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Cardiovascular disease – Part one
Just hold on for a beat...
This blog-post will introduce what I’m going to be discussing with you in my blog-post series on cardiovascular health care.
Please know that this series has been written for those suffering from, or wanting to prevent, lifestyle-related cardiovascular issues. It does not apply to those people who suffer from Heterozygous or Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) — a genetic affliction.
Note: I’ll go over the difference as we progress through this ‘heart’ series.
I haven't had the heart to write this until now
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the western world, yet it’s something that I rarely get the opportunity to work with here at OOMPH.
Instead I primarily see people for conditions such as:
fatigue, mood disorders, weight loss, poor immunity or inflammatory conditions.
Unfortunately, when I do get to work with a client with cardiovascular disease, by the time they get around to seeing me they are generally taking a pharmacy’s worth of pills!
For example one person might be taking aspirin (to thin their blood), a statin (to lower their ‘bad’ cholesterol), and as many as three anti-hypertensives (to lower their blood-pressure). They might also arrive here having had stents ‘installed’ (to open up their blocked blood vessels). And, they all seem to turn-up suffering from confusion and denial.
They’re not sure why they’re on so many drugs, and for what real purpose. I find this really interesting because the official correspondence from their Cardiologist tells of ‘scary’ diagnoses such as Coronary artery disease, or Heart Failure 😬
I strongly believe that in most cases, had these heart clients come to me much earlier with more minor complaints such as: fatigue, mood disorders, weight loss, poor immunity, and inflammatory conditions… then it would have been highly unlikely that they would have ended up with CVD at all.
Generally speaking, Cardiovascular disease isn’t a disease in-and-of-itself. It’s the culmination of a series of seemingly non-related health issues.
Therefore, if you just suppress CVD symptoms with drugs that don’t actually correct the underlying dysfunction then no blimin’ wonder so many of us are literally popping off! (Not to mention that we’re having to deal with the other health conditions accrued in the interim — from taking these medications with their nasty side effects!)
The current orthodox approach to CVD simply doesn’t work.
Low fat diets, statins, antihypertensives, and, surgery really ain’t cutting it…
According to The World Health Association (WHO) ischaemic heart disease, and stroke account for the top two spots in its ‘top global causes of death’. (Cited 9 December 2020).1
Let's get to the bottom of Cardiovascular disease
Do you want to know what really causes heart attacks, strokes, and angina? Well, I can tell you this for free — it isn’t from having high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
It’s important to know that having high blood pressure, and/or having high cholesterol are merely symptoms of having unhealthy endothelial tissue — which are cells that line your ‘blood pipes’.
The actual cause of cardiovascular disease is the activation, and/or dysfunction of this endothelial tissue. This is what stimulates the initiation, and the progression of CVD .
But wait!
There’s more!
(This is just in case you’re now on your mobile to your mother, asking her if dodgy endotheliums run in your family…)
The endothelial tissue doesn’t just go haywire for no reason. This too has an underlying cause.
Let’s look at what causes poor endothelial health:
Inflammation
Inflammation may mean you’re suffering from disorders such as: stress, depression, mood disorders, poor gut health, visceral adiposity (belly fat!), pain (joint, muscle), physical trauma, or autoimmunity.
Oxidative stress
Oxidative stress may mean that you’re suffering from disorders such as: inflammatory disorders, fatigue, memory loss, brain fog, fertility issues, and premature ageing (wrinkles, and greying hair.)
Insulin resistance
Insulin resistance may mean that you’re suffering from disorders such as: extreme thirst or hunger, feeling hungry even after a meal, increased or frequent urination, feeling more tired than usual, frequent infections, and tingling sensations in your hands or feet.
You may have an elevated waist circumference (belly fat!), PCOS, skin tags, or Acanthosis nigricans.2
And, it is important to know that even these underlying causes have their own underling causes: stress, toxicity, poor diet & lifestyle, obesity, and chronic infection.
It’s important to your heart health that you be in all round general good ‘nick’. As they say, “you can’t medicate your way out of a problem that you ate your way in to!”
In this blog-post series
In the next blog-post or two (depending how carried away I get!), we’ll look at the following:
Current testing is too basic
We’ll look at why you can’t indiscriminately medicate a person solely based on one or two simple test readings such as high blood pressure (BP), and/or high Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL).
For one, inappropriate testing can indicate a problem where one doesn’t really exist.
And secondly, if it is deemed necessary that a person be medicated, the current drugs only provide false reassurance that everything is under control. (Things only look good ‘on paper’.)
Therefore the person won’t seek out natural medicine to correct the actual underlying cause — in order to actually turn their condition around. 😱
Why holistic assessment is essential
In order to establish that someone is at high risk of developing CVD, there are a number of different tests that need be performed, and the results then need to be interpreted in conjunction with the person’s overall health picture e.g. age, stress, diet, weight, exercise, lifestyle, etc.
What supplements can be used to turn your health around
We’ll take a look at my favourite healthy heart supplement ‘trio’.
And, we’ll also look at why it’s important to use practitioner grade supplements (not crappy retail brands) — under the care of your knowledgable Naturopath.
Are you interested in reading about my view on other health conditions
For more from me on health issues such as depression, anxiety, sleeping troubles — please click the link.
Make an appointment with Lisa
Lisa Fitzgibbon is a degree qualified (2006), experienced and registered Naturopath & Medical Herbalist. She runs her own private practice – OOMPH in Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand.
Lisa has been involved in the Natural Health industry for 16 years. She draws on her professional training and experience, as well as her own personal experience to bring you realistic, holistic health advice.
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