Heart attack recovery

What is a heart attack?

Symptoms of a heart attack

Risk factors for a heart attack

Prevention / remedies / treatment for heart attack

References

What is a heart attack?

Heart attack (myocardial infarction) is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing heart cells to die. Usually it is caused by the blockage of a coronary artery following the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque in the wall of an artery. The resulting restriction in blood supply and shortage of oxygen damages or destroys heart muscle tissue.

A heart attack is different from but can cause:

• Cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat).
• Cardiac arrest (heart stops beating).
• Heart failure (pumping action of the heart is impaired).

Heart disease was the leading cause of death for both men and women worldwide in 2004. (2)

A heart attack is a life-threatening medical emergency. The immediate action to take is to get urgent medical help.

Symptoms of a heart attack

Approximately one quarter of all heart attacks are silent, without chest pain or other symptoms. (1)

• Chest pain, usually increasing over several minutes, rather than instantaneous. It typically radiates to the left arm or left side of the neck, though it can also be in the lower jaw, neck, back and other areas. Typically, there is a feeling of pressure, tightness or squeezing.
• Shortness of breath.
• Nausea or vomiting.
• Palpitations.
• Sweating.
• Weakness, light-headedness or loss of consciousness.
• Anxiety (often described as a sense of impending doom).
• Women may experience fewer typical symptoms than men, most commonly shortness of breath, weakness, a feeling of indigestion, and fatigue. Sleep disturbances can occur as long as a month before the heart attack.

Risk factors for a heart attack

• Heart attacks are primarily caused by atherosclerosis. (5, 6) The risk factors listed below all cause or are associated with atherosclerosis. The level of general inflammatory problems is both a cause of atherosclerosis and risk factor for heart disease.
• One of the best predictors of a heart attack is the Coronary Artery Calcification Score (CACS). See hypercalcemia. The build up of calcium in the wrong places is the cause of several of the risk factors on this web page.
• Poor blood cholesterol profile. The conventional measure of total blood cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides is cheap, widely used and of limited effectiveness. The level of blood triglycerides and the HDL/LDL ratio are the most significant of these conventional measures.
  Small dense LDL particles are much more susceptible to oxidation and accumulation in arterial plaques than large buoyant LDL. In the past, tests to measure these small dense LDL subtype patterns were not widely available, and were also been expensive. (3, 4) There is a correspondence between higher triglyceride levels and higher levels of smaller, denser LDL particles, so the conventional blood triglyceride level is a useful proxy for the more expensive test.
  A 2018 study suggests LDL and cholesterol in general are not important risk factors. (8)
  A major 2021 study found no correlation between a high saturated fat diet and heart disease - just the opposite. (9)
• Psychosocial factors such as low socioeconomic status and income, social isolation, lack of autonomy or feeling trapped in an unhappy life, shorter education, negative emotions and stress. Chronic high stress.
• High blood pressure.
• Calcium deposits, hypercalcemia.
• Obesity, especially having a large gut.
• Toxins. Primarily from diet. Certain drugs (tobacco smoking, alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, and certain pharmaceutical drugs). Pollution of air, water and food.
• Lack of movement and exercise.
• Being unfit.
• A heart attack can be triggered by intense exertion (more intense than the person is used to), either physical or psychological.
• Periodontal disease and other sources of infection.
• Previous cardiovascular disease.
• Family history of heart disease.
• Age.
• Gender. Men are more at risk than women, particularly before menopause.
• Diabetes.
• Chronic kidney disease.

Prevention / remedies / treatment for heart attack

• Cayenne pepper.
• Garlic.
• Vitamin B3 (niacin). Fish, beef, chicken, turkey and spirulina are the best food sources of niacin. In a more urgent situation, niacin can be purchased as a supplement, and may be useful at 500 mg per day in an extended-release form. Niacin is a powerful antioxidant which acts upon cholesterol, and in particular niacin decreases small, dense, oxidised forms of cholesterol. It provides cardiovascular protection by preventing white blood cells forming atherosclerotic accumulation. Niacin decreases triglyceride levels. It decreases vascular oxidation through its anti-inflammatory effects. Niacin decreases C-reactive protein, which is a strong predictor of heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
• The diet recommended in Grow Youthful. Whilst not a strict ketogenic diet, research shows that this type of diet is effective in treating heart disease. (6, 7)
• A diet rich in natural antioxidants. Taking antioxidants in the form of pills is not likely to be effective.
• See details of remedies recommended by Grow Youthful visitors, and their experience with them.

References

1. Valensi P, Lorgis L, Cottin Y. Prevalence, incidence, predictive factors and prognosis of silent myocardial infarction: a review of the literature. Arch Cardiovasc Dis 104 (3): 178-88. PMID 21497307.

2. World Health Organization (2008). The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update. Geneva: World Health Organization. ISBN 92-4-156371-0.

3. Superko HR, Nejedly M, Garrett B. Small LDL and its clinical importance as a new CAD risk factor: a female case study. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing 17 (4): 167-73. PMID 12417832.

4. Warnick GR, Knopp RH, Fitzpatrick V, Branson L. Estimating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by the Friedewald equation is adequate for classifying patients on the basis of nationally recommended cutpoints. January 1990, Clinical Chemistry 36 (1): 15-9. PMID 2297909.

5. Natasha Campbell-McBride. Put your heart in your mouth. Medinform Publishing, 2007.

6. Paul Jaminet & Shou-Ching Jaminet. Perfect Health Diet. Four Steps to Renewed Health, Youthful Vitality, and Long Life. P YinYang Press, 2010.

7. Soudijn W, van Wijngaarden I, Ijzerman AP. Nicotinic acid receptor subtypes and their ligands. May 2007, Medicinal Research Reviews 27 (3): 417-33. PMID 17238156.

8. Rafel Ramos, Marc Comas-Cufi, Ruth Marti-Lluch, Elisabeth Ballo, Anna Ponjoan, Lia Alves-Cabratosa, Jordi Blanch, Jaume Marrugat, Roberto Elosua, Maria Grau, Marc Elosua-Bayes, Luis Garcia-Ortiz, Maria Garcia-Gil. Statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular events and mortality in old and very old adults with and without type 2 diabetes: retrospective cohort study. BMJ 2018;362:k3359. Published 5 September 2018.

9. Marinka Steur, Laura Johnson, Stephen J. Sharp, Fumiaki Imamura, Ivonne Sluijs, Timothy J. Key, Angela Wood, Rajiv Chowdhury, Marcela Guevara, Marianne U. Jakobsen et al. Dietary Fatty Acids, Macronutrient Substitutions, Food Sources and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease: Findings From the EPIC-CVD Case-Cohort Study Across Nine European Countries. 19 November 2021. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2021;0:e019814.

10. Karacaglar E, Atar I, Altin C, Yetis B, Cakmak A, Bayraktar N, Coner A, Ozin B, Muderrisoglu H. The Effects of Niacin on Inflammation in Patients with Non-ST Elevated Acute Coronary Syndrome. Acta Cardiol Sin. 2015 Mar; 31(2):120-6. doi: 10.6515/acs20140630e. PMID: 27122858; PMCID: PMC4804877.

11. Si Y, Zhang Y, Zhao J, Guo S, Zhai L, Yao S, Sang H, Yang N, Song G, Gu J, Qin S. Niacin inhibits vascular inflammation via downregulating nuclear transcription factor-kB signaling pathway. Mediators Inflamm. 2014;2014:263786. doi: 10.1155/2014/263786. 27 May 2014. PMID: 24991087; PMCID: PMC4058495.

12. Canner PL, Berge KG, Wenger NK, Stamler J, Friedman L, Prineas RJ, Friedewald W. Fifteen year mortality in Coronary Drug Project patients: long-term benefit with niacin. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1986 Dec;8(6):1245-55. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(86)80293-5. PMID: 3782631.

13. Berge KG, Canner PL. Coronary drug project: experience with niacin. Coronary Drug Project Research Group. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1991;40 Suppl 1:S49-51. PMID: 2044644.

14. Ganji SH, Qin S, Zhang L, Kamanna VS, Kashyap ML. Niacin inhibits vascular oxidative stress, redox-sensitive genes, and monocyte adhesion to human aortic endothelial cells. Atherosclerosis. 2009 Jan;202(1):68-75. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2008.04.044. Epub 2008 May 9. PMID: 18550065.