Inflammation Causes Heart Disease, Experts Say

Today the number of Americans dying of heart disease, the number one cause of death, is higher than health experts predicted it would be.  4 out of 10 Americans suffer from a heart-related health problem, and that number is expected to get even worse.  In addition to the lives lost, the cost of treating heart disease is expected to reach one trillion dollars a year within the next 15 years. 

02-23-2017

Lorie Johnson

A growing number of doctors believe the root cause of heart disease is inflammation in our bodies, brought on by eating too much sugar and bread.  Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra is on of those physicians who blame an inflammatory diet on the skyrocketing rates of deadly heart disease.  

Sinatra says to reduce inflammation, stay away from sugar and processed grains such as enriched flour, corn and rice found in bread, bagels, pasta, pizza dough, tortillas, muffins and cereal.  He says as far as our health is concerned, these refined grains are very similar to sugar because our body responds to them in the same way.

"Sugar is your foe. It's the villan. Sugar is the enemy," he says.

There are many types of sugar.  Many of them end with "-ose." Sinatra says one of the worst is high fructose corn syrup, which food manufacturers began adding to soda and thousands of other foods and drinks in the past few decades, corresponding with the dramatic rise in heart disease, as well as obesity and diabetes. 

Nutritionist J.J. Virgin points out that was also the same time the low-fat craze kicked-in.  That caused millions of Americans to replace fat with bread and sugar. 

"When we started to pull the fat out of products, we either add, or are left with, sugar," she explained, "If you look at a lot of the dairy products, especially like cream cheese, we'll go to the light cream cheeses, and they actually added sugar in."

In fact, some fat-free salad dressings are one-third sugar!  Doctors advise checking nutrition facts labels on products, and only choose foods with no more than 2 grams of sugar per serving. 

When Dallas resident John Speanburg started following his doctor's recommendation to cut-back on sugar, Speanburg was surprised to discover many of the foods he thought were healthy actually containd too much sugar.

"I love yogurt," he said, "But when you start realizing there's 9 grams of sugar in yogurt, I cut out yogurt."

When it comes to fruit, health experts say stick to the ones that are unprocessed, fresh or frozen, preferably berries, because they are lowest in sugar.  However, stay away from processed fruit products like juices, jellies and snacks.  They often contain super-concentrated natural sugar, fructose, accompanied by the misleading, "no sugar added" claim on the package.

"There are easy ways to say 'no sugar added' and still put it in there.," she explained, "Apple juice concentrate's the worst thing you can possibly have. Apple juice concentrate's got more fructose than high fructose corn syrup does."

So to prevent heart disease, America's number one killer that's still on the rise, doctors say reduce inflammation by avoiding processed foods and drinks, and instead, embracing foods in their natural state, also known as "whole" foods.  Especially load-up on a wide variety of colorful vegetables.  Also choose healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and raw nuts.  When it comes to beverages, health experts say just drink plain water, unsweetened coffee or unsweetened tea. 

Watch the video on:

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/health/2017/february/death-rate-among-rural-women-skyrockets

New Cholesterol Treatment Guidelines Could ...

...  Double the Number of People on Dangerous Statins—Including Perfectly Healthy People

November 27, 2013

Story at-a-glance

• New treatment guidelines for high cholesterol will likely DOUBLE the number of Americans being prescribed these dangerous drugs, bringing the total to an estimated 72 million people
• 12 of the 16 panel members of the new guidelines are affiliated with more than 50 different drug companies, many of which have a financial interest in the outcome of this report
• The guideline committee has vowed to examine the flaws to determine if and what changes are needed to make it more accurate. Until then, beware the calculator appears to overestimate your risk by anywhere from 75 to 150 percent

 

By Dr. Mercola 

One in four Americans over the age of 45 currently take a statin drug, despite the fact that there are over 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk.  

Now, new treatment guidelines for high cholesterol will likely DOUBLE the number of Americans being prescribed these dangerous drugs, bringing the total to an estimated—and staggering—72 million people!  

The new guidelines, laid out in the report 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults¹,² were issued by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology on November 12. 

The updated treatment guidelines now focus on risk factors rather than cholesterol levels. 

The guideline report was prepared by a panel of “experts” who volunteered their time, and is ostensibly based on an analysis of randomized controlled trials. Not surprisingly, the panel members are affiliated with more than 50 different drug companies, many of which have a financial interest in the outcome of this report. One of the authors even has stock in a medical malpractice firm. 

According to the New York Times,³ several committee members ended up dropped out of this investigative panel because they were “unhappy with the direction the committee was going.”  

How May the New Guidelines Affect You?

As explained by the American Heart Association,⁴ the new guidelines advise doctors to look at certain risk factors in order to determine if a patient should be prescribed a statin drug, or whether he or she should simply focus on heart healthy lifestyle changes. The problem is, virtually no one will fall into the latter category. 

If you answer “yes” to ANY of the following four questions, the treatment protocol calls for a statin drug:

1. Do you have heart disease?
2. Do you have diabetes? (either type 1 or type 2)
3. Is your LDL cholesterol above 190?
4. Is your 10-year risk of a heart attack greater than 7.5 percent? 

The calculation to ascertain your 10-year heart attack risk was developed by a committee chaired by Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones. He explained the cardiovascular risk calculator,⁵ to CNN:⁶

"We were able to generate very robust risk equations for both non-Hispanic white men and women as well as African-American men and women. Those equations factor in age, sex, race, total and HDL ('good') cholesterol levels, blood pressure levels, blood pressure treatment status as well as diabetes and current smoking status. Each of those factors is assigned a numerical value and can be used to determine individual risk percentage using an online calculator.” 

Well-Known Integrated Cardiologist Decimates Treatment Guidelines 

Dr. Stephen Sinatra⁷ wrote an in-depth article in which he decimates every single one of these four treatment guidelines. According to him, the new guidelines are at best 20-25 percent accurate, and here’s why:

1. The heart disease criteria, while it might be appropriate for older men, does not really work for women. There’s no data demonstrating that the benefits of statins outweigh the health risks in women—risks that include diabetes and breast cancer.
According to Dr. Sinatra: “[I]n my opinion, the only women who should be on statins are those with advanced coronary artery disease who continue to deteriorate despite lifestyle interventions. I believe that less than one percent of women with coronary artery disease fall into this category.”
2. In short, giving a drug that causes diabetes to someone who already has diabetes is nonsensical. It can only make matters worse. What’s more, data indicates that statins can cause arterial calcification in diabetic men who take the drug. Thirdly, statins can cause cataracts, which is a common problem in diabetics. The drug may therefore increase this risk.
3. This may be appropriate if you have genetic familial hypercholesterolemia, as this makes you resistant to traditional measures of normalizing cholesterol, such as diet and exercise. This condition is quite rare, affecting an estimated one in 500. In the absence of this genetic situation, treating high LDL levels has little validity.
4. As you will see below, the 10-year heart attack risk calculation has been “programmed” in such a way as to make patients out of virtually everyone. Besides that, Dr. Sinatra points out that the complexity of estimating risk based on age, race, blood pressure, smoking habits and other criteria is quite likely to lead to overzealous prescribing.

The CV Calculator—‘A Major Embarrassment'  

The CV risk calculator, which basically evaluates those who do not immediately qualify by having heart disease, diabetes or elevated LDL, appears to have some very significant flaws. And again, not surprisingly, the flaws are such that a vast majority of people end up having a greater than 7.5 percent risk of a heart attack within the next 10 years—thereby qualifying them for “preventive” statin treatment.  

A very clever strategy indeed: create a test that virtually assures that everyone who takes it will be a candidate for these expensive drugs they’re seeking to have people take for the rest of their lives. According to a November 17 article in the New York Times,⁸ Dr. Steven Nissen (quoted earlier) spoke out against the implementation of these guidelines:

“[I]n a major embarrassment to the health groups, the calculator appears to greatly overestimate risk, so much so that it could mistakenly suggest that millions more people are candidates for statin drugs. The apparent problem prompted one leading cardiologist, a past president of the American College of Cardiology, to call... for a halt to the implementation of the new guidelines.

‘It’s stunning,’ said... Dr. Steven Nissen... “We need a pause to further evaluate this approach before it is implemented on a widespread basis.’ ‘We’re surrounded by a real disaster in terms of credibility,’ said Dr. Peter Libby, the chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.”

...The controversy set off turmoil at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association... After an emergency session... the two organizations that published the guidelines — the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology — said that while the calculator was not perfect, it was a major step forward, and that the guidelines already say patients and doctors should discuss treatment options rather than blindly follow a calculator.”

Using the CV Calculator Virtually Guarantees You’ll Be Put on a Statin 

As it stands, the guideline committee has vowed to examine the flaws to determine if and what changes are needed to make it more accurate. Until then, it may be good to know that the calculator appears to overestimate your risk by anywhere from 75 to 150 percent! Dr. Nissen used the calculator to evaluate some of his own patients—men who had no known risk markers. They had healthy cholesterol levels, normal blood pressure, and didn’t smoke; in short, men who were completely healthy, and found they still ended up having a 7.5 percent risk, qualifying them for arbitrary drug treatment.

“Something is terribly wrong,” he told the New York Times,⁹ noting that using this calculator will ensure that virtually every “average healthy Joe” gets statin treatment. According to the two researchers who discovered the problem:¹⁰

“Miscalibration to this extent should be reconciled and addressed before these new prediction models are widely implemented. If real, such systematic overestimation of risk will lead to considerable overprescription.”

But that’s not all. As described by the American Heart Association,¹¹ the guideline also does away with the previous recommendation to use the lowest drug dose possible—a strategy that typically meant you’d end up being prescribed a low-dose statin along with one or more other cholesterol-lowering medications. The new guideline basically focuses ALL the attention on statin-only treatment, and at higher dosages, ostensibly to eliminate the need for additional drugs. But if you don’t need ANY drug to begin with, why take a much higher dose of a drug that is well known for having potentially serious side effects?!

Statins Are Hardly Preventive Medicine 

The panel members have concocted a bizarre justification for these actions, trying to make it sound like the new recommendations are focused on prevention through lifestyle modifications along with statin therapy. This is a gross misapplication of the word “prevention,” as these drugs cannot address the underlying conditions of heart or cardiovascular disease. Even more egregious, they have apparently chosen to completely ignore recent research showing that statins can effectively negate the benefits of exercise, which is one of the primary heart disease prevention strategies! 

But the biggest “sham” of all is that statin drugs, touted as “preventive medicine” to protect your heart health, can actually have detrimental effects on your heart. For example, a study published just last year in the journal Atherosclerosis,¹² showed that statin use is associated with a 52 percent increased prevalence and extent of calcified coronary plaque compared to non-users. And coronary artery calcification is the hallmark of potentially lethal heart disease. Just what kind of prevention is that?

Statins Shown to Nullify Benefits of Exercise 

One of the major benefits of exercise is the beneficial impact it has on your heart health, and exercise is a primary strategy to naturally maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Alas, if you take a statin drug, you’re likely to forfeit any and all health benefits of your exercise. As previously reported by the New York Times:¹³

“In past studies, researchers have shown that statins reduce the risk of a heart attack in people at high risk by 10 to 20 percent for every 1-millimole-per-liter reduction in blood cholesterol levels (millimoles measure the actual number of cholesterol molecules in the bloodstream), equivalent to about a 40-point drop in LDL levels.

Meanwhile, improving aerobic fitness by even a small percentage through exercise likewise has been found to lessen someone’s likelihood of dying prematurely by as much as 50 percent... But until the current study, no experiment scrupulously had explored the interactions of statin drugs and workouts in people. And the results, as it turns out, are worrisome.”

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,¹⁴ discovered that statin use led to dramatically reduced fitness benefits from exercise, in some cases actually making the volunteer LESS fit than before. The results showed that:

• On average, unmedicated participants improved their aerobic fitness by more than 10 percent after a 12-week long (five days a week) supervised exercise program. Mitochondrial content activity increased by 13 percent
• Volunteers taking 40 mg of simvastatin improved their fitness by a mere 1.5 percent on average, and some had reduced their aerobic capacity at the end of the 12-week fitness program. Mitochondrial content activity decreased by an average of 4.5 percent 

According to senior study author John P. Thyfault, a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri:¹⁵ “’Low aerobic fitness is one of the best predictors’ of premature death. And if statins prevent people from raising their fitness through exercise, then that is a concern.”

How Statins Might Undo Fitness Benefits and Make Your Heart Health Worse  

The key to understanding why statins prevent your body from reaping the normal benefits from exercise lies in understanding what these drugs do to your mitochondria—the energy chamber of your cells, responsible for the utilization of energy for all metabolic functions.  

The primary fuel for your mitochondria is Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and one of the primary mechanisms of harm from statins in general appears to be related to CoQ10 depletion. This also explains why certain statin users in the featured trial ended up with worse aerobic fitness after a steady fitness regimen.  

It's been known for many decades that exercise helps to build and strengthen your muscles, but more recent research has revealed that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential role exercise can play in your health. A 2011 review published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism¹⁶ pointed out that exercise induces changes in mitochondrial enzyme content and activity (which is what they tested in the featured study), which can increase your cellular energy production and in so doing decrease your risk of chronic disease.  

 

Are New Guidelines a Shrewd Way to Promote Statins Without Blaming Cholesterol? 

Odds are greater than 100 to 1 that if you're taking a statin, you don't really need it. The ONLY subgroup that might benefit are those born with a genetic defect called familial hypercholesterolemia, as this makes them resistant to traditional measures of normalizing cholesterol. For many years, I’ve been educating my readers about the fact that cholesterol isn’t the cause of heart disease, and even conventional doctors have started catching on. So I can’t help but wonder if these new guidelines, which bypass the issue of cholesterol levels, placing the focus on risk factors instead, aren’t just a shrewd way of getting around this pesky issue. 

Now, in three out of four cases, your cholesterol levels will not be a factor at all—you still qualify for statin treatment just by having heart disease, diabetes or a 7.5 percent or greater 10-year risk, based on a calculator that makes patients out of completely healthy people. This truly appears to be a recipe for disaster, and I cannot advise against falling into this trap strongly enough. It reminds me of the ludicrous suggestion three years ago to provide free statins with meals at fast food restaurants.¹⁷

Special Warnings for Statin Users 

Statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, which means they act by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase). But remember, your body NEEDS cholesterol—it is important in the production of your cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids that help you to digest fat.  

Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. There is also strong evidence that having too little cholesterol INCREASES your risk for cancer, memory loss, Parkinson's disease, hormonal imbalances, stroke, depression, suicide, and violent behavior.  

As I mentioned earlier, there are over 900 studies demonstrating the harmful effects of statins. To learn more about statins, please see my special report: “Do YOU Take Any of These 11 Dangerous Cholesterol Drugs?” It’s also important to remember that statins are classified as a "pregnancy Category X medication" meaning, it causes serious birth defects, and should NEVER be used by a woman who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy.  If it is prescribed it is simply gross negligence and malpractice. 

Another factor to keep in mind is that statin drugs may not mix well with other potentially lifesaving drugs, such as antibiotics. According to recent Canadian research,¹⁸ patients —especially the elderly—taking cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, should avoid the antibiotics clarithromycin and erythromycin, as these antibiotics inhibit the metabolism of statins. Increased drug concentrations in your body may cause muscle or kidney damage, and even death.

Statin Drugs Can Wreck Your Health in Multiple Ways 

Statins have also been shown to increase your risk of diabetes via a number of different mechanisms, so if you weren’t put on a statin because you have diabetes, you may end up with a diabetes diagnosis courtesy of the drug. Two of these mechanisms include:

• Increasing insulin resistance, which can be extremely harmful to your health. Increased insulin resistance contributes to chronic inflammation in your body, and inflammation is the hallmark of most diseases. In fact, increased insulin resistance can lead to heart disease, which, again, is the primary reason for taking a statin in the first place. It can also promote belly fat, high blood pressure, heart attacks, chronic fatigue, thyroid disruption, and diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer.
• Raising your blood sugar. When you eat a meal that contains starches and sugar, some of the excess sugar goes to your liver, which then stores it away as cholesterol and triglycerides. Statins work by preventing your liver from making cholesterol. As a result, your liver returns the sugar to your bloodstream, which raises your blood sugar levels.

Drug-induced diabetes and genuine type 2 diabetes are not necessarily identical. If you're on a statin drug and find that your blood glucose is elevated, it's possible that what you have is just hyperglycemia—a side effect, and the result of your medication.  

Unfortunately, many doctors will at that point mistakenly diagnose you with "type 2 diabetes," and possibly prescribe another drug, when all you may need to do is simply discontinue the statin in order for your blood glucose levels to revert back to normal. 

Statin drugs also interfere with other biological functions. Of utmost importance, statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which accounts for many of its devastating results.  

Therefore, if you take a statin, you must take supplemental CoQ10, or better, the reduced form called ubiquinol. Statins also interfere with the mevalonate pathway, which is the central pathway for the steroid management in your body. Products of this pathway that are negatively affected by statins include:

• All your sex hormones
• Cortisone
• The dolichols, which are involved in keeping the membranes inside your cells healthy
• All sterols, including cholesterol and vitamin D (which is similar to cholesterol and is produced from cholesterol in your skin)

New Guidelines Fraught with Massive Conflicts of Interest  

The authors of the guideline list conflicts of interest, starting on page 51 of the document, but it’s been reported that anyone with conflicts did not actually vote on the final draft. Some news outlets have therefore reported that there were NO conflicts of interest involved in the making of the guidelines. This is, I believe, a serious mistake in reporting, as members of this panel actually have ties to more than 50 different drug companies. Whether they voted on the final draft or not, they were still instrumental in creating the guidelines in the first place.  

For example, the lead author, Dr. Neil J. Stone, is a strong proponent of statin usage and has received honoraria for educational lectures from Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kos, Merck, Merck/Schering-Plough, Novartis, Pfizer, Reliant, and Sankyo. 

He’s also served as a consultant for Abbott, Merck, Merck/Schering-Plough, Pfizer, and Reliant.  Here are two more examples:

• The second author listed, Jennifer Robinson, admitted to the New York Times in 2011 that she was taking research money from seven companies, including some top sellers of cholesterol pills. University of Iowa records show industry financing of more than $450,000 for research led by Robinson between 2008 and 2011. (As an FYI, 2008 was the year the committee began working on these new treatment guidelines.)
• Another author, C. Noel Bairey Merz, has received lecture honoraria from Pfizer, Merck & Kos, and has served as a consultant for Pfizer, Bayer, and EHC (Merck). She’s also received unrestricted institutional grants for Continuing Medical Education from Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, Wyeth, AstraZeneca, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, as well as a research grant from Merck. She also has stock in Boston Scientific, IVAX, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, SCIPIE Insurance, ATS Medical, and Biosite.

12 of 16 Panel Members have Ties to Drug Industry 

Two years ago, the New York Times¹⁹ criticized the cholesterol panel, including Dr. Stone, for its many apparent conflicts of interest. Stone told the NYT that the group was taking “extraordinary measures to reduce bias,” but with the evidence I've found on this group, how could they possibly not be biased toward the use of statins? At least 12 of the 16 members have financial ties with the pharmaceutical industry!   Even more egregious, only seven of them chose to disclose such ties. After hours of internet research, I discovered five more authors had potential conflicts of interest with industry. It's nothing short of outrageous that an entire nation of people may be prescribed these hazardous drugs based on the decision by a group that has so many financial ties to so many drug companies. 

The panel’s conflicts of interest again came under fire in a recent article in Time Magazine,²⁰ which noted that:

“The Institute of Medicine (IOM), an independent organization of scientists that analyzes available data and provides advice on medical issues, recommends that chairs of guideline committees should have no conflicts of interest if possible, and that the entire panel should also be free of ties to industry; if that’s not possible, then at least half of the members should meet this criterion...  

Those policies stem from studies suggesting that biases do creep into people’s behaviors, whether consciously or not. In one study published earlier this year, for example, scientists compared the guidelines proposed by two different groups of experts for treating a blood clotting disorder; the panel in which 73% of members reported connections to pharmaceutical companies suggested stronger recommendations for turning to drug-based treatments compared to a panel in which none of the members had ties to industry.” 

Dr. Stone claims the panel could not have been created unless members with conflicts of interest were included, because anyone involved in a statin drug trial would be considered a consultant. “And you can’t have expertise without having done clinical trials,” he told Time. However, according to the IOM, panels charged with devising treatment guidelines do NOT really have to be experts in the field. While helpful, clinical experience is not critical because the job of the panel is to assess available research for sound methodology and accuracy of data.

On Living a Heart Healthy Lifestyle 

Contrary to what pharmaceutical PR firms will tell you, statins have nothing to do with reducing your heart disease risk. In fact, this class of drugs can increase your heart disease risk—especially if you do not take Ubiquinol (CoQ10) along with it to mitigate the depletion of CoQ10 caused by the drug.  

Poor lifestyle choices are primarily to blame for increased heart disease risk, such as eating too much sugar, getting too little exercise, lack of sun exposure and rarely or never grounding to the earth. These are all things that are within your control, and don’t cost much (if any) money to address.  

The fact that statins can effectively nullify the benefits of healthy lifestyle changes like exercise, which in and of itself is important to bolster heart health and maintain healthy cholesterol levels, is yet another reason to think twice before opting for such a drug. Also remember that the BEST way to condition your heart (as well as burn excess fat) is to engage in high-intensity interval exercise. Evidence suggests that this may actually provide MORE protection against heart attacks than long durational aerobic-type exercises.  

If you’re currently taking a statin drug and are worried about the excessive side effects they cause, please consult with a knowledgeable health care practitioner who can help you to optimize your heart health naturally, without the use of these dangerous drugs.

[-] Sources and References

• ¹ American Heart Association November 12, 2013
• ² Journal of the American College of Cardiology November 2013 [Epub ahead of print]
• ³ New York Times November 12, 2013
• ⁴ American Heart Association November 12, 2013
• ⁵ American Heart Association, 2013 CV Risk Calculator
• ⁶ CNN November 13, 2013
• ⁷ Drsinatra.com November 13, 2013
• ⁸ New York Times November 17, 2013
• ⁹ New York Times November 17, 2013
• ¹⁰ New York Times November 17, 2013
• ¹¹ American Heart Association November 12, 2013
• ¹² Atherosclerosis August 24, 2012: 225(1):148-53
• ¹³ New York Times May 22, 2013
• ¹⁴ Journal of the American College of Cardiology April 10, 2013 [Epub ahead of print]
• ¹⁵ New York Times May 22, 2013
• ¹⁶ Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism 2011 Oct;36(5):598-607
• ¹⁷ Science Daily August 12, 2013
• ¹⁸ Annals of Internal Medicine 2013 Jun 18;158(12):869-76
• ¹⁹ New York Times November 2, 2011
• ²⁰ Time magazine November 22, 2013

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/27/statins-cholesterol-treatment-guidelines.aspx?

What the Heck is Earthing?

By Doctor Cynthia Shelby-Lane, MD on 05/25/2011

As a doctor, I rarely go Earthing. Or fishing or running. I just don’t get out often enough to have that kind of fun. I do get close to meditating, especially after a rough day in the hood. And, I’m usually dancing between patients in one practice, or laughing with others in another, who just need extra time to explain their situation.

I’m not complaining, because no one said the practice of medicine would be easy. So when my colleague, Dr. Stephen Sinatra, told me about Earthing, my first comment was “Steve has left the planet”

But, after a great conversation with Dr. Sinatra, cardiologist, on Conversations with Dr. Shelby-Lane, and of course, walking barefooted on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I GOT it.

In essence, the human body is filled with free radicals, which are capable of doing a lot of damage if left unchecked. Yeah, you can take antioxidants. But Earthing, that’s correct, is an important tactic for neutralizing free radicals. And, it’s simple. No devices needed.

Earthing, also known as grounding, is caveman medicine. It means that you literally go walking barefoot on the earth, sand, or grass. Concrete is okay, but not asphalt. Slate is okay, and so is ceramic tile, if it's been laid on top of concrete or gravel. The important thing is to walk barefoot, which allows you to take in the electrons from the earth.

Lightning strikes the earth thousands of times per second, especially around the equator. As a result, the earth’s surface is a plethora of electrons. We know that the human body is full of free radicals.

They are enormously abundant in our bodies from the air we breathe, the heavy metals, the mercury, the Trans fats, the insecticides, the pesticides, the radiation, the sugars, and many other things in our environment.

So, the human body is a sea of chemicals and free radicals, and we need electrons to neutralize them. You can take all the good antioxidants in the world, such as CoQ10, zinc, beta carotene, lycopene, or lutein, but that may not be enough. You need more than just antioxidants to combat the effects of all the chemicals and free radicals. If you ground, you’re going to be soaking up these electrons, which will in turn neutralize free radicals.

Experiments have shown that grounding has several effects on the human body. The autonomic motor system calms down. There is a lot of influence on the vagus nerve, so there’s more parasympathetic stimulation. Cortisol dynamics improve. People sleep better. Inflammation improves, as does the thickness of the blood. Heart rate variability, which means irregular heartbeats, also improve. For the cardiovascular system, grounding is like a panacea. It does everything right.

Think about people who take a vacation at the beach. (Me) They lie in the sun and walk on the beach, getting direct contact with the sand and the water. When they get home, they feel refreshed, alive, and calm. They also say that they slept better while they were away. This isn't actually due to the time away or the lack of stress; it's because of the grounding. Grounding (aka Earthing) really does make you feel better. You can sleep grounded. You can walk grounded. It’s absolutely free, and it makes a huge difference.

As Dr. Sinatra suggests, limit cell phone use (you can change your lifestyle or figure out a way NOT to put the cell phone to your head, or use the speaker phone feature, etc.), do not use a cordless phone, walk barefoot as much as possible, and get grounded. My friend, Roselli, says he knows what Earthing is. “That’s when somebody gets whacked and you put them in the earth.” So much for humor.

“Earthing reduced inflammation in the body and restores natural internal electrical stability and rhythms, providing benefits and improvements any doctor would applaud.” ~Dr. Sinatra
My Prescription: Learn two good jokes and go walking "barefoot". Of course, you can also get Dr. Sinatra’s book: Earthing.

http://www.healthiertalk.com/what-heck-earthing-4000

Hidden Causes of Heart Disease

Hidden Causes of Heart Disease—Six Little-Known Risk Factors

March 15, 2013

There are well-known risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, being overweight and a family history of early heart attacks. But some little-known risk factors are as threatening to your heart as those you’re familiar with—in some cases, doubling your risk for disease.

Here are six of these “secret” risk factors, revealed by recent scientific studies—and how to reduce your risk…

BISPHENOL-A (BPA)

BPA is a chemical frequently found in food and beverage containers, such as plastic bottles and the lining of metal cans. It can harm your arteries.

New research: In a study of 591 people published in PLoS One, those with the highest urinary levels of BPA were the most likely to have advanced coronary artery disease—severely narrowed arteries ripe for the blockage that triggers a heart attack.

What happens: BPA sparks the chronic inflammation that drives arterial damage and heart disease.

My recommendation: Reduce your exposure to BPA. Avoid canned foods as much as possible because cans may have an epoxy liner that leaches BPA into food. Or look for cans labeled BPA-free. Drink water out of glass or stainless steel bottles that don’t have a plastic liner. Don’t microwave food in plastic or use plastic containers for hot foods or liquids—the heat can cause BPA to leach out. Exception: Soft or cloudy-colored plastics typically do not contain BPA—they usually are marked on the bottom with the recycling labels #1, #2 or #4.

SHIFT WORK

Dozens of studies have linked shift work—an ongoing pattern of work that is not roughly 9 am to 5 pm—to higher heart disease risk, but the link has always been speculative. The latest study—a so-called “meta-analysis” of previous research—changes the shift work/heart disease hypothesis into scientific fact.

New research: The study, published in BMJ, analyzed data from 34 studies involving more than two million people and found that shift work was linked to a 23% increased risk for heart attack. The researchers concluded that 7% of all heart attacks—about one out of every 14—are directly attributable to shift work.

What happens: Shift work disrupts the normal sleep-wake cycle, throwing every system in your body out of balance, including the autonomic nervous system, which regulates heartbeat. An irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) can cause a type of heart attack.

My recommendation: A key way to balance your autonomic nervous system is to increase your intake of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as wild-caught fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna), grass-fed red meats, free-range poultry, walnuts and flaxseed oil. Also, take a daily fish oil supplement that delivers one to two grams of the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA.

If your work schedule includes shift work, pay attention to other heart disease risk factors and go for regular screenings.

DIABETES DRUGS

A generic, low-cost class of antidiabetes drugs called sulfonylureas (glipizide, glyburide and glimepiride) help control type 2 diabetes by stimulating the pancreas to produce insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, but these drugs can be dangerous to your heart.

New research: Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic analyzed data from nearly 24,000 patients who had taken either a sulfonylurea drug or metformin, another generic, low-cost drug used to control diabetes. Compared with metformin, the sulfonylureas were linked to a 50% greater risk for death.

What happens: It’s likely that sulfonylurea drugs are toxic to the body’s mitochondria, the energy-generating structures in every cell that are crucial to health and longevity.

My recommendation: If you’re taking a sulfonylurea drug, ask your doctor to switch you to metformin. Even better: In a major, multiyear study, losing weight and exercising outperformed metformin in regulating blood sugar.

FATTY DEPOSITS AROUND THE EYES

New research: In a 35-year study involving nearly 11,000 people, researchers found that those with three out of four signs of visible aging had a 39% increased risk for heart disease and a 57% increased risk for heart attack.

The four signs (in both men and women) are receding hairline at the temples…crown top baldness…earlobe creases…and fatty deposits around the eyes.

Important: Of these four signs, fatty deposits around the eyes were the strongest predictor of heart attack and heart disease.

My recommendation: If your doctor finds at least three of these risk factors—or just fatty deposits around your eyes—he/she should schedule you for regular screenings for heart disease.

EARLY MENOPAUSE

Menopause, and its accompanying drop in heart-protecting estrogen, increases the risk for heart disease. So it’s no surprise that early menopause (starting at age 46 or younger) is a risk factor.

New research: In an eight-year study published in Menopause, researchers found that women who enter menopause early are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease and stroke.

My recommendation: There are several ways menopausal women can lower their risk for heart disease…

• Eat more noninflammatory foods, such as fresh, organic vegetables and fruits and wild-caught fatty fish.
• Minimize your intake of inflammatory simple sugars (white bread, pastries, cookies, pastas, candies, etc.).
• Exercise regularly, such as a daily 30-to-60-minute walk.
• In addition to a multivitamin, take daily supplements that strengthen the heart and circulatory system, including CoQ10 (60 mg to 100 mg)…fish oil (one to two grams)…vitamin C (1,000 mg)…and magnesium (400 mg to 800 mg).
• Reduce stress with meditation, yoga and/or tai chi. Other ways to reduce stress include socializing with friends and doing hobbies you enjoy.

PSORIASIS

The chronic inflammatory disease of psoriasis causes patches of dry, itchy skin. A new study shows that it also damages arteries.

New research: In a study in Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers found that chronic inflammation of the skin is accompanied by chronic inflammation in blood vessels. And in a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, researchers found that treating psoriasis patients with the anti-inflammatory drug adalimumab decreased inflammation in the arteries (carotid and ascending aorta) often involved in heart attack and stroke.

My recommendation: All psoriasis patients should go on a gluten-free diet, eliminating inflammation-sparking grains such as wheat, rye and barley. They also should take inflammation-reducing omega-3 fatty acids (three to four grams daily). In addition, people with psoriasis should be screened regularly for heart disease.

Source: Stephen Sinatra, MD, board-certified cardiologist and assistant clinical professor of medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington and a fellow in the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Nutrition. He also is founder of HeartMDInstitute.com, an informational Web site dedicated to promoting public awareness of integrative medicine. Dr. Sinatra is author or coauthor of 12 books, including The Healing Kitchen (Bottom Line Books). www.BottomLinePublications.com/HealingKitchen

http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/hidden-causes-of-heart-diseasesix-little-known-risk-factors?

LDL (Bad) Cholesterol May Not Be So Bad After All - What You Need to Know...

Posted By Dr. Mercola | December 17 2011 | 28,009views



Total Video Length: 1:05:08
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Story at-a-glance

• High cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. In one 13-year-long study, men with cholesterol of 330 had fewer hemorrhagic strokes than men with cholesterol less than 180.
• Newer testing methods can more accurately evaluate your individual risk for heart disease. The cholesterol fractionation test should be used along with a subfractionated lipid panel. The first measures total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. The second measures mean particle size, which is one of the most important factors in terms of determining heart disease risk.
• Large, buoyant LDL particles that are not oxidized, and therefore not inflammatory, are not a concern in terms of heart disease risk. Small-particle LDL’s on the other hand, are inflammatory and contribute to harmful plaque buildup in your arteries. The best way to “treat” small-particle LDL’s is through dietary intervention. There is no drug treatment available that affects LDL particle size.
• One in four Americans over the age of 45 are currently taking a statin drug. Unfortunately, few are aware of the absolute necessity to take CoQ10 along with it, to buffer against some of the most devastating side effects of the drug.
• If you're on a statin drug, you need to take 100-200 mg of CoQ10 or ubiquinol daily. You cannot get enough of it through your diet.

By Dr. Mercola

Dr. Stephen Sinatra is a board certified cardiologist, and a prominent expert in the field of natural cardiology.

His newsletter helps educate large numbers of people about the importance of maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle.

He also addresses the psycho-emotional component of the heart.

Dr. Sinatra explains:

"I was working in the cardiac catheterization laboratory and was seeing an alarming number of young patients with sudden cardiac death… men in their 30s, women in their 40s…

[S]ome of these cases, I ended up writing up in my book Heartbreak and Heart Disease.

What I realized back then was that emotions… led to them to develop heart disease and cardiac arrhythmia, and then sudden death.
I needed to learn more about the mind-body connection."

Gestalt Psychotherapy and Heart Health

As a result, Dr. Sinatra entered a two-year Gestalt psychotherapy training program, followed by a seven-year Bioenergetics training program at Cambridge, in Boston.
In 1989, he was certified as a bioenergetics psychotherapist.

"[T]here was no drug training in these aspects," Dr. Sinatra says. "Basically, I realized after spending 10 years in psychotherapy that heartbreak was one of the major causes of heart disease."

Having gone through these two separate training tracks professionally, Dr. Sinatra offers intriguing insight into what really helps keep your heart ticking. In his former practice, he successfully integrated bioenergetics with his conventional cardiology training.

"[A] good bioenergetics therapist can look at a person and track the energy in the eyes, follow the voice, look at the breathing pattern in the diaphragm, look at how [the patient] holds his shoulders and get a sense of who that person really is, and get a sense of their struggle, or their search," he explains.

Cholesterol—Found at the Scene of the Crime. But is it a Culprit?

Dr. Sinatra, like so many doctors who have taken the time to study cholesterol and heart disease at greater depth rather than relying on information from the pharmaceutical industry, believes that cholesterol is not the main perpetrator causing heart disease.

"Let's face it, cholesterol is something your body needs," he says. "If you look at the MRFIT study [Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial] where they looked at 180,000 men over a period of… 13 years (1973-80); men with cholesterol of 330 had less hemorrhagic stroke than men with cholesterol less than 180. If you look at cholesterol numbers, the higher cholesterol number would give you protection from hemorrhagic stroke. (I'm not talking about ischemic stroke now but hemorrhagic stroke.)

… [W]e need cholesterol in our skin to activate vitamin D3 from sunlight. We need cholesterol to make our sex hormones… to make our adrenal hormones.

We need it for lubrication.

We need it for neurotransmitter function in the brain.

When LDL is driven too low, it's no wonder that a lot of patients develop memory problems or pre-Alzheimer's, or even total global amnesia, which is really losing one's memory. It's very frightful and I have seen several cases.… There are so many other aspects that in my mind play a much bigger role that I put cholesterol down at the low end of the spectrum."

Dr. Sinatra's Take on Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs

Some researchers like Dr. Seneff do not believe it is appropriate for anyone to take statins, and while Dr. Sinatra believes that a statin drug may be suitable for some people, he agrees that the risks are very high, and side effects grossly underreported.

"I feel that the best indication for a statin drug is a middle-aged male with coronary heart disease and a low HDL," he says. "To me this person has the greatest to gain and the least to lose. The problem I have with cholesterol lowering drugs is that they have horrific side effects… If you treat a woman in her 30s just for "high cholesterol," and treating numbers, I think we're doing a disservice… We really shouldn't use them in elderly people. We shouldn't use them in young people, or in women. I have been very disappointed as a clinical cardiologist in the efficacy of statins in women, even with advanced coronary disease."

Modern Tests More Accurately Define Individual Heart Disease Risk

Dr. Sinatra points out that today there are far more sophisticated tests that can differentiate different kinds of cholesterol to determine your heart disease risk based on your individual cholesterol makeup, as opposed to trying to squeeze everyone into a specific total cholesterol range.

He urges every clinician to use a cholesterol fractionation test these days, along with a subfractionated lipid panel. The first measures total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. The subfractionated lipid panel further differentiates the various subclasses of Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL), meaning it measures your mean particle size, and that can make all the difference in the world.

If you fractionate the LDL, and discover that you have what Dr. Sinatra refers to as "fluffy" LDL, in other words, large buoyant LDL particles that are not oxidized, and therefore not inflammatory, then having a high LDL level is not a concern in terms of heart disease risk. These LDL's, while conventionally thought of as "bad" cholesterol, are actually harmless. Small-particle LDL's on the other hand, are more inflammatory, and because of their tiny size can get stuck and cause problems in your arteries.

"I still wouldn't treat small particle LDL in the absence of any documented coronary disease," Dr. Sinatra says. "I would use niacin for example. Niacin can change small particle LDL and make it fluffy. Certainly, the tocotrienols—I've had good luck with delta tocotrienol. Even nattokinase. I have seen it not only thinning the blood but [also]… LDL becoming more buoyant.

I would reserve statin drugs for, again, documented cases of coronary artery disease and again particularly middle-aged males. If I did have cholesterol problems or inflammatory cholesterol subtypes, I would try to treat the patient with weight loss and exercise and nutraceutical support first, before I would consider a statin drug."

Two Ratios that are Potent Indicators of Heart Disease

Additionally, the following two ratios are far better indicators of heart disease risk than total cholesterol alone:

• Your HDL/Cholesterol ratio-- HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your cholesterol. This percentage should ideally be above 24 percent. Below 10 percent, it's a significant indicator of risk for heart disease.
• Your Triglyceride/HDL ratios—Divide your triglycerides by your HDL level. This percentage should ideally be below 2.

Diet and Triglycerides

In my experience, high triglycerides specifically, and elevated cholesterol in general, is typically related to excessive consumption of grains and sugars. A high-fructose, high-grain carb diet contributes to insulin resistance, which will cause your liver to produce more cholesterol and more inflammatory LDL particles, raise your triglycerides, and increase your risk of metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Sinatra agrees.

In fact, he discusses the dangers of sugar in his book Sugar Shock, coauthored by Connie Bennett.

"If you look at the most horrific inflammatory hormone, it's insulin," he says. "It causes inflammation of the basement membrane of the vessels… which is the endothelial cell membrane. Insulin is the most endothelial unfriendly component around. If you don't want to get inflammation of your coronaries, or any blood vessels for that matter, you need to restrict sugar in your diet."

Important Precaution for Those Who Take a Statin Drug

One in four Americans over the age of 45 are currently taking a statin drug. Unfortunately, few are aware of the need to take coenzyme Q10 along with it, to buffer against some of the most devastating side effects of the drug.

"[S]tatins block several biochemical pathways in the production of cholesterol. In other words, statins are great cholesterol killers but in the same process they knock out other biochemical pathways. One of the pathways is squalene, which I think is really essential in preventing breast cancer in women.

The other major pathway is a CoQ10 pathway.

Anybody taking a statin drug has to be concerned about immune system dysfunction because of the squalene reduction. But more importantly, we have to be concerned about the CoQ10 reduction because CoQ10 is one of the most important nutraceutical or natural vitamin-like enzymes that is produced in your body that supports your immune system. If CoQ10 levels go down, you can get immune system dysfunction and… inflammation."

One of the major problems with statin drugs is that they diminish your CoQ10 levels. So if you're taking a statin drug, you MUST take Coenzyme Q10 as a supplement. Dr. Sinatra recommends taking at least 100 milligrams (mg), but preferably 200 mg, of high-quality CoQ10 or ubiquinol daily. You cannot get enough of it through your diet.

"Even if you ate five pounds of wild salmon a day, you're not going to get near enough the amount of CoQ10 to protect your immune system and your vascular system," Dr. Sinatra warns.

Why Virtually Everyone Can Benefit from CoQ10

CoQ10 may also benefit those who are not taking a statin drug. Dr. Sinatra has personally taken it for 30 years, simply because "it is the most important antioxidant membrane stabilizer around." He goes on to discuss its use for mitochondrial toxicity—a severe case of which would be the Gulf War syndrome. (The mitochondria are little organelles—found in the cytoplasm of the cell—inside of which energy is formed.

This energy is called adenosine triphosphate or ATP.

Without ATP, the cell dies. Toxic exposure can cause mitochondrial dysfunction, and once the mitochondria dies, you get tissue impairment, followed by pathology.)
While most of us have never set foot on a burning oil field, most people today are still exposed to a number of mitochondrial toxins, such as insecticides, pesticides, mercury and other heavy metals, radiation and EMF. All of these vaccines and some pharmaceutical drugs contribute to mitochondrial instability and vulnerability.  

Interestingly, Dr. Beatrice Golomb has shown that when Gulf War veterans are given CoQ10, they improve and in some cases even thrive. And while the Gulf War syndrome is on the extreme high end, general fatigue is on the lower end, and fatigue is rampant in modern society.

According to Dr. Sinatra, this feeling of being chronically tired is a generalized symptom of mitochondrial toxicity. He suggests that most people need to take CoQ10 for the simple reason that we live in such a toxic world.

"I believe everybody should take CoQ10," he says. "I just feel that it's such a powerful and unique and extraordinary nutraceutical. You need it to turn over your mitochondrial enzymes for mitochondrial support. Alone, CoQ10 is great, but when we give CoQ10 in combination with the carnitine and magnesium and ribose, then you get the perfect combination for mitochondrial support. That's why people on metabolic cardiology approach absolutely thrive. I just feel it's a great combination. But for starters let's start with CoQ10, because that's the leader of the pack in general at this time."

CoQ10 may also help slow down the aging process itself, in large part due to its membrane stabilizing activity.

"I believe that CoQ10 absolutely supports aging and delays aging at the same time. By supporting it, I mean by giving people a better quality of life and delaying symptoms of the aging process itself," Dr. Sinatra says.

Potential Side Effects

In terms of side effects, you can't get a whole lot safer than CoQ10. No adverse effects have been reported at the doses Dr. Sinatra recommends.

"The one side effect that I want to caution people about is that if your heart is very starved for CoQ10, in other words, if the serum level is very low, then you want to start taking very low levels, like 10 mg once a day, or even twice a day, and just go very slowly," he says.

"Very rarely you'll see somebody with some diarrhea or GI complaints. Maybe in 1 in 500 patients might see a slight rise in liver enzymes. I have [also] used CoQ10 with Coumadin in lots of my patients. Remember CoQ10 structurally, metabolically looks a lot like vitamin K2. I suspect in somebody's body, if they're on Coumadin or warfarin, the body may turn around and look at CoQ10 as an antagonist but I haven't seen it.

Three cases were reported in The Lancet back 15-20 years ago, but again, I had not seen a contraindication with warfarin and CoQ10. Would I be a little cautious with CoQ10 and warfarin? Just draw your INRs. If the INR is stable certainly the CoQ10 is not contributing to any blood thinning or blood clotting. CoQ10, like carnitine, is a very safe nutrient to take. The reason being is [because] your body makes it… The side effect profile so far is basically nil."

Dosing Guidelines

Again, if you're on a statin drug, you MUST take at least 100-200 mg of ubiquinol or CoQ10 per day. If you're not on a statin drug, the amount of CoQ10 or ubiquinol you might need depends on how sick you are. The sicker you are, the more you need. As a general guideline if you're not ill, Dr. Sinatra suggests taking 50-100 mg per day. If you're over the age of 70, double that dose, or up to 200 mg per day. This is because your natural CoQ10 levels begin to drop after the age of 40, and by the age of 70, levels begin to precipitously drop.

Ideally, you'll want to split the dose up to two or three times a day, rather than taking it all at once, as this will result in higher blood levels. Other dosing guidelines include:

Hypertension 200 mg/day	World class athletes who need extra ATP turnover, 300-600 mg/day	Heart transplant or severe CHF, 300-600 mg/day in divided doses
Arrhythmia 200 mg/day	Typical athlete 100-300 mg/day	Mitral valve prolapse, a combination of 400 mg magnesium and 100-200 mg of CoQ10

 

More Information

For more information on CoQ10, please see Dr. Sinatra's website at www.DrSinatra.com.

Also check out www.heartmdinstitute.com, which is a purely informational website where Dr. Sinatra has a lot of streaming video available. His books can also be found on www.Grounded.com.

Source: Video Transcript

Related Links:

Cholesterol is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease

Dr. Stephanie Seneff on Cholesterol and Sulfur
The Common Drug that Destroys Your Memory

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/17/stephen-sinatra-on-cholesterol-statins-coq10-ubiquinol.aspx
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