TheWellnessLiving Health Tips

How to protect your heart!

Annually, cardiovascular diseases kill about 17 million people. According to specialists, healthy diet, avoid sedentary lifestyle and smoking cessation can reduce by 80% the number of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease. According to data provided by WHO, in our country, cardiovascular mortality rate is 61% of total deaths compared with 37% EU average

Check your blood pressure at least once a year! – Cardiovascular disease is ranked as the cause of death in Europe, both in women and men, according to the European Charter of cardiovascular health. Incidence and consequences of cardiovascular disease can be reduced through early diagnosis, proper management of the disease, recovery and prevention, including advice on lifestyle organization

The main risk factors are hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol. At least 20% of hypertensive patients who present to a medical not know they have hypertension, their blood pressure is even in higher values. For this reason, blood pressure check is required at least once a year, even in the absence of disease manifestations.

Attention to diet! – Lifestyle is a word with many implications: nutrition, smoking, mode of activity (stress), rest periods, exercise, psychological aspects.

It is known that excess pounds are a risk factor for many diseases, and this rule applies in the case of cardiovascular diseases. Above the normal weight is an important risk factor for heart, blood pressure rises, as happens with triglycerides and bad cholesterol (LDL) and good cholesterol (HDL) decreases. Clinical studies show that each kilo lost is important, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke attack.

As for diet, Dr. Andrew warns that food is medicine, do not cure but works on long term with a prophylactic effect. It indicated to reduce salt consumption, consumption of animal fats and fiber, fruits and vegetables. It is very important to exercise, at least 30 minutes a day.

Cholesterol: the key to heart disease

In fact, treatment to lower cholesterol in the category of people who have been diagnosed with heart problems who have such symptoms, is extremely beneficial to the health of the individual. Persons who had a heart attack or heart disease are prone to angina pectoris, peripheral arterial problems, abdominal aortic aneurysm or carotid artery disease, or those who had surgery, may be affected 7 times faster than others.

A lot of studies have shown that those already suffering from heart disease are successful in terms of cholesterol-lowering treatment. No matter what method they choose, they will increase their chances of avoiding a heart attack or other diseases.

Indeed, according to a study done in 1999 on the treatment of revascularization suggests that statin-based treatment – used in an aggressive treatment for lowering total LDL – is as effective as angioplasty in helping people to avoid a heart attack, palpitations, sudden stings. In this study, 314 people with diseases of the coronary artery were randomly chosen to make a treatment daily with their medication. After 18 months, those taking statin (inhibitor reducers) no longer needed a surgical intervention.

Following these trials, specialists recommend aggressive treatment for lowering cholesterol for all categories of persons who survived a heart attack, but also those who have LDL levels greater than 100mg/dl. Moreover, experts note that 70mg/dL LDL in people who have heart problems, is not a good. To control cholesterol, besides medicines should follow a healthy lifestyle, which include a diet and exercise.

New researchs revealed that statin therapy has other effects besides lowering cholesterol, such as improving the functioning of blood vessels narrow. Also, other positive effects that statin may be observable over the body after 30 days of treatment.

Despite the records that a treatment to lower cholesterol is safe and effective in people with heart disease, most people who deserve and need to do a treatment, do not do it. This situation arises because some doctors recommend a wrong medicine, and some patients are treated by the ear.

Anti-atherogenic effects of resveratrol. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jul;64(7):660-8 Authors: Ramprasath VR, Jones PJ Resveratrol (RS), a polyphenol compound found in grapes and grape products, including wine, peanuts and berries, exists in cis- and trans-isomeric forms. RS is believed to decrease circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, it is possible that RS has other mechanisms to reduce the risk of CVD without altering lipid levels. The objective of this review is to critically examine results from recent research concerning potential effects of RS on CVD. RS exerts several health benefits including anti-atherogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. RS may also prevent lipid oxidation, platelet aggregation, arterial vasodilation and modulates the levels of lipids and lipoproteins. As a potent, anti-oxidant RS reduces oxidative stress and regenerates alpha-tocopherol, which further strengthens the anti-oxidant defense mechanism. RS has been considered safe as no significant toxic effects have been identified, even when consumed at higher concentrations. This evidence identified RS as an effective anti-atherogenic agent, which could be used in the prevention and treatment of CVD. PMID: 20485301 [PubMed - in process]

Resveratrol and cardiovascular health. Mol Aspects Med. 2010 Sep 15; Authors: Das M, Das DK Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene) is a member of natural, plant-derived chemicals known as polyphenols and is attracting increased attention due to its diverse health benefits especially in case of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and neurological problems. Despite impressive gains in diagnosis and treatment, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a serious clinical problem and threat to public health. Resveratrol possesses potent antioxidant properties and has been shown to decrease low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol oxidation and platelet aggregation. This compound also possesses a range of additional cardioprotective and vasoprotective properties including antiatherosclerotic and vasorelaxation action. Resveratrol also has the capacity to interact with multiple molecular targets, which involve diverse intracellular pathways. Most well-known is the ability of resveratrol to activate sirtuins, a class of NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase that affect multiple transcription factors and other protein targets. Recently, resveratrol was found to induce autophagy and regenerate myocardial ischemic tissue treated with stem cells. Overall observation indicates that resveratrol has a high therapeutic potentials for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. PMID: 20837050 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]