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Heart disease seems to be growing in every segment of our population, especially for women. How much is preventable?
One out of every three women die because of cardiovascular disease but this is not a new phenomenon. Women have simply become more aware of the threat rather than become more vulnerable. The fact is that cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of all Americans, men and women, with coronary heart disease and strokes killing more than 650,000 each year.
What is troubling are despite fewer people smoking, better blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring, and more cholesterol testing, the number of heart disease deaths has remained very high.
Americans undergo more than 500,000 heart bypass operations, almost 600,000 artery-opening angioplasties, and over a million procedures to diagnose heart disease each year, at a cost of $70 billion.
We spend more than $30 billion a year on drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure alone and if you add diabetes medications the number grows substantially.
The causes of cardiovascular diseases are well known. We have access to best prescription drugs ever discovered and after over 30 years, heart disease is still the number one killer. Does this mean heart disease is inevitable? No! The time has come to face the reality that to beat the odds you need to do more than take drugs.
The medical establishment has finally come to terms with the realization that what we eat and how much we exercise are very important in reducing cardiovascular disease in America. There is also an appreciation that certain nutritional supplements can be very useful.
What we eat is a major deciding factor in heart disease. A diet based on vegetables, beans, whole grains, fruits, fish, and low-fat animal and diary products can significantly reduce heart disease risks.
A regimen of regular exercise is also very cardio-protective. Regular exercise lowers blood pressure and blood sugar. It helps you maintain a heart-healthy weight. The heart is muscle and needs to work to stay healthy. The most active individuals have the lowest rates of heart disease.
Nutritional supplements can provide significant heart protective benefits.
Three safe B vitamins - folic acid, B6 and B12 are the most effective way to lower harmful homocysteine levels. Numerous studies have found a substantially higher risk of heart disease and stroke in people with high homocysteine levels.
Another B vitamin, niacin, can raise good cholesterol levels and lower triglyceride levels.
A class of nutrients called phytosterols can lower bad cholesterol levels by about 10% by blocking the intestinal absorption of cholesterol. They can be used safely with the statins because they do not involve the liver.
Researchers have known for over twenty years that the long-chained omega-3 nutrients, DHA and EPA, found in fish oil are very heart protective. Recently, for the first time, the American Heart Association advised that patients with known heart disease should use a pill supplement to get the recommended 1,000 mg of EPA/DHA each day. Studies showed that sudden death heart disease rates dropped by 40% when patients followed these guidelines.
The only way to reduce the heart disease rates in America is for each one of us to know our risks and then do something proactive to reduce that risk. A healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet is a good place to start.
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