What You Can Do To Prevent Heart Attacks And Strokes
As a holistic doctor in New York, one of the most common things I'm asked is what natural steps people can take to stay healthy and avoid the side effects of medication as they get older. By far the most important thing you can do is reduce your risk of cardiovascular events such as strokes or heart attacks. Not only is heart disease the leading cause of death in this country, but events like a heart attack or stroke can kill so quickly that there may not even be a chance to get help.
In prevention, we rely on lab tests and other diagnostic measurements as clues to our relative risk. Many of these are quite familiar, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels, others are less well-known, such as fibrinogen or C-reactive protein, but no less important. The conventional medical approach of using drugs to reduce these markers carries a risk of significant side effects and has not been shown to be more effective than a natural approach. In addition, for many of the lesser known markers, medication is not available but natural interventions have been shown to be effective.
Natural Blood Pressure Management
Using Natural Medicine To Maintain a Healthy Blood Pressure
If your blood pressure is too high it is incredibly important to take steps to lower it. A healthy blood pressure reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure can also damage your kidneys and your eyes. Natural remedies can be very effective in lowering high blood pressure and reducing the need for medications for hypertension. Natural therapies to lower blood pressure are an important part of the natural prevention of heart disease. Natural remedies for high blood pressure may be preferable to medication in mild to moderate hypertension because they have little or no side effects.
Lifestyle change is of foremost importance in the natural treatment of high blood pressure. Losing excess body weight for those that are overweight is an important first step, as is quitting smoking. Other primary interventions in the natural treatment of hypertension are getting regular exercise and adopting a regular intentional stress reduction practice, such as meditation. In fact, taken together, these four steps, combined with a good diet, have been shown to be more effective than medications such as diuretics and beta-blocker for mild to moderate hypertension.
Some of the important dietary changes that have been shown to lower blood pressure include increasing vegetable and fruit intake, fiber, essential fatty acids, whole grains and fiber. Similarly, the diet should include foods high in calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin C. Saturated fats and refined carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour should be avoided.
If diet and lifestyle change do not reduce the blood pressure to a safe level, nutritional supplementation may be required. Magnesium, potassium, calcium, essential fatty acids, vitamins C and E, CoQ10 and arginine are all nutrients that have a role to play in managing blood pressure naturally. Herbs for high blood pressure include Crataegus (hawthorn), Allium (garlic) and Tilia (linden).
Remember, high blood pressure cannot be ignored. It may be necessary to go on medication first while simultaneously treating high blood pressure naturally. As a healthy diet and lifestyle combined with the right nutrients begin to lower blood pressure naturally, it becomes possible to taper off medication that is no longer necessary.
Lowering Cholesterol Naturally
Natural steps to reduce cholesterol
By now we all know that high cholesterol is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and we should all know that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the U.S. However, it is important to be aware that high cholesterol is not the only risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that cholesterol levels alone do not give a complete picture of your risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events.
Cholesterol has gotten most of the attention because there are pharmaceutical drugs available to lower cholesterol levels, though widespread use of these drugs has not led to the lower levels of mortality you might expect. Other lab values used to evaluate cardiovascular risk, such as homocysteine and fibrinogen, can be measured and, when considered in combination, will give us a more complete assessment of risk. I will discuss them further below. These factors are best addressed through natural approaches, such as diet change and nutritional supplementation.
That being said, what are some natural treatment options for high cholesterol?
Diet and Cholesterol
The most important natural way to lower cholesterol is through dietary adjustment. Simple carbohydrates, such as table sugar and foods made from white flour, should be avoided, as should hydrogenated oils and trans-fatty acids, such as margarines and shortenings. Do not eat fried foods or foods made with powdered eggs or powdered milk. Tobacco products should be abandoned and caffeinated drinks like coffee or tea should be reduced to one cup per day. Alcohol intake should also be limited to one serving a day ideally in the form of red wine or dark beer.
Olive oil should be the main cooking oil for those concerned about high cholesterol. Increase the amount of fish and seafood as well as the onion family of vegetables: garlic especially but also onions, leeks and shallots. Other foods that lower cholesterol are soy products like tofu, flavonoid-rich foods like apples and green tea. One very important aspect of the natural treatment of high cholesterol is an adequate intake of fiber. High fiber foods are fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Nutritional Supplements for High Cholesterol
Red yeast rice is one nutritional supplement that has been used to lower cholesterol naturally. It works in the same way as many cholesterol-lowering drugs and consequently can have similar side effects, though they have not been reported as often. Niacin, tocotrienols and pantethine are all safer options for lowering cholesterol levels naturally. Guggul and garlic are important herbs that can lower cholesterol.
If you are taking statin drugs or red yeast rice to lower cholesterol, it is important to supplement with a nutrient called CoQ10. This is naturally produced by your body but will be reduced by these drugs and this reduction may cause adverse effects.
Lifestyle and Cholesterol
Stress reduction, exercise and adequate sleep and sun exposure are all important aspects in the natural treatment for high cholesterol.
Beyond Cholesterol: Independent Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Important Tests You Should Know About
By now most people are familiar with cholesterol and its association with heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the U.S. and its manifestations - heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolisms - can strike suddenly and kill us before help can be reached. Therefore, a thorough assessment of your risk is important.
However, it is important to be aware that high cholesterol is not the only risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that cholesterol levels alone do not give a complete picture of your risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events. In fact, total cholesterol levels are normal in half of all heart attack patients. Cholesterol has gotten most of the attention because there are pharmaceutical drugs available to lower cholesterol levels, though widespread use of these drugs has not led to the lower levels of mortality you might expect. It is far more profitable for drug companies to focus advertising and funding for research on cholesterol rather than the host of other risk factors for which they have no drugs.
Doctors now routinely test total cholesterol, HDL (the "good" cholesterol), LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) and triglycerides and usually recommend treatment for patients who have levels that are associated with higher risk. However, there are several other risk factors that are not generally tested and may also indicate an increased risk, regardless of cholesterol levels. Running these tests will give a more complete picture of your cardiovascular risk. A reduction in these risk factors through nutritional interventions has been demonstrated in many scientific studies.
LDL Particle Size - More significant than levels of cholesterol is the size of the cholesterol particles in your blood. People with coronary artery disease are twice more likely to have small LDL particles than high LDL levels.
Fibrinogen - This measures the 'stickiness' of your blood, i.e. its tendency to form clots, a cause of strokes and heart attacks.
Homocysteine - High levels of homocysteine damage the lining of blood vessels and encourage the formation of blood clots.
C-reactive protein - One of the best predictors of future heart attack, CRP is an indicator of chronic inflammation, one of the root causes of chronic disease, including coronary artery disease.
Lipoprotein (a) - This represents your genetic susceptibility to heart disease and is the best indicator of your risk of cerebral infarction or stroke.
Apolipoproteins A & B - These are components of cholesterol that offer a better indication of cardiovascular risk than cholesterol or LDL levels.
Ferritin - This test measures iron stores in the body. Increased iron stores encourage oxidation and are associated with an increased cardiovascular risk.
Ionic Magnesium Levels - Low tissue levels of magnesium have been associated with angina and heart attack. Magnesium has also been shown effective in reducing blood pressure.
Vitamin D - A deficiency of vitamin D has been associated with an increased risk of heart attack.
TSH - Though this is included in most basic bloodwork, the standard range is too wide. This leaves many people who are actually hypothyroid undiagnosed. Hypothyroidism is associated with atherosclerosis and heart attack.
If you are concerned about cardiovascular health, you should consider getting more extensive cardiovascular risk testing beyond cholesterol. Though there may not be drugs to address most of these lab measures, dietary change and nutritional supplementation can be quite effective in returning them to normal
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