Vitamin D reduces risk of heart disease

Many studies suggest that vitamin D may play a significant role in many aspects of heart and vascular health. 

In one study published in January 2008 in Circulation, researchers followed 1739 participants for the development of heart disease.

The study analyzed data on 1739 men and women (average age, 59) without cardiovascular disease. About 40% had high blood pressure.

In a five year period, 120 people had a cardiovascular event, which may have included the new onset of cardiac chest pain, heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, and leg pain due to inadequate blood supply.

Based on blood tests, people moderately deficient in vitamin D were 62% more likely to have had heart trouble than were those with higher vitamin D levels.

The patients who had high blood pressure with the lowest levels of vitamin D had twice as many serious cardiovascular events compared to these with high blood pressure and the highest blood levels of vitamin D. 

Another study published in June 9, 2008 in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers found at the level of vitamin D in men who developed a heart attack during a 10 year follow-up period.

The result was the lower the vitamin D level, the higher the risk for heart attack.

Food sources of vitamin D include milk, fortified cereal, salmon, mackerel, sardines, and tuna, Sunshine is another source.

The researchers found that vitamin D was able to prevent the uptake of LDL cholesterol by the cells in the arterial walls, which is the main reason for narrowing of the coronary arteries.

Vitamin D deficiency is common among patients with myocardial diseases because sun-induced vitamin D production in the skin and dietary intake of vitamin D is often insufficient.
Vitamin D reduces risk of heart disease

Gastrocardiac syndrome

Gastrocardiac syndrome is the most common cause of noncardiac substernal chest pain in the elderly. It is common in Asia and he been described in Germany for some years as “Roemheld’s Syndrome.”

Other names for this condition include Bergmann's diaphragmatic hernia syndrome, von Bergmann's syndrome, epiphrenal syndrome, gastrocardial symptom, complex, hiatus hernia syndrome, paraesophageal hernia syndrome and sliding diaphragmatic hernia syndrome.

It refers to alteration in the heart rhythm caused by reflux of stomach juice. This condition may either congenital or acquired. When congenital, it is linked to autosomal recessive or x-linked inheritance. Acquired causes include being overweight and Heliobacter phylori infection.

Diagnosis gastrocardiac syndrome based on the exclusion of heart disease (coronary artery disease, arrhythmias), other diseases mediastinal organs (mediastinitis, aneurysm thoracic aorta), as well as identifying the pathology of the gastrointestinal tract, which can cause seizures (hiatal hernia, ulcer ulcer, gastric cancer, esophageal).

There are three types of gastrocardiac syndromes:
*Kardialgichesky – the main clinical and functional manifestations of syndrome are pain in the heart occurring during physical exertion, accompanied by shortness of breath, palpitations. Triglycerides were significantly higher than in other gastrocardiac syndromes.
*Arrhythmic – Systolic and diastolic pressure was significantly higher compared with patients of other groups.
*Dystonic – The phenomena of false angina accompanied by marked autonomic dysfunction (sweating, increased nervous irritability, sleep disturbance)
Gastrocardiac syndrome

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD)

Initially, rheumatic fever is acute and the major symptoms are carditis, polyarthritis, chorea, subcutaneous nodules and a rash called erythema marginatum.

Rheumatic fever usually follows an untreated beta-haemolytic streptococcal throat infection in children.

It can affect many parts of the body, and may result in rheumatic heart disease, in which the heart valves are permanently damaged, and which may progress to heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and embolic stroke.

Rheumatic heart disease is the most commonly acquired heart disease in children, especially in developing countries. It is often found in communities in which extreme poverty exists.

Although far less prevalent than degenerative etiologies, rheumatic heart disease still represents 27% of native valve diseases in Europe. As the prevalence of degenerative diseases is low in young women, rheumatic heart disease accounts for the majority of acquired heart valve diseases which are poorly tolerated during pregnancy.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) 

Food and heart disease

Some foods are found to increase the risk of coronary heart disease, while others may protect against it.

High blood total cholesterol and low density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol levels are major modifiable risk factors in the development of heart disease.

One group of fats have emerged as a major cause of cell damage leading to diabetes, a heart disease, cancer and many other conditions and these are trans fats. People with diabetes have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

Trans fats are found in almost every baked product, to prolong shelf life including potato chips, donut, and most popular breakfast cereals.

In epidemiological studies, fruits and vegetables has been an associated with decreased mortality from a variety of health outcomes including obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease.

Higher consumption of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease.

In the early 1970s scientists found that Greenland Eskimos has extremely low incidence of heart disease and arthritis despite the fact that they consumed a high fat diet.

Scientists discovered that Greenland Eskimos consumption of omega 3 fatty acids play a crucial role in the prevention of atherosclerosis, heart attack, depression, and cancer.

Scientist research found that monounsaturated fatty acids (such as in olive oil), polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as in vegetables oils) and omega 3 fatty acids (such as in fish) may help lower blood lipids.

Diets high in soluble fiber such as in oat or rice bran, oat meal, legumes, barley, citrus fruits and strawberries may help lower LDL cholesterol.

The scientific evidence establishes that diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol are associated with decreased levels of blood total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and thus decreased risk of developing coronary heart disease.
Food and heart disease

Coffee reduces the risk of heart disease

Men who drank more than five cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of developing heart disease by 44 percent.

Women who drank four to five cups each day lowered their risk by 34 percent. Coffee contains antioxidants that help prevent heart disease and it raises neither blood pressure nor cholesterol.

Coffee consumption decreased the relative risks of stroke across categories of coffee consumption in the more than 83,000 women of the Nurses’ Health Study.

Coffee reduces inflammation and improves the health of the endothelial lining of arteries. Some substances in coffee also have significant antioxidant effects.

The antioxidants in coffee are polyphenol which may prevent and reduce the risks of heart disease.
Coffee reduces the risk of heart disease

Can arginine improve heart health?

Arginine is an amino acid found in many foods such as dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, seeds and chocolate. Most nuts are also rich in arginine.

L-arginine was first found to boost nitric oxide and arterial physiology in a series of Stanford studies published in 1992.

Rabbits with high cholesterol levels supplemented with L-arginine developed significant improvement in arterial and endothelial function compared to non-supplemented animals.

Because of the importance of nitric oxide in cardiovascular disease, there has been growing interest over the past years in using arginine to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.

Several relative small scale studies of L-arginine have been carried out in humans. Some have shown modest improvements in blood pressure with L-arginine.

Rat studies even suggest that L-arginine may mitigate the high blood pressure seen in salt-sensitive individuals when exposed to a high-salt diet.

Arginine also helps to prevents abnormal blood clotting by stimulating the production of plasmin and by increasing vasodilation reducing heart attacks and stroke risk.
Can arginine improve heart health?