What Is Involved In Diagnosing Cardiovascular Heart Disease?

In most cases diagnosing the problem correctly is equal to 50 percent treatment. Once you are able to identify what ails you, it is easy to chalk out a plan to get back to health – provided the disease is curable and it has been detected in time. There are many diseases yet that have no cure – and diagnosing any such disease would at least give you the means to fight it with all that you have.
There are also some diseases which are curable only if they are caught early. This means that in order to give yourself the best chance to fight it, you need to learn about its existence as early as possible. This is why you are recommended to have a yearly or at least a bi-yearly medical check up.

Cardiovascular heart disease falls into the second category of diseases. This can be fatal if left untreated and undiagnosed for too long; however if you catch the cardiovascular heart disease early in most cases it can be nearly reversed.

How Is the Cardiovascular Heart Disease Actually Diagnosed?
There are many ways to test whether you are a candidate for cardiovascular heart disease or you are already suffering from it. You will find that the doctor would prescribe the following tests for you before giving you his/ her verdict.

The best known of all tests for the cardiovascular heart disease is the ECG. This is taken using a motor driven treadmill and a few electrodes attached to the chest with the help of which the heart rate is monitored for a fixed period. The ECG would be able to show the doctor whether the heart was beating normally or it had malfunctioned at any give time.
This test is reportedly much better in diagnosing the heart problems in men than in women for reasons not fully explained by the present day science. Some studies suggest that the fat and tissues found in women's breasts might be interfering with the accuracy of the recording of the heart beats – hence the discrepancy.

When in doubt, doctors recommend a more sensitive test known as thallium treadmill test. This test would require a certain quantity of thallium (which is a radio-active element) be injected in the veins during the exact last minute of the test. The diagnosis is then made on the basis of how much of this particular element has been absorbed in the blood. This is a very expensive test comparatively – however, its sensitivity and accuracy in identifying the heart problem is as high as 90% - which make is well worth the effort and cost.

Increasing Good Cholesterol Reduces Cardiovascular Risk

It's common knowledge that high cholesterol increases the risk of heart attack and strokes.
What's less well known is that statins, the drugs most often prescribed to lower cholesterol, may cause side effects that can even lead to heart disease.
Some medical experts think that rather than trying to lower overall or "bad" LDL cholesterol, a more effective course of heart disease prevention would be to raise HDL, or "good," cholesterol.

"It is estimated that every 1 percent increase in HDL can decrease the risk for heart disease by 2 percent in men and 3 percent in women," said Dennis Goodman, M.D., former Chief of Cardiology and Medical Director of the Cardiac Treatment Center at Scripps Memorial Hospital. "This is especially important because a low HDL level is one of the most common cholesterol problems found in people with heart disease."

In a six-month pilot study at Scripps Memorial, Dr. Goodman and investigator George Dennish, M.D., tested a cardiovascular nutritional supplement and found it increased HDL up to 23 percent, which would indicate a reduced risk of heart disease. The study found no adverse effects and demonstrated that the combination is safe to use with statin drugs.

The vitamins and minerals in the supplement include vitamin C, E, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, magnesium and selenium, with protein-building amino acids, anti-oxidants such as CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, N-acetylcysteine and policosanol and extracts of hawthorn, garlic, grape seed and soy isoflavones, all of which have been shown to beneficially affect heart health.

In one group tested, the HDL was raised by 23 percent; in another, by 40 percent.
"We are excited by these findings because they show the efficacy of essential vitamins and minerals, at levels recommended by the American Heart Association," said Dr. Goodman, who originally formulated the HDL Booster supplement, now sold by Enzymatic Therapy in health food stores nationwide.

For maximum heart health, Dr. Goodman recommends eating a well-balanced low-fat diet, staying active, quitting smoking if you smoke, and losing weight if you weigh too much. If you want to or need to raise your HDL levels, you may want to consider taking a supplement, which Dr. Goodman considers the future of cardiovascular therapy.

Fight Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) classifies a range of illnesses that involved the heart and blood vessels (i.e. arteries and veins). CVD is a technical term that refers to a disease that affects the cardiovascular system and conditions that relate to causes, mechanisms and treatments upon the heart organ system including all things related to atherosclerosis. You doctor is only trained to treat the symptoms, for example, applying angioplasty in order to open blocked blood vessels. The mechanical widening of a narrowed or obstructed vessel is no cure; it is only delaying the inevitable. The key to CVD however is prevention!

The rate of CVD related deaths have dropped for men, however for women the rate is relatively unchanged. High cholesterol coupled with high C-reactive protein (CRP) a plasma protein that is produced by the liver can be a measure for inflammation and give a warning on an individual’s risk for CVD. C-reactive protein or C-polysaccharide is a polysaccharide found in the cell wall of pneumococci and precipitated by this protein from carbohydrates. What happens is the inflamed artery gets a build-up of fatty streaks of oxidized low-density lip-protein (LDL cholesterol). Once the arteries are lined with LDL cholesterol these become nucleation points for calcium deposits. Upon increasing calcium deposition a brittle cap over the fatty deposits narrows the artery walls forming plaque. As the build-up of plaque continues the likelihood that some may fracture and break can result in what is called a blood clot. Depending upon where the breaking and subsequent clot occurs a heart attack or stroke will likely result. This is why cholesterol levels and resulting high blood pressure is ultimately the best early warning system for preventing heart disease.

When discussing the prevention of CVD one needs to reduce total cholesterol, especially the LDL type cholesterol. This is where natural supplementations and exercise can help to manage your cholesterol problems. To reduce your cholesterol, significant lifestyle modification needs to be taken into consideration. A heart attack or stroke is a drastic, life altering phenomena; therefore you need to be proactive in altering your lifestyle now.

Suggested lifestyle changes
1. Exercise including weight training and aerobic exercise.
2. Low cholesterol diets worked into your daily meal plan.
3. Add to your diet 1-3 grams of fiber which will help to lower cholesterol levels.

The keys to prevention including knowing your optimal cholesterol levels (please discuss this with your doctor), diet to reduce the factors for coronary heart disease, knowing your family history on heart disease, have your blood pressure checked regularly, and elimination of bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Finally, natural health food supplementation is imperative for lowering and preventing heart disease. Some natural methods for prevention include artichoke leaf, garlic, curcumin also know as turmeric root, green tea, fish oil, and soy products can help to control the cholesterol level. Note, soy is cholesterol-free; most fats in soy are poly-unsaturated, soy isoflavones and soluble fibers.
In conclusion, turning to natural remedies is no substitute for getting the advice of a cardiovascular specialist. Preferably, natural ways are better than pharmaceutical drugs and thus many people have chosen to treat various health conditions using natural health supplements. Taking the corrective action in both diet and exercise will help promote general well-being and a longer happier life.