If you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure (a systolic pressure — the top number — of 140 or above or a diastolic pressure — the bottom number — of 90 or above), you might be worried about taking medication to bring your numbers down. Lifestyle plays an important role in treating your high blood pressure. If you successfully control your blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle, you may avoid, delay or reduce the need for medication. Please read moore

Many people find it hard to believe, but difficult cardiovascular conditions such as angina, congestive heart failure, and even cardiomyopathy respond well to nutritional balancing science, even when drugs and surgery do not work well. Other conditions that respond very well are many cases of high blood pressure, clogged arteries or arteriosclerosis, heart valve problems, atrial fibrillation, and other heart arrhythmias. Read moore please

The cholesterol theory of heart disease is very simplistic.  It is like saying that duct tape wrapped around a damaged water hose is the cause of the hose damage.  More likely, the tape - and the cholesterol - are the result of the damage, not the cause.  In fact, two scientists, Brown and Goldstein, won a Nobel Prize in 1985 for their research into this theory.  Cholesterol plaques are often there to protect a damaged artery.  After all, a clogged artery is far preferable to a ruptured one.  Elevated cholesterol is associated with heart disease, but may not be its cause. Please read moore

CHOLESTEROL AND HEART DISEASE  
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in the blood stream and the cell membranes of the body’s cells. Ordinarily, it is essential for a variety of functions in the body, and when its level gets too high, it becomes a risk factor in heart disease.                                                        

Cholesterol is derived from two main sources:
• From the body; the liver manufactures most of the body’s cholesterol.
• From animals like meat, poultry, fish, sea foods, and dairy products (about 15 percent)
Plant foods do not contain cholesterol. What differentiates fats from cholesterol is that dietary fats consist of fatty acids, made from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, that may be saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. They are added to food to elicit taste and texture.

Saturated fats are derived from tropical oils like coconut oil and palm oil, and animal sources like butter, meat, lard, and whole-meat products. They are solid at room temperatures. Saturated fats from animal sources raise blood cholesterol and increase the risk for heart disease, while those from unprocessed tropical oils do not raise blood cholesterol.

Polyunsaturated fats come from botanical sources like safflower oils, corn, and soy. They are liquid at room temperature and are good sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. When they are unrefined, the help lower blood cholesterol. They are found mainly in fish, especially salmon, green leafy vegetables, and flax seeds and oil. They do not raise blood cholesterol.

Monounsaturated fats are derived from botanical sources like olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, avocado, walnut oils, and pumpkin. They are liquid at room temperature, and reduce bad cholesterol without affecting good cholesterol levels.

Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated fats, also referred to as trans-fats, are processed polyunsaturated fats. They are chemically altered to ensure chemical stability and longer shelf life in stores. They are used in restaurants, fast-food restaurants, and sold as vegetable oils. They raise the level of bad cholesterol. They are commonly used to prepare baked foods, packaged food, margarine, shortenings, cookies, crackers, peanut butter, and deep-fried foods to add texture and taste. They are a manufacturer’s delight, but they are detrimental to human health.

Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver and transported through the blood stream by a group of proteins manufactured by the liver called lipoproteins. The blood, being mainly water, has to latch on to these lipoproteins to travel successfully around the body.

The low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are major transporters of cholesterol from the liver to the organs of the body. LDL is termed “bad cholesterol” because it carries excess oxidized cholesterol in the circulatory system to be deposited in arteries where it can cause reduced blood flow to the heart and vital organs like the brain, causing heart attacks and strokes.                                                                                                                                                                           

High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are proteins that are also manufactured in the liver. They are called “good cholesterol” because it carries excess unneeded cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver where it is broken down into bile acids and excreted out of the body.                                                                                                                                 

The LDL and HDL function as a two-way traffic system that transports cholesterol to and from the liver.  Individuals whose livers manufacture low LDL and high HDL have a lower risk of developing coronary artery diseases. Conversely, individuals with low HDL and high LDL have a higher risk of developing coronary artery diseases. 

For high LDL and triglycerides cholesterol, patients are  prescribed a statin drug, Zocor, with which elevated liver enzyme levels is a contraindication. High blood level of LDL (low density cholesterol) indicates the probability of plaques building in the arteries, impeded blood flow to the extremities, kidney, brain, and heart. While  doctors believed  elevated cholesterol level may sometimes be genetic, the  gene-disease theory  that  stems from  the work of Charles Darwin who in the twilight of his life recounted these concepts with the following statements “In my opinion, the greatest error which I have committed has been not allowing sufficient weight to the direct action of the environments, i.e. food, climate etc. independently of natural selection…when I wrote “The origin”, and for some years afterwards, I could find little good evidence of direct action of the environment; now there is a large body of evidence”. While the originator of the gene theory of disease believes genes don’t determine our destiny, conventional medicine needs this theory to propagate disease care over health i.e. to emphasize the problem over the person.

Statin-cholesterol drugs cause muscle aches and coenzyme q10 deficiency  Statin drugs cause muscle pain and damage, and Coenzyme Q10 could be helpful. A small study published in the May 15th issue of the American Journal of Cardiology supports my viewpoint.  Statin drugs, such as Lipitor and Zocor, lower cholesterol levels, but at the same time they interfere with the making of coenzyme Q10 in the body. Scientists now suspect that Coenzyme Q10 deficiency as a result of stating drug use may partly, or fully, contribute to the development of muscle damage. Dr. Giuseppe Caso and colleagues from Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York gave 100 mg of Coenzyme Q10 for one month to 32 patients using statins. Pain intensity decreased by 40% after a month of Coenzyme Q10 treatment whereas patients treated with vitamin E (as placebo) experienced no change in pain intensity. Sixteen of 18 coenzyme Q10-treated patients experienced a decrease in pain. Am J Cardiol 2007.Moore

MISINFORMATION ABOUT CHOLESTEROL: BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE
                                                                                   
Cholesterol seals blood vessels and prevents leakage of blood. Blaming cholesterol for heart attacks and heart disease is like blaming the tire shop for your flat tire. When the doctor says you have high blood cholesterol, she is only measuring your arterial blood cholesterol. If cholesterol in the arterial blood causes heart disease, why doesn’t cholesterol build up in the veins when the same blood flows through both vessels? The difference is because of the presence of muscle tissues that help sustain blood pressures in the arteries that are absent in veins.                                                                               

When humans consume excessive amounts of saturated fats from animal sources, fried foods, simple carbohydrates, hydrogenated oils, and processed foods, those fats build up as toxic deposits in the arterial blood vessels and in fatty tissues of the body, increasing inflammations and damage to the blood vessels. Sedentary lifestyles, cigarette smoking, and lack of exercise also contribute to high blood cholesterol. As you will see, the inflammatory reactions generated from these habits and lifestyles destroy the integrity of the blood vessels and make them prone to leakage and breakage as the body becomes more acidic. Once body fluids becomes acidic, lactic acid degeneration translates into inflammations on the arterial muscular surfaces. Muscle tissues in arteries are more susceptible to disintegration by lactic acid, since the acidic body fluids dissolving the muscles, making then thin and weak. It is these inflammations of the muscular tissues of blood vessels that cause heart attacks, not cholesterol.  These views are congruent with the those expressed in the April 1997 issue of the  New England Journal of Medicine that  suggest that cholesterol is not the primary cause of heart disease but inflammations of the blood vessels. With disintegrated muscular tissues, arterial walls are thinned, weakened, and becomes susceptible to breaks and leaks that translates as impending heart attacks

To prevent heart attacks, the body develops compensatory mechanisms by attracting a variety of substances like the LDL cholesterols as reinforcements for the venerable arterial sites. The presences of cholesterol at these break-prone sites are protective and preventive mechanisms developed by nature to prevent impending breaks that would have resulted in death. This is like sealing leaks in your plumbing system or fixing a flat tire. These reinforcements make arterial walls thick, hard, and narrow. Rather than addressing the underlying causes from a nutritional viewpoint, conventional medicine blames family genes, all the while translating these occurrences as heart disease and as an indicator for the use of statin drugs, a multibillion dollar bonanza. Once again the care of the disease has taken precedence over the care of the individual.                                          

When the cholesterol lowering drugs fail to lower blood cholesterol conventional medicine resorts to different surgical procedures like balloon angiography, surgical removal of plaques, and bypass surgeries that treats the disease and bypass the problem—malnutrition, acidosis and western diets.

How does the body produce cholesterol?
Cholesterol is actually a by-product produced while the body is synthesizing a little known substance called mevalonate. Mevalonate help control vascular tone and systemic blood pressure. Mevalonate synthesis is orchestrated by the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. Cholesterol lowering drugs work by inhibiting this enzyme, hence they are called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. When doctors use statin drugs to inhibit the mevalonate pathway, they inhibits its function like maintaining blood pressure and vascular tone. Ironically cholesterol is not the only product of the Mevalonate chain that is inhibited by cholesterol lowering drugs. Other end products disrupted include co-enzyme Q10 and dilochol.
 
Co-enzyme Q10 is found in all cell membranes where it maintains cellular integrity and nerve functions. It is vital to the formation of elastin and collagen. The disruption of co-enzyme Q10 by statin drugs leads to weak heart muscles and the attendant increase in heart-failure rate associated with cholesterol lowering drugs. This explains why people on statin drugs have muscle pain, joint pain and failure of the heart muscle.

The disruption of this important intermediate (Co-enzyme Q10) by Zocor™ accounts for the serious side effects  like severe back pain, muscle and joint pain, neuropathy, and inflammation of the tendons and ligaments. you may bea one of the lucky few saved from heart failure which is a major side effect of Zocor’s blocking of co-enzyme Q10 synthesis.

The decision of drug companies to block the synthesis of mevalonate is because reduced amounts of mevalonate make smooth muscles less active and platelets less able to produce clots that can cause a heart attack. This explains why drug companies market statin drugs as preventing heart attacks.  The risks of heart attacks and death are reduced but not eliminated because cholesterol is just one of the multitude of risk factors associated with heart attacks. While the incidence of heart attacks is reduced in the short term, there is a dramatic increase in the number of heart-failure cases caused by co-enzyme Q10 inhibition with these drugs.
                                                                                                                          
High blood cholesterol exhibited no external signs or symptoms until doctors studied how to evaluate blood levels of cholesterol and used unrealistic indices to determine what is normal and what is abnormal. The bar kept being lowered to include perfectly healthy people whose only offence was having high cholesterol. About 26 years ago, the parameter was any middle-aged man whose cholesterol is over 240 with associated risk factors like smoking and being overweight. After the 1984 cholesterol consensus conference, the dragnet was expanded to include anyone, male or female, with cholesterol over 200 as candidates for statin drugs. Recently, the bar was lowered further to include anyone with cholesterol over 180. Currently, the qualifiers are extended to include individuals who suffered a heart attack even if their blood cholesterol is already very low. Current standards stipulate cholesterol evaluations and treatment for young adults and children. The beneficiaries of these are the drug companies and the casualties are the people needlessly suffering from heart failure, bypass surgery, and untold numbers undergoing balloon angioplasty and adverse reactions to statin drugs.

The liver makes cholesterol which in turn create hormones. It takes weeks, months and years for gallstones to form from cholesterol. Saturated fatty acids (and alcohol and concentrated sweeteners that are rapidly transformed into saturated fatty acids) are the chief culprits in raising blood cholesterol, creating gallstones, and in increasing the risk of heart disease. But dietary cholesterol also plays a part.Please learn how to flush and cleanse  the liver with the following proceedure

Functions of Cholesterol
• All cell membranes in the human body contain cholesterol. It makes the cells waterproof. The cells will be porous and leak without cholesterol.   
• Cholesterol is the body’s repair substance, as scar tissues contain high levels of cholesterol, including the arterial scar tissues. 
• Cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D. Bile salts needed for digestion of fats are made from cholesterol, and people with low cholesterol have difficulty digesting fats.
• Cholesterol plays an important role in the formation of brain matter. It is the main organic molecule of the brain and half of the dry weight of the cerebral cortex. It is responsible for the uptake of serotonin. When cholesterol levels are low, serotonin receptors do not work.                                                                                           
• Cholesterol is the precursor to all hormones produced in the adrenal cortex. This includes the glucocorticoids, which regulate the blood-sugar levels and mineral corticoids which regulate mineral balance. It promotes healing and balances tendencies towards inflammation. Cholesterol lowering drugs can disrupt the activity of the adrenal hormones.

Before the Statin Drugs
Statins replaced drugs that reduced blood cholesterol by disrupting its absorption in the intestines. The side effects of these drugs were unbearable and included constipation, nausea, and indigestion. They did not have any significant effect on blood cholesterol.

In 1958, Dr. Lester M. Morrison, the director of a research unit at Los Angeles County General Hospital published some findings in the January 1959 number of Geriatrics on the efficacy of lecithin in lowering blood cholesterol levels. He indicated that lecithin caused a 41 percent reduction in blood cholesterol in 80 percent of his patients suffering from high serum cholesterol levels. He indicated that lecithin facilitated their metabolism in the digestive tract and facilitated their transport through the vasculo-circulatory system. By emulsifying fats and cholesterol in the diet into tiny particles and holding them in suspension, lecithin prevented them from clumping together and sticking to blood platelets or the walls of the blood vessels. It is when dietary fats are not well emulsified that they stick together, form blood clots, and block arteries.
 
The word lecithin is derived from the Greek word for “egg yolk” where it was first isolated in 1850 by Maurice Bobley. Egg yolk is an excellent source of lecithin. Lecithin derived from animal sources are less active than those derived from plant sources. Obtained from soybeans, lecithin helps in the re-absorption of cholesterol back into the blood stream that has adhered to the walls of blood vessels. Lecithin derived from animal sources have higher levels of saturated fatty acids, while those derived from vegetable sources have higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids. Lecithin is essential in transporting triglycerides out of the liver, which prevents fatty liver. Most liver metabolism occurs in the membranes and this is where lecithin comes into play. Lecithin is mainly composed of choline and inositol, both of which are required for the breakdown of cholesterol. The choline is subsequently converted to acetylcholine. Many people take lecithin for it’s choline component. Lecithin emulsifies fats into absorbable droplets like solvents cutting down grease. As an excellent emulsifier, it increases the bioavailability of nutrients with which it is co-administered.

Normally oil and water do not mix, but lecithin holds them together and keeps them from separating out.  Thus, it helps to remove fatty deposits from the liver so they are unable to settle and form dangerous deposits. It helps prevent accumulation of deposits in arteries and melts those already present. 

Phosphotidylcholine (PC) is a lecithin derivative obtained from soy lecithin. Lecithin granules are rich sources of phosphatidylcholine. Phosphatidylcholine is a major component of liver cellular membranes. PC is the universal building block for cell membranes, and the majority of metabolic activities that occur in the liver and most organs in the human body occur in the cell membranes. Since the damage caused by hepatitis is done while the body is trying to detoxify itself of the virus, protecting the liver cell membranes where most of the metabolic activities takes place is crucial.  PC inhibits the tendency of stellate cells to progress to cirrhosis. It exhibits anti-fibrotic effects related to the breakdown of collagen. It has been shown to prevent lipid peroxidation associated with liver damage in alcoholic cirrhosis.

Studies show that PC protects the liver against damage from alcoholism, environmental toxins, viruses, and prescription and recreational drugs. Lecithin is found in organ meat, in moderately high amounts in red meats, whole nuts and seeds, soybeans, brewers yeast, fish, wheat germ, legumes, and grains. Dietary supplementation with minimum of about 800 mg daily with meals significantly speeds recovery of the liver. PC is a safe means of supplementing dietary choline.

Choline is a member of the B vitamins group, and prevents the deposition of fats in the liver and facilitates the transport of fats into the cells. Its deficiency leads to degenerative liver diseases like cirrhosis, bleeding, and kidney damage. Cabot (1996) indicated that increases in choline levels in the liver facilitate the synthesis of the enzyme callaginase. Collaginase helps dissolve collagenous scar tissues in cirrhotic patients. In the body, inositol combines with choline to form lecithin. Lecithin increases the levels of choline in the liver, which in turn facilitates the activities of the enzyme collagenase that helps dissolve cirrhotic scar tissues. Dietary sources of choline, which facilitate fat metabolism, are soybeans, nutritional yeast, fish, peanuts, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage, lentils, chick peas, and brown rice.

 According to Shé D'Montford, Shambhallah, from Australia ‘The human body "WILL HEAL"... If we get out of our own way and allow it, it heals itself. It is our basic nature. Anybody who tells you other than that is trying to sell you something. No matter what you have been told. Don't give up on yourself and don't buy into the lines like ... ‘oh well you've had a good life'... 'at your age'... and the worst of all ...'there's nothing further I can do, I suggest you finalize your affairs'... How dare anyone tell you to give up! So much in society combines to convince us of the propaganda that some things never get better. It's up to you ... do you want to get better? Make things better? It is human nature to make things better, evolve and grow.”

This site  is intended to provide general information only and is not a substitute for medical evaluation or treatment. All matters regarding health or a particular health situation should be supervised by a licensed health care professional.The author and the publisher shall not be held responsible or liable for any harm or loss allegedly arising, directly or indirectly from any information in this site