Heart disease and high cholesterol are some of the most prevalent health concerns in our country today. One of the things that all of us should be concerned with in our quest to live long and healthy lives is our cholesterol levels. Out of control cholesterol is a leading contributor to heart disease, blood clots and stroke.

Cholesterol comes in two forms. HDL cholesterol or (high density lipoproteins) is what we refer to as “good cholesterol”. HDL cholesterol actually carries bad cholesterol away from the heart and deposits it to the liver so that it can pass from the body. High levels of this type of cholesterol protect you from heart disease. If your levels of this type of cholesterol are too low, the bad cholesterol is allowed to take over.

LDL cholesterol (low density lipoproteins) is the “bad cholesterol”. When too much LDL circulates in the blood, it can build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. It forms plaque, a hard substance that clogs the arteries. This is what we call atherosclerosis. These narrowed arteries make it for a clot to cause a blockage. When an artery is blocked, this can cause heart attack or stroke. Part of the “hardening” process in LDL is what is known as peroxidation. It is this process that turns the LDL into plaque.

It’s critical for all of us to know our cholesterol levels and make sure that we have high levels of HDL and low levels of LDL. You can significantly affect your cholesterol levels by with lifestyle choices; though some people are just genetically inclined to have high LDL levels. If you fall into this category, you may need medication along with lifestyle changes to get your cholesterol under control. See your doctor for a blood test to determine your cholesterol levels.

How Can I Improve My Cholesterol Levels?

If you know that your cholesterol numbers could use some improvement, there are many things you can do to improve those numbers. Here are the basics

Exercise - Just 30 minutes of walking, 3-5 times a week can help bring your cholesterol numbers in line.

Lose weight if you’re overweight - Overweight people tend to have higher LDL levels. Taking the weight off can improve these numbers.

Don’t smoke - Smoking contributes to high LDL levels and to low HDL levels.

Managing Your Diet

Diet is the most important factor in controlling your cholesterol levels. Whether or not you need to lose weight, a healthy diet is critical to maintaining good cholesterol levels. Here are the diet basics you should follow.

Reduce the amount of red meat in your diet. Opt for chicken, fish and turkey more often; beef and pork just once or twice a week. Use egg substitutes or egg whites rather than egg yolks.

Choose low fat options - Drink skim or 1% milk. Choose low fat cheese, yogurt and sour cream.

Increase your whole grains - Replace simple, white flower based products with whole grains. Oatmeal and whole wheat are great options.

Increase your fruits and vegetables - Fruits and vegetables provide vitamins and fiber. They fill you up on fewer calories, so you can eat less and lose weight. They are also filled with anti-oxidants, which can prevent disease by combating our body’s free radicals. For the highest levels of anti-oxidants, be sure to eat your share of blueberries, red beans, artichokes and tomatoes.

Use good fats - We all need fat in our diets, but the types of fat we choose are important. Stay away from anything that says “hydrogenated”. Don’t use lard, butter or hard shortenings. Stay away from anything that contains “trans fats”. Use olive oil, flaxseed oil and canola oil as your primary fats. These good fats can help raise your HDL levels, without elevating your LDL levels in the process.

Add Green Tea to your diet - Green tea is one of the most under-recognized health protectors. Green tea is rich in anti-oxidants, just like fruits and vegetables. There have been many studies that have concluded that green tea’s anti-oxidants have a powerful influence in preventing heart disease.

One study, in particular is worth noting. The University of Shizuoka in Japan conducted a study on green tea and its ability to prevent atherosclerosis. In this study, some mice were fed green tea extract in their drinking water, while other mice were fed water without green tea added. All of the mice were fed a diet high in saturated fats and other products known to raise bad cholesterol.

After about eight weeks, the mice who were fed green tea showed significantly less propensity to have atherosclerosis.* While the high level of LDL could still be spotted in the blood, it was not being converted to plaque. The study concluded that green tea has the ability, likely because of its high anti-oxidant level, to prevent the peroxidation of the LDLs. So, even when the diet was higher than normal in “bad cholesterol” foods, the green tea seemed to prevent this cholesterol in the blood from turning into artery blocking plaque.

Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s ok to eat a diet high in fat and cholesterol and rely on green tea to take care of the problem. However, it does indicate that green tea may be highly effective at preventing the bad cholesterol that we do ingest from turning into arterial plaque.

So, for the best plan for preventing heart disease and stroke, it’s wise to follow a low cholesterol diet, maintain a healthy weight and get regular exercise. But, it’s also wise to add green tea to your diet. It may give you an extra edge to winning the cholesterol battle!

Marcus Stout
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/can-green-tea-protect-against-atherosclerosis-97152.html

We now know that daily aspirin therapy helps lower the risk of heart attack and clot-related strokes. Aspirin interferes with the blood’s clotting action. If blood vessels are already narrowed from accumulation of fatty deposits and/or and scar tissue, a blood clot can quickly block the artery. This prevents blood flow to the heart or brain and causes a heart attack or stroke. Aspirin therapy reduces the clumping action of the platelets - thereby possibly preventing heart attack and stroke.

Analysis has shown that the minimum dose of 75 mg plain aspirin is the lowest effective dose for heart protection, though most cardiologist are now recommending a daily full-dosage 325 mg aspirin.

Increased aspirin use, however can increase the risk of bleeding and can lead to stomach upset in some people. In order to avoid stomach upset, some people on aspirin therapy are taking the enteric form; the coated aspirin that is supposed to save sensitive stomachs from irritation by dissolving in the small intestine instead of the stomach where most prescription medications are dissolved.

Unfortunately, some new research shows that enteric coated aspirin is not as bioavailable as plain aspirin. This means that enteric aspirin is not absorbed into the blood stream as well as is regular aspirin, which makes it less effective at preventing heart attack and/or stroke. A recent study by Dermot Cox, PHD, at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, published in Stroke, showed that levels of thromboxane, a substance that contributes to blood clots, were substantially higher in people who took enteric aspirin compared with people who took regular aspirin.

The study by Cox suggests that poor absorption from the high PH environment of the small intestine may be the reason that enteric aspirin is not as effective as regular aspirin. Cox’s study found that this was particularly true in subjects who were heavier.

Thus, people who are on aspirin therapy to prevent heart attack and stroke who may want to consider enteric aspirin to prevent upset stomach or GI bleeding, may find that the enteric aspirin delivers inadequate protection for the heart and brain.

Anyone on aspirin therapy should absolutely not change either the dose or the type of aspirin they are taking without first talking to their physician. But it is important, particularly if the patient is heavier, to pursue discussion with their doctor. You want to be certain that the aspirin regimen you are using is the most effective regimen for you.

Pat McGuire
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/enteric-coating-on-aspirin-may-interfere-with-heart-protection-126741.html

Hopefully you never had to endure a situation of someone close to you to suffer from transient ischemic attach (TIA), also known as mini stoke, or from a stroke. In any case, you should be familiar with both kinds of stroke as they both destroy brain tissue and can produce similar long-term effects. But there are important differences in what causes them and in the symptoms that tell you which kind of stroke is happening.

Ischemic Stroke:

According to statistics, 80 percent of strokes belong to the ischemic stroke kind. These mini-strokes occur when blood flow to the brain is blocked by plaque-clogged arteries or by blood clots. This means that blood is not circulating properly inside the brain causing brain cells to die if even for a few minutes no oxygen is transmitted to them via the blood.

- Symptoms: Sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body; difficulty speaking or understanding speech; trouble seeing in one or both eyes; dizziness and a sudden loss of balance; falling in and out of consciousness; chest pain and shortness of breath. These last three symptoms are less-brain-centered and are more commonly experienced by women.

Hemorrhagic Stroke:

These brain hemorrhages happen when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the surrounding tissue. There are various causes of these bursts. The most frequent is the rupture of an aneurysm, a weak spot on the wall of an artery that happens to be in your brain-aneurysms can occur elsewhere in the body, too. Experts point out that women are twice as likely as men to have an aneurysm in the brain and are more likely to have multiple aneurysms than men. Two other causes for bleeding in the brain are: hypertension, which can create enough pressure to break an artery wall, and arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the brain. This is a snarl of defective blood vessels and capillaries whose thin walls are prone to rupture.

- Symptoms: A sudden violent headache, as if cracking a fault like through the brain’s delicate architecture. The patient may also suffer from blurred vision or nausea.

If you ever suspect you might be having a TIA or stroke or believe you are witnessing someone else having one, make sure 911 (or your local emergency unit) be called immediately. Tell the dispatcher that, if possible, you want to be transported to a hospital with a stroke center. Do not attempt to drive to the emergency room yourself. Stroke patients who arrive at the hospital by ambulance are evaluated sooner by an ER physician, get the necessary testing and are admitted to the hospital or intensive-care unit more frequently than those who arrive by taxi or car. Most importantly, bring someone prepared to advocate for you or the patient. Be prepared by being informed and act fast!

Jonathon Hardcastle
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/ischemic-and-hemorrhagic-stroke-54750.html

The problem is, he is on Warfarin for strokes, so I thought that prevented DVT?

How serious could it be? I know its impossible for anyone on here to say for sure, but I’d appreciate your knowledge.

Thankyou.

It can be very serious. Thankfully he’s getting help. Warfarin does prevent clots if proper levels are maintained. Even on meds, clots can form and cause strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, loss of limbs at times. I’ll say a prayer for your Grandpa.

Bad dietary choices are a leading cause of many health problems, including high cholesterol levels. The primary reason for this is the consumption of to much fat in our daily diet. This is concerning because high cholesterol is one of the biggest risk factors for high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes. In other words ignoring the risks of high cholesterol can be deadly.

Fortunately it is easy to combat this problem if you know how to lower cholesterol naturally. In fact for most people fighting this serious medical condition some simple lifestyle changes are all it takes to reduce it.

If you understand what cholesterol is and how it works in the body you can begin to see how you can control it through natural methods. Cholesterol itself is a fatty wax like substance produced primarily in the liver. Eighty percent is produced by the body while the other twenty percent we need is gotten through the foods we eat. It’s when that percentage from foods starts to go above twenty percent that we run into health issues.

Cholesterol is an important substance that the body uses to create and maintain cell wall membranes and manufacture many of the hormones we need to keep the body functioning. But high levels of cholesterol in the blood stream can lead to atherosclerosis which is a narrowing and hardening of the arteries. This in turn can lead to high blood pressure, clogged arteries, and blood clots.

Because high cholesterol is such a problem in our society medical science has come up with a variety of treatments and drugs to help those who have issues with this problem. But generally it is only in the most extreme cases that prescription medication needs to be used. Normally natural processes work best in the fight against high cholesterol.

The first thing you will be advised to do upon learning that you have high cholesterol is to start making changes to your diet and get more exercise. A low cholesterol diet is more then avoiding foods that contain cholesterol, it is about changing the way you prepare your meals and avoiding saturated fats and trans fats; both of which have been shown to increase blood cholesterol levels more then cholesterol containing foods. This means avoiding and eliminating fried foods and fatty foods from your diet completely.

Eating healthy is your best defense along with a sensible exercise program in the fight against cholesterol. Learning how to lower cholesterol naturally is a matter of doing a little research and the internet offers a wealth of information on this subject. Making the necessary lifestyle changes around diet and exercise are not that hard and the change it has on your overall health are well worth the effort.

Andrew Bicknell
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/how-to-lower-cholesterol-naturally-without-drugs-704893.html

History: Female, age 27
Frequent ventricular ectopic beats - many in consecutive runs of upto 9
Two sets of 5-day holter monitoring revealed short bursts of atrial and ventricular fibrillation
Continuous resting heartrate of 100-105 BPM
Consistent history of low blood pressure
Waking in the night with heart racing - 177 BPM recorded
Frequent attacks of STV, palpitations and bradycardia (figures for brady unknown)
Occasional night-time attacks not yet recorded but basically syncope symptoms

Have had Implantable Loop Recorder for 7 weeks

A few days ago, I woke around 9am, feeling very unwell. Completely unable to get out of bed without passing out. Profuse sweating, retching (without vomiting), a feeling of moving in different directions even though stationary. Most worryingly, heart at times felt very slow and other times very fast. Fighting consciousness throughout.

Took 3 hours to get out of bed. Phoned GP & received home visit. Speech slurred, still drowsy/battling to stay conscious. GP called ambulance & subsequently assessed at A&E and admitted to coronary care.

Bloodwork generally ok. Have been getting chest pains/discomfort intermittently for several weeks but worse over the week prior to admission.

Cut to the chase…

Info downloaded from IRL reveals "nothing of clinical significance" according to the doctor in CCU, however info from the device shows that on that particular morning, my fastest heartrate was in the 140s and the lowest was 62. The doctor claims that anything between 40-200 is normal.

Given that the RESTING heart rate is 100-105 as a permanent thing, and I was in bed throughout - how can an increase of 40 BPM and a decrease of 40 BPM be normal?
Formely_Bob. Thank you for your input. I doubt a stroke is likely as the slurred speech wore off after a couple of hours; There was no weakness or numbness in either side of my body. I assume CCU would have taken any possibility of a stoke into consideration and investigated the liklihood?
Stephen, thank you also for your contribution. I feel it’s significant but the doctors are telling me that nothing significant is going on… and yet the symptoms and heart rates/rhythms contradict that. With regards to thyroid function, YES that’s been very much on my mind lately. For 3-4 months my face burns after eating - usually in the evening and even after a small amount of food such as an apple. I’ve mentioned this countless times to doctors but it has been repeatedly shrugged off even though my Mum has had hyperthyroism at my age, developed a goitre which was subsequently removed along with half her thyroid and now has hypothyroidism and is on thyroxine for life.

I haven’t heard of sick sinus syndrome but will investigate. I’m due to see my own cardiologist in the next few weeks and will endeavour to get some answers.
Gangadharan nair, Thank you also for your input. I’d never heard of POTS until you mentioned it and it all sounds horribly familiar. That said, a lot of heart conditions sound familiar, particularly Long QT (I forgot to mention in the OP that I apparently have a prolonged QT interval). I’ll discuss it with my cardiologist. Thank you.

What’s normal for a population may have little relevance about what’s normal for you, but i think what the doc probably meant is that the observed pulse rates would not be a plausible cause of your symptoms. Your symptoms look like you might have had a mini stroke. The loop recorder would not directly detect a stroke, but a stroke could certainly cause a sudden change in the pulse rate. Ask your GP about the possibility of a stroke and also if it might be worthwhile to see a neurologist.

Additional info: A transient ischemic attack is a stroke that has temporary symptoms that do not last more than a few hours. Since these are minor stokes to begin with, the symptoms can something as subtle as sudden dizziness and fatigue that goes away within a few minutes. People commonly have no more than a few of the possible symptoms at one time.

There would have been no diagnostic symptoms of a TIA by the time you went to the CCU except possibly abnormal EEG pattern in the brain. If they did not hook up an EEG, they would not have detected a TIA. Also, everything reported to the CCU was probably assumed to be a cardiac event, TIA-type symptoms were gone, and its possible no one even considered a stroke. Anyhow, it makes sense to me that a group of people focused on a cardiac event might not even consider this, since a TIA is a neurological event. It still might be worth mentioning to your doc, but at this point, there is no way to know if you had a TIA or not. If i were in your situation, i would to make sure the docs looked into a potential clotting problem. The neurological symptoms of TIA and sick sinus syndrome are identical since they both cause a blood shortage to the brain - just different reasons.

Because of organizations like the American Heart Association (AHA), we’ve learned a lot about cholesterol and how it affects our health. Thanks to these educational organizations, we know that high cholesterol levels can increase our risk for heart attacks and strokes and, by lowering these levels; we reduce these risks as well as keep our hearts and blood vessels healthy. We also know that our cholesterol levels can be improved through exercise, diet, and weight loss.

Although we’ve learned a lot through these educational organizations, there are still a few misconceptions about cholesterol. One of these being that not all cholesterol is harmful. There are both “good” and “bad” forms of cholesterol and a good balance between the two is what is needed for a healthy heart. Because so much emphasis is placed on lowering “bad” cholesterol levels, not enough attention is paid to the benefit of raising “good” cholesterol levels (HDL). Research states that raising HDL levels can provide even greater protection against cardiovascular disease than just simply lowering “bad” cholesterol levels. By raising HDL levels by simply 1%, the risk of heart disease can be lowered by 2% in men and 3% in women. Many studies have shown that low HDL cholesterol levels are an independent risk factor in heart disease. This is extremely important because we’ve learned that despite efforts to change a person’s diet and exercise habits, some people’s cholesterol levels are still unhealthy.

Prescription drugs to lower cholesterol are now available and have been proven by multiple studies to be very successful. The statins’ effectiveness in reducing LDL (”bad”) cholesterol has produced highly significant reductions in heart attacks and strokes. Although these medications do lower cholesterol levels, their side effects must be considered. Statin drugs can cause liver irritation, reduce CoQ10 levels in the body, are associated with myopathy, and are even linked to a rare and sometimes fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis. These drugs also have a relatively small effect on good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Thankfully, there are safe and effective solutions available that can help you manage your cholesterol levels naturally. However, first we must review what we know about cholesterol and heart disease.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance needed to help digest fats, strengthen cell membranes, make hormones and insulate nerves. Although it is found in every cell of the body, cholesterol is mainly made in the liver, as well as cells lining the small intestine. Even though our bodies make all the cholesterol we need, we also get cholesterol from the foods we eat, such as egg yolks and organ meats. All foods from animal sources contain cholesterol, while plant derived food, including peanut butter and avocado, contains no cholesterol at all.

Cholesterol is important to many functions of the body. However, too much cholesterol in the bloodstream is extremely dangerous. After blood cholesterol reaches high levels, it builds up on the artery walls, and thus increasing the risk for blood clots, heart attack, and stroke. If the cholesterol clogs any of the coronary arteries, the heart’s supply of oxygen and nutrients will diminish, resulting in coronary heart disease, angina, or even heart attack.

Because cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in the blood and thereby can’t travel on their own, they have to be transported to and from the cells by lipoproteins. The two major lipoproteins are low density lipoproteins (LDL or “bad cholesterol) and high density lipoproteins (HDL or “good cholesterol”) LDLs carry cholesterol throughout the body to the cells and cause artherosclerosis by clogging up our arteries with fat. On the other hand, HDL prevents the fat buildup by carrying it away from the arteries and to the liver where it can be eliminated. Although high levels of LDL are associated with cardiovascular disease, high HDL can drastically reduce your risk of heart disease. As a result, the AHA has established three guidelines to keep your heart healthy: HDL levels about 40 for men and above 50 for women, LDL levels between 100 and 159, and a total cholesterol (HDL and LDL) of under 200.

Triglycerides are fats used as fuel by the body and a source for metabolism. These levels can fluctuate easily but increased levels are almost always a sign of too much carbohydrate and sugar intake. High amounts of triglycerides make the blood less capable of transporting oxygen and are another factor for cardiovascular disease. Thankfully, the HDL and LDL blend mentioned earlier can safely and effectively lower triglyceride levels.

It has been shown that high levels of HDL cholesterol are inversely related to coronary artery disease risk. However, what people do not know is that there are different subtypes of HDl, including HDL-2 and HDL-3. HDL-3 is produced by the liver and intestines and is responsible for scooping up free cholesterol from the blood vessel walls. The cholesterol carried by HDL-3 is chemically modified, forming a larger-sized subtype, known as HDL-2, or “mature HDL.” HDL-2 transports cholesterol to the liver for processing and elimination, and its molecules are then recirculated in the blood stream. Research has shown that HDL-2 provides more heart-protection because it moves the cholesterol away from arterial walls, and holds a greater number of receptor sites which allows it to carry a larger amount of cholesterol to the liver.

Although many prescription medications have been developed to lower bad cholesterol, there are very few medications that target good cholesterol. Therefore, patients with naturally low HDL cholesterol, who can not alter these levels through diet and exercise, have limited medical options to reduce their risk of heart disease. Multiple nutrients have been clinically shown to favorably alter good cholesterol levels including: vitamins C, E, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, magnesium and selenium, with protein-building amino acids, powerful antioxidants such as coenzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid, N-acetyle cysteine, and policosanol, and extracts of hawthorn, garlic, grape seed, and soy isoflavones. Although this HDL-boosting combination does not result in a significant reduction in LDL, antioxidants found in this formulation can help stabilize LDL and prevent build up in the arterial wall.

This formula combines essential vitamins and minerals, at levels recommended by the American Heart Association. It contains amino acids, antioxidants, and botanicals that have all been used safely for years. No serious adverse effects have been found following supplementation and the combination is safe to use with statin drugs.

Plant sterols, found in nuts, vegetable oils, corn, and rice are structurally similar to cholesterol and are able to block its absorption. Each day the liver receives about 800 mg of cholesterol from intestinal absorption through receptor sites. After entering these channels, the cholesterol is absorbed into the bloodstream. Since plant sterols look similar to cholesterol, they fit perfectly into these receptor sites and block the absorption, which allows the cholesterol to remain in our intestines where it can eventually be excreted. A large amount of plant sterols reduces the amount of cholesterol transported from the intestinal tract to the liver. This cholesterol reduction causes a decrease in LDL levels.

Even if a person does not have high cholesterol levels, reducing bad and raising good cholesterol greatly reduces their risk for ever developing chronic heart disease. Due to side effects, physicians do not normally prescribe statin drugs to people without actual heart disease of high LDL cholesterol levels. Instead, they recommend dietary changes. The HDL-boosting combination and LDL-lowering pantethine and plant sterols blend can effectively help people with heart disease, uncontrolled cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, or people who just want to improve their heart health.

Darrell Miller
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/managing-your-cholesterol-naturally-62521.html