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Heart disease is the number one killer of people in the US. So, one should to be concerned about what is needed to avoid being a victim of heart disease.

You might be wondering if there is a natural remedy that can serve as a preventative or relieve or reduce the symptoms of cardiovascular disease. Is there some natural remedy that can lower LDL, reduce angina, reduce congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, prevent and reduce the fat on your artery walls and lower high blood pressure?

Yes there is. It’s an herb called Arjuna. Arjuna comes from the Terminalia Arjuna tree, located throughout India.

In all of the clinical studies that have being performed it has shown significant improvement in patients tested. In tests for LDL cholesterol, it reduced LDL by 25% after 30 days of use with a dose of 500 mg per day.

People who suffered from angina attacks were put on Arjuna. During a 12 week period, these people had a 30% reduction in angina attacks.

Arjuna is also affordable. Most herbal remedies or supplements that can really do something for are expensive. Arjuna is quite a bit less at your health food store or when purchased through mail order.

Of course, before beginning any supplement, talk to your doctor first.

Tagged with: angina • Arjuna • cardiovascular disease • healthy heart beat • heart failure • heart healthy

Chelation therapy is a process that cleans the arteries by using intravenous chelating agents along with dietary supplements. Lifestyle changes that focus on diet, exercise and stress reduction are also implemented.

The term ‘Chelation’ means “combining with metal.” The major chelator used is ‘EDTA’, a synthetic amino acid, which removes toxic heavy metals from the body by stuicking to them and removing them through the kidneys. ‘EDTA’ is non-toxic when used properly and according to the guidelines of the American Board of Chelation Therapy. ‘EDTA’ also sticks to calcium which builds up as plaques on the walls of the arteries.

Chelation therapy is a world-recognized treatment for heart arrythmias as well.

Chelation therapy can treat and reverse degenerative illnesses also. However, Chelation therapy is mainly used to treat heavy-metal toxicity and cardiovascular disorders like hardening of the arteries and high blood pressure.

Chelation therapy involves intravenous injection of ‘EDTA’ into the blood in sessions that last three to four hours. A series of chelation treatments usually include twenty to thirty treatments.

There are severl products and programs available for Chelation therapy such as :Carrdio Renew and Angioprim. Ask your doctor which products he recommends.

Make sure you find a practitioner qualified by the American Board of Chelation Therapy for your therapy.

Tagged with: Angioprim • cardiovascular disease • Carrdio Renew • Chelation therapy • EDTA • Heart Disease

A pacemaker is a small, battery operated medical device designed to electrically stimulate the heart in order to restore normal heart rhythm.

A pacemaker has two main parts: the pulse generator and pacing leads. The pulse generator is where the battery and electronic circuits are located. These circuits contain timers that regulate how often the pacemaker sends impulses to the heart.

Pacemaker surgery complications:
The most common complications of the pacemaker surgery are blood loss, infection, and lead dislodgement. However, the percentage of any of these complications occurring is very low.

The patient is given a single dose of antibiotics during the surgery to prevent infection. Antibiotics may also be given after the operation in selected cases.

If blood loss is excessive, which is very rare in pacemaker surgery, a blood transfusion may be necessary.

If a pacemaker lead moves from its proper position (highly unlikely), a second surgical procedure may be needed to reposition the displaced lead.

Restrictions for pacemaker patients:
Following the procedure, the patient will have certain restrictions for days or weeks. All patients with pacemakers are asked not to participate in contact sports. This restriction may be life-long.

In addition, patients will be asked to avoid interaction with certain electronic devices that may interfere with the pacemaker’s proper function.

Ask your doctor to give you all your post surgery instructions for your new pacemaker and be sure that you understand them.

Tagged with: • cardiovascular disease • Heart Disease • heart failure • pacemaker • pacing leads • pulse generator

A normal heartbeat comes from the heart’s natural pacemaker called the “sinus node.” When the sinus node sends signals, a wave of electricity then moves across the upper chambers of the heart causing the upper chambers to contract.

The electrical impulse then moves to the lower chambers of the heart resulting in contraction there.

These contractions allow for blood to be pumped to the body. This blood supplies the body with oxygen and nutrients, as well as eliminates waste products.

When the hearts natural pacemaker doesn’t function normally, an artificial pacemaker may be needed.

Some people are born with sinus dysfunction as a result of some congenital heart defects. As well sinus misfiring can also be the consequence of certain surgical procedures.

Many other patients may need a pacemaker with conditions such as abnormally fast heart rates, patients who pass out, patients on medications that slow the natural heart rate, patients with heart valves that leak, patients with an abnormally thick heart and patients with poor heart function.

An artificial pacemaker helps to restore the heart rhythm towards a normal rhythm. This improves the heart’s ability to circulate blood through the body and the wear and tear on the heart it self.

Ask your doctor for more information about on pacemakers.

Tagged with: cardiovascular disease • Heart Disease • irregular heart beat • normal rhythm • pacemaker

The normal function of a heart includes two main blood vessels leaving the heart: the aorta carrying blood to the body and the pulmonary artery that delivers blood to each lung.

In patients with truncus arteriosus there is only one great blood vessel or trunk leaving the heart, which then feeds the blood vessels that go to the lungs and the body.

A patient with truncus arteriosus usually begins to have problems in the first week of life. Their oxygen levels are usually lower than normal.

Because of the excessive amount of blood flow to the lungs with this malformation, congestive heart failure develops very quickly. With an X-ray, the heart looks enlarged and the lungs look hazy.

Indications of congestive heart failure included rapid breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, grunting or very noisy breathing, nasal flaring, and restlessness.

The liver may be enlarged; neck vein distention, poor feeding, and facial swelling are also seen.

While truncus arteriosus may be suspected, an echocardiogram will confirm the presence of the disorder.Initial treatment begins with stabilizing the patient. Medications to control congestive heart failure such as diuretics are often started.

The use of a feeding tube or intravenous feeding may be needed. Surgical correction is typically carried out in the first few weeks of life after the infant is stabilized and the surgical repair of truncus arteriosus requires the use of heart-lung bypass machine.

Currently over 90 percent of patients survive repair of truncus arteriosus. As the patient grows, they will need to be followed by their cardiologist.

Tagged with: • cardiovascular disease • congestive heart failure • Heart Disease • heart failure • truncus arteriosus

There are many things one can do to bolster heart health naturally. Below are some tips to do just that.

1. Avoid as much processed food as possible such as; cooked oils, white flour, red meat, white sugar, and any foods, which have been over processed or have chemical additives.

2. Eat lots of whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits.

3. Occasional juice fasting helps to purify the blood vessels. Fasting on grapes is considered one of the most effective ways to purify the blood. (ask your doctor first)

4. Vitamins and antioxidants help with heart health: A, C, E, and Lecithin, B complex (especially B3, B2).

5. Reflexology massage has been shown to bring circulation to organs, which cannot be affected by other means. By massaging the reflex point on the bottom of the foot we are able to bring blood flow to the various interior organs, so as to revitalize them.

6. All forms of movement and activity are helpful. Yes, exercise is always on the list for heart health. (ask your doctor first)

7. Deep breathing facilitates the return of the blood through the veins to the heart and reduces stress. When we breathe deeply and slowly, we help the blood to return to the heart an also move the lymph through the system.

These are just a few of the suggestions to naturally promote heart health. Your doctor will be able to provide you with more ways to keep your heart healthy.

Tagged with: cardiovascular disease • Heart Disease • heart health • irregular heart beat • pulmonary arteries • pulmonary hypertension

EKGs are used as a preventative measure for people who have a family history of heart disease.If a patient complains of chest pain or irregular heart beat the doctor will probably do an EKG.

An abnormal EKG is determined by comparing the results of the EKG ordered for you with a normal EKG. Normal EKG’s show a slight flat-dip in between beats. If these flat-dips are missing this is not normal.

Myocardial defects, heart valve disease, enlargement of the heart, inflammation of the heart, coronary artery disease, and past, pending or future heart attacks are only a few of the problems that EKG will find .

Some patients are surprised to find out that they have had an abnormal EKG. As well, even more surprising is when presented with abnormal EKG results, some physicians do not seem concerned. This doesn’t mean they are inadequate physicians; it is more likely they believe something else has caused the abnormal reading.

Most doctors will want to check further by doing another EKG. Sometimes something as simple as low blood sugar can alter EKG readings.

When you have an EKG done, ask your doctor to explain the results to you and ask questions if you don’t understand.

Tagged with: abnormal EKG • cardiovascular disease • ekg • Heart Disease • heart healthy • irregular heart beat

Resveratrol, a substitute for aspirin, is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory substance put together from a variety of plants, including vines to peanuts and pine trees.

Asian medicine has used Resveratrol for centuries in treating heart problems. It helps to lower cholesterol as well as preventing blood clots.

Resveratrol is cultivated from the stems, leaves, and skins of grapes. And even though a glass or two of red wine each day may lower the risk of heart disease, one recent study shows that alcohol-free red wine works just as well.

The alcohol free version of Resveratrol is available in purple grape juice, red or purple grapes, and peanuts. But, because of the fermenting process in wine, resveratrol levels are higher in red than in grape juice grape juice.

Besides aiding in heart health, studies have shown that resveratrol can help prevent colds, increase the levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, lower the risk of Alzheimer’s, reduce the size and number of fat cells in the body, reduce the risk of prostate cancer, and has anti-inflammatory properties.

Resveratrol may also work better than aspirin for cardiovascular protection. Resveratrol protects the heart by limiting the effects of cardiac fibrosis.

Ask your doctor about using Resveratrol as an aspirin substitute.

Tagged with: aspirin • cardiovascular disease • Heart Disease • heart health • Resveratrol

Recently researchers have successfully grown master heart cells in a test tube and used them to significantly improve heart function in lab mice. This is an amazing achievement a promising discovery in the fight against cardiovascular disease.

Scientists everywhere have been trying to find stem cells that can be used to repair or replace damaged heart tissue. There is evidence that suggests that embryonic stem cells may allow for the creation of functional heart tissue for transplants.

The human heart is made up of three distinct cell types: cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells. Each of these cell types plays an important part in functioning heart tissues.

One research group created the heart cells by adding a mix of growth factors and other molecules to the petrie dishes containing the stem cells at important times during the experiment. By getting the correct timing, the scientists got the cells to grow into ancestors, or “progenitors,” of the three specific heart cell types.

When the heart cells where transplanted into lab mice with simulated heart disease, their heart function improved. Researchers say their success offers hope to those aiming to develop stem cell biology techniques for the treatment of damaged human hearts.

Researchers think that individual types of heart cells could be produced by isolating particular types of progenitors.

Growing heart cells is a tremendous advancement in heart disease.

Tagged with: cardiovascular disease • heart cells • Heart Disease • heart healthy • stem cell

Pulmonary hypertension is a medical condition where the blood flow that leaves the right side of the heart faces an increased pressure.

Normally blood flows from the right ventricle into the pulmonary arteries and then flows into smaller and smaller blood vessels until it reaches the capillaries. Oxygen is picked up and carbon dioxide is released. The blood vessels have muscles in their walls that can regulate their diameter and allow more or less blood flow to enter the capillaries.

In pulmonary hypertension, the blood vessels of the lungs have more muscle in the walls. This causes a higher pressure in the lungs. The right ventricle then has to work harder to pump blood out to the lungs. The right ventricle then gets larger and becomes thicker in response to the extra work. With time, the load placed on the right side of the heart can cause it to fail.

The long-term prognosis for pulmonary hypertension depends on the severity of the disease at the time of diagnosis and how well a patient responds to therapy. Recent advances in medical therapies have made great progress on the outcome of pulmonary hypertension.

Ask your doctor to explain pulmonary hypertension in greater detail.

Tagged with: cardiovascular disease • Heart Disease • irregular heart beat • pulmonary arteries • pulmonary hypertension