Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary Heart Disease

Hundreds of  thousands of people die every year from heart attack. Without a murmur of protest from the public, the press, or government agencies, yet this killer can be found on the tables of many homes.

Do you mean that what we can eat causes heart attack?

Yes but not everything. The main culprits are excessive amounts of fat and cholesterol. The underlying problem is narrowing, hardening, and, eventually, plugging up of vital arteries that supply the heart with oxygen

People are born with clean, flexible arteries. They should stay this way throughout life. The arteries of people everywhere however are clogging up with cholesterol, fat, and calcium- a concoction that gradually hardens and eventually chokes off needed oxygen supplies.

How can I tell if I have atherosclerosis of the arteries?

There are simply aren’t any hints of the problem until your arteries are seriously narrowed, or plug or with a sudden plaque break-off. Some people begin to experience angina (chest pain) on exertion.. 

For many people a heart attack is the first sight of trouble. About one-third of heart attack result to sudden death.

Who is at risk for a heart attack?

·       The most serious risk factor by far is elevated blood
cholesterol. Men, 50 years and  older with cholesterol levels over 7.6mmol/L are 10 times more to develop atherosclerosis than men the same age with level more than 5.1mmol/L. A 20% decrease in blood cholesterol levels lowers the risk of a coronary by 50%

·       By age 60, smokers are 10 times more likely than non-smokers to die of heart disease. About 30% of all coronary deaths are directly related to smoking.

·       In Africa, every third adult has high blood pressure. This triples the likelihood of coronary deaths when compared to a person with normal blood pressure.

·       Obese men have five times more likelihood to die of heart disease by age 60 than men with normal weight.

·       Other risk factors are diabetes, elevated triglycerides, stress sedentary lifestyles, and possibly an elevated homocysteine blood level. Fortunately, all these risk factors can be controlled by changes in diet and lifestyle. Hereditary, age, and gender are the risks factors a person cannot control, but they are usually the least important ones.

So what is the best approach?

It is always better to prevent than to cure. But if heart disease has developed as suggested by the presence of a coronary risk factor and documented by diagnostics tests, it still not late to make a lifestyle changes. You can actually clean out your arteries, lower the risk of dying of atherosclerosis, and extend your active, productive years. You can markedly change your risk factors no matter how old you are, often in just a few weeks.

Start with healthful, home-cooked meals that are very low in fat and cholesterol, yet high in unrefined complex carbohydrates and fiber. Such a diet can lower an elevated cholesterol levels by 15-25% and reserve many causes of diabetes in less than 4 weeks. When combined with salt restriction, this diet will also normalize blood pressure and control obesity.

Begin an active daily exercise program. If people would lower your cholesterol to below 4.6mmol/L and their blood pressure under 125mmHg and quit smoking, it has been estimated that 82% of all heart attacks before age 65 could be prevented. Simple changes in lifestyle would do more to improve the health of our modern nation that all hospitals, surgeries and drugs put together.