Heart Disease Is Still Number One
Speaking of Stroke and Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) consists of heart disease and stroke. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S and stroke takes the number three spot. 1 in 5 males and females, have one or more types of CVD. Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women. Still 60% of women believe that cancer is their greatest health risk.
Long Term Disability from CVD and Stroke
As bad as sudden death from stroke or heart disease can be, in my opinion worse is long term disability from these conditions. CVD can affect every area of life including the ability to perform basic activities of daily living. Everyone has activities that are important to them. It would be helpful to think of what is important to you and think of how your life would change if these were not in your repertoire anymore. Maybe you like to cook or maybe take walks or play music or paint. How much will your quality of life be decreased if you can't do these activities that are meaningful to you?
80% Probability That You Are In Control
It is thought that the risk of CVD can decrease by 80% if people maintain proper weight, follow a prudent diet, do not smoke, and participate in regular exercise and use supplements that make sense for your particular physiology.
Does reducing CVD make that much of a difference?
It has been estimated that if all major forms of CVD were eliminated, life expectancy would increase by approximately seven years. Some even estimate a rise in total life expectancy of 10 years. Of course, the benefit in reducing disability is even greater.
Zone Diet Can Help
Many factors play into the formation of CVD. Barry Sears did a lot of writing about this topic in the 90's and advocated a zone diet. He developed this system in order to keep himself alive as the men in his family tended to die suddenly before the age of 50 from heart disease. His research led him to adopt a 40-30-30 diet describing the percent of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in each meal with the actual amount of total food also being controlled.
Following this type of diet can really help to optimize your HDL and LDL and their ratios. I would encourage you to spend some quality time with a Sears Zone Diet book.
A Pill to Solve This Problem?
Wouldn't it better to just take a pill? Statin sales exceed $10 billion per year. That's over $30 per year per man, woman and child in the U.S. Global figures estimates puts statin sales at $1 trillion by 2020. It seems that every day a new study comes out touting some additional benefit of statins such as helping with macular degeneration or for treating heart problems in young people for example. The drug companies are scrambling to find other uses for statins.
Be On the Lookout for Negative Effects
Lots of debris is washing up on shore of people who have sailed off in that direction and we have witnessed some of this personally in family and friends. One dangerous issue is the rampant denial by medically trained professionals about the negative effects of statins. Usually, the patient or an observant family member is the one who connects the drug treatment with the dangerous effects.
Statin-Induced Sensory Neuropathy and More
Some commonly reported issues that arise are fatigue, dizziness, insomnia, chest pain, back pain, stomach pain, muscle pain, joint pain, arthritis, and urinary tract infections. Let's not forget neuropathies from damage to the myelin sheath. The medical term is statin-induced sensory peripheral neuropathy and has been addressed in medical literature for several years.
So, what happens if a person develops peripheral neuropathy that affects the soles of the feet. Now they find they can't get out and walk so there goes an important exercise option that the body needs to help keep the heart and mind healthy. Of course, the doctor sends this person to a neurologist who probably prescribes Neurontin without talking about the sudden onset of the neuropathy a few weeks after beginning the statin. Maybe the person's will power declines and their diet becomes worse.
Take Your Coenzyme Q10!!!
Fatigue and muscle aches and pains are associated with interference with energy production pathways that include blocking of coenzyme Q-10 or CoQ-10. EVERYBODY taking statins should be supplementing with CoQ-10, probably 100 mg or more per day.
Statins and Memory Loss
Also troubling are numerous reports of memory loss. If you think about it, a few key traits are really important to being a human being and memory is one of them. Also troubling is some of this memory decline can persist after the statins are discontinued unless you figure out a way to repair the damage.
Elderly UTI Have More Brain Symptoms Than Bladder Symptoms
Urinary tract infections (UTI) deserve special attention. In the elderly, the cardinal signs of UTI that a younger person would probably experience like burning, pressure sensation and low-grade fever are often absent. As the infection progresses a person can show confusion, agitation, hallucinations and poor motor skills and/or dizziness. These important symptoms are often written off as dementia or early Alzheimer's. Watch for sudden onset cognition changes especially if the person is on a statin or diabetic.
If you are risk for heart disease or stroke, you will either have to do some research yourself to see what dietary changes would be appropriate or find someone you trust to do that for you.
At OVitaminPro we want you to be free of cardiovascular disease. We can offer supportive supplements like NuMedica CoQ-Clear 50 Ubiquinone, BetterGenix Cholestgenix, Cardiovascular Research Tocotrienols for example, see links below. Of course, these supplements play a supportive role to the lead role of diet and exercise.
