Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)& Heart Disease
1 of the 12 leading causes ofhigh blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes
Heart disease refers to several types of heart conditions. The most common type in the United States is Coronary Artery Disease or CAD. CAD affects blood flow to your heart.
Who is at risk?
Every year about 647,000 people die from heart disease. Making it the leading cause of death in the United States affecting 1 out of 4 adults.
According to the CDC, approximately every 40 seconds an American has a heart attack.
Coronary artery disease, a blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, is the most common type of heart disease. Coronary heart disease affects about 18.2 million people age 20 and older, and it killed nearly 366,000 in 2017 alone.
Many people think that heart issues mostly effect men, but women are just as likely as men to have a heart attack.
By 5 years after a heart attack, almost 50% of women die, develop heart failure, or have a stroke compared with 36% of men.
What are the risk factors?
About half of all adults have at least one of three major risk factors and having even one risk factor increases your odds of getting heart disease.
The risk factors are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking.
These are some of the more common heart disease risks:
- High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
- High cholesterol. Cholesterol can build up on artery walls and reduce blood flow to your heart.
- Diabetes. If you have diabetes, you have a 2x- 4x chance of dying than those that don’t.
- Depression. Those with depressive disorders or symptoms develop coronary artery disease 64% more often than those that don’t.
- Obesity. Being overweight increases your risk factors for diabetes and high blood pressure making you more likely to get cardiovascular disease.
Certain behaviors also put you at risk for heart disease. These include:
- Smoking causes approximately 1 in 4 heart disease deaths as it is a major cause of cardiovascular disease.
- Eating a poor diet can contribute to the development of heart disease.
- Not exercising. Only about 50% of Americans get the recommended amount of aerobic activity.
- Drinking alcohol excessively can increase your risk of heart attacks, heart failure, and death.
The real cost of heart disease
In 2016 alone, 72 million people visited their doctors for heart related issues and according to the CDC, the number of emergency room visits for heart related issues was nearly $5 million.
All of these doctor visits and hospital stays add up — not to mention the cost of treatments.
Heart attacks cost approximately $11.5 Billion dollars a year, making it the most expensive condition to treat in U.S.
By 2035, more than 45% of Americans are projected to have some form of cardiovascular disease and total associated costs are expected to reach $1.1 trillion a year.
Prevention
Tikva has 13 nutrients that target Coronary artery disease
(the most common type of heart disease)
Below are clinical trials and research on these nutrients.
1. Pomegranate https://www.LifeExtension
Studies show that pomegranate juice may help fight hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis. When atherosclerosis affects arteries that carry blood to the heart muscle, it’s called coronary artery disease, or CAD.
Researchers found that pomegranate juice not only appears to prevent hardening of the arteries by reducing blood vessel damage, but the antioxidant-rich juice may also reverse the progression of this disease.
2. Flax Seed https://observatoireprevention.org
In a meta-analysis on the impact of flaxseed supplementation on blood pressure, researchers found a decrease of approximately 2 mmHg for systolic and 1.2 mmHg for diastolic pressure. Studies show that even though it seems small, it could decrease stroke mortality by 10% and coronary heart disease by 7%.
3. Citrus Bergamot Cai Y, Xing G, Shen T, Zhang S, Rao J, Shi R. The effect of bergamot on dyslipidemia. Phytomedicine. 2015; 22(13): 1231–1237.
Studies on Citrus Bergamot have suggested it may help improve several cardiovascular risk factors, which indirectly could be beneficial for individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD). Key potential benefits include:
- Cholesterol Reduction: Some research has shown that Citrus Bergamot can significantly lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol while increasing “good” HDL cholesterol, a balance that is crucial for heart health.
- Blood Sugar Regulation: There is evidence that Citrus Bergamot might help in controlling blood sugar levels, which is important because high blood sugar can lead to an increased risk of CAD.
- Blood Pressure Management: While the evidence is more limited in this area, any natural compound that helps lower blood pressure could indirectly benefit heart health, including the health of arteries.
- Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects: Inflammation and oxidative stress play key roles in the development and progression of atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of CAD. Flavonoids in Citrus Bergamot might mitigate these processes.
4. L-Arginine (Nitrosigine) https://www.sciencedirect.com
- l-Arginine increases vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in chronic heart failure patients that have coronary artery disease.
VEGF helps to create new blood vessels to bypass blocked vessels.
- Results indicate that l-arginine improved the formation of new blood vessels which contributed to its cardiovascular benefits in this group of patients.
5. L-Carnitine https://www.tandfonline.com
In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-trial scientists identified a significant increase in total antioxidant capacity.
They also observed a significant decrease in MPO levels which predict the risk of future cardiovascular events, nitrotyrosine which is a marker of oxidative stress leading to cholesterol and hs-CRP levels which are a sign of acute inflammation.
These results suggest that L-Carnitine supplementation may be beneficial for cardiovascular health through the reduction of oxidative and inflammatory markers in CAD patients.
6. Alpha Lipoic Acid https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Antioxidants may help lower the incidence of some cardiovascular diseases and have anti-aging properties.
Alpha Lipoic acid is an antioxidant which is believed to have a beneficial effect on oxidative stress which is considered to be the primary cause of many cardiovascular diseases. Oxidative stress increases during the aging process which can lead to the loss of the cells ability to replicate and organ dysfunction.
7. Inositol https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for coronary artery disease.
In a recent clinical trial on postmenopausal women, inositol plus diet improved systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
In the group treated with inositol, insulin resistance index decreased by 11%, cholesterol decreased by 22%, and triglyceride serum levels decreased by 20% with highly significant differences, compared with the groups treated only with diet and placebo.
8. Vitamin B12 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
It was once thought that vegetarians were at a reduced likeliness of developing CAD but the majority of Indians are vegetarian and yet the frequency of coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing very quickly in India and around the world. Scientists think this may be due to deficiency of vitamin B12, a micronutrient, sourced only from animal products.
A recent clinical trial found that CAD patients and vegetarians both had significantly lower vitamin B12 concentrations and higher incidence of coronary artery disease
These scientists believe that, when vitamin B12 is deficient, homocysteine increases which increases your risk for cardiovascular disease.
9. Vitamin C https://www.sciencedirect.com
In a long term study on women, scientists examined the link between vitamin C intake and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
During 16 years of follow-up (1,240,566 person-years), they identified that vitamin C supplement use was associated with a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease.
10. Vitamin D https://www.sciencedirect.com
Vitamin D is often deficient in the elderly and those that have had a previous heart attack. Its deficiency has been shown to contribute to hardening of the arteries, blood clots, CAD, increased calcium score and dysfunction of the inner lining of your blood vessels.
11. Chromium https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Recent studies have shown that people with coronary artery disease have lower levels of chromium in their blood.
Low levels of chromium in the body lead to high circulating insulin levels which is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
12. Zinc https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Zinc helps protect against coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy.
In situations where there is a blood clot, blockage or reduced blood flow, zinc is released in the blood. In these situations, replenishing with zinc has been shown to improve cardiac function and prevent further damage.
13. Boron https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Studies on Boron suggest it has an active role in intervention between inflammation and oxidative stress, which are known to increase the effects of many cardiovascular risk factors such as: smoking, poor diet, obesity, high blood pressure, imbalances in cholesterol levels, type 2 diabetes, aging and increases in homocysteine levels.
Learn More About The 12 Leading Causes ofHigh Blood Pressure & Cholesterol
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Atherosclerosis (Hardening of Arteries)
- Nitric Oxide Deficiency
- Low HDL (Good) Cholesterol
- High Glucose (Blood Sugar) levels and insulin
- High Homocysteine Levels
- C-Reactive Protein
- Triglycerides & Low EPA/DHA
- Low Testosterone (In Men)
- Stress
- Atrial Fibrillation and Arrhythmias
- Deep Vein Thrombosis (Blood Clots)
