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Prevent & Reverse Heart Diseases: A Concise Guide to Preventing & Diagnosing Heart Problems by Brandon Ruse, Medical Student . WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK Thousands of people are out there dying of heart disease, distress, and overall pain. I didn’t write this book so you could just flip it open and not try any of the techniques and tips, I wrote it to be practical and useful for you. In this book you will learn: -Statistics on Heart Disease -Modern Preventative Techniques -Practical Advice on How to Cope With Heart Disease -Easy Ways to Lower Cholesterol and Break Free From Unhealthy Dietary Choice -Exercise Tips & Fat Burning Food Lists Thanks for making the right decision to purchase this book. It’s your life you deserve to be happy and healthy. Statistics on Heart Diseases According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every year over 715,000 Americans have a heart attack. This is a horrible statistic! Imagine if just a few steps could be taken to lower the risk and mortality of those who are out there suffering from these conditions. In this book I will try to cover some of the do’s and don’t behind heart disease and give you an interesting outlook into how heart disease happens, how you can avoid it, and how millions of Americans and those around the world are getting better. Heart Disease is a terrible epidemic throughout the world. The rates of disease are shocking be it because of hereditary genetics, high cholesterol, or just plain obesity and eating tons of fast food. Regardless of the cause, it has to stop. Many people are dying needlessly. Not all deaths, however are caused by risk factors that are patient-driven but the majority are including smoking . In addition to the risk factors like smoking, taking pharmaceutical drugs and also inactivity can increase risk factors towards developing heart disease and strokes. Whether you learn nothing else from this book, try to get 30 minutes of exercise a day in some moderate form. I will go over some concepts I would suggest but there are thousands of programs out there to help you. As with any such health book, I would recommend you to follow any of these instructions only after you’ve spoken with your physician to advice whether this is the best plan for you and your personal situation and body type. Table of Contents WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK Statistics on Heart Diseases Chapter 1: Understanding How Your Heart Works Anatomy & Diseases Involving Your Heart Heart Murmurs & Your Heart High Blood Pressure & What You Can Do About It What to Expect Dealing with Heart Disease Chapter 2: Valve Diseases Caused By Bacteria Infective Endocarditis Rheumatic Fever Chapter 3: Heart Diseases Caused By Poor Eating Habits Obesity as an Epidemic Chapter 4: Cholesterol & Why It Can Cause Disease Chapter 5: How to Lower Your Cholesterol Easily 100 Fat & Cholesterol Shredding Foods Chapter 6: Primer on Your Body pH- Acidity & Alkalinity Chapter 7: All About Essential Vitamins Managing Portion Sizes Chapter 8: Signs & Symptoms of Heart Disease Chapter 9: Treatment Methods for Heart Disease Chapter 10: Coping With Heart Disease Chapter 11: Understanding Risk Factors for Heart Disease Chapter 12: Modern Treatment & Surgery Pacemakers: What They Do & How They Work Bonus: Exercise Tips & To Improve Heart Health & Weight Loss Muscle Anatomy & Core Exercises Disclaimer About Medical Information: ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chapter 1: Understanding How Your Heart Works “Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.” ~Doug Larson It is important to make sure that your heart is healthy and strong. To do this you need to understand some fundamental aspects of health, ranges for blood pressure, and guidelines which go along with weight loss, changing your eating habits, and understand exercise and how it benefits your life. Unless you take this three pronged approach to weight loss, which some people use to avoid heart disease, you will likely put yourself at risk for heart disease. It’s sad that statistics for heart disease have risen so high in America and abroad. According to the Center for Disease Control, “About 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths.” That is a staggering number, don’t you think? More than half the deaths in 2009 due to heart disease were in men. This shows that diet needs to change. Anatomy & Diseases Involving Your Heart Disease can happen in any number of ways one of which being losing oxygen, atherosclerotic plaque in one or more of your arteries, or even rheumatic fever or flaps of the heart being covered with vegetations. The heart has four chambers and a number of valves. As you can see in the picture below there are two different chambers at the top, one which received what is called Deoxygenated blood(the right atrium) and one which receives oxygenated blood(the left atrium). The way that blood is pushed through these two chambers and the lower ventricles are also a huge topic when you discuss disease particularly heart disease and myocardial infarction. I will delve into that a little bit in the next section on heart conditions due to lack of exercise and what these can cause you to deal with. Disclaimer: Any of the information in this book should be taken not as medical advice. You should discuss with your doctor before practicing any of the informational advice offered in this book. There are a few major concepts you should understand and the first is about blood pressure and how the body deals with proteins and a concept called homeostasis. Because I’m training to become a medical doctor, I had to memorize and understand thousands of concepts and minutiae and what I think would be best for someone who is just looking to learn about heart conditions, I should break it down into easy manageable chunks. Blood Flow Your body needs to push blood and oxygen to the tissues and your circulatory system is one of the major ways in which your body accomplishes this. When you take in oxygen from your lungs it crosses a barrier in some sacs in the bottom of your lungs to what are called capillaries and these capillaries push the blood using certain valves to your heart. Because your body needs to basically push the blood across barriers in your heart, your lungs and keeping them clear is very important to keep away from disease. The way the body pushes blood across those sacs is by using what it called diffusion and without getting too technical, those who have risk factors such as smoking can cause fibrosis or tangles pieces of cells to basically block the road for the oxygen to travel across to get into your lung capillaries. Basically the body exchanges O2 on the incoming road and on the opposite side, CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is exchanged and pushed out of your mouth on expiration. Too much CO2 can cause you to die. This is why smoking eventually kills people- because the body’s ability to push CO2 out is impaired and certain diseases can cause the body’s organs to die because of lack of oxygen, or hypoxia. Here is a picture to help you understand and appreciate what I’m talking about. If you can appreciate and understand the concept, if there is clutter across the road or what medically is called fibrosis you can impede the carrying of oxygen on blood cells. This leads your body to break down, specifically your heart. This releases some enzymes and your body will want to get more oxygen and your heart will begin to find ways to get more oxygen by thinking it should pump harder to get the blood and little oxygen it has to the precious organs like the brain. Your body also needs energy. You get energy by eating but you need oxygen to actually create the energy in cells called mitochondria. These cells carry out a concept with a concept electron transport chain and oxygen is and major component of this process. Without energy you will deal with many symptoms and likely will die. Keeping Your Blood Pressure Normal Your blood pressure needs to be kept normal and eating healthily, getting good vitamins, and making sure your mineral intake is kept at a healthy level keeps this in check. Your body functions on a standard range called homeostasis. You can think of this as an air conditioner and it is set to one level. If it becomes too cold the AC machine turns off and likewise if it becomes too hot the machine responds by pushing out colder air. Your body works in a similar way. When you don’t have oxygen or your blood pressure dips below certain levels, you will see your body will respond by pushing out specific chemokines or chemicals in your blood like Nitrous Oxide which causes the body’s blood vessels to expand or dilate. Your body expands and contracts its blood vessels when you exercise, when you are too obese, or when it needs to push major amounts of oxygen throughout the body. It is your job to make sure you don’t overload the engine. Many diseases are genetic and can lead to problems with heart valves, pumping, and electricity of the heart. The body’s response to some of these conditions is that it tries to compensate and this means pumping harder. This is where your heart will undergo a kind of expansion of the ventricles and it will hypertrophy. This will eventually cause your body’s heart to tire out and your heart will just shut down and go to sleep. This will mean you will die. One major sign this is happening is a crushing pain in your chest like you’ve never felt before that radiates down your left arm. Diseases of the Heart The heart needs to pump and some of the major diseases/conditions which affect the heart are: Atherosclerotic Plaque- This disease is caused by the increasing fatty foods that are taken in. Without a focus on eating healthy food, you will increase the likelihood that you will add plaque and eventually block your arteries that send blood into your heart to pump to your lungs and cause a backflow. Myocardial Infarction- myocardial infarction can often can occur from the many years of abuse and complications that come from obesity and overeating. Many people don’t look t the negative aspect of food choices and just go after the taste of the food. This is a horrible choice. If you do not eat correctly you can end up with high blood pressure, clogged heart valves, and death. Obesity- obesity is one of the major killers in the United States and the world. This is a challenging disease to treat because society is so focused on providing fatty foods and Hypertension-HTN or hypertension is a disease which is basically caused by many different factors including, but not only, as an adverse side effect of the use of some medications, terrible eating habits, and genetic factors. Definitely eating wheat and other high fat foods can cause this long term. Heart Murmurs & Your Heart Heart murmurs can be either systolic or diastolic and sometimes can even have clicking sounds when blood is ejected from the heart. This can give your Doctor an idea what condition you are suffering from. Basically what these murmurs show are often the blood hitting against your artery walls, the dialation not happening correctly, and/or there being vegetations or issues which cause the body to need to pump harder. This is why going to the doctor for a routine investigation is one of the most important things you can do with your time throughout the year. Even one checkup every three months is great. This can help identify symptoms of hypertension. High Blood Pressure & What You Can Do About It High blood pressure is called hypertension. This is when either there is too much fluid in your veins, a backed up clearance system in the kidney, or even too much protein in your blood. Your heart could be pumping quickly to get more blood to the fat cells which are in your obese body, your pressure could be up because of being overly anxious or dealing with constant OCD or anxiety. Needless to say there are a thousand reasons one could be diagnosed with hypertension. The critical key is to make sure that you check yourself and see a doctor regularly. I’ve included a chart below which shows some of the ranges which are important to keep in mind and when you should absolutely go see a doctor. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is diagnosed over three different visits to the hospital or your doctor so over three different time spans, this chart will work. Sometimes your blood pressure will fluctuate if you have eaten or have been active in the last few hours or minutes. Bottom number (diastolic) in mm Hg Top number (systolic) in mm Hg Your category* What to do** Below 120 and Below 80 Normal blood pressure Maintain or adopt a healthy lifestyle. 120-139 or 80-89 Prehypertension Continue or adopt a healthier lifestyle 140-159 or 90-99 Stage 1 hypertension Continue or adopt a healthier lifestyle. If blood pressure goal isn't reached in around six months, talk to your doctor about possible medication 160 or more or 100 or more Stage 2 hypertension Try to create or maintain a healthier lifestyle. Talk to your doctor about taking multiple medications for hypertension. What to Expect Dealing with Heart Disease The way that heart disease works is that it creeps up on you. You’ll have a lot of food over 20-30 years or maybe even it comes unexpected when you’re 30. There are some major reasons why you should think really closely about the food choices you intake. Fat and Carbohydrates lead to major issues over the years because they can clog up your arteries and cause you to become tired and obesity itself is a major issue because it causes your body to need more blood and thus work harder. Some of the major heart attack signs are included in the picture here. You can see that they are definitely easy to read and you WILL know the crushing pain when you feel it. But, the reality is you should try to lower your risk factors. Obviously we cannot change our genetics so we should look to work on our exercise level, keeping our weight at a healthy level, and stay focused on making sure we get enough heart-healthy fiber. In most of the other chapters I will get into more details about each specific disease condition and how it affects your body and the symptoms you may end up seeing. Chapter 2: Valve Diseases Caused By Bacteria Certain bacteria can really wreak havoc on your body. By understanding some of these conditions, you can focus on improving yourself and finding ways to beat the challenges that exist. While we can’t fully protect ourselves from bacteria, understanding the risk factors and the way these bugs are transmitted can do a lot to change our outlook, behaviors, and the negative statistics for heart disease. Infective Endocarditis Figure(above) shows the narrowing of the wall and the inability to get blood through. Infective Endocarditis is a disease where the lining of your heart gets inflamed. Basically, there is a situation when your body will be dealing with inflamed walls and your body cannot get any blood supply or the white blood cells, or leukocytes (which are supposed to protect your body) cannot actually do the job. This then leads to the bacteria creating vegetations or little spots on the flaps of your heart which then also can lead to necrosis and eventually heart attack. Needless to say this is a pretty bad situation to be in. These valves can become stenotic (narrowed) and cause oxygenation issues and shut down major systems. Common Bacterial Causes: Staphylococcus Aureus (Acute disease) Staphylococcus Viridians Group B Streptococcus How to Know if You Have Infective Endocarditis The signs of Infective Endocarditis are dependent on which type of the condition you are suffering from. These could be acute or subacute types and likewise the symptoms really vary depending on which one you have. General Symptoms: Coughing Shortness of Breath Chest Pain & Irregular Heartbeat Rhythm Headaches, Back pain, & swelling in your legs Bloody Urine Blood in the whites of your eyes These are not the only symptoms you may see but these are some of the major ones. Types of Infective Endocarditis Acute Endocarditis Symptoms: Acute endocarditis is a very abrupt quick disease which shows symptoms almost immediately. Subacute Endocarditis Symptoms: Subacute endocarditis is basically dealing with a condition which has gone on chronically which doesn’t necessarily show signs and symptoms as readily as would others. Rheumatic Fever Figure (above): as you can see in this image above the flaps are closed. This impedes the flow of blood. Rheumatic fever is also a condition which typically deals with bacterial infections. This time the part of your heart that is affected is the flaps of the heart valve. This is similar in outcome as the Endocarditis but in this form there really isn’t a subacute or acute version. This disease often occurs in children ages 5-15. Bacterial Causes: Untreated Streptococcal Infection Treatments for Endocarditis: Treatments include penicillin. Chapter 3: Heart Diseases Caused By Poor Eating Habits Figure (above): You can see the cholesterol and fats clogging up the coronary artery. Coronary Heart Disease is typically associated with poor eating habits. Actually, horrible eating habits to be precise. The symptoms and heart damage have a lot to do with cholesterol and I cover that in some of the next chapters. These types of diseases can eventually cause you to deal with arrhythmias, pain, as well as tons of other symptoms. It is important to understand that diet actually contributes to this condition and can put you at higher risk for coronary death. The way to prevent this condition is to focus on trying to implement exercise into your diet, lowering the amount of negative cholesterol in your diet and focusing on adding positive healthy choices which actually contribute to weight loss. Statistics of CHD: This disease is the #1 cause of death among women and men in the United States. Alternate Names for CHD: Arthrosclerosis, Ischemic Heart Disease, etc. Obesity as an Epidemic Obesity is a major problem in today’s society. Obesity basically is having excess fat on your body. There is a numerical cutoff for this and that is by using the Body Mass Index which is taking your weight in kilograms and dividing it by your height in meters squared (Kg/m2). If you are 35 or older and your BMI is above 30 then you are obese. Obesity can lead to many different issues including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and many of the medical complications you see in the image above. According to Dr. Melissa Stoppler MD, there is a high relapse rate of those who suffer from obesity. On the tune of nearly 95% within 5 years. This is a horrifying statistic. One must learn to understand fat loss and how it can improve quality of life and ensure overall health. Obesity in children has reached an alarming rate of 25%. This can also add to extreme risk for heart conditions later in life. Hypertension, nocturnal breathing issues, and murmurs can be frequently seen in those suffering with some of these related conditions. Fat Loss: What Does Science Tell Us? Simple Calculations Before we talk about the science behind weight loss and adipose (fat cells), we should discuss a little bit about your weight, body mass, and some indexes that can help guide you to knowing where you’re at in relation to others and your fat percentage. Typically weight is measured in pounds or kilograms but there is a more definitive measurement used in the medical community known as the body mass index. This is derived by taking your height (in meters squared)/divided by your weight in kilograms. There are several different BMI calculators online which can help you to figure this ratio out. Once you have this ratio, you can calculate the amount of calories you need to sustain and/or lose the weight you are attempting to lose. In the links section of this EBook I have included several sites which will help you figure out these numbers and how you fare compared to the rest of the population. The reason you cannot just take a measure of BMI and expect it to be totally accurate is that weight is composed of not only the adipose tissue in your body but also the weight of your bones, cartilage and visceral organs. Determining how much you actually way is best done using the techniques a medical doctor would perform or an exercise physiologist such as using body fat instruments. These instruments measure the amount of fat on someone’s body. Water weight is also a large portion of how weight is distributed. In the following sections of this book I will give you valuable tips to help you lose the water weight easily by eating specific foods. It is important to understand your caloric needs and what macromolecules which you need to intake per day to be healthy and maintain your weight. The following is a rough guide. Should you seek to learn more, several resources are available at the end of this book to guide you. What are My Calorie, Protein, Fat, & Carbohydrate Needs? Calorie Needs The Harris-Benedict Equation for Basal Energy Expenditure (BEE) is commonly used to figure energy requirements based on sex, height, weight and age. W=weight in kilograms H=height in centimeters A=age (years) Men: BEE = 66.5 + 13.8(W) + 5.0(H) - 6.8(A) Women: BEE = 655.1 + 9.6(W) + 1.9(H) - 4.7(A) Protein Needs The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends daily protein intake for healthy adults as .81.0 g of protein/kg body weight. Fat Needs Fat intake should equal 30% of your total days calories. Carbohydrate Needs The USDA recommends that 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories come from carbohydrates. How Fat Loss Occurs Fat isn’t just stored in a huge sheet like a cake but under the epidermis and dermal layers of the skin fall cells, or adipose cells, are composed of triglycerides. These triglycerides are filled with free fatty acids. The body uses energy known as ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, to fuel its processes. Without this ATP, the body would shut down and the person would face rigor and die. This is a natural response to situations such as when someone eats a puffer fish incorrectly cooked which releases toxins which deter the creation of ATP or when someone’s cells burst open and apoptize. A normal young male stores about 60,000 to 100,000 calories of energy in his body fat cells. What triggers the release of all the FFA is when you’ve consumed too fewer calories than you are burning. The body releases hormones and your body your fat cells will then start a process known as glycogenolysis to break down the fat and to increase the energy. For stored fat to be liberated from the fat cell hydrolysis (lipolysis or fat breakdown) splits the molecule of triglycerol into glycerol and three fatty acids. An important enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) is the catalyst for this reaction. The stored fat (energy) gets released into the bloodstream as FFA's and they are shuttled off to the muscles where the energy is needed. As blood flow increases to the active muscles, more FFA's are delivered to the muscles that need them. An important enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL) then helps the FFA's get inside the mitochondria of the muscle cell, where the FFA's can be burned for energy. The mitochondria is the energy powerhouse of the cell. So, when you look leaner it is because the fat cells have released their contents from inside and now have shrunken. There is no way to spot target fat loss as weight is basically shed from the body as the body sees fit. A small or "empty" fat cell is what you're after if you want the sculpted look. Fat cells do actually increase both in size (hypertrophy) and in number (hyperplasia) in response to several physiological conditions. They are more likely to increase in number at certain times and under certain circumstances, such as during late childhood and early puberty, during pregnancy, and during adulthood when extreme amounts of weight are gained. Some people are genetically predisposed to have more fat cells than others and women have more fat cells than men. A baby usually has about 5 - 6 billion fat cells. This number increases during early childhood and puberty. A healthy adult, in contrast, has 25 to 30 billion fat cells. An overweight adult has around 75 billion fat cells. But in the case of severe obesity, this number can be as high as 250 to 300 billion! Remember, body fat is basically just a reserve source of energy and fat cells are the like the storage tanks. Unlike a gas tank in your car which is fixed in size, however, fat cells can expand or shrink in size depending on how "filled" they are. So you don't actually "lose" fat cells, you "empty out" fat cells. Chapter 4: Cholesterol & Why It Can Cause Disease Cholesterol is an extremely important chemical in the body and some forms of it can be deadly to your health. The next two chapters are going to give you a brief introduction and some practical ways to lower your own cholesterol levels. Cholesterol comes in a few different forms and is synthesized in the body in a few different places. Chapter 5: How to Lower Your Cholesterol Easily Some major tips about lowering cholesterol are included in this chapter. LDL and HDL both have their own place in the body but there are always reasons why these should be kept in check. 1. Eat Fiber- high fiver diets allow you to lose weight and cleanse your body. 2. Exercise- exercise removes the triglycerides from your adipose tissue. This will help you to decrease the cholesterol and combined with a healthy diet will improve your overall health and lower risk factors for coronary heart disease. 3. Medication-medical works by decreasing the cholesterol levels in your body. This will ensure that there is lower risk of clogged arteries. Michael Richman, MD calls drug therapy "the only thing that will work fast" to lower high cholesterol 4. Avoid Saturated Fats- These types of fats are full of negative foods that you really don’t want to have in your body. 5. Eat Lots of Fish- In the next section I go over a couple of the foods which will help you lower cholesterol. Remember to eat plenty of greens, water, and the foods below. I also have included a section on fat cutting foods in case you’re looking for weight loss help. Foods that Lower Your Cholesterol 1. Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods 2. Fish & Omega-3 Fatty Acids 3. Walnuts, Almonds, & Nuts 4. Olive Oil 100 Fat & Cholesterol Shredding Foods Choosing the right foods is an important concept when talking about changing your lifestyle and losing weight. This isn’t just about dropping the Twinkies from your lunch or skipping the dessert course (although these things help!), no it’s about learning about what foods help you lose weight, cut cravings, and increase maintenance of the weight you lost as a lifestyle change and not just a fad where you quickly gain all the weight back right after the end of the diet. Before I get to the types of foods which are helpful with losing weight and improving health, I am going to discuss portion sizes and the benefit of making sure you have enough water intake throughout the day. Food #1 Oatmeal Oatmeal is the one carbohydrate food that virtually 100% of all bodybuilders and fitness models eat daily. What makes it great? Although it’s a starchy carbohydrate, oatmeal balances the ratio of carbs, protein and good fat pretty easily! One half a cup contains 3 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein. The low glycemic index, combined with the presence of protein and fat makes oatmeal a very slowly released carb – this means that it will help you to stay fuller longer and this is exactly what you want if you’re trying to get lean and lose that fat! Get the all-natural oats like the Quaker variety or the quick oats. Stay away from sweetened varieties or the flavored packets. These will only add to your belly fat. Something you definitely don’t want! Oatmeal is delicious with natural (sugar free) applesauce and cinnamon. Or, try some crushed walnuts or flaxseeds in your morning oats, which will give your “porridge” a nice crunchy texture while adding those desirable “good fats” we all need. For a complete meal, try a couple scoops of Vanilla Praline flavored protein powder in your oatmeal. If you get tired of oatmeal, there are plenty of other cooked whole grain cereals in the “oatmeal family.” Look in your local health food store (or a gourmet supermarket) for barley, wheat, titricale, rye, oat bran and flax cereals (or a multi grain combination of the above). Food #2 Peaches Everyone thinks that peaches are a nice snack food but they are actually built to help you to lose weight very easily. I know I love to have a nice bowl of peaches… but now I skip the ice cream. Try a bowl of these throughout the day to keep your body in a fat burning mode. Food #3 Jalepeno Peppers These are not just a spicy snack but they increase your body’s basal metabolic rate and cause your body to go into fat burning mode! Food #4 Cod Food #5 Low-Fat Pudding Food #6 Green Tea Food #7 Broccoli Food #8 Almond Food #9 Coffee Food #10 Cinnamon Food #11 Roast Beef Food #12 Chewy Foods Food #13 Brussels Sprouts Food #14 Kale Food #15 Carrots Food #16 Avocados Food #17 Oranges Food #18 Tangerines Food #19 Pistachios Food #20 Pumpkin Seeds Food #21 Chia Seeds Food #22 Sardines Food #23 Kelp Food #24 Flax Seeds Food #25 Flax Oil Food #26 Buckwheat Food #27 Wholegain Cereal Food #28 Bananas Food #29 Kiwis Food #30 Lemons Food #31 Cantaloupes Food #32 Blackberries Food #33 Artichokes Food #34 Cabbage Food #35 Tomato Food #36 Garlic Food #37 Onions Food #38 Peas Food #39 Turkey Food #40 Chicken Food #41 Black Currant Food #42 Raisins Food #43 Skim Milk Food #44 Hot Sauce Food #45 Pecans Food #46 Salsa Food #47 Black Beans Food #48 Lima Beans Food #49 Eggs Food #50 Almonds Food #51 Apples Food #52 Asparagus