Information » Diseases » Cardiovascular Disease
Heart attacks and strokes are the leading causes of death in Canada and the rest of the world. For the most part, they are caused by the same problem. Although a heart attack affects the heart, it is caused by a blocked artery – which has nothing to do with the heart itself. The same is true of a stroke – although it damages the brain, it is caused by a blocked artery. Most efforts to improve ‘heart health’ are really all about healthy blood vessels.
Blood vessels carry oxygen and other nutrients to every tissue in your body. This circulatory system is essential for proper tissue function from problems affecting our blood vessels.
Many different factors combine in a complicated manner to lead to atherosclerosis. This is the word used to describe ‘hardening of the arteries’. In reality, the problem is more than just ‘hardening’, but the image of a clogged pipe that prevents water from flowing through it is a fairly accurate picture. This is what happens to blood flow in arteries that suffer from atherosclerosis.
Virtually all of us have some clogging of our pipes, but many of us find out too late. The apparently healthy person who drops dead of a heart attack is an unsettlingly common scenario. If you are over 40 years old, it is important to find out if you are at risk of this problem. If you have risk factors, then you probably have some atherosclerosis. If you have already suffered a heart attack or a stroke, then you definitely have it, and the rest of your many thousands of blood vessels are probably also badly clogged.
There are many traditional risk factors that most doctors will investigate to determine your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. These include:
There are other tests that can predict your risk of cardiovascular disease that are not routinely used. There are many reasons why, but some cardiologists in Europe and the US have begun to incorporate them into their testing protocols. They include:
We test for these risk factors for two reasons. The first is that we believe that knowing your risk encourages you to make lifestyle changes that will improve heart health. The second reason to do this testing is to identify whether you should focus your prevention efforts on your circulation, or whether other areas are more important for you.
If you have major risk factors, you should undergo some kind of stress test to see whether you are at critical risk of having a heart attack. This kind of testing places a stress on your heart to make it beat faster and harder. If the blood vessels supplying your heart muscle are very narrowed by atherosclerosis, it will not be able to handle the stress. This can identify a blood vessel that is so severely narrowed that it is at significant risk of becoming completely blocked or breaking apart – which leads to a heart attack.
First, the basics. If you suffer from angina, have suffered a heart attack or stroke, have poor circulation causing pain when you walk, or have simply had a positive stress test, then your blood vessels are already severely blocked.
Large clinical trials demonstrate that you should be taking three or four kinds of pharmaceutical drugs. Although many people do not like the idea of taking pills, these drugs have been proven to reduce your risk of dying, or of having a heart attack or stroke. The most important ones are:
Diet is critically important for healthy blood vessels:
Exercise, as most people know, is also extremely good for you. Aerobic exercise to improve heart function should be combined with weight training to keep your muscles using insulin properly. If you already have heart disease this should ideally be supervised by a physician.
There are many alternative therapies to prevent and treat heart disease. Some of these target specific risk factors, and others are intended to improve circulation.
Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown in many large trials to improve survival after heart attack and prevent sudden cardiac death. They are routinely given to every person who suffers a heart attack in many countries and should be a part of any effort to maintain a healthy heart.
Many other supplements are supported by clinical research, including coenzyme Q10, magnesium, lipoic acid and L-carnitine. Other supplements target specific risk factors – these include vitamin B6, B12, folic acid, nattokinase and niacin.
Chelation therapy is perhaps the most popular and controversial alternative therapy for heart disease. Intravenous EDTA can bind and remove the metals that can trigger plaque formation and inflammation that worsens it. Although patients report excellent results – with dramatic improvements in angina or exercise tolerance – clinical trial data are lacking. We are part of a NIH-funded clinical trial called TACT to determine the benefit of chelation therapy in heart disease.
Herbal medicines such as Arjuna and Hawthorn have been used for centuries as heart tonics. There is some evidence that they help lower blood pressure, improve angina and reduce the symptoms of heart failure.
Stress and the nervous system play a huge role in controlling the electrical activity of the heart and the processes of inflammation that contribute to atherosclerosis. Creating a relaxation response through meditation, acupuncture, hypnosis, breathing techniques or simple laughter can trigger the release of very healthy hormones that are as powerful as any pharmaceutical drug you can take.
No. Angioplasty and bypass surgery are designed to open a specific blood vessel that is almost completely blocked. The processes that cause blockage in that one small part of a blood vessel have been acting on every other vessel in your body. They lead to narrowing of blood vessels everywhere, which reduces blood flow to your kidneys, your brain and virtually every other cell in your body. It is important to address the problem – rather than simply repairing the most badly damaged part.
Angioplasty and bypass surgery have been shown to save lives in many studies, and if you have critical stenosis (blockage) in one or more vessels supplying the heart, you should have this corrected by angioplasty. Some studies show that angioplasty after heart attack may not be any better at saving lives than standard drug therapy, but it is a very good way to prevent a heart attack.
It is definitely possible to prevent atherosclerosis from getting worse, and even reverse the process. The best approach integrates drugs, supplements and other therapies.
At the Seekers Centre, we provide chelation therapy, which has been used in Canada and the US for several decades to improve circulation and angina, and is the subject of an international clinical trial in patients who have suffered a heart attack. To find out more about the study, click here. To learn more about chelation therapy, click here.