Millions Suffering from Heart Disease

Recent data collected by leading heart research organizations indicate that an epidemic of heart failure is gaining momentum across the globe.

According to the American Heart Association, about 81 million American adults suffer from one or more types of cardiovascular disease. Many instances of heart disease end in death. Heart disease claims about as many lives annually as accidents, cancer, diabetes and chronic lower respiratory diseases all combined.

Types of Heart disease includes high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and heart failure.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), life expectancy would rise by as much as seven years if all forms of major cardiovascular disease were eliminated. If all kinds of cancer were eliminated, life expectancy would rise by only three years.

About 90 percent of coronary heart disease patients have been exposed to one or more of the following risk factors:

• High total blood cholesterol levels, or current medication going on with cholesterol-lowering drugs
• Hypertension, or current medication with blood pressure-lowering drugs
• Addiction to smoking
• Clinical report of diabetes melitus

Heart Disease Detection

The test will detect cardiovascular disease in the earliest stages and so is predictive of both heart attack and stroke, which are still the leading killers in America. It is a simple, non-invasive ultrasound procedure that has been used in research for over a decade.

The cardiac testing will also show the age of arteries compared to chronological age. Hence patients and their health care provider will be guided to the correct steps to be taken to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Results of CIMT help find out who is at higher risk and needs more aggressive treatment.

Get your heart scanned right away if you have high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, or are addicted to smoking.

A Spanish study on alcohol consumption revealed that men who consume large amounts of alcohol cut their risk of heart disease by more than a third. At the same time, excessive alcohol consumption, which is responsible for 1.8 million deaths a year, will increase one's risk of developing many other diseases.

The study analyzed 41,500 people (men and women), between the ages of 29 and 69. Researchers found was that men who consumed alcohol daily reduced their risk of developing heart disease by 35 percent, but women did not experience the same results.

More extreme levels of alcohol consumption among men, between three and eleven (or more) shots of hard liquor a day, suggested a 50 percent decrease in heart disease, it is believed that women do not experience the same effects from alcohol as men do because of differences in female hormonal activity and the methods by which females process alcohol.

The basic understanding is that consumption of alcohol tends to raise high-density lipoproteins, also known as "good" cholesterol, which prevents bad cholesterol from accumulating in the arteries, alcohol intake is linked to the development of another type of heart disease called cardiomyopathy, which is a weakening of the heart's ability to adequately function. Such a condition can result in death if not dealt with properly.

Experts reiterated the fact that while alcohol consumption may reduce one type of heart disease, it can cause many other problems including liver, brain, and pancreatic illnesses, the Stroke Association noted that high alcohol consumption increases one's risk of having a stroke by 300 percent.

Alternative or better ways to prevent heart disease include limiting intake of unhealthy fats and excess processed foods. Some nutrient-dense foods that are known to assist in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels include blueberries, grass-fed meats, wild salmon, garlic, avocados, coconut oil, dark green vegetables, apples and raw almonds.

If you already have diabetes, you are twice as likely as someone who does not have diabetes to have heart disease or a stroke. Menstruating women generally have less risk of heart disease than men of the same age. But women of all ages with diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease as diabetes cancels out the protective effects of being a woman in her reproductive years.

Diabetic people who have already had one heart attack run a greater risk of having a second one. In addition, heart attacks in people with diabetes are more likely to be fatal.

• Having central obesity. Central obesity means having extra weight around the waist. A waist measurement exceeding 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women means you have central obesity. Abdominal fat can increase the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol, the kind of blood fat that can get deposited on the inside of blood vessel walls.
• Having abnormal blood fat (cholesterol) levels.
  
  - LDL cholesterol can build up inside your blood vessels, leading to narrowing and hardening of your arteries leading to them getting blocked.
  
  - Triglycerides are another kind of blood fat that can raise your risk of heart disease when the levels of it are high.
  
  - HDL (good) cholesterol removes deposits from inside your blood vessels and transports them to the liver for removal. On the other hand, low levels of HDL cholesterol increase your risk for heart disease.
• Having high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, or hypertension, your heart must work harder when pumping blood. High blood pressure will inevitable strain the heart, damage blood vessels, and increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, eye problems, and kidney problems.
• Smoking. The habit of smoking doubles your risk of getting heart disease. Stopping smoking is extremely important for people with diabetes as both smoking and diabetes narrow blood vessels.

• Make your diet "heart-healthy". Meet with a registered dietitian and plan a diet that meets these goals:
• For intake of every 1000 calories, at least 14 grams of fiber should be taken as foods high in fiber content lowers blood cholesterol. Some good sources of fiber are oat bran, oatmeal, whole-grain breads and cereals, dried beans and peas (such as kidney beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas), fruits, and vegetables.
• Decrease intake of saturated fat as it raises your blood cholesterol level. Saturated fat is present in meats, poultry skin, butter, dairy products with fat, shortening, lard, and tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil.
• Cholesterol in your diet should be less than 300 milligrams per day. Cholesterol is present in meat, dairy products, and eggs. Minimise the amount of trans fat in your diet. It’s a type of fat in foods that raises blood cholesterol. Crackers, cookies, snack foods, commercially prepared baked goods, cake mixes, microwave popcorn, fried foods, salad dressings, and other foods made with partially hydrogenated oil all contain high amounts of such trans fat.
• Make physical activity part of your routine. At least 30 minutes of exercise everyday.
• Reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Get help from a dietitian and plan mea to decrease the fat and calorie content of your diet. A loss of no more than 1 to 2 pounds a week will be perfect.
• Quit smoking. Your doctor will help you to quit smoking.
• Take aspirin. Studies have shown that low doses of aspirin every day can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, your doctor should determine whether taking aspirin is right for you and how much you should take.
• Get immediate treatment for transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Early treatment for TIAs, also known as mini-strokes, may help prevent a future stroke

How to Raise your Your HDL Levels that is your GOOD cholesterol

HDL cholesterol, or good cholesterol can show up on the walls of blood vessels and can clean out excess cholesterol. The good cholesterol can then carry the excess cholesterol to the liver for processing.  The excess cholestrol might have been used to make the plaques that cause coronary artery disease.  In essence when a person's HDL cholesterol level is being checked in a way we are measuring how vigorously his blood vessels are being scrubbed of cholesterol. Levels of HDL below 40 mg/dL may result in an increased risk of coronary atery disease.  Even in people whose total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels are normal, HDL levels between 40 and 60 mg/dL are considered normal, but keep in mind HDL levels greater than 60 mg/dL may actually protect people from heart disease.

What are the ways to increase HDL Levels?

Aerobic exercise - regular aerobic exercise for example walking, jogging or bike riding which raises your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time may be the most effective way to increase HDL levels. Some studies have shown that the duration of exercise rather than intensity is more important factor in raising HDL cholestrol but any aerobic exercise helps.   

Lose weight - obesity can affect cholestrol in 2 ways, increased LDL cholesterol and also reduced HDL cholesterol. So if you are overweight reducing your weight should increase your HDL levels, this is especially important if your excess weight is stored in your abdominal area.

Stop smoking - for smokers giving up smoking will result in an increase in HDL levels.

Remove trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids ( partially hydrogenated vegetable oils ) need to be eliminated from one's diet, since the trans fatty acids not only increase LDL cholesterol levels, they also reduce HDL cholesterol levels.

Alcohol - 1 or 2 drinks per day can significantly increase HDL levels, but more than 1 or 2 drinks per day can lead to major health problems including heart failure. 

Increase monounsaturated fats - monounsaturated fats such as canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil and in the fats found in peanut butter can increase HDL cholesterol levels without increasing the total cholesterol.

Soluble fiber - are found in oats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and will result in both a reduction in LDL cholesterol and an increase HDL cholesterol, for best results, at least two servings a day should be maintained.

Other dietary methods - cranberry juice has been shown to increase HDL levels also fish and other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids can also increase HDL levels.

But there is a lot you must do to optimize your chances of long-term survival. Unfortunately, in the rush to discharge the "uncomplicated" heart attack patient, usually a couple of days after hospital admission, often the crucial steps are being neglected. In this series of articles, we shall look into the important steps that you need to take to assure that, now that you have survived the acute phase of your MI, you will become a long-term survivor also. If you or a loved one has had a heart attack, you need to make sure that your doctors pay good attention to all these steps.

An acute myocardial infarction is caused by a sudden occlusion in a diseased coronary artery, causing some or all of the heart muscle supplied by that artery to stop functioning. So, now that you've successfully handled the first 24 hours of your heart attack, you know at least three things: 1) You have coronary artery disease (CAD), which is a chronic, progressive medical condition. 2) Some portion of your heart muscle has been damaged, and your remaining normal heart muscle is working more in order to pick up the slack. 3) You may be at higher-than-normal risk for sudden death from heart arrhythmias.

Knowing these things, it's definitely too early to pat yourself on the back with a "Job well done!" So here's what you and your doctor need to do: a) take measures to prevent another heart attack; b) accurately assess the amount of damage to the heart that has already occurred, and take steps to prevent heart failure; c) assess your risk of sudden death, and institute preventive therapy if required.