The subject of heart disease, most especially coronary artery disease causes and prevention has so much information available that I have decided to discuss it in two parts.  This first part will explain a little of the “science” behind the development of this condition and the second part, to follow, will give you some information on what you can do for prevention and lessen the effects.

Our heart is an amazing muscular organ.  During an average lifetime it will pump over 50 million gallons of blood through over 50 million miles of blood vessels.  There are many forms of heart disease, but the leading one is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), and is the number one cause of death annually.  CAD ranks as the first reason for Social Security Disability.  It ranks third behind cancer and mental illness for hospital stays.  In most cases the single factor that causes heart disease is a condition called coronary artherosclerosis.   What causes this?  Can it be prevented?

CAD is a slow, insidious disease often starting as early as 10 years of age.  Autopsies performed during the Korean War showed that young, healthy, well conditioned men showed coronary artery clogging.  According to Time-Life, almost all heart attacks develop from long standing atherosclerosis.  The attacks are sudden, but there are almost always warning signs. Angina pectoris – chest pain during physical exertion caused by one or more heart arteries being partially clogged – is an example.  The blood supply to the heart is reduced, the muscle is malnourished, and so the heart functions painfully. 

What is this plaque that builds up in the arteries and what can cause it?  It starts with an injury to the artery wall by a variety of chemicals such as chlorine, trans-fatty acids, chemicals from smoking cigarettes, environmental toxins that find their way to the blood stream, free radicals, lipid peroxidation and high blood pressure.  The injured cells release chemicals to start the healing process.  These chemicals cause new cells to be produced – cell proliferation or plaque.  Because these cells are not normal (they have mutated), they function differently, causing the artery to become partially blocked as well as less elastic (hardening).  The mutated cells actually produce their own cholesterol.  Electron microscope techniques show that the cholesterol appears only after the injuries to the arterial walls.  Studies also show that the new arterial cells, to facilitate the flow of the bloodstream, produce this cholesterol.  As the healing process continues, the cholesterol in the newly formed plaque starts to attract calcium from the bloodstream.  This not only adds more rigidity to the plaque, but also attracts additional material from the bloodstream, including more cholesterol.  So the plaque grows, layer by layer. 

This creates two more problems.  If the artery is half way blocked, the amount of blood that can flow through it is reduced to 1/16 of its capacity.  Visualize two garden hoses – one has a diameter of 1 inch, the other ½ inch.  Compare he amount of water flowing from each.  Clearly there is more flowing from the 1-inch hose!  The second problem is the increasing size of the blockage creates a “dam” that catches cellular components of the blood, particularly platelets.  Platelets are the first responders when an injury occurs and initiate clot formation.  They are designed to be sticky – they stick to one another and to rough, injured arterial walls.  As they stick to the injury, the mechanism that stimulates clot formation is initiated and a clot forms, further blocking the artery.  Should this clot (now called a thrombus) dislodge and travel through the bloodstream, a heart attack or stroke could occur.

There are several known causes of CAD:

1. High blood pressure

2. Obesity

3. Smoking

4. Poor nutrition

5. High total cholesterol and LDL (the bad guy) with low HDL (the good guy) levels.

6. High levels of the amino acid homocysteine.

7. High levels of C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

8. Lack of exercise

It is very important to keep the arteries clear and the blood “slippery.”  It can be done through proper diet and exercise.  I will cover several natural ways in the next column.  Stay tuned!

Health is not everything, but without spiritual and physical health, everything is nothing.  Until next time we meet – may God Bless you with good health, with a little help from you!

The information in these columns is for educational purposes only and not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please consult your physician for any serious condition.

Len Rossi, ND has been a proponent of Natural Healing for 30 years. After a 25-year career as a pro wrestler, Len earned his Doctor Of Naturopathy degree in 1982 and is a Licensed Massage Therapist.