Recently, a local doctor who was obsessed with health and fitness and had no history of heart disease, collapsed while jogging on the treadmill and died of a massive heart attack shortly afterwards. He was only 43 years old.
Cardiologists say such attacks come without warning and angiograms cannot pick up the blocks that cause them, so there is not much one can do to avert them. Fitness experts say people over 40 should be " practical " and not go overboard with their workout.
These explanations fail to answer one very important question: How could someone who diligently follow expert advice regarding checkups, diet and exercise, succumb to the very disease he worked so hard to avoid? Is it just bad luck or is there a missing piece to this puzzle?
Here are some possible answers....
The "risk factors" that doctors focus on in standard tests, often miss the real causes of heart disease.
Undue attention is placed on cholesterol while far more important risk factors are ignored. This is in spite of knowing that...
"Half of all heart attack victims have normal cholesterol levels "
A study reported on August 22, 2011 in the journal 'Atherosclerosis' where 82000 adults in the UK were followed for an average of 8 years concluded that:
Higher total cholesterol levels were NOT associated with an increased risk of death due to heart disease.
Higher total cholesterol levels were actually associated with a REDUCED risk of death due to heart disease.
Researches in The Fukui Study, Japan, classified 22,971 participants into groups according to their cholesterol levels. They concluded that:
Those in the 160-169mg/ dl group suffered significantly HIGHER death rates than those in the 240- 259 mg/dl category.
High Blood Pressure Is Not Caused By A Blood Pressure Drug Deficiency
While doctors consider 95% of high blood pressure cases to be of unknown cause, there are real reasons for high blood pressure. Here are some root causes:
Low- Fat Diets Do Not Protect Against Heart Disease.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition carried a remarkable overview of studies that have examined saturated fat intake by researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC).
Action Steps For Better Heart Protection
Cardiologists say such attacks come without warning and angiograms cannot pick up the blocks that cause them, so there is not much one can do to avert them. Fitness experts say people over 40 should be " practical " and not go overboard with their workout.
These explanations fail to answer one very important question: How could someone who diligently follow expert advice regarding checkups, diet and exercise, succumb to the very disease he worked so hard to avoid? Is it just bad luck or is there a missing piece to this puzzle?
Here are some possible answers....
The "risk factors" that doctors focus on in standard tests, often miss the real causes of heart disease.
Undue attention is placed on cholesterol while far more important risk factors are ignored. This is in spite of knowing that...
"Half of all heart attack victims have normal cholesterol levels "
A study reported on August 22, 2011 in the journal 'Atherosclerosis' where 82000 adults in the UK were followed for an average of 8 years concluded that:
Higher total cholesterol levels were NOT associated with an increased risk of death due to heart disease.
Higher total cholesterol levels were actually associated with a REDUCED risk of death due to heart disease.
Researches in The Fukui Study, Japan, classified 22,971 participants into groups according to their cholesterol levels. They concluded that:
Those in the 160-169mg/ dl group suffered significantly HIGHER death rates than those in the 240- 259 mg/dl category.
High Blood Pressure Is Not Caused By A Blood Pressure Drug Deficiency
While doctors consider 95% of high blood pressure cases to be of unknown cause, there are real reasons for high blood pressure. Here are some root causes:
- Hormonal imbalances
- Infections
- Mineral deficiencies
- Repressed emotions
- Exposure to chemicals or heavy metals
- Glycosylation (sugar binding to proteins)
Low- Fat Diets Do Not Protect Against Heart Disease.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition carried a remarkable overview of studies that have examined saturated fat intake by researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC).
- One analysis of 50 years of research on the link between saturated fat intake and heart health found no evidence that a low-fat diet prolongs life.
- Factors other than saturated fat have been shown CONCLUSIVELY to contribute to heart disease, such as high glycemic carbohydrates, smoking, obesity, diabetes, high homocysteine, high C- reactive protein, lack of exercise and oxidative stress.
- Abstaining from saturated fats has not been shown to lower the incidence of coronary disease or total mortality.
Action Steps For Better Heart Protection
- Ask your doctor to focus on better predective tests as described above.
- Isolate true risk factors and correct underlying causes rather than suppressing symptoms with medication.
- Learn to distinguish between good, bad and ugly fats. Eat a diet rich in good fats and notice the dramatic difference.
- Focus on short bursts of high intensity exercise followed by periods of recovery to build a strong heart and powerful lungs.