Arteries and Cholesterol
The job of your arteries is to take the pure blood pumped by your heart to various parts of the body. The Dorsal Aorta or the main artery branches out into many smaller arteries. Each body system has arteries which are responsible for providing the oxygen rich blood that keeps us alive.
Too much cholesterol in the blood - especially bad cholesterol - prevents arteries from transporting the maximum amount of blood that they can carry. High levels of bad cholesterol may even prevent arteries from functioning at all, since cholesterol can actually lead to blockages in your arteries. For this reason, it is critical then that we keep arteries free of bad cholesterol for optimal health.
Arteries are constructed of a tough exterior and a soft, smooth interior. Each artery has three specific layers:
a. The outer layer
b. The middle (muscular) layer
c. The inner layer.
Each layer is made up of epithelial cells. The middle layer is elastic and very strong. It helps pump the body's blood. The inner layer is smooth and allows the blood to flow easily. As the heart beats, the arteries expand and are filled with blood. The heart relaxes and produces enough force to push the blood through. In a healthy person, this system works effectively and the blood can carry oxygen and other essentials throughout the body.
Disease fills the arteries with fatty deposits and this becomes a dangerous obstacle to good health. High cholesterol levels fill arterial tubes with thick substances that prevent your arteries from working well. Your heart becomes starved of required blood. If this happens often enough you can suffer a heart attack or a stroke.
The main cause behind heart disease is this thickening of the fatty deposits in the arteries, and the main reason behind the blocking of arteries is high levels of bad cholesterol. This means that if you want to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes, you need to keep your cholesterol levels in a healthy range.
Even having "borderline" cholesterol levels - or bad cholesterol levels that are elevated but not considered "very bad" - can increase your chances of heart disease or stroke. No matter what your current health, eating a better diet and getting exercise can help keep you healthy.
Consider this heart disease is one of the leading killers in North America. Lowering your cholesterol levels through a heart-healthy diet and exercise regimen is one of the best ways to prevent heart disease.
Take a few simple steps necessary to lower your cholesterol and enjoy a better and possibly longer life. You owe it to yourself and your family.
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HIGH BLOOD PRESSUE - The Silent Killer
HIGH BLOOD PRESSUE - THE SILENT KILLER
The magnitude of the problem of high blood pressure is extremely difficult to measure reliably.
Among US adults older than 45 years, 60% of white women and 79% of African-American women were classified as having hypertension. In the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1991), approximately one half of identified hypertensive subjects were receiving treatment with antihypertensive medication, but only about 21% had hypertension that was well controlled (BP <140/90).
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that every adult have an estimation of blood pressure once in at least every two and a half years.
You can avoid developing high blood pressure - also called hypertension - by several simple lifestyle modifications. Weight control, regular physical activity, moderation in alcohol intake and avoiding high dietary salt intake will go a long way in preventing hypertension.
What is normal BP ?
While normal blood pressure has a wide range of values, the goal should be a reading lesser than 140/90 mm. of mercury (mm.Hg). Of course, this would vary with age, and the presence of other co-existing medical conditions, and is not an absolutely rigid value. A higher reading indicates the need for life pattern modification, a conscious effort at making the changes mentioned above.
If blood pressure remains higher than 140/90 mm.Hg. despite life habit modification for 3 months, or if the initial reading is over 160/100 mm.Hg. medication is required to bring down the BP. A variety of drugs are used in treating hypertension, and therapy needs to be individualized for every patient, depending on many other requirements and characteristics.
However, one very unfortunate aspect of the drug therapy is that the side effects invariably make the patient feel much worse than they do normally, as high blood pressur often has no apparent symptoms.
My own experience is to avoid drugs if at all possible and I've discovered that both hight blood pressure and high cholesterol and indeed angina, can be controlled and reversed without the use of any drugs.
For the last seven years I've merely followed a simple regimen of healthy eating, regular exercise and the supplementation of a couple of remarkable natural health products. This has really worked like magic... So I hope it lasts - another 30 years will see me into my mid-nineties.
Get more health information at Health & Vitality
Aromatherapy - the miraculous alternative!
Get Your Share of Good Health!!
The magnitude of the problem of high blood pressure is extremely difficult to measure reliably.
Among US adults older than 45 years, 60% of white women and 79% of African-American women were classified as having hypertension. In the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1991), approximately one half of identified hypertensive subjects were receiving treatment with antihypertensive medication, but only about 21% had hypertension that was well controlled (BP <140/90).
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that every adult have an estimation of blood pressure once in at least every two and a half years.
You can avoid developing high blood pressure - also called hypertension - by several simple lifestyle modifications. Weight control, regular physical activity, moderation in alcohol intake and avoiding high dietary salt intake will go a long way in preventing hypertension.
What is normal BP ?
While normal blood pressure has a wide range of values, the goal should be a reading lesser than 140/90 mm. of mercury (mm.Hg). Of course, this would vary with age, and the presence of other co-existing medical conditions, and is not an absolutely rigid value. A higher reading indicates the need for life pattern modification, a conscious effort at making the changes mentioned above.
If blood pressure remains higher than 140/90 mm.Hg. despite life habit modification for 3 months, or if the initial reading is over 160/100 mm.Hg. medication is required to bring down the BP. A variety of drugs are used in treating hypertension, and therapy needs to be individualized for every patient, depending on many other requirements and characteristics.
However, one very unfortunate aspect of the drug therapy is that the side effects invariably make the patient feel much worse than they do normally, as high blood pressur often has no apparent symptoms.
My own experience is to avoid drugs if at all possible and I've discovered that both hight blood pressure and high cholesterol and indeed angina, can be controlled and reversed without the use of any drugs.
For the last seven years I've merely followed a simple regimen of healthy eating, regular exercise and the supplementation of a couple of remarkable natural health products. This has really worked like magic... So I hope it lasts - another 30 years will see me into my mid-nineties.
Get more health information at Health & Vitality
Aromatherapy - the miraculous alternative!
Get Your Share of Good Health!!
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