How heart protection has evolved….
Today's Post: Friday, 7-10-2009
1. It started by looking at total cholesterol.
People who had levels a lot higher than 250 seemed to get a lot more heart attacks. And, people who had levels less than 170 seemed to get less.
But close to half the heart attacks happened to people between 200 & 250. So just getting below 250 wasn’t extremely protective.
2. Then researchers found that HDL cholesterol, even though it added to the total was actually protective! It seems that it was the LDL cholesterol that was harmful.
Now, not a lot of focus is on total cholesterol if you can test HDL and LDL. And, it seems that with the protective HDL over 50 or 60 is good and over 90 is better. With LDL over 160 tends to be associated with more heart attacks than close to 100 or a bit less.
3. Then researchers found that larger, fluffier LDL tended to roll along your blood vessels like a tumbleweed or beach ball and caused few problems. However, the tiny LDL particles were literally so small they fit into the molecular cracks on your blood vessel walls and act much like pouring fine sand into an engine and cause the build up of the sludge that causes heart disease and heart attacks.
4. It was then discovered that the ratio of HDL to triglycerides which are each only moderately expensive to test, was virtually a match for measuring the small particle LDL which was very expensive.
People with triglyceride levels above 150 and HDL below 40 had a lot of small particle LDL while people with triglyceride levels below 100 and HDL over 60 had very little.
This is quite important to know.
We know that regular, vigorous exercise from brisk walking, to running, to interval cardio, and to strength training decrease small particle LDL directly which increases HDL & lowers triglycerides.
On the bad side, we now know that all hydrogenated vegetable oils whether partially or completely and the trans fats this generates directly INCREASE small particle LDL!
This means this junk is literally heart attack starter. Never ingest it if you can possibly avoid it. The safe amount to consume is basically zero!
Warning: Today about half of the products on your grocery store shelves that contain fat, still contain this stuff.
So, if the label has anything other than 0 trans fats leave it on the shelf and don’t eat it if someone else buys it. Unfortunately, 0.49 grams per serving can still be listed as 0. So, if you eat five of the servings as many do, you will really get 2.45 grams of trans fat.
So, you also have to avoid any food whatever that lists partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient.
(Note that interesterified fat, is actually 100% hydrogenated oil. It has all the effects of the partial kind and causes type 2 diabetes in addition. Some companies may try to use it to avoid bans on partially hydrogenated oil.)
Niacin increases HDL and lowers LDL. It seems it also lowers triglycerides as well.
That means that niacin directly lowers small particle LDL. That goes a long way towards explaining why niacin has been found to lower death rates better than statin drugs.
5. But we also know that tiny cracks in your artery walls and other damage to your artery walls tend to promote heart disease since they both sludge up and your body may even send cholesterol to those locations to seal them up according to the theory I’ve read.
This means that things that keep your arteries from developing these cracks such as high intakes of vitamin C and the amino acid lysine, and possibly the amino acid proline really do prevent heart disease as Linus Pauling and Dr Mathias Rath have said they do. (Apparently the blood marker Lp(a) measures this damage. When it’s high so are heart attacks. When it’s low there are few heart attacks and your blood vessels, if examined, tend to be clear of plaque.)
This also means that oxidized LDL which can damage your artery walls is much worse than LDL which is not oxidized. So, antioxidant supplements & foods containing them also help prevent heart disease.
Lastly, blood sugar that is too high and possibly insulin levels that are too high directly damage your blood vessels. That’s why type 2 diabetes causes extra heart attacks, blindness, kidney damage, and foot amputations.
Since inflammation can either damage your blood vessels or cause your body to try to patch them, it’s also important we now know to keep inflammation low.
Gum disease causes inflammation and it looks like the bacteria it feeds may do so also. We definitely have found that it tends to cause heart disease. Brushing your teeth at the gumline twice and then flossing at least once every single day & seeing your dentist every 6 months for a teeth cleaning may seem a strange way to protect your heart. But it does.
6. We used to think that a large intake of butter, cream, full fat cheese, full fat milk and fatty meat tended to cause heart disease due to it increasing LDL cholesterol. This looks accurate though as you’ve seen, you need to do more to get full protection.
But we used to think sugar wasn’t that bad. Oops!!
Ingesting sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and refined grains often or a LOT and not eating many vegetables or exercising not only makes people fat, it increases triglycerides, inflammation, high blood sugar, and often type 2 diabetes. That means it is about as bad for your heart as trans fats or cigarettes!
7. Cigarettes and second hand smoke, not only have been proven to cause plaque build up in your arteries, lowering your HDL and making what’s left ineffective at keeping your blood vessels clear, we now know that cigarette smoke triggers heart attacks.
Yep. That means smoking causes the build up of heart disease and then triggers heart attacks too.
Smoking actually kills far more people this way than the cancers it causes.
Gradually most doctors are learning this. But very few smokers know it.
The bad news is that we now know that you need to do a lot of work to prevent heart disease.
The good news is that if you do it, besides NOT getting heart attacks, strokes, and ED, you’ll be far less fat, live longer for other reasons too, and you’ll escape type 2 diabetes, and are much more likely to avoid senility including Alzheimer’s disease.
Today's Post: Friday, 7-10-2009
1. It started by looking at total cholesterol.
People who had levels a lot higher than 250 seemed to get a lot more heart attacks. And, people who had levels less than 170 seemed to get less.
But close to half the heart attacks happened to people between 200 & 250. So just getting below 250 wasn’t extremely protective.
2. Then researchers found that HDL cholesterol, even though it added to the total was actually protective! It seems that it was the LDL cholesterol that was harmful.
Now, not a lot of focus is on total cholesterol if you can test HDL and LDL. And, it seems that with the protective HDL over 50 or 60 is good and over 90 is better. With LDL over 160 tends to be associated with more heart attacks than close to 100 or a bit less.
3. Then researchers found that larger, fluffier LDL tended to roll along your blood vessels like a tumbleweed or beach ball and caused few problems. However, the tiny LDL particles were literally so small they fit into the molecular cracks on your blood vessel walls and act much like pouring fine sand into an engine and cause the build up of the sludge that causes heart disease and heart attacks.
4. It was then discovered that the ratio of HDL to triglycerides which are each only moderately expensive to test, was virtually a match for measuring the small particle LDL which was very expensive.
People with triglyceride levels above 150 and HDL below 40 had a lot of small particle LDL while people with triglyceride levels below 100 and HDL over 60 had very little.
This is quite important to know.
We know that regular, vigorous exercise from brisk walking, to running, to interval cardio, and to strength training decrease small particle LDL directly which increases HDL & lowers triglycerides.
On the bad side, we now know that all hydrogenated vegetable oils whether partially or completely and the trans fats this generates directly INCREASE small particle LDL!
This means this junk is literally heart attack starter. Never ingest it if you can possibly avoid it. The safe amount to consume is basically zero!
Warning: Today about half of the products on your grocery store shelves that contain fat, still contain this stuff.
So, if the label has anything other than 0 trans fats leave it on the shelf and don’t eat it if someone else buys it. Unfortunately, 0.49 grams per serving can still be listed as 0. So, if you eat five of the servings as many do, you will really get 2.45 grams of trans fat.
So, you also have to avoid any food whatever that lists partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient.
(Note that interesterified fat, is actually 100% hydrogenated oil. It has all the effects of the partial kind and causes type 2 diabetes in addition. Some companies may try to use it to avoid bans on partially hydrogenated oil.)
Niacin increases HDL and lowers LDL. It seems it also lowers triglycerides as well.
That means that niacin directly lowers small particle LDL. That goes a long way towards explaining why niacin has been found to lower death rates better than statin drugs.
5. But we also know that tiny cracks in your artery walls and other damage to your artery walls tend to promote heart disease since they both sludge up and your body may even send cholesterol to those locations to seal them up according to the theory I’ve read.
This means that things that keep your arteries from developing these cracks such as high intakes of vitamin C and the amino acid lysine, and possibly the amino acid proline really do prevent heart disease as Linus Pauling and Dr Mathias Rath have said they do. (Apparently the blood marker Lp(a) measures this damage. When it’s high so are heart attacks. When it’s low there are few heart attacks and your blood vessels, if examined, tend to be clear of plaque.)
This also means that oxidized LDL which can damage your artery walls is much worse than LDL which is not oxidized. So, antioxidant supplements & foods containing them also help prevent heart disease.
Lastly, blood sugar that is too high and possibly insulin levels that are too high directly damage your blood vessels. That’s why type 2 diabetes causes extra heart attacks, blindness, kidney damage, and foot amputations.
Since inflammation can either damage your blood vessels or cause your body to try to patch them, it’s also important we now know to keep inflammation low.
Gum disease causes inflammation and it looks like the bacteria it feeds may do so also. We definitely have found that it tends to cause heart disease. Brushing your teeth at the gumline twice and then flossing at least once every single day & seeing your dentist every 6 months for a teeth cleaning may seem a strange way to protect your heart. But it does.
6. We used to think that a large intake of butter, cream, full fat cheese, full fat milk and fatty meat tended to cause heart disease due to it increasing LDL cholesterol. This looks accurate though as you’ve seen, you need to do more to get full protection.
But we used to think sugar wasn’t that bad. Oops!!
Ingesting sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and refined grains often or a LOT and not eating many vegetables or exercising not only makes people fat, it increases triglycerides, inflammation, high blood sugar, and often type 2 diabetes. That means it is about as bad for your heart as trans fats or cigarettes!
7. Cigarettes and second hand smoke, not only have been proven to cause plaque build up in your arteries, lowering your HDL and making what’s left ineffective at keeping your blood vessels clear, we now know that cigarette smoke triggers heart attacks.
Yep. That means smoking causes the build up of heart disease and then triggers heart attacks too.
Smoking actually kills far more people this way than the cancers it causes.
Gradually most doctors are learning this. But very few smokers know it.
The bad news is that we now know that you need to do a lot of work to prevent heart disease.
The good news is that if you do it, besides NOT getting heart attacks, strokes, and ED, you’ll be far less fat, live longer for other reasons too, and you’ll escape type 2 diabetes, and are much more likely to avoid senility including Alzheimer’s disease.
Labels: how heart protection has evolved, how to live longer, prevent heart attacks, prevent heart disease, protect your heart, smoking causes heart attacks, trans fats
posted by David at 2:37 PM
2 Comments:
Good Stuff. You put the HDL/LDL/ Triglyceride thing together in way that is easy to understand.
Great post. A very informative post detailing about all the consequences of heart attack. And especially the consideration point. This is the most serious issue that can save lot of lives during the heart attack of cardiac arrest. In the cases of heart attack and cardiac arrest, or any other heart shocks, time sets to be the most crucial factor for the survival of the patient. Keith Churchwell has extraordinarily explained the pros and cons while handling patient suffering immediate heart attack or cardiac arrest in http://www.wellsphere.com/complementary-alternative-medicine-article/heart-attack-or-cardiac-arrest/610913. The response a person takes to treat a victim decides the probability of his/her survival. It’s been my personal experience fighting to survive against a heart attack. A quick recognization of your bodily responses may increase your chances of survival. Because of having many heart problems, I was enrolled in a concierge Healthcare program from elite health(www.elitehealth.com). I was attacked by a severe heart attack in a party, luckily surrounded by many people. Some of the sudden changes in my body was recognized by me and anticipated immediately. I got a very severe chest pain which was almost unbearable for more than a minute. I got the suspicion that I might be having heart attack, and immediately called my physician on the phone, and explained my condition and its severity. Because of the immediate guidance, I was directed immediately to have an aspirin which I used to carry with me as prescribed by my physician. It was quite a frightening experience for me to face such a heart attack, but somehow I managed to be calm until 911 arrived. I was immediately taken to the nearest hospital, where already my physician were present and have got everything setup according to my medical history. And it was in some matter of seconds that everything was in control. A doctor, who already have the complete knowledge of the medical history and fitness of the person, extra ordinarily ameliorate your recovery process. Hence such a concierge level program from Elite health, helped me a save my life, like many others.
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