All About Heart Health
Sharon Stajda asked:
The heart is a muscle, it is as small as a fist, and its main function is to pump blood to the entire body. This blood supply is responsible for taking nourishing oxygen to cells that enable each cell to perform its bodily function. In turn the spent blood is returned with harmful carbon dioxide to be expelled via the lungs. This miraculous muscle is literary what keeps us alive and breathing.
The healthy adult body contains about 2 gallons (5 liters) of blood. This blood supply is constantly circulated through the body, via heart, arteries to capillaries to the veins. One entire cycle takes about 60 seconds.
If any part of the circulatory system suffers due to disease, the heart will ultimately be put under greater stress and in time become damaged, and unable to do its job. If the heart is unable to function properly the body will become vulnerable to a variety of health problems.
There are several risk factors that can increase ones chances of developing coronary heart disease. Many of these risk factors can be treated or controlled, some factors are uncontrollable. It is every important to become well acquainted with the risk factors of heart disease. One of the best ways to prevent coronary heart disease is to decrease ones controllable risk factors through life style changes.
There are uncontrollable risk factors that are unavoidable, and out of ones control.
Age: Risk of heart disease increases over the age of 45 in males, over 55 in females.
Family History: Children of parents that developed heart disease before the age of 55 have a higher risk of developing heart disease.
Racial and ethnic background: Mexican Americans, African Americans, American Indians, all have greater risk of developing heart disease than Caucasians.
Risk Factors that can be controlled with life style changes are as follows:
Smoking: Cigarette smokers are at greater risk than pipe and cigar smokers. All forms of tobacco are proven to be detrimental to the hearts health.
Studies have provided good documentation that Second hand smoke is also known to be detrimental to heart health.
Physical Inactivity: Inactivity puts a person at higher risk of developing heart disease.
Overweight or Obesity: Persons that have an excess of body fat are at a higher risk than persons of normal weight.
High blood pressure: blood pressure readings higher than 140/90 increase risk of heart disease.
High Blood Cholesterol: A blood cholesterol levels of 200 mg/dl or higher puts one at risk to develop heart disease.
One must keep in mind that the fewer risk factors one has, the lesser chance of developing heart disease. Two or more risk factors indicate a good possibility that one may be pron to develop heart disease. It is clear that some of the risk factors listed can be avoided with life style changes.
A good place to began, develop a good exercise routine. The hardest part of exercising is getting started. Chose an exercise that is low impact, and make sure to consult your doctor before getting started. Once you have a good exercise routine, you might be surprised how much you enjoy it? Walking is a great way to get your exercise, just 30 minutes three times a week will give good results. Naturally it would be more beneficial to walk every day.
Diet is also very important when promoting a healthy heart life style. It is very important to consult a doctor before starting any new diet. Your doctor will take all risk factors that are affecting you as an individual into consideration, considering problems such as increased cholesterol, high blood pressure, a need to lose weight. Your new diet should be personally geared to assist you with getting that healthy heart you desire.
Last of all, but not least, if you smoke, stop. Smoking is considered the worst risk factor one can have. This fact is backed by a multitude of scientific studies. Studies that give way to substantial evidence that smoking will ultimately lead to poor heart health.
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The heart is a muscle, it is as small as a fist, and its main function is to pump blood to the entire body. This blood supply is responsible for taking nourishing oxygen to cells that enable each cell to perform its bodily function. In turn the spent blood is returned with harmful carbon dioxide to be expelled via the lungs. This miraculous muscle is literary what keeps us alive and breathing.
The healthy adult body contains about 2 gallons (5 liters) of blood. This blood supply is constantly circulated through the body, via heart, arteries to capillaries to the veins. One entire cycle takes about 60 seconds.
If any part of the circulatory system suffers due to disease, the heart will ultimately be put under greater stress and in time become damaged, and unable to do its job. If the heart is unable to function properly the body will become vulnerable to a variety of health problems.
There are several risk factors that can increase ones chances of developing coronary heart disease. Many of these risk factors can be treated or controlled, some factors are uncontrollable. It is every important to become well acquainted with the risk factors of heart disease. One of the best ways to prevent coronary heart disease is to decrease ones controllable risk factors through life style changes.
There are uncontrollable risk factors that are unavoidable, and out of ones control.
Age: Risk of heart disease increases over the age of 45 in males, over 55 in females.
Family History: Children of parents that developed heart disease before the age of 55 have a higher risk of developing heart disease.
Racial and ethnic background: Mexican Americans, African Americans, American Indians, all have greater risk of developing heart disease than Caucasians.
Risk Factors that can be controlled with life style changes are as follows:
Smoking: Cigarette smokers are at greater risk than pipe and cigar smokers. All forms of tobacco are proven to be detrimental to the hearts health.
Studies have provided good documentation that Second hand smoke is also known to be detrimental to heart health.
Physical Inactivity: Inactivity puts a person at higher risk of developing heart disease.
Overweight or Obesity: Persons that have an excess of body fat are at a higher risk than persons of normal weight.
High blood pressure: blood pressure readings higher than 140/90 increase risk of heart disease.
High Blood Cholesterol: A blood cholesterol levels of 200 mg/dl or higher puts one at risk to develop heart disease.
One must keep in mind that the fewer risk factors one has, the lesser chance of developing heart disease. Two or more risk factors indicate a good possibility that one may be pron to develop heart disease. It is clear that some of the risk factors listed can be avoided with life style changes.
A good place to began, develop a good exercise routine. The hardest part of exercising is getting started. Chose an exercise that is low impact, and make sure to consult your doctor before getting started. Once you have a good exercise routine, you might be surprised how much you enjoy it? Walking is a great way to get your exercise, just 30 minutes three times a week will give good results. Naturally it would be more beneficial to walk every day.
Diet is also very important when promoting a healthy heart life style. It is very important to consult a doctor before starting any new diet. Your doctor will take all risk factors that are affecting you as an individual into consideration, considering problems such as increased cholesterol, high blood pressure, a need to lose weight. Your new diet should be personally geared to assist you with getting that healthy heart you desire.
Last of all, but not least, if you smoke, stop. Smoking is considered the worst risk factor one can have. This fact is backed by a multitude of scientific studies. Studies that give way to substantial evidence that smoking will ultimately lead to poor heart health.
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Heart Health vs. Holistic Health
Jarett Sabirsh asked:
It’s often said that a certain food or vitamin is “good for the heart” or “good for the eyes”, and while this is partly true, it’s also highly necessary to understand that what is good for your heart, is good for the entire body. Your heart does not exist separate from the rest of the body. Your circulatory system doesn’t exist separate from the rest of the body’s systems. Every single system in your body is intricately woven into every other one.
If you took out your heart, what would happen? The entire body dies, of course. What happens if you take out the brain? Again, the whole body dies. Of course, sometimes we have certain particular body parts removed surgically, and the body is able to continue functioning, but nobody can deny that the absence of that part doesn’t affect the way the body as a whole functions.
Your circulatory system isn’t “over here”, while your respiratory system, endocrine system, or brain is “over there”. They are not isolated from each other. They are not two or three. They are one. Every system, every cell, every function, every movement, every thought, and every emotion, is part of a whole body. Ultimately, not a single cell in your body exists separately from any other. What affects one, affects the whole.
Your brain requires blood, oxygen, and nutrients for optimal performance, and your heart needs nutrients, energy, positive peaceful emotions, and a stable mind in order to be optimally healthy. What affects one system, affects all systems. What affects one cell, affects the body as a whole.
Because your brain doesn’t exist separate from your heart, or from any other system, your thoughts, emotions, attitudes, perceptions, and opinions affect the body’s overall state of health just as much as anything else, if not more so. The “placebo effect” and “nocebo effect” is in fact, in effect 100% of the time. The placebo effect is that which is positive, healthy, peaceful, beneficial, truthful, and works in our favor. The nocebo effect is that which is negative, unhealthy, stressful, false, and works against us.
No one part of your body can be successfully healed, or “cured”, without taking care of the body/mind as a whole. Thus, the practice of “holistic health”, which has far greater success rates at reversing degenerative diseases than the common mainstream approaches. Traditional western medicine is often reductionist, only focusing on isolated individual systems, and that is precisely its limitation. Mainstream western medicine very often doesn’t take into account the nutrients that we provide our cells, or the emotional aspects of the brain’s workings.
Some of the more enlightened doctors and scientists who are aware of this however, even estimate that up to 90% of all health issues and diseases are at least somewhat, if not significantly, the result of stressful negative mentalities. They understand that negative emotions and attitudes are stressful on our body and cells because they increase blood pressure levels, overload the adrenal glands, restrict oxygen flow, and more. They also realize that when we eat an unhealthy food, that affects our entire mind and body as a whole in a stressful negative manner. When we eat a life sustaining healthy food, that uplifts and heals the entire mind/body.
Because all the systems of the body are one, and because the body has many needs for its many functions, we need a diet with an all-encompassing range of nutrients. That is, we need to give it the whole gamut of required tools. The all-encompassing health benefits that people receive as a result of doing this, are of course, absolutely incredible. I can’t recommend highly enough, that you too, incorporate this information into your daily health routine.
To sum it up, a person’s state of overall physical and mental health is a perfect reflection of their dietary habits, their emotional well-being, their level of awareness/truth, their environmental influences, and their choices. And since all of these come down to choice, nobody can save us, heal us, or cure us, except ourselves. Neither I, or a doctor, can change you. Only you can change yourself.
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It’s often said that a certain food or vitamin is “good for the heart” or “good for the eyes”, and while this is partly true, it’s also highly necessary to understand that what is good for your heart, is good for the entire body. Your heart does not exist separate from the rest of the body. Your circulatory system doesn’t exist separate from the rest of the body’s systems. Every single system in your body is intricately woven into every other one.
If you took out your heart, what would happen? The entire body dies, of course. What happens if you take out the brain? Again, the whole body dies. Of course, sometimes we have certain particular body parts removed surgically, and the body is able to continue functioning, but nobody can deny that the absence of that part doesn’t affect the way the body as a whole functions.
Your circulatory system isn’t “over here”, while your respiratory system, endocrine system, or brain is “over there”. They are not isolated from each other. They are not two or three. They are one. Every system, every cell, every function, every movement, every thought, and every emotion, is part of a whole body. Ultimately, not a single cell in your body exists separately from any other. What affects one, affects the whole.
Your brain requires blood, oxygen, and nutrients for optimal performance, and your heart needs nutrients, energy, positive peaceful emotions, and a stable mind in order to be optimally healthy. What affects one system, affects all systems. What affects one cell, affects the body as a whole.
Because your brain doesn’t exist separate from your heart, or from any other system, your thoughts, emotions, attitudes, perceptions, and opinions affect the body’s overall state of health just as much as anything else, if not more so. The “placebo effect” and “nocebo effect” is in fact, in effect 100% of the time. The placebo effect is that which is positive, healthy, peaceful, beneficial, truthful, and works in our favor. The nocebo effect is that which is negative, unhealthy, stressful, false, and works against us.
No one part of your body can be successfully healed, or “cured”, without taking care of the body/mind as a whole. Thus, the practice of “holistic health”, which has far greater success rates at reversing degenerative diseases than the common mainstream approaches. Traditional western medicine is often reductionist, only focusing on isolated individual systems, and that is precisely its limitation. Mainstream western medicine very often doesn’t take into account the nutrients that we provide our cells, or the emotional aspects of the brain’s workings.
Some of the more enlightened doctors and scientists who are aware of this however, even estimate that up to 90% of all health issues and diseases are at least somewhat, if not significantly, the result of stressful negative mentalities. They understand that negative emotions and attitudes are stressful on our body and cells because they increase blood pressure levels, overload the adrenal glands, restrict oxygen flow, and more. They also realize that when we eat an unhealthy food, that affects our entire mind and body as a whole in a stressful negative manner. When we eat a life sustaining healthy food, that uplifts and heals the entire mind/body.
Because all the systems of the body are one, and because the body has many needs for its many functions, we need a diet with an all-encompassing range of nutrients. That is, we need to give it the whole gamut of required tools. The all-encompassing health benefits that people receive as a result of doing this, are of course, absolutely incredible. I can’t recommend highly enough, that you too, incorporate this information into your daily health routine.
To sum it up, a person’s state of overall physical and mental health is a perfect reflection of their dietary habits, their emotional well-being, their level of awareness/truth, their environmental influences, and their choices. And since all of these come down to choice, nobody can save us, heal us, or cure us, except ourselves. Neither I, or a doctor, can change you. Only you can change yourself.
Caffeinated Content
Coenzyme Q10, Statins, And Heart Health
Byron J Richards asked:
Coenzyme Q10 is a top cardio-friendly nutrient. Your heart has very high energy requirements and never gets to take any time off. Q10 is required for the proper production of energy at an optimal rate, around your body and specifically for your heart. If you lack it, you will be more tired and you will make free radicals instead of energy. If you lack Q10 within your heart it will speed up the aging process and weaken your heart.
Q10 also operates as a direct antioxidant in cell membranes, meaning that it is highly protective to your overall circulatory system, having a direct benefit to support healthy blood pressure. It also acts as an antioxidant team player, helping vitamins E and C maintain their antioxidant roles which provides additional synergistic cardiovascular protection.
It is very clear from the literature that statins interfere with the natural production of Q10, which is evidenced by lower blood levels of Q10 in patients taking statins. It has been known for over a decade that statin drugs reduce Q10 levels as much as 25% and that 100 mg of Q10 is enough to offset a relatively low dose of statins (20 mg of Zocor.)
Since Q10 is essential for energy production within cells, energy is reduced. This results in fatigue, makes it more difficult to exercise, and is part of the reason for muscle aches and pains in some statin-taking patients. The interference with cell energy production results in an increased production of lactic acid, which contributes to muscle aches. In patients with muscle pain associated with statin use a double blind study showed that 100 mg per day of Q10 reduced pain by 40%.
The medical profession does not endorse the widespread use of Q10 with all statin takers because it cannot be proven that a lack of Q10 is the cause of all statin-related muscle pain. This will never be proven, because statins cause muscle pain in multiple ways. Statins turn on gene signals that damage muscles in a percentage of patients, independent of Q10. It seems to elude the logic of doctors that if a drug causes a depletion of a nutrient then the nutrient should be consumed to make up for the deficiency.
One study showed that the adverse side effects in fifty consecutive patients was so bad (muscle pain, fatigue, difficulty breathing, memory loss, and nerve problems) that they were all taken of statins and put on 240 mg a day of Q10 to recover. After a year the great majority of adverse side effects had been cleared up. It is pretty obvious that the side effects of statins are under-reported.
One of the serious side effects of statins is actual damage to the heart resulting in the condition known as cardiomyopathy. The severe side effects of statins in people over 70 are so bad that their use cannot be justified. Indeed, there are now over 450,000 new cases of heart failure per year in this older group of Americans, and it is likely that statins are a cause of this dramatically expanding health problem.
An animal study helps shed light on why some people may get cardiomyopathy and others don’t. Animals lacking in friendly nitric oxide (eNOS), which manifests as high blood pressure, were more at risk of cardiovascular toxicity from statins. This is interesting because Q10 is also an antioxidant and a lack of eNOS implies that antioxidants in the circulatory system are already low. Also, as fatigue in any individual increases then free radicals within cells increase, something that Q10 helps reduce.
Thus, if Q10 levels are driven down even further it might cause major problems. This means the worse the health a person is in, the greater the need to be sure to take Q10, especially if on a statin. The combination of high blood pressure and type II diabetes would flag an individual already seriously lacking eNOS activity. Indeed, a brand new study shows that 200 mg of Q10 per day improves circulation in type II diabetic patients taking statins.
On the other side of the coin, taking Q10 is helpful in restoring cellular energy production within your heart and around your body. It also helps reduce free radical production in your general circulation, improving the status of friendly nitric oxide to relax your vascular system – thereby supporting healthy blood pressure.
These positive influences of Q10 for cardiovascular health extend far beyond the notion of simply correcting a deficiency. It is more of an anti-aging concept for your cardiovascular system.
The fact that for those taking statins their Q10 is lowered as an adverse side effect is a very serious health issue. This is especially true for older Americans or for anyone who has a more advanced situation of poor health, such as type II diabetes and high blood pressure.
Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans being given statins who are in this high risk health category wherein a lack of Q10 could aggravate already lacking antioxidant and energy systems, thus making their heart health worse. It is shocking that the rate of heart failure in those over the age of 65 has doubled over the past two decades in direct proportion to the increase of statin use – with over 450,000 extra cases of heart failure per year.
This new finding on heart failure was reported for the very first time at last fall’s yearly meeting of the American Heart Association. It received very little press, while the media was instead fed another round of faulty vitamin E data – an ongoing attempt by the AHA to get consumers to stop taking vitamins and just take drugs.
It is not easy to sweep 450,000 cases of serious injury under the rug. I seem to be the only one, even in the alternative health industry, who is pointing out this glaring problem. If you are taking a statin it is prudent to consume a dose of Q10 ranging from 100 mg – 300 mg a day. Higher doses would be warranted for those in poorer health.
And for anyone, keep in mind that Q10 is a top cardio-friendly nutrient that can help keep you energized, your heart happy, and your circulation flowing along in a less stressed condition.
Related Entries:
Top Cholesterol and Statin News of the Past Year
For a fully referenced article: Coenzyme Q10, Statins, and Heart Health.
For Byron’s Free E-Health News Letter
Caffeinated Content
Coenzyme Q10 is a top cardio-friendly nutrient. Your heart has very high energy requirements and never gets to take any time off. Q10 is required for the proper production of energy at an optimal rate, around your body and specifically for your heart. If you lack it, you will be more tired and you will make free radicals instead of energy. If you lack Q10 within your heart it will speed up the aging process and weaken your heart.
Q10 also operates as a direct antioxidant in cell membranes, meaning that it is highly protective to your overall circulatory system, having a direct benefit to support healthy blood pressure. It also acts as an antioxidant team player, helping vitamins E and C maintain their antioxidant roles which provides additional synergistic cardiovascular protection.
It is very clear from the literature that statins interfere with the natural production of Q10, which is evidenced by lower blood levels of Q10 in patients taking statins. It has been known for over a decade that statin drugs reduce Q10 levels as much as 25% and that 100 mg of Q10 is enough to offset a relatively low dose of statins (20 mg of Zocor.)
Since Q10 is essential for energy production within cells, energy is reduced. This results in fatigue, makes it more difficult to exercise, and is part of the reason for muscle aches and pains in some statin-taking patients. The interference with cell energy production results in an increased production of lactic acid, which contributes to muscle aches. In patients with muscle pain associated with statin use a double blind study showed that 100 mg per day of Q10 reduced pain by 40%.
The medical profession does not endorse the widespread use of Q10 with all statin takers because it cannot be proven that a lack of Q10 is the cause of all statin-related muscle pain. This will never be proven, because statins cause muscle pain in multiple ways. Statins turn on gene signals that damage muscles in a percentage of patients, independent of Q10. It seems to elude the logic of doctors that if a drug causes a depletion of a nutrient then the nutrient should be consumed to make up for the deficiency.
One study showed that the adverse side effects in fifty consecutive patients was so bad (muscle pain, fatigue, difficulty breathing, memory loss, and nerve problems) that they were all taken of statins and put on 240 mg a day of Q10 to recover. After a year the great majority of adverse side effects had been cleared up. It is pretty obvious that the side effects of statins are under-reported.
One of the serious side effects of statins is actual damage to the heart resulting in the condition known as cardiomyopathy. The severe side effects of statins in people over 70 are so bad that their use cannot be justified. Indeed, there are now over 450,000 new cases of heart failure per year in this older group of Americans, and it is likely that statins are a cause of this dramatically expanding health problem.
An animal study helps shed light on why some people may get cardiomyopathy and others don’t. Animals lacking in friendly nitric oxide (eNOS), which manifests as high blood pressure, were more at risk of cardiovascular toxicity from statins. This is interesting because Q10 is also an antioxidant and a lack of eNOS implies that antioxidants in the circulatory system are already low. Also, as fatigue in any individual increases then free radicals within cells increase, something that Q10 helps reduce.
Thus, if Q10 levels are driven down even further it might cause major problems. This means the worse the health a person is in, the greater the need to be sure to take Q10, especially if on a statin. The combination of high blood pressure and type II diabetes would flag an individual already seriously lacking eNOS activity. Indeed, a brand new study shows that 200 mg of Q10 per day improves circulation in type II diabetic patients taking statins.
On the other side of the coin, taking Q10 is helpful in restoring cellular energy production within your heart and around your body. It also helps reduce free radical production in your general circulation, improving the status of friendly nitric oxide to relax your vascular system – thereby supporting healthy blood pressure.
These positive influences of Q10 for cardiovascular health extend far beyond the notion of simply correcting a deficiency. It is more of an anti-aging concept for your cardiovascular system.
The fact that for those taking statins their Q10 is lowered as an adverse side effect is a very serious health issue. This is especially true for older Americans or for anyone who has a more advanced situation of poor health, such as type II diabetes and high blood pressure.
Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans being given statins who are in this high risk health category wherein a lack of Q10 could aggravate already lacking antioxidant and energy systems, thus making their heart health worse. It is shocking that the rate of heart failure in those over the age of 65 has doubled over the past two decades in direct proportion to the increase of statin use – with over 450,000 extra cases of heart failure per year.
This new finding on heart failure was reported for the very first time at last fall’s yearly meeting of the American Heart Association. It received very little press, while the media was instead fed another round of faulty vitamin E data – an ongoing attempt by the AHA to get consumers to stop taking vitamins and just take drugs.
It is not easy to sweep 450,000 cases of serious injury under the rug. I seem to be the only one, even in the alternative health industry, who is pointing out this glaring problem. If you are taking a statin it is prudent to consume a dose of Q10 ranging from 100 mg – 300 mg a day. Higher doses would be warranted for those in poorer health.
And for anyone, keep in mind that Q10 is a top cardio-friendly nutrient that can help keep you energized, your heart happy, and your circulation flowing along in a less stressed condition.
Related Entries:
Top Cholesterol and Statin News of the Past Year
For a fully referenced article: Coenzyme Q10, Statins, and Heart Health.
For Byron’s Free E-Health News Letter
Caffeinated Content