CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
The
cardiovascular system contains the heart, the arteries, the veins,
and the nerve innervation from both the sympathetic and
parasympathetic autonomic nervous system. This may seem complicated
but actually it is very simple compared to some of the other systems
as you will experience.
The heart itself though
simple with just four chambers has a cellular structure unlike any
other in the body. Like all muscles it has the ability to contract
and like all nerves has the ability to conduct, but it also has the
ability to self nerve fire(excitability), and self
regulate(automaticity). This said let us go over the basic
workings of the heart. It has two sides, the left which pumps blood
to the body, and the right which pumps blood to the lungs. Each side
has an upper chamber, the atrium, and a larger lower side, the
ventricles. The atrium accepts blood from the lungs(left side) and
the body(right side). They let blood pass through to the ventricles
and just before the ventricles contract, the atrium contracts adding
more blood expanding them even more. This way when they contract
they have the maximum blood for a greater force to circulate. The
heart recieves blood to its cells in a very interesting way, through
the coronary arteries. These arteries recieve blood when the
pressure is low and some of the blood is flowing back to the heart
by gravity. The left side of the heart pumps blood out through the
Aorta, which goes up from the heart and then makes a curve downward.
Whatever is left from the top of the aorta back to the heart
passively fills the coronary arteries during relaxation of the
heart. There are electrical nodes placed throughout the heart that
fire off in response to time and eachother. They are placed as
follows: the left atrium, the atrioventricular junction, the
ventricles. They all have an inate speed of firing such that the
atrium usually fires first conduction the electrical firing downward
and circumferentially. Of course as this happens since the heart
cells have the property of conductivity they also fire when
stimulated.
The vascular system is composed
of the large arteries, the smaller arterioles, the capillaries, the
small venules, and the large veins. Basically the arteries and
arterioles(tiny arteries) carry blood from the heart directly to the
tissues and organs of the body. The capillaries take the blood once
it is in the tissues or the organs and disperse the blood throughout
those areas. They also collect blood after it has been used by the
tissues and organs and channel it into the venules. The veins and
venules(tiny veins), carry the so-called used blood back to the
heart either directly or through the liver. The basic difference
between arteries and veins is that the arteries have more
musculature and innervation from the sympathetic nervous
system(fight or flight system), and the veins have valves. The
valves are needed because alot of the blood flow to the heart from
the veins is because of skeletal muscle contraction and the valves
stop the backward flow of blood when at rest. Basically the
capillaries are conduits that respond in flow to either back
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Some of the common problems people have
with the cardiovascular system can be put into three categories
and looked at differently. First the conductive(or electrical)
system, second the muscular system, and thirdly the vascular system.
Frequently when one of these parts of the system fail or are
diseased, then the others are adversely affected
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The conductive system regulates
the speed, direction, and completion of the contractions
of the heart. As stated above the first part of the contraction
happens in the atria at the SA node(it has an inherent rate of 60-80
beats per minute(bpm) at rest) and starts all the atria
contracting in a pulsatile fashion. Further down the heart between
the atria and ventricles the second main electrical impulse starts
the ventricles to excite called the AV node(it has an inherent rate
at rest of 40-60bpm). If the SA node fails this system will
initiate contractions but at its inherent rate. The last phase of
contraction happens at the bundle of HIS & the purkinje fibers
located throughout the ventricles(inherent rate of 20-40bpm). If the
SA and AV systems fail these will beat at their inherent rate. This
is barely fast enough for anyone to do anything but survive
until corrected. This conductive system is highly dependent upon the
proper electrolyte balance meaning sodium, potassium, chloride,
magnesium, and calcium, with the former two being the most
important. If one gets any of these ions out of balance with
eachother major problems with the cardiac rhythm can happen.
Decreased or increased intake or absorption of food or
fluids, as can happen with poor diet, malabsorption,
hypothyroid states, to name a few. Increased or decreased output as with diarrhea,
vomiting, sweating or lack of, and thyroid, adrenal or kidney
malfunction states will also lead to conduction problems. A good
nutrition program(see nutrition web page), and a good multiple
supplement such as "Rainbow light", or "More then a multiple"(both
made from only food products) can go a long way to the health of the
conductive system. Of course correcting any of the other organ
systems mentioned above will be essential to healthy conduction
function.
The muscular part of the heart
controls the strength of contractions thus controlling the force
with which blood flows into the arteries. This is contolled by the
amount and type of nutrients including oxygen allowed to the heart
muscle, amount of back pressure from the general system, liver and
lungs,and prior damage to the heart muscle and valves. Some
key nutrients for healthy heart muscle are carnatine, Coenzyme Q10,
magnesium, calcium, oxygen, and glucose. Back pressure can
be to high in disease states of the lungs or to little in disease
states of the Liver or heart valves. So avoidance of or correction
of these problems are paramount to healthy heart function. Lastly,
"use it or lose it" as the saying goes with any muscle. At least 45
minutes averaged out per day of aerobic excercise is an absolute
must for healthy heart muscle.
The vascular system is equally
important because it controls both foward and backward pressure and
allows blood to flow through to all cells of the body. Common
problems in this system include varicosities of the venous system,
failed valves in veins, inflammation or infection of veins, vascular
plaque or arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, coronary artery
spasm, increased or decreased sympathetic stimulus resulting in
hypotension or hypertension, embolism or thrombus, and capillary
fragility. Nutrients that help keep this sytem functioning are
vitamin C, bioflavinoids such as Quercitin, Citrus, & Rutin,
Vitamin E, & garlic.
There are many neutraceuticals that
also support healthy cardiovascular function. Without being to
specific about dosage as all medications are from different
pharmacological sources and thus have different strengths and
potencies, I have compiled the following list for your review.
Coenzyme Q10(ubiquinone) Beta
carotene(provitamin A) Folic acid Coenzyme
B6(pyridoxal-5'-phosphate) Vitamin B6(pyridoxine
HCL) Vitamin B3(niacin,
niacinol) Coenzyme B12(adenosylcobalamin) Vitamin
B12(cyanocobalamin) Vitamin C Vitamin E(d-alpha Tocopheryl
Succinate) L-Carnitine Lysine Taurine Selenium(aspartate) Potassium(citrate) Chromium(citrate) Omega-3
fatty acids(EPA, DHA) Glycosaminoglycans(GAG) Beta
sitosterols Wobenzym systemic enzymes Hawthorne
berries(Crataegus oxycanthus) Grape seed extract Citrus
bioflavinoids Quercitin Guggul(Commiphora
mukul) Adaptrin(Aryuvedic circulatory formula) Detoxamin(EDTA
rectal chelation suppository) IV EDTA chelation
Testing the cardiovascular
system is quite interesting and can be done quite efficiently and
effectively. There are serum tests, ultrasound studies, EKG studies,
x-ray, MRI, angiograms and more. I will go over some of the common
useful non-invasive studies and also some of the not so common
but very effective and useful non-invasive
studies.
The most common of the serum
tests are the cholesterol and serum lipid studies.
They show total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL(high density
lipo-proteins), LDL(low density lipo-proteins), VLDL(very low
density lipo-proteins) and cholesterol/triglyceride ration. The
importance of these tests are that total cholesterol can give the us
an indication of how stresses are allowing the production of
cholesterol to increase. Even though this level is an indication of
how other systems are doing, it is cetainly not a good practice to
have high cholesterol levels as it can increase the chances of
cerebrovascular accidents(CVA's) and or atheroscleosis. The HDL
versus LDL levels are important because it is an indication of
general diet. If the diet is in balance there will be a high level
of HDL and low LDL. Abalanced low fat diet, gugul, garlic,
niacin, adaptrin can all reverse this finding.
Another useful test is the serum
platelet level and the clotting time. If the
platelets are too many or the clotting time is too short
then a neutraceutical to allow the proper functioning of
the clotting system such as wobenzym could be
effective.
CPK, LDH
fractionizations, and AST(SGOT) are very diagnostic
to differentiate between myocardial ischemia, infarction and
necrosis, myocarditis, pericardial effusion, and cardiac failure
versus hepatic or skeletal muscle damage.
One of the most interesting and
newest tests is called the hBNP(human B-type natriuretic
peptide) measurement. It's sole function is to give us a
yardstick approach to congestive heart failure. It can predict the
onset of failure before the patient even experiences any symptoms.
At this stage the hBNP infused by IV will reverse the problem. In
later stages other medicines will also have to be used along
with bHNP.
The ASI(arterial stretch
index) is a most interesting way to determine plaque in
arteries. It has been developed charting people who have taken
angiograms and correlates well. It is very inexpensive, somewhat
hard to find but takes only a few minutes utilizing a computer
program and a machine with a blood pressure cuff attached. If the
Index is high chelation is the answer and can be monitored using the
ASI.
The standard
EKG(electrocardiogram) both at rest and under excercise
stress is one of the best measures of cardiac electrical and
functional abilities. It to is easy to administer and the results
are very predictable.
Ultrasound studies
typically called the echocardiography can determine the state of the
valves in the heart, the actual anatomy of the heart,
evaluation of the cardiac chambers, discovery of cardiac
tumors, congenital heart defects, and pericardial effusion. Doppler
ultrasound studies are done on the large arteries and veins to
discover amount of blood flow or blockage.
X-ray & MRI are
extremely useful for the exact anatomy of the heart and any vessel
that needs to be looked at.
Any other tests are well beyond the
scope of this paper and need to be discussed with a physician in
detail before they are used anyway.
The most useful tools that I have in my
practice are easily the diet(see-nutrition web page) and
excercise regimes. As for neutraceuticals there are western and
chinese botanicals both in single extract and formulas that are
tried and true for specific conditions. In general though wobenzym-n
is a great formula for keeping one off of aspirin and keeping the
cardiovascular system free from assault from free radicals. IV
chealation is easlily the best tool for ridding the vessels of
plaque in a truely fast fashion but if one has the time
then rectal suppositories of sodium EDTA over the course of 4-6
months are effective.(see detoxamin, heavy metal web
page).
Of course each case is individual and
specific meaning one should not just "shotgun" the approach to
cardiovascular health. Self healing is a must but sometimes self
diagnosis can be dangerous. Seek out competent care in one you trust
and establish timelines for the reversal of the cardiovascular
problems.
For a
personalized consultation with Dr. Schwartz, via
email, click
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