Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. Men are generally more likely to develop heart disease. An increasing number of women are experiencing heart disease but they are under-diagnosed. For both sexes, risk of heart disease increases with age. The risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) among U.S. adults has not changed much during the last decade. Many doctors prescribe statin drugs to reduce cholesterol levels to reduce the risk for heart disease, but there is no proof that stating drugs will make these patients live longer. Furthermore, statin drugs are associated with a number of side effects including muscle aches and memory loss.
     
Cause of heart disease
A number of factors, individually or in combination, can lead to heart disease:

Hostility - living one's life with an antagonistic attitude increases the risk for heart disease.

A family history of heart disease. If your dad or mom have heart disease, your risk is higher.

Poor sleep patterns. Also, people who work a mix of day and night shifts face a greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who work fixed days or nights only

Women using low-dose oral contraceptives are at an increased risk for heart disease or stroke while taking the pill. However the risk disappears after discontinuation. Long-term use of birth control pills increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Medical conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes are potent risk factors for heart disease.

Taking antidepressant medications can increase the risk of death in those with heart disease.

Natural supplements for heart disease treatment and heart disease prevention
Before you start any supplement program for heart disease prevention or treatment, please make sure you discuss it with your doctor and you have full approval along with regular supervision. First, make sure your are eating healthy foods. Along with smoking cessation and physical activity, diet is one of the crucial factors in heart health. See diet for suggestions. Focus on vegetables and fresh vegetable juices, omega-3 fatty acids, whole grains, fiber, legumes, a little bit of wine, and cold water fish. Don't take all of the supplements listed below at one time, but rather begin with one or two and over time add more as you learn how each one works for you.

Fish oIls or eating cold water fish reduces the risk for heart rhythm disturbances and reduces the risk of heart palpitations, atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmia. Fish oils may reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death probably due to an anti-arrhythmic effect. It is not clear whether taking fish oil capsules or eating more fish reduces the need to take aspirin, or perhaps the dose of aspirin can be reduced if fish oils supplements are used. Another option is krill oil. Fish oils can be taken at one to three capsules a day. A diet rich in oily fish, which contains omega 3 fatty acids, may be why middle-aged men in Japan have fewer problems with clogged arteries and heart disease than white men and men of Japanese descent in the United States. Fish oil and DHA supplements are available for sale at DHA supplement.
Curcumin protects rat myocardium against ischemic insult and the protective effect could be attributed to its antioxidant properties. Curcumin is derived from turmeric.
Psyllium is a fiber that can reduce cholesterol levels. Use half or one teaspoon of Psyllium powder in a glass of water twice daily with food. Flax fiber is another good option, so is Glucomannan fiber.
CoQ10 may be helpful in heart disease, especially in combination with vitamin E. I would recommend limiting the dosage of CoQ10 to 30 mg daily or 50 mg three or four times a week. You can find CoQ10-30mg supplement here.
Vitamin E works better with CoQ10 to reduce inflammation in heart disease. Limit vitamin E to maximum 30 to 200 units a few times a week. Use a natural vitamin E complex rather than synthetic vitamin E.
B Complex vitamins reduces levels of homocysteine. Keep the vitamin B dosages low, perhaps one or two times the RDA. Taking higher amounts may not necessary be a healthy approach.
Vitamin C could be helpful, limit dosage to 100 to 500 mg a day.
Terminalia Arjuna, an Indian medicinal plant, has been reported to have beneficial effects in patients with ischemic heart disease in a number of small studies. Arjuna has been tested in angina.
Magnesium is a mineral that could help some individuals.

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Aspirin for heart disease
Aspirin therapy has proven useful in preventing heart attacks, but even very low doses of the drug taken regularly pose a bleeding risk, while moderate or high doses cause stomach ulcer and stroke. The study encompassed data from 31 clinical trials, which involved a total of 192,036 patients. Patients were divided into three groups depending on their daily aspirin dose: low (less than 100 mg), moderate (100 to 200 mg), and high (greater than 200 mg). The rate of fatal or life-threatening bleeding problems in the low-, moderate-, and high-dose groups was 0.27, 0.46, and 1.59 percent, respectively.
   Dr. Sahelian says: A baby aspirin 81 mg three times a week appears to be safe.

Diet and heart disease
Researchers found that among nearly 43,000 middle-aged and older men, those who ate the most whole grains -- such as oatmeal, brown rice and some breakfast cereals -- were less likely than men with the lowest consumption to develop coronary heart disease over 14 years. When the investigators looked at two of the major components of whole grains, bran emerged as the lead player. Men who added the most bran to their diet were 30 percent less likely to develop heart disease than their peers who ate no added bran. Whole grains have three basic components: the outer layer of bran, the inner germ and the starchy layer known as the endosperm. In highly processed grain products, such as white bread, the bran and germ are removed before milling -- which also takes away the fiber, vitamins and other nutrients found in those constituents. Diets rich in whole grain foods such as cooked oatmeal, whole barley, bulgur, popcorn, and breakfast cereals and breads made from whole grains, have been linked to better weight management and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Virtually the entire risk of heart disease and heart attack can be predicted and the impact of factors causing attacks is the same whether you live in a rich country or a poor one. Results of a study of more than 29,000 people in 52 countries, released at a meeting of the European Cardiology Society, showed that two factors alone -- an abnormal ratio of bad to good cholesterol and smoking -- were responsible for two thirds of the global risk of heart attack. Other risk factors were high blood pressure, diabetes, abdominal obesity, stress, a lack of daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, and lack of daily exercise.

Q. I have read in a magazine article that almonds are a good choice to reduce the risk for heart disease, is this true?
   A. Almonds and most nuts have a good range of healthy fatty acids and, in moderation, are a good addition to one's diet. As much as possible eat raw nuts since the fatty acid profile of nuts is altered when cooked.

Coffee and heart disease
Consuming moderate-to-high amounts of coffee is associated with increased levels of several inflammatory markers, a finding that could help explain previous reports linking the beverage to heart disease. Ongoing, low-level inflammation is thought to be an underlying factor in the development of heart disease. The latest findings, which appear in the October 2000 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are based on a study of about 3000 subjects with no history of cardiovascular disease. Compared with subjects who did not drink coffee, those who consumed more than about 1 cup of the beverage per day had significantly higher levels of all the inflammatory markers tested.

Smoking and heart disease
In chronic smokers who stop smoking, there is a rapid increase in the number of circulating cells that aid in the repair of the lining of blood vessels. Even short-term cessation of smoking may be an effective means to reduce cardiovascular risk.
   Passive smoking may be much more dangerous than had been thought. This is likely to boost demand for a ban on smoking in public places. Scientists in Britain studied exposure to passive smoke by measuring cotinine, a breakdown product of tobacco smoke, in the blood of non-smokers. People who were non-smokers but had relatively high levels of cotinine had a heart disease risk of about 50 percent higher than those people who were exposed to low levels. Passive smoking has adverse effects that may have been underestimated in the past.

Stress test and heart disease
Stress tests aimed at detecting blocked arteries in patients may miss more than half the cases of early heart disease.

Stress and heart disease
Men with stressful jobs may already be at risk of early artery disease by their early 30s. Researchers in Finland found that among the more than 1,000 young adults they studied, men who reported high levels of job strain were more likely than their peers to show signs of early artery narrowing. The same was not true of young women, however. A number of studies have found a link between job strain and heart disease, but it's not clear that work demands are the cause of the higher risk. The new findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, 2005, point to a possible connection between job strain and the beginnings of atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque in the arteries that eventually impairs blood flow and can lead to heart disease, a heart attack or stroke.

Reduce hostility
A hostile temperament may shorten the lives of middle-aged adults with heart disease. In a study of more than 1,300 men and women with diseased heart arteries, researchers found that younger patients with an antagonistic personality had a higher risk of dying over the next 14 years than did their more mellow peers. However, when it came to older patients -- those 61 years of age or older -- there was no clear effect of hostility on the risk of death. A possible explanation is that heart disease patients who are particularly vulnerable to the effects of their own hostility, which include blood pressure spikes and stress hormone surges, often don't make it to old age.

Exercise and heart disease
Long term mild to moderate exercise reduces the risk for heart disease. However, a sudden surge of physical activity or bout of extreme emotional distress can precipitate a heart attack in people at risk. Investigators from the University College London, UK, found consistent evidence from previous studies that when normally inactive people engage in a burst of physical activity, or when people are emotionally stressed, angry or excited, they are more likely to experience a myocardial infarction.

Heart disease symptom
Some of the common symptoms of heart disease include shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations, dizziness or lightheadedness, swelling in legs, and fatigue. An uncommon heart disease symptom is abdominal pain or abdominal pulsation. Some people experience heart disease symptoms in the form of anxiety, appetite loss, cough, cyanosis (bluish skin discoloration), dizziness, and fast heart beat. Rare symptoms of heart disease include fever, numbness and tingling, and vertigo.

Heart disease and antidepressant drugs
Patients with coronary artery disease may be at increased risk of death while using antidepressant drugs. Researchers monitored depressive symptoms and antidepressant use among 921 patients ages 29 to 90 years who were hospitalized for coronary angiography, a procedure used to diagnose heart disease. All of the patients had a history of or current coronary artery disease. Antidepressants were being used by 19 percent of subjects. Two thirds of the antidepressants were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as Prozac. During an average of three years of follow-up, 21 percent of the patients taking antidepressants died, compared with 12 percent of those not on antidepressants. After adjusting for demographic factors, cardiac risk factors, scores on the Beck Depression Inventory test, and the presence of other illness, antidepressant use was an independent risk factor for mortality, increasing the risk by 62 percent.

Heart disease and surgery
Patients scheduled for heart surgery might want to ask their surgeon not to use a clotting drug called Trasylol (aprotinin). The use of the drug appears to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. Clotting drugs like Trasylol are given to some patients during heart surgery to reduce bleeding.

Association of heart disease and gallstones
Patients with coronary heart disease appear to be at increased risk of developing gallstones. Obesity is a risk factor for gallstones and coronary heart disease. To investigate the possible association between these two diseases, researchers, based at Medica Sur Clinic and Foundation in Mexico City, studied 119 patients with gallstones visible on ultrasound and 354 controls without evidence of gallstones. The prevalence of coronary heart disease was close to 16 percent in subjects with gallstones, significantly higher than that of controls at 4.5 percent.

Women and heart disease
Older women who eat a relatively large amount of protein from red meat or dairy products may have an elevated risk of dying from heart disease. The findings call into question the long-term safety of high-protein diets -- at least the ones that don't distinguish the protein in steak and cream from that in tofu and nuts. Investigators found that among more than 29,000 postmenopausal women, those who reported the highest intake of protein from red meat and dairy products had a roughly 40 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease over the next 15 years compared with women with the lowest intake of these foods. Exercise treadmill testing is not a very accurate method of detecting clogged coronary arteries in women.

Heart disease and obesity
The circumference of your waist correlates more closely with several known risk factors for heart disease than does your body mass index (BMI) -- the measure of weight in relation to height.

Additional risk factors for heart disease
Periodontal bacteria linked to heart disease: People who test positive for bacteria that cause periodontal disease also have increased thickness of the carotid artery, which suggests there is a direct relationship between periodontal infection and atherosclerosis.

People with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome -- in which airways become blocked periodically during sleep and breathing stops for brief periods -- experience a relatively high number episodes of irregular heart rhythm and future heart disease.

There is no evidence that oral contraceptives reduce the risk of heart disease.

Heart disease test - which ones are worthwhile?
New and expensive heart disease screening tests are no better at predicting life-threatening heart problems than simple old-fashioned risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol according to Thomas Wang of the Massachusetts General Hospital and his colleagues who looked at 10 "biomarkers" that try to evaluate risk for heart disease, including C-reactive protein and homocysteine.

Supplements and heart disease research
Cosupplementation with vitamin E and coenzyme Q10 reduces circulating markers of inflammation in baboons.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Sep;80(3):649-55.
Inflammation and oxidative stress are processes that mark early metabolic abnormalities in vascular diseases. We explored the effects of a high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet on vascular responses in baboons and the potential response-attenuating effects of vitamin E and coenzyme Q(10) supplementation. We used a longitudinal design by subjecting 21 baboons (Papio hamadryas) to sequential dietary challenges. After being maintained for 3 mo on a baseline diet (low in fat and cholesterol), 21 baboons were challenged with an HFHC diet for 7 wk. The serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations did not change. Subsequent supplementation of the HFHC diet with the antioxidant vitamin E (250, 500, or 1000 IU/kg diet) for 2 wk reduced serum CRP concentrations. Additional supplementation with CoQ10 (2 g/kg diet) further reduced serum CRP to approximately 30% of baseline. Introduction of the HFHC diet itself significantly decreased serum P-selectin and von Willebrand factor concentrations. However, neither vitamin E alone nor vitamin E plus CoQ10 significantly altered the serum concentrations of P-selectin or von Willebrand factor. Dietary supplementation with vitamin E alone reduces the baseline inflammatory status that is indicated by the CRP concentration in healthy adult baboons. Cosupplementation with CoQ10, however, significantly enhances this antiinflammatory effect of vitamin E.

Dietary Intake and Coronary Heart Disease: A Variety of Nutrients and Phytochemicals Are Important.
Tucker KL.. Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med. 2004 Aug;6(4):291-302.
Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA
Until quite recently, the dietary focus on prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) has been almost exclusively centered on reducing intake of cholesterol, total fat, and saturated fat. The food industry responded vigorously with low-fat products, some of which are helpful, particularly low-fat dairy products, but others that are less so, due to increases in refined carbohydrate content. Recent research shows that a variety of foods contribute to protection against CHD, including certain types of fatty acids, and a variety of components in fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. In particular, there is now an emphasis on reducing not only saturated fat, but also trans fat, whereas mono and omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to be protective. Many new studies have shown a link between intake of fruit and vegetables and whole grains and protection against CHD. This has been ascribed to their fiber, vitamin, mineral, and phytochemical content. In particular, there is accumulating evidence of protective effects for folate, vitamin B(6), vitamin B(12), vitamin E, vitamin C, flavonoids, and phytoestrogens. New recommendations to prevent heart disease require a greater focus on total dietary pattern with a return to the use of a variety of minimally processed foods.heart disease

Nutritional trials for the prevention of coronary heart disease.
Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S2.
Epidemiological studies as well as randomised dietary trials including moderate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in the experimental diet suggest that these fatty acids, despite their low concentrations in blood and tissues, may be important in relation with the pathogenesis (and prevention) of CHD. Whereas a striking protective effect of an alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)-rich Mediterranean diet was reported with a 50 to 70% reduction of the risk of recurrence after 4 years of follow-up, it is still not known whether ALA is cardioprotective by itself only or also through its conversion into very long-chain omega-3 PUFAs (EPA + DHA) and then into the corresponding eicosanoids and prostaglandins. According to our current knowledge, dietary ALA should represent about 0.6 to 1 % of total daily energy or about 2 g per day in patients following a Mediterranean diet, whereas the average intake in linoleic acid should not exceed 7 g per day. Supplementation with very long chain omega-3 fatty acids (about 1g per day) in patients following a Mediterranean type of diet was shown to decrease the risk of cardiac death by 30% and of sudden cardiac death by 45%. Thus, in the context of a diet rich in oleic acid and poor in saturated and omega-6 fatty acids, even a small dose of omega-3 PUFAs (one gram under the form of capsules) might be very protective. These data underline the importance of the omega-6/omega-3 ratio in the prevention of coronary heart disease.

Additional links
Danshen used in China for heart conditions
Heart Attack information
C Reactive Protein reduction of c-reactive protein and cholesterol required to control heart disease. See also C reactive protein page.

Heart Disease Questions
Q. Is jaw pain a symptom of heart disease?
   A. Jaw pain may be a symptom of heart disease in the sense of angina.

Q. What are the most helpful supplements to take to prevent heart disease?
   A. A few of these supplements are listed at the top of the page. Much depends on one's diet, activity level, and other factors. The above listed supplements are a rough guideline.

Q. I take heart medicine and cholesterol medicine and several other medications for heart disease. I also take Lyrica 75mg for poor circulation and muscle pain. i would like to take some natural remedies that really work. My Dr wants me to go back to a Vascular specialist. who wants to do "major surgery". I am 70 yrs old and I don't want this. If you can help I will forever be grateful.
   A. We can't give individual suggestions, but your doctor may wish to read this page and perhaps some of the info may be useful to you. Lyrica is pregabalin, an oral medication that is chemically related to gabapentin. It is used for treating pain caused by neurologic diseases such as neuropathic pain,

Do you carry a nutrient called ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid? This nutrient is suppose to be an artery cleaner.
    Sorry, we don't.

This heart disease page was last updated Feb 2009.

Symptom of Heart Disease