Though wearing your heart on your sleeve isn’t usually

considered beneficial, if we could actually do it we would

be able to take a close look at its condition every day.

Head off heart disease by nurturing the most discussed but

least appreciated organ that symbolizes love and caring.

More of us die from broken heart than any other ailment.

Although we know that heart disease is the leading cause of

death in Canadians over 45, few of us have questioned the

conventional ways that we try to combat it. Sure, we’ve been

told about healthy habits to reduce the risks – by losing

weight, reducing red meat consumption and avoiding stress.

But physicians continue to prescribe cholesterol-lowering

(statin) drugs, calcium beta-blockers and high blood

pressure medications to millions of Canadians, with side

effects that outweigh benefits.

But there are more natural and sensible ways to strengthen

our heart. In fact, one of the greatest scientific minds of

the 20th century, Linus Pauling, Ph.D., said that doctors

have got it all wrong.

Every year half a million people die from coronary heart

disease.  In a recentCNN article discussing a new study

based on the data from the Framingham study concludes: The

study “reaffirms the notion that coronary heart disease is

the 800-pound gorilla of disease in this country, now and

for the foreseeable future,” says cardiologist Dr. Stuart

Seides.   Heart attacks were virtually unknown before the

turn of the century.  Our diets, especially in “developed”

countries have gone through dramatic changes in this period.

 There is a very real connection between this new disease

and our new diets.

Dr. Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize Laureate and recipient

of over 40 honourary degrees,  stressed that it isn’t

cholesterol or even fatty foods that cause heart troubles;

he was convinced it is caused by malnutrition. Instead of

medications, Dr. Pauling believed strongly in curing heart

disease with vitamin supplements. But even though millions

of lives could be saved  annually by simply taking a few

common, inexpensive vitamins, the medical industry would

have little incentive to prescribe them.

Linus Pauling himself ingested 18,000 mg daily of vitamin C

daily in order to approximate the tissue levels of an

 animal of his body weight.

The few species which include humans, that do

not make their own vitamin C suffer a condition called

atherosclerosis, where white plaques narrow the arteries.

 This disease has been misnamed

“heart disease” because it often leads to a heart

attack. The disease is not prevalent in species that

 make their own Vitamin C

Vitamin C is required for tissue integrity.  Tissues that

are under constant stress are particularly vulnerable to

degradation from C deficiency.  This is certainly true of

our arteries.

Shortly before his death at 93, Linus Pauling and Matthias

Rath had completed work on the link between atherosclerosis

and Vitamin C (please see the link in the side bar).  They

had concluded that chronic Vitamin C deficiency lead to a

serious compromising of our arterial system.  Our bodies

respond to this situation with a healing process.

According to Pauling, vitamin C prevents illness due to its

role in manufacturing collagen, the protein that helps make

the walls of blood vessels. He was convinced that vitamin C

can help prevent cardiovascular disease by reversing damage

done to blood vessels. Vitamin C’s link to healthy  blood

vessels is supported by scurvy studies. It causes collagen

breakdown, resulting in ruptured blood vessels, so victims

bleed to death.

A great misfortune of human evolution, Dr. Pauling stated,

was when our ancestors’ bodies lost their ability to

manufacture vitamin C , discarded when we had a steady

supply of fresh-picked fruits and vegetables. Ever since

humans migrated away from the tropics, we’ve suffered

deficiencies (vitamin C begins to quickly deteriorate as

soon as fruits and veggies are picked.

When arteries are compromised, our systems produce a

specialized, sticky form of low-density lipoprotein- called

Lp(a) which attaches itself to the arterial wall to prevent

blood seepage.  This is consistent with where arterial

plaque is found – where there are lesions and where there is

particular stress (i.e. at branches, in arteries, not veins,

due to the pressure and in coronary arteries due to the

stress of the constant motion).

Heart disease is a misnomer because there is no

malfunction of the heart. The underlying disease process is

characterized

by scab-like build-ups that adhere to the walls of blood

vessels. As thearteries narrow, the blood supply to the

 heart and the other organs is reduced, resulting in

 angina (“heart cramp”), heart attack and/or stroke.

The more correct terminology is chronic scurvy, a sub

clinical (difficult to detect) form of the classic

vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy.

In this lectures, Pauling discussed vitamin C’s connection

with lipoprotein (a), a substance linked to cardiovascular

disease and a major part of plaque found in blood vessels of

atherosclerosis patients. Certain fats in the blood have the

ability to plug the leaks caused by lack of vitamin C by

forming a kind of plaster (plaque). These are cholesterol,

lipids, and lipoprotein (a). He claimed that lipoprotein (a)

tries to strengthen blood vessels walls by coating them if

there isn’t adequate vitamin C in the diet. He felt

lipoprotein (a) was more of a factor in heart disease than

cholesterol, which is a secondary tool used by the body to

coat the cracks and fissures in the walls. This sticky

cholesterol is a special kind of cholesterol made in our

livers and not the cholesterol we get from fatty foods.

Again, all plaque in the arteries is laid down as temporary

repair material for damaged blood vessels. This happens only

when the body is malnourished. The coating, however, narrows

arteries, eventually causing blockages – and heart attacks

and strokes. None of today’s heart drugs lower lipoprotein

(a) levels.

Dr. Pauling created a formula for halting these effects.

His therapy included megadoses of vitamin C, of course, but

it also included supportive B vitamins including vitamin B3

(niacin) which also lowers lipoprotein (a), and vitamin B6,

B12, and folic acid. Key amino acids l-Lysine and L-proline,

vitamin A and E, magnesium, selenium and omega-3 oils were

also added. He was adamant that this simple formula could

stop and even reverse the majority of cardiovascular disease

cases. He practiced what he preached, gradually increasing

his daily dose of vitamin C to 18 grams.

What does vitamin C do? It increases  HDL (high density

lipoprotein), or good cholesterol, and decreases lipoprotein

(a), cholesterol and triglyceride production. It is also

thought to lower blood sugar and insulin requirements. By

relaxing the blood vessel walls, it lowers blood pressure

when hypertension is present, and it stops inappropriate

clot formation, which is often the final cause of heart

attacks and strokes.

When Pauling died in 1994, he knew that cardiovascular

disease would continue to rise in epidemic proportions. In

the US and Canada, every other person will die of heart

disease. Each year, $ 100 billion is spent on surgery and

medications for vascular heart disease in the US. The bottom

line is that lipoprotein (a) levels, which are rarely

checked by doctors, may be the real risk factor in

cardiovascular disease only because this fat is trying hard

to repair damage done by eating too little of what we need.

Your heart works 24 hours a day with no breaks. It can be

difficult to get enough nutrients from your diet for this

hard –working organ. Supplement with vitamin C and other

nutrients- they’re your body’s major line of defence against

heart troubles.

To learn more about cardiovascular health, listen to Dr.Anca’s Cardiovascular Health & Heart disease Prevention Tele-seminar recordings.

When it comes to heart health, it’s clear that women underestimate their personal risk and think that heart disease is more likely seen in men. But, the number one killer for women is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Starting at age 75, the prevalence of heart disease is higher in women than men.

Risk factors

These can be broken down to non-modifiable or modifiable risk factors:

Non- modifiable risk factors: more than 55 years old, post-menopause, and family history of premature heart disease.

Modifiable risk factors: medical screening; lifestyle changes and medical intervention, when required, make a difference. These include hypertension, high LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol), low HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol), smoking, sedentary lifestyle, obesity (BMI more than 30), high fat diet and diabetes.

Symptoms

It’s important for women to know that the characteristic image of a ‘fist clutching at chest’ pain is not the common symptom for women. As many as 58 % of women with angina experience dyspnea or shortness of breath, rather than the classic squeezing chest pain that radiates down the left arm. Other symptoms for women include: weakness 55 %; fatigue 43 %; cold sweat 39 %; dizziness 39 %; nausea 35%; heavy arm 35 %; and aches in arms 32 %.

What can women do?

1.       Be a non-smoker.

2.       Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes daily at least 5 days a week.

3.       Follow a heart healthy diet.

4.       Maintain a healthy BMI.

Being a non- smoker can reduce the risk of stroke by 81 %. Regular exercise can lead to an 83% reduction in CVD death. A healthy diet and BMI within target can lessen the chance of developing diabetes by 90 %, a potent risk factor for CVD.

Only 75% of women are aware of their blood pressure diagnosis and of those with the diagnosis, less than one third are treated adequately. With a minimal decrease of 6 mm in blood pressure, there’s a 21% decrease in heart disease, a 42 % decrease in stroke and a 14 % decrease in acute myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Treatment choices

The first thing I tell women in my practice, “Treatment choice is yours to make. And, lifestyle intervention is the proactive key.”

Ladies: at your regular yearly check up, make sure your blood pressure is recorded and your blood cholesterol, fasting blood glucose and an ECG are done. Know the role of your family history as a risk factor. Review with your physician what can be done to reduce and eliminate your risk of this number one killer. Your doctor will tell you how often to return for follow up.

Remember – the control of most of the risk factors is in your hands and it’s never too late to take charge!

To learn more about Cardiovascular disease and Heart disease Prevention, listen to my CARDIOVASCULAR Health & HEART Disease Prevention Tele-Seminar: 

It’s TONIGHT, Feb.26…but if this is too short notice for you, register anyway and you’ll receive the recordings asap.