To start with, you'll need some advanced blood testing to discover the state of your heart health, and what preventative measure you can take to keep your heart healthy. And if you have any symptoms, such as shortness of breath, you're going to need some further testing.
Here's the best place to start your research on heart health tests.
- A couple of threads on inflammation:
- Here is scientific evidence that cherries lower C-Reactive Protein (anti-inflammatory) and alleviate attacks of gout.
- Alan Palmieri offers this discussion on the decision-making process regarding prescription medications after his heart bypass operation.
- Anthocyanins are powerful phytochemicals with anti-inflammatory properties that may be important in preventing heart disease
- Heart Healthy Fats: Olive Oil
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new qualified health claim for olive oil based on research that indicated consuming about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil a day may reduce the risk of heart disease. Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat, which can lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol in your blood. According to the FDA, you get the most of these benefits by substituting olive oil for saturated fats, such as in butter, rather than just adding more olive oil to your diet.
- In recent studies, Scientists found Olive Oil to contain anti-cancer properties, and anti-inflammatory agents.
Women's Heart Health
Women's heart attack symptoms are different then men's symptoms. Not only are the symptoms dissimilar but the manner in which the disease progresses is structurally different; therefore, traditional tests do not catch the disease. Additionally, women are much more likely than men to die within a year of having an attack and women don’t seem to fare as well as men after taking clot busting drugs or undergoing certain heart related medical procedures. Doctors are only now discovering these differences.
- Standard Test Misses Heart Disease Signs in Women: Standard Heart Testing for Women
- Women must prove themselves very ill before Doctors prescribe treatment. Heart treatment still doesn't equal that of men studies find.
- The latest preliminary findings by the American College of Nuclear Cardiology reveal that Doctors are still not differentiating between the values reported for men and women by Nuclear Diagnostic Imaging, resulting in women not receiving proper treatment for heart disease. This study demonstrates that, "we should be using different prognostic values for men and women and eliminate the gender bias in cardiac care."
"Women need to know that heart disease is their number one killer," said cardiologist Dr. Mary Ann
Mc Laughlin, of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
She said women should be on the lookout for "atypical" symptoms, such as nausea, perfuse sweating, back pain with no explanation, numbness or tingling down one arm or in the jaw. It's much better to come in and have heart symptoms ruled out that to wait until symptoms become more severe, she added."
Women’s Heart Disease Statistics
Women often do not take their risk of heart disease seriously -- or personally. They fail to make the connection between the risk factors and their own chance of developing heart disease.
The Heart Truth is:
- Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women.
- One in every three women dies of heart disease. One in 30 dies of breast cancer.
- Women’s heart disease risk starts to rise in middle age.
- About 3 million American women have had a heart attack.
- Two-thirds of American women who have had a heart attack don’t make a full recovery.
- Nearly two-thirds of American women who die suddenly of a heart attack had no prior symptoms.
- Americans can lower their risk of heart disease by as much as 82 percent just by leading a healthy lifestyle.
- Only 57 percent of women are aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women.
- Only 20 percent of women identified heart disease as the greatest health problem facing women today.
As health conscious females who exercise regularly and eat properly, what other factors in addition to advanced blood testing, should we consider in the equation of heart attack prevention? The following list comprises the "silent" factors which caused a heart attack to occur in a 40 year old female Doctor.
- Type A personality. High stress Levels.
- HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) did not protect her from heart attack. Some studies predict HRT actually increases heart attacks.
- Genetics. Her mother had a heart attack at 57.
- Blood clotting disorders. The Doctor had a blood clotting disorder called anticardiolipin antibody syndrome and she also discovered she had a rare genetic clotting disorder which increases one’s risk for forming blood clots up to 11 times normal. It´s called the Factor II, prothrombin G 20210 A mutation. It affects as much as 2% of the general U.S. population and it is autosomal dominant which means you get it from a parent and potentially pass it onto your children. If you have a past medical history of strokes or miscarriages, you should be screened for these disorders in addition to Factor V Leiden, another blood clotting disorder which occurs in 5% of the Caucasian population and 1.2% of the African American population.
The Doctor had a past history of slight 24 hour version of a stroke called a TIA (transient ischemic attack) while pregnant due to blood clotting disorders.
Hidden Cause of Heart Attacks
Uncovering a Hidden Source of Cardiovascular Disease Risk - Postprandial Particles
Life Extension Magazine
'''As you eat a meal of steak, rolls, salad dressing on lettuce and creme in your coffee, food passes through your digestive tract. Fats are broken down by enzymes and absorbed by the veins passing through the liver into the body's circulation system.
Four to six hours later, the remnants of your meal should be history. Digestion should be quick and these remnants should no longer be detectable in the bloodstream.
In some people, however, meal remnants persist in the blood up to 10, 12 or 24 hours later. The longer they stick around, the more opportunity they have to trigger the growth of atherosclerotic plaque in arteries.'''
If you've seen a loved one suffer and die from cardiovascular disease, knowing that your own cholesterol is normal can be a relief. Unfortunately, standard cholesterol panels based on fasting blood samples may overlook a hidden, potentially deadly cause of cardiovascular disease: dysfunctional Lipid (fat) matabolism pattern know as postprandial disorders.
Postprandial(after-meal) disorders are characterized by abnormally persistent lipid (fat) remnants that persist in the bloodstream for up to 24 hours after eating. Hours after dinner, and even during sleep, these abnormal fat particles can inflict serious damage to your arteries. In fact, postprandial disorders are among the most potent, - yet widely ignored - causes of heart disease, stroke and aneurysm.
A list of the Dangers of these Postprandial Particles
- Insert themselves into atheroscleroic plaque fueling its growth.
- Block the natural artery-relaxing agent nitric oxide and increase the constrictor which contributes to plaque.
- Increase blood levels of cellular adhesion molecules allowing white blood cells to adhere to arterial wall increasing plaque.
- Activate blood clotting and inhibit clot breakdown.
- Trigger the formation of small LDL particles.
How can you determine if you have Postprandial Particles? Intermediate Density Lipoprotein
- High Triglycerides - although postprandial particles can occur with levels less than 100 mg/dL.
- Metabolic syndrome – high triglycerides, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess abdominal fat and low HDL. You do not have to have full-blown metabolic syndrome in order for postprandial particles to occur. Having hypertension alone can suggest the presence of these particles. Additionally, with increased blood insulin levels associated with Metabolic Syndrome, the liver overproduces VLDL (Very low density lipoprotein)particles so that postprandial particles and VLDL are ineffectively cleared from the blood. This causes the formation of small LDL particles, a leading cause of plaque.
- Intermediate Density Lipoprotein (IDL) - Even without metabolic syndrome or high triglycerides, postprandial particles can occur. The good news is there is a clear indicator for this syndrome - IDL. These IDL particles come from VLDL. IDL persist longer than VLDL and signal the persistence of postprandial particles. A normal amount of IDL is none, zilch, zero. No IDL should be detected in fasting blood. IDL triggers plaque growth in addition to aneurysms of the aorta, presence of pure soft plaque in carotid arteries and strokes.
How do you detect IDL Particles? - VAP test
- IDL can be measured using the Vertical Auto Profile lipoprotein test (VAP test). IDL particles can persist up to 24 hours after a meal so they will be present in a “fasting” blood test. NO IDL means you are safe!
- Fasting tests will eventually evolve into tests conducted after a meal. Eventually, the reliance on calculated LDL will lessen and Postprandial lipoproteins will become significant. Until then, fasting triglycerides, VLDL and IDL levels are good markers of this disease.
What is the cure?
- The bodybuilding lifestyle, which encompasses good nutrition and lots of exercise and a special emphasis on fish oil and fats! The article does mention 20g of soy protein a day, Green tea, white bean extract and also suggests drugs may be necessary particularly for diabetes and cholesterol.
Here is a link to the VAP test that lists the markers measured including IDL. VAP test
(A link to the article will be posted so you can make sense out of all of this.)
The Case of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton had no prior symptoms of heart disease, that is, his cholesterol readings were excellent over a five year period, he exercised regularly without any complaints, and his thallium stress test was excellent. If his doctors had only ordered a 30 second heart scan and lipoprotein blood testing...we are talking about only five minutes of his time...the plaque buildup would have been identified and a corrective program could have been implemented. Bypass surgery could have been avoided. Life Extension says not to wait for symptoms to occur.
