Posts Tagged ‘Artery Walls’

A heart attack occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and other nutrients to the heart muscle is blocked.

Coronary heart disease is caused by the build-up of artherosclerosis, [fatty deposits] or plaque on the inside of artery walls. This narrows the channel inside the artery so there is less room for the blood to flow through.

The following 2 critical risk factors you should be aware of if you wish to avoid a heart attack or heart disease.

SMOKING.

Stopping smoking is the single most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease, according to the Heart Foundation.

Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood, damages and constricts your artery walls and increases blood pressure. It also increases your heart rate, and can increase the rate at which cholesterol deposits accumulate in the blood vessels.

For many smokers, fear is a major factor. Fear of giving up the pleasure or the crutch, fear that you will be unable to enjoy life or handle stress. A number of strategies are available. These include patches as well as psychotherapy and hypnotherapy.

The benefits of quitting however, are almost immediate. From the moment you stop smoking, your extra risk of heart disease begins to decrease. One year after stopping, your risk of another heart attack is around half that of a continuing smoker.

LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.

Your body is designed to move.Therefore regular moderate physical activity is good for your heart. Being active can be fun, make you feel good in yourself and help boost your immune system. Physical activity can also help control other risk factors such as blood pressure and weight.

The Heart Foundation recommends 30 minutes or more of physical activity [such as brisk walking] on most days of the week. If you don’t have time for a 30 minute block, take three 10 minute walks and accumulate in shorter bouts.

Walking 19km a week is enough exercise to improve cardiovascular health, according to a US study published in the October 2005 issue of the journal Chest.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Centre found that overweight people who walked 19km a week, considered by the scientists to be a “moderate” amount of exercise, consumed oxygen more efficiently and gained physical endurance, both of which reduced the risk of heart disease.

The most important factor is to pace yourself. If you have difficulty talking after exercise, you may be over exerting. A good test for this is the target heart rate for your age and this is calculated by using a heart rate monitor.

A heart rate monitor is a good way to measure the intensity and quality of your workouts and maximise your outcomes. You use percentages of you maximum heart rate [MHR] to judge the intensity for you. To work out your MHR you simply deduct your age from 220. About 50 to 60 percent of your MHR is a good level for improving your overall health. Once you hit 60 to 70 percent, you’re in the “fitness zone” This is perfect for those looking to train at a moderate intensity.

Seventy to 85 percent is about the fastest pace at which you can exercise and still talk. This is great for runners wanting to improve performance. Don’t go higher than this, 85 to 100 percent is a zone best reserved for serious athletes with a high pain tolerance.



By: Graeme Lanham

About the Author:
Is freedom from worry about heart disease and heart attacks important to you? In his groundbreaking new book “Your Life Fitness,” author and fitness/health researcher Graeme Lanham, outlines in easy to read style all you need to know about the latest advances in health, fitness and antiageing.
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Coronary heart disease (CHD), also known as coronary artery disease (CAD) and Atherosclerotic heart disease, and Arteriosclerosis, is a disease affecting the walls blood vessel. This disease may be one of the most easily preventable diseases of the modern civilization in the 40 to 70 age group. It is characterized by the thickening and hardening of the arties. This loss of elastically and narrowing of the arties can lead to high blood pressure and if left untreated, increases the chance of a stroke and a heart attack.

Coronary heart disease typically begins in early adolescence but is rarely diagnosed until late in life usually after to a stroke or heart attack. Early diagnosis and treatment can stop the progression of Coronary heart disease and prevent a medical emergency.

Causes of Coronary Heart Disease include obesity, smoking, high blood, diabetes, and lack of physical activities, menopause in women, advance age (65 or older), and some types of infections of the artery walls. Males are more prone to this disease than women.

Symptoms leading to coronary heart disease may not always be easily readable and if you show any of the symptoms, seek medical advice as soon as possible. Some of the symptoms are chest, pain, shortness of breath, cyanosis (blue color under the finger nails and around the lips)

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prevention is always better then treatment, one should try and have regular check ups and follow the doctor’s advice. Knowing that you are at risk for a heart problem may save you from being faced with an emergency situation and possibly death.

Some of the things you can do to preventing coronary heart disease include decrease your cholesterol level, maintain your ideal body weight, maintain a healthy diet and exercise. Health is our most valuable possession, which often cannot be bought back once lost.

Common Vitamins and over the counter products can help with coronary heart disease such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Eico-Sapentaenoic Acid, Oat Bran, Sytrinol, Pantothenic Acid, Niacin, Policosanol and Antioxidants.

Vitamin C has show to reduce cholesterol levels and lowers high blood pressure.

Vitamin E improves circulation and promotes normal blood clotting. Vitamin E is also known to help the red blood cells to live longer and keep them from breaking down too soon.

Studies of the Greenland Eskimos lack of heart attacks have show that Eico-Sapentaenoic Acid lowers blood cholesterol considerably, even more than polyunsaturated fat does. It also triggers a major drop in triglycerides.

Sytrinol are known to be useful in helping maintain a healthy cholesterol level in the body by reducing triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels.

Oat bran muffins lower blood cholesterol among healthy college students by almost 10 percent.

Pantothenic Acid is another form of nontoxic B vitamins. Pantothenic Acid is critical in the metabolism and synthesis of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Niacin is the closest thing available to a perfect treatment that corrects most causes of coronary heart disease. Niacin blocks the release of fatty acids from fat cells. Niacin plays a critical role in energy production, gene expression, and hormone synthesis. You cannot live without it.

Niacin also tends to shift LDL particle distribution to larger particle size and improve HDL functioning.

Policosanol is a natural supplement derived from sugar cane. Policosanol promotes healthy platelet function and helps to maintain normal cholesterol levels in the human body.

Natural antioxidants are abundant in fruits and vegetables such as, apples, blueberries, broccoli, cherries, cranberries, grapes, spinach, and Spirulina a blue-green algae.

Patients at risk for arteriosclerosis-related diseases are increasingly being treated prophylactically with low-dose aspirin.

Lifestyle changes can also lower the risk of medical emergencies do to arteriosclerosis. Quit smoking, eat healthy foods, weight loss and get regular exercise. This treatment is often problematic for many to achieve and continue for the long term.

If you are at risk from Congestive Heart Disease then find a good health care professional prior to starting any type of home treatment.

Always consult your doctor before using this information.

This Article is nutritional in nature and is not to be construed as medical advice.



By: David Cowley

About the Author:

David Cowley has created numerous articles on heart disease. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to heart disease and how to treat them. Click on Heart Treatment



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.



By: Gregory Smyth

About the Author:

Bangkok Hospital - 36 years of advanced medical technology and expertise, complemented with Thai hospitality and compassionate care. Includes the world-renowned Bangkok Heart Hospital and specializing in oncology, neurology and orthopedics. Some of the worlds most advanced minimally invasive diagnostics and treatment procedures are in place.