How to Reverse and Cure Cardiovascular Disease Naturally

Here, I will write about cardiovascular disease, which I had, and how I managed to reverse and cure it.

Cardiovascular diseases

Introduction

Any disease that affects cardiovascular system is cardiovascular disease. It involves heart and blood vessels such as arteries, veins and capillaries. There are many types of cardiovascular diseases, but here I will discuss about coronary heart disease.

It is the biggest cause of death and the most common disease to affect normal life worldwide. In developing countries it is increasing at an alarming rate. Mortality rate has declined in rich countries but death has increased in low income countries.

Causes of this disease are said to be sedentary life style, excessive use of fats in foods, high B.P., diabetes, smoking or use of alcohol, high level of cholesterol and excessive use of chemicals In growing of foods, heredity etc.

Certain risk factors, such as age, gender, family history are unchangeable, but certain factors such as lifestyle change, physical activity, smoking and excessive use of alcohol can be modified in a positive way. Those who have family history should modify their lifestyle and take early precautions such as healthy eating, exercise, avoidance of smoking and drinking and controlling stress.

What happens in coronary heart disease

When waxy substance in blood serum called cholesterol gets deposited on walls of arteries, it forms hard substance called plaque. This process is called atherosclerosis. Over time it causes narrowing or hardening of arteries causing decreased flow of blood. When it affects heart arteries, the condition is called coronary heart disease [CHD] and puts a person at the risk of heart attack. When it affects brain vessels, it is called cerebral vascular disease and puts a person at risk of stroke. It may affect blood flow to other vital organs such as kidneys or intestines.

When you are at rest, coronary heart disease does not give you much problem, but when you are under physical or mental stress or under fight or flight situation heart needs to work more and require more blood supply to its muscles. Here, real problem comes. At that time you feel discomfort or chest pain called angina in various degree depending on the degree of narrowing or blockages of coronary arteries. If the blockage is more, you may get heart attack.

What is cholesterol

Cholesterol is an organic chemical substance, classified as waxy steroid fat. It resembles the very fine scraping of a whitish yellow candle. It is produced in liver. Enzyme called HMG-COA reductase plays a central role in the production of cholesterol. The liver produces it by biosynthesis at regulated rate. It is also found in certain foods.

Cholesterol is a necessary substance in body for efficient functioning of every cells and the whole body system. There are three main functions of cholesterol in the body:

1. It is an essential structural component of outer coating of cells called cell membrane.
   
2. It makes up bile acids that work to digest fat in intestines.
   
3. It allows body to make vitamin D and hormones like estrogen in women and testosterone in male.

The liver produces about 100mg of it in a day. Others we get from the food we eat.
Cholesterol is a type of lipid. Lipids are fats that are found throughout the body. Lipids are oil-based and blood is water-based. They don’t mix. So cholesterol cannot travel alone through the blood stream. It has to combine with other protein. This protein acts like a carrier picking cholesterol and transporting it to the different parts of the body. When this happens, that substance is called lipoproteins (Lipids + proteins). There are two most important lipoproteins in the body:

1. LDL – Low Density L:ipoprotein
   
2. HDL – High Density Lipoprotein
   

1. LDL

If there is more lipid and less protein in lipoprotein, it is less dense. So it s called low density lipoprotein. LDL has tendency to build up on the walls of arteries and promotes atherosclerosis and increases chances of heart diseases. That’s why it is called bad cholesterol. Lower the number in blood serum, lower the risk. It should be 100-129mg/dl.

2. HDL

In this type of lipoprotein, lipid is less and protein is more, so it is more dense. It is called high density lipoprotein. It has very opposite effect on body than LDL. It protects against heart diseases by talking away LDL – bad cholesterol from the blood stream keeping it from building up on arteries, so it is called good cholesterol. Higher the number, lower the risk. It should be 55mg/dl or above.

Triglyceride

This is another fatty substance in blood serum measured during lipid profile. They are fats from certain foods we eat. It should be less than 150mg/dl.
Total cholesterol It is the measure of HDL, LDL and other lipid components. In lipid profile test, it should be less than 200mg/dl.

Process of atherosclerosis starts at early age and keeps going on. If you have family history of coronary heart problems than you should start taking early precautions.

In a treadmill test, echocardiogram and lipid profile test, if you are positive for CHD, following measures may help to delay or reverse the cardio heart disease:

Diet control Foods like eggs, meats, bitter, ghee, cheese, ice cream are loaded with cholesterol. You can avoid them or take in control. Vegetables, fruits and grains contain none. Those, you can take as much as you like.

Exercises

Certain aerobic exercises may help in CHD. Brisk walk is a good exercise. You should walk 30-40 minutes daily. Certain yoga poses and pranayams may help in controlling CHD. You can find more information from relevant source.

Medication

You should take medicines regularly as advised by physicians without fail. After doing some exercises, even if you feel better, don’t stop or reduce dose without consulting the doctor.

How I managed to reverse and cure CHD

Being aware of our family history of cardiovascular disease, I started taking precautions at age of about 45 years of age. I stopped using ghee and butter, and eating oil-fried food in controlled amount. I am non-smoker and have never used alcohol. I am a pure vegetarian. Being a mechanical engineer by profession, I have an active lifestyle. I do daily walk of about 30-40 minutes.

Despite taking all the above precautions, I started feeling discomfort in 2008 at the age of 59 years while doing normal duties. I went for medical checkup. Treadmill test report and lipid profile report was positive for CHD. The doctors advised me to go for further checkup and angiography.

Due to fear of bypass surgery, instead of going for angiography, I went for EECP (Enhanced External Counter Pulsation) which was offered in a special heart hospital. There, in noninvasive testing called cartography, they found I had my three coronary arteries blocked in various degrees. Then the doctor advised me, either to take EECP treatment or go for bypass surgery. I opted for EECP. It is a noninvasive computerized treatment of 35 days, daily one hour, outpatient. They claimed to open collateral arteries of heart muscles by this treatment, so heart muscles get enough blood in area which was lacking blood due to blocked arteries. Daily, I was going for treatment and days were passing without any signs of improvement. At the end of 35 days, I did not feel any improvement of the symptoms.
While thinking and praying to God on what to do next, one day suddenly I saw some news item in a newspaper that there is a yoga workshop where they teach some exercises, claimed to reverse CHD and clear blocked arteries. I went there and learned the exercises. I bought some DVDs and books about the exercises.

In June 2008, I started doing these exercises regularly as explained. After doing them for about 4-5 months, I started feeling better while walking and doing normal duties. After 7-8 months, I felt a definite and sure improvement while climbing stairs and fast walking. After doing them for about 2 years, I went back for medical checkup. Treadmill test and echocardiogram was negative for CHD. Lipid profile parameters came in normal range. The doctor told me that I don’t have any heart problem. I am still doing these exercises and living a happy, healthy life.

In the next post, I will write about how the set of exercises work.