.

Cholesterol is said to cause blockages in the arteries, circulating in the blood, sticking to artery walls, and eventually blocking blood flow to the heart. The facts that it has been found that arteries become blocked by the fat makes it intuitive that consuming less animal fat will lower your risk of heart disease. However, studies do not come to this conclusion. In fact, cholesterol is an essential part of your body. The body uses cholesterol as a bandage to have a tiny tears in damaged arterial walls - it also does this for other wounds.

However, they consistently is not found to be a link between cholesterol can see it, and cholesterol in the blood. A study sponsored by the German Ministry of Research and Technology showed this, as does the fact that in Japan, the number of heart attacks has dropped in recent years, while cholesterol consumption has actually risen. A long study was recently completed, where researchers observed 10,000 people with high cholesterol levels. Half of the participants received a statin drug (a cholesterol lowering drug), while the other half were told to eat a normal diet, and make sure they got enough exercise. The findings were surprising - despite the fact that these statin drugs are prescribed to tens of thousands of people with high serum cholesterol, they were found to have no effect on the death rate due to coronary heart disease. The control group, that ate a normal diet, and get a normal amount of exercise, was found to have no higher incidence of fatal heart attacks and non-fatal arterial disease. These drugs also have some serious side effects, such as liver failure, muscle deterioration, and they can even cause sudden death. It makes you wonder how many deaths are actually attributable to statin use, rather than prevented by these drugs.

In fact, studies repeatedly demonstrate that dietary cholesterol is not linked to serum cholesterol, and that serum cholesterol is not even linked to heart disease. But first things first! The Framingham study, one of the more famous studies on the topic, set out to prove that people who ate more cholesterol in their diet, had higher levels of blood cholesterol. The researchers were surprised and disappointed - in fact, there was little or no difference in the participants’ blood cholesterol levels, even when the amount of cholesterol consumed varied widely. There have been many studies since which have borne this principle out.

The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial was one of the largest studies to ever be performed on coronary heart disease and cholesterol levels. It involved over 350,000 men and women, over a wide variety of demographics. This study had participants cut down their cholesterol consumption, saturated fat consumption and total calories, by significant amounts, over a long period. However, there was absolutely no effect on heart disease occurrence, and serum cholesterol was only modestly affected.

In fact, the benzenes and other chemicals in margarine and spreads have been linked to increasing levels of coronary heart disease - your best advice is to eat as naturally as possible, cutting out processed foods as much as you can.



Steve

Sara asked:


Or can you just get one anyways, or do you necessarily have to have something wrong with your heart, like heart disease?
Okay, then how do you get a blood clot? If you can get a heart attack from stress, I’m surprised I haven’t had one yet.

Susan

NinjaKai asked:


I wanted to know your opinion of why Americans are at risk for heart disease….Thanks

Todd

ounce988 asked:


my girlfriend has got some disease about heart?and i cant do anything here .and feel so sorrow to her.what can i do now?

Dora

GirlyGirl asked:


Have PCOS and my heart sometimes pound off beat and I was wondering is it a bad idea to have kids. Do women get pregnant with heart disease? Can heart disease be reversed (go away)? I figured pushing can put a strain on the heart.

Stephanie

tangerine(RIP Aussie arson vics) asked:


Studies have come out that suggest a possible link between soda and heart disease. If it were conclusively proven that soda causes heart disease, would you forbid your kids to drink it?

Corey

james sameul asked:


Heart Disease

If you’re like most people, you think that heart disease is a problem for other folks. But heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S. It is also a major cause of disability. There are many different forms of heart disease. The most common cause of heart disease is narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart itself.

Heart disease is an umbrella term for a number of different diseases affecting the heart. As of 2007, it is the leading cause of death in the United States,[1][2] England, Canada and Wales,[3] killing one person every 34 seconds in the United States alone.

Symptoms of Heart disease

The symptoms of heart disorder include certain types of pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, palpitations (awareness of slow, fast, or irregular heartbeats), light-headedness, fainting, and swelling in the legs, ankles, and feet. However, these symptoms do not necessarily indicate a heart disorder.

Symptoms may be very noticeable, but sometimes you can have the disease and not have any symptoms.

Chest pain or discomfort (angina) is the most common symptom. You feel this pain when the heart is not getting enough blood or oxygen. How bad the pain is varies from person to person.

Causes of Heart Diseases

Too much low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad cholesterol”) in the blood causes plaque to form on artery walls, which starts a disease process called atherosclerosis. When plaque builds up in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, you are at greater risk of having a heart attack.

Many distinguished scientists have pointed to serious flaws in this theory, beginning with the fact that heart disease in America has increased during the period when consumption of saturated fat has decreased. “The diet-heart idea,” said the distinguished George Mann, “is the greatest scam in the history of medicine.

Stress Contribute to Heart Disease

Medical researchers aren’t sure exactly how stress increases the risk of heart disease. Stress itself might be a risk factor, or it could be that high levels of stress make other risk factors (such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure) worse. For example, if you are under stress, your blood pressure goes up, you may overeat, you may exercise less and you may be more likely to smoke.

Treatment of Heart Disease

Diagnosis and Conventional Treatment

In many cases the first indication of cardiovascular disease is a sudden heart attack. There are more than 1.5 million heart attacks in the United States every year and 30% of them are fatal within the first month(5,24). As one popular medical textbook puts it: “Sudden death is the first and only manifestation of coronary heart disease in about 25% of patients.”

Intermittent claudicating involves pain in a muscle to which the blood supply has been restricted due to atherosclerosis. The pains occur with exercise and subside within a couple of minutes once the exercise is stopped. Conventional medical therapy includes an emphasis on daily walks, weight reduction, and total avoidance of smoking.



Roland