SACRED VESSELS
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by Julie Peterson
hen people think about heart health, what generally comes to mind is the fist-sized muscle that pumps and oxygenates the body’s lifeblood. However, the heart of the matter is not the pump itself, but the vascular system—the network of veins, arteries and capillaries that distributes blood to every cell in the body, delivering nutrients and eliminating waste. Each human adult harbors an astonishing 60,000 miles of blood vessels—enough to wrap around the planet twice. Keeping these hard-working vessels supple and open is the key not only to avoiding disease, but also to ensuring a long and healthy life. The alternative—arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries—can slowly and silently bring on cardiovascular disease (CVD), which can result in a heart
When a disease is lifestyleinduced, the only thing that can reverse it is a dramatic change in diet and lifestyle. We’ve seen over and over again that it works. ~Brenda Davis 14 Hartford County Edition
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attack, stroke, vision loss and cognitive decline. CVD is the leading cause of death in the U.S., killing one in four Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By 2035, nearly half the population—45 percent— is predicted to have some form of the disease. “A hundred years ago, we were farming the back 40 with a team of horses, eating what we grew. Kids don’t get out and ride bikes; they’re playing video games and eating crap. There’s very little doubt how we got to this problem,” says John Osborne, M.D., director of cardiology at State of the Heart Cardiology, near Dallas. Yet, the nation’s number one killer, which can fester for decades without symptoms, is largely preventable and reversible. Only 15 percent of CVD is related to genetics; the rest is attributed to lifestyle, and the right choices can make all the difference. The key is to adopt heart-healthy habits before the body delivers a potentially fatal warning. “The initial presentation of heart disease can be an acute catastrophic event that results in death in half the men and two-thirds of the women. That’s not treatable,” warns Osborne.
Know the Risk Factors
The first step toward cardiovascular health is awareness. Important indicators of CVD risk include: 4 High blood pressure (over 140/90) 4 High cholesterol (over 240 mg/dL) 4 High triglycerides (over 200 mg/dL)
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The Lifeblood of Heart Health
