How to prevent Heart Disease?
Many medical sites give the specifics of how to prevent heart disease, no smoking, low fat diet, lower cholesterol, and exercise. We at Peace and Healing will also target these issues;however what is MORE important than these issues is getting the patient to comply. Motivation, desire and the want to actually be compliant with prevention. This becomes an enormous issue. We know how to prevent heart disease, how to improve, but we struggle with motivating the patient to actually comply. Compliance appears to increase with fear. If one experiences a heart attack, or has a close relative pass away then there seems to be an increase in compliance. There is also the exception to the rule. I have had numerous patients who after one and two heart attacks, having stents, the need to be on oxygen daily, and living a more debilitating life still go on to smoke and eat what they want. These personalities are intriguing to me and are disclosing about their personalities.
How cigarette smoking is a risk factor for heart disease?
According to Currents Medical Diagnoses 2010, 1.7 million deaths were contributed to cardiovascular disease from smoking. Smoking is responsible for one in every four deaths in the United States. Smokers die approximately seven years earlier than non-smokers, twice the risk of fatal heart disease, and ten time the risk of chronic lung disease. What many do not realize it is one of the leading causes of bladder cancer due to the tar laying in the bottom of the bladder, and is also a contributor to bone degeneration and increased risk for mouth cancer, stomach cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Facial wrinkles increase, as well as macular degeneration. Recently it has been shown that decreased hearing is a secondary problem from smoking as smoking decreases blood flow to the inner ear mechanism.
Stopping smoking adds some years to your life. For example a woman who stops at around thirty-five will add around two years to her life expectancy. Quitting is important at any time. the success rate in stopping without any pharmacological help is about four percent.
How to quit smoking?
The highest efficacy rate for successfully quitting smoking is a multi-treatment approach. The approach is medication like Chantix, nicotine patches that are slowly withdrawn, a great support network and a group approach of support. When using a patch plus medication one increases their risk to stop smoking by two fold. If one should fail, I am an advocate of trying again and again. Those that keep trying have an increased chance down the road of being successful. Remember nicotine increases dopamine in the brain, that pleasure chemical that is released when feeling good. The addiction potential is very high. Do not beat yourself up, but instead get motivated and realize you might fail, however you can always try again. Any cigarette that is not smoked is a benefit to your body.
How to correct high cholesterol and lipid disorders?
The two most important components of cholesterol are low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL.) Of course there are other factors that correlate directly with the dangers of cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight and hereditary issues of having high cholesterol. (HDL) is what I call the happy cholesterol which is beneficial and “clean” if you will the arterial walls, the (LDL) is the unhappy cholesterol which sticks to the artery walls that is one of the foundations for the clot that causes heart attacks. There is ample confusion and controversy on what the numbers should be. The reason for this is the ever changing research and knowledge of what can be beneficial. My personal cardiologist wants my (LDL) to be below seventy and my (HDL) to be above forty, preferably higher. Many feel having your (LDL) just under one hundred is good enough. If there is a family history it should be as low as possible.
As you may have read the statin drugs that lower cholesterol are giving us new benefits. Helping with dementia, and parkinson’s. There are a variety of statins that target just the (LDL) and some that lower (LDL) and raise (HDL.) Of course side effects can occur. Fatigue, upset stomach, and muscle aches can occur. you should be proactive when any unusual side effect occurs with any medication. See your clinician.
Why is hypertension a risk factor for heart disease?
Let us address what is a blood pressure. There are two numbers that are obtained from a blood pressure. the top number, the systolic and the bottom number the diastolic. For a simple explanation the systolic is the amount of pressure exerted on all your arteries, brain, heart, kidneys throughout your body when the heart is pumping. The diastolic, the lower number is the amount pressure exerted when your heart is at rest. Imagine a garden hose which we will use as a symbol of your artery. Your blood pressure is constantly exerting a certain amount of pressure on this garden hose 24/7. For the most part blood pressure is asymptomatic. This why it is referred to as the silent killer.
Placing an elevated pressure on your arterial walls can eventually weaken a certain area of an artery. Individuals are at risk for stroke, kidney failure, and other maladies due to this abnormal pressure.Prevention of blood pressure rising are the following: lose weight, exercise, fruits and vegetables, decrease alcohol intake, decrease sugar intake and stop smoking.
Again a family history of hypertension, being a male, certain ethnic groups like African American all are risk factors for hypertension.
Current Medical Diagnoses by Lange 2010.