Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in Western countries. In the United States alone, more than 2,600 people die from it daily. The incidence of heart disease is going up as well: in the US, half a million people are diagnosed each year. These are the sad statistics (John Hopkins Advanced Studies in Medicine, JHASM, Jan. 2006). And this is despite the fact that stronger pharmaceuticals are available and that more money is spent to fight heart disease. This leads me to the conclusion that either the methods for treating and prevention heart disease are inadequate or the reasons for the development of heart disease are misunderstood. 

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Currently, doctors consider the narrowing of vessels, either because of atherosclerosis or blood clots, to be the main reason for heart disease. Therefore, preventative measures include treatment with medications aimed at reducing the synthesis of cholesterol by the liver (statins) or blood thinners (such as aspirin).

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Among cardiovascular diseases is the so called "sudden heart death," which unlike heart attacks, is caused not by blocking blood vessels with clots, but by the interruption of normal electrical impulses of the heart. Ninety-five percent of these patients don't make it to the hospital and they don't show any signs of heart disease prior to their death. 

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To prevent heart disease, along with others, experts recommend diet and exercise, "an almost ideal medication," according to JHASM. However, only a small percentage of patients know about the intricacies of eating and exercising right to avoid heart attacks. But can people really avoid heart disease and heart attacks with exercise?

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Opinions on the above question differ. Some are convinced that the answer is a resounding "yes" (Circulation, 1999), while others think that it's a "no" (Am. Heart J, 2002). But regardless of these discrepancies, patient experience shows that exercise, which trains muscles and increases endurance, lowers the risk for heart disease by increasing the number of capillaries. Still, the incidence of sudden heart death in young people and athletes seems to provide evidence against this theory.

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One of the most dramatic incidents is the sudden heart death of Charles Fleming. An autopsy showed edema of the young sportsman's lungs. Later, the reason for Fleming's death was discovered: he drank large amounts of diet coke, which contained aspartame, a chemical that causes nerve damage, heart arrhythmia and severe lung edema. 

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Of course, Fleming's case is a an exception, but numerous people drink aspartame-containing products, including diabetics and heart patients, without knowing that each sip damages their nervous system, vessels, brain, pancreas and liver.

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Among other demanding products are sugar, consumed in large amounts in the USA, fat substitutes, such as margarine, and fat-free products. When person eats food with fat artificially removed, cell membranes in his tissue lose their elasticity, their permeability and the ability to properly exchange ions, which leads to the accumulation of fluid between cells, damages electrical impulses of nerve pathways and causes thrombosis in the vessels. This creates risk factors for heart disease and death. Once you add drugs statins, blocking the synthesis of cholesterol, the real role of which is to fix cell membranes, heart disease becomes more likely.

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The Physicians' Health Study - which followed 2,200 male doctors for 17 years - showed that those who ate fish once a week decrease their risk of sudden heart death by 50% compared to those who only ate it once a month (JAMA, 1998). The Nurses' Health Study, which followed 85,000 women, showed that eating fish once a week lowers the risk of a heart attack by 30% (JAMA, 2005). Yet another study, the European Study (1999) showed that fish oil has antiarrhythmic action - stabilizing the heart - and antithrombotic effect - thinning the blood.

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Unfortunately, doctors rarely prescribe fish oil as an anticoagulant and avoidance of fat substitutes instead of statins. However, Sri Lanka, where natives eat coconut oil - blamed in the United States for its saturated fat content - has the lowest rate of heart disease. Is this a paradox or our misunderstanding?

Another important, yet little talked about factor in the development of heart disease are the effects of toxic products and air. Heavy metals and chemicals in our food, water, and many medications block our bodily defense systems, lowering antioxidant functions of tissue enzymes, which in turn worsens the effects of the Western diet and leads to the development of atherosclerosis. Even though every one knows about the dangers of smoking, most people don't think that the air we breathe contains small particles that enter the bloodstream, damaging vessel walls and causing their inflammation and narrowing (JAMA, Dec. 2005) 

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Another factor, also rarely considered by mainstream medicine, is the prevalence of microorganisms in our everyday lives. Back in 1908, Russian scientists induced atherosclerosis with injections of staphylococcus. In 1933, Dr.Kling dubbed atherosclerosis an infectious-toxic disease. In 1970s, scientists determined that atherosclerosis can be caused by the herpes virus. In the 80s, a similar theory appeared for helicobacter and chlamydia. In 1990s, a study showed that 79% of atherosclerosis plaques contained fragments of bacteria and fungi. And in 1998, researchers Kajander and Ciftcioglu discovered a microbacteria in kidney stones that surrounded itself with calcified capsule. The bacteria was named nanobacteria, since its size was similar to nanometers. Currently, nanobac calcification is considered one of the main problems in medicine, since it's related to over half of our top disease killers.

 

Potentially dangerous toxic accumulation of calcium has been discovered in parts of the body where it shouldn't occur: inside the skull with brain tumors or MS, in breast cancer, in the prostate with prostatitis, along the spine with osteoarthritis, in muscles with myositis, in joints with arthritis, in eyes with cataracts and so on. Calcification with tiny bacteria in it is also linked to the development of kidney and gallbladder stones, aneurisms, Crohn's disease, strokes, ovarian tumors and many other illnesses. 

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In 2003, scientists discovered the bacterial DNA of the essential part of most calcifications of human bodily systems (Acta Patalogica, 2003). Research done at the Mayo Clinic (2005) showed that these DNA and RNA particles, like prions, are capable of multiplying. 

These researches show that in many cases, atherosclerosis, along with numerous other diseases can be treated with antibacterial agents. Now, the role of C-reactive protein and homocysteine, both of which indicate inflammation and used more and more for diagnosing cardiovascular disease, becomes clear. If cardiovascular troubles were caused exclusively by raised cholesterol levels, then the inflammation would not be present. 

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It's quite possible that many diseases could be treated with antibiotics, if doctors didn't already prescribe them to every patient who merely mentions a cold and if pharmaceutical companies didn't add them to antibacterial sprays and soaps for every day use. This leads to bacterial resistance. 

We poison our own food and air and grow microorganisms capable of withstanding antibacterial treatments. The results: cardiovascular diseases are caused by toxins and microbes, which enter our bloodstream through our environment, chemical substitutes for natural foods, the lack of vitamins and essential fats in our diets, hypodynamia, which lowers blood flow levels and oxygenation of tissues. This is all made even worse by improper breathing. It's time to recognize that without addressing these factors we can't cure heart disease or sudden heart death. 

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The good news is that we already know how to prevent and treat the above problems. We have proven non-invasive methods for dissolving calcifications and improving blood flow to vital organs, including the heart. For example, external counterpulsation (ECP), improves peripheral blood flow in organs and tissues. This helps not just relieve angina, but in many cases, open coronary vessels without the need for invasive procedures. In my practice, I offer patients a special protocol designed to prevent and heal cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis. 

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