Modern discoveries to repair hardened arteries

I saw the news announcement: -- msn.com/en-gb/news/techands... -- My arteries were ill and caused the cardiac illness. I have been told by cardiologists that my heart attack was solely due to cholesterol in the arteries as they were found to be narrow. I have wondered about my arteries on the hands, feel and any other places. Do they get narrowed ? If so, how do they cure the problem without our instrumental interventions as we do in the heart arteries. Is the problem that the heart as a muscle has become weak and so the arteries have narrowed due to weakness that reduces the energetic blood circulation ? The cardiologists insist on physical exercises to make the heart strong and fit again as without doing this there will not be much effect of the treatment for prevention of heart attack and stroke.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Definitely an interesting news item. Thank you. I think though that there is another mechanism going in as well. The basic theory is that cholesterol narrows the arteries but the smallest do not block first but the largest, e.g. coronary and femoral.

[Henry20]

Hi Mike

When I asked the docs (any of them) about all my smaller blood vessels and how clogged they were, I got no satisfactory answer. They just fluffed words at me, which I took as 'I don't know'. I also asked if any of the drugs I'm taking would allow my body to get rid of the plaque wherever it was - again, no clear answer.

So I've been trying to understand what information there is on the web and also in books etc. (Doc Google, I suggest can only be a guide). I haven't had time to pursue it as hard as I would have liked and so have no definitive answers yet. However, I think the answer is going to be much along the lines you suggest; regular exercise is essential and so is diet. Diet is causing the main issues at the moment - getting away from red meat seems important, so that meat (chicken), in general, is eaten in much smaller quantities. Certainly eat a more plant-based diet, but then it's the rest of it where I'm finding contradictions. Exercise also seems to be a necessary part of my future life, and there needs to be enough of it - hence cardiac rehab classes phase 4 are now in my diary.

I'll post sometime, when I feel I can tell a story that I feel happy about, but don't hold your breath, this is going to take time.

Henry

[Hidden in reply to Henry20]

I look forward to your happy stories. Recently, I have felt happy with my heart condition when the doctors have reduced my medication by half and further reduced the dosage. The medication had caused unexpected flare in my stomach and liver and I complained of few symptoms as new experiences of pain and feeling sick. In a way, I feel I was lucky that I was not engaged in much physical exercises and had not started my cardiac rehabilitation, so the problem and pain came to light as outstanding issues. I was taken in for CT scan and then the results came up as good and that the danger was past, there were fears of damage to the kidney and liver from the standard medication which was prescribed following the heart attack. The statins are stopped. I am still hesitant of increasing on my exercise because the doctors have recently said that on assessment they have the result that I am on borderline, they need to check and re-assess after 4 weeks. They have discussed of the possibility of re-instating the medications which are stopped, including the statins, as there might be a high risk of sudden death.

[Adaboo]

My understanding is that it’s inflammation that causes damage to artery walls and cholesterol amongst other things goes to patch it up like a plaster. So as we make cholesterol ourselves taking statins makes no sense really. We all need to stop the inflammation happening and cut sugar and inflammatory foods out. Vit C has been shown to help some too. This article says it could stop arteries hardening, but that won’t stop the plaque building , plus statins apparently stabilise plaque by calcifying it. Confused? I am! Vit K2 takes calcium and directs it to your bones instead of laying in your arteries. Guess we need to make our own minds up.

[Hidden in reply to Adaboo]

Thank you for the comment and information. I have problem with inflammation, will try the vitamin C supplement and avoid the inflammatory food and drinks