Is heart disease reversible?
Heart disease is when the arteries of the heart become blocked. If you have a heart attack then the arteries have become so blocked that some of your heart muscle becomes starved of blood and can die. At the moment we have no way to re-grow heart tissue, although muscle stem cells show promise. There are ways to clear the blockage and open up the arteries again. One way is to open the chest and perform a bypass operation, where a bit of vein from somewhere else in the body, usually the saphenous vein from the leg, is grafted on as a bridge to allow blood to flow around the blockage. The newer way to do this, and much less invasive, is to thread a line up through the femoral artery in the leg and into the heart. Using a scanner to see where you are, you put a wire inside the coronal artery and blow up a baloon which squashes the blockage out of the way. You can then prop the artery open using a metal cage called a stent. New stents are available which resease drugs to stop further block
Their answer: 1) No. Heart disease is definitely not reversible. 2) Yes, in rare instances, like lightning striking twice. 3) Yes, of course it is! Let’s talk about how to do it! I predicted that few readers of this blog would respond. I also predicted that the few who did would respond with the first answer, Heart disease is definitely not reversible . After all, in nearly all medical practices, the only parameters routinely followed to track risk for heart disease are LDL cholesterol and blood pressure. A measure of the disease itself (i.e., coronary atherosclerotic plaque) is not followed. So how can your doctor actually tell whether heart disease is reversed or not? When I engage in this conversation with colleagues, it goes no farther than rolled eyes or a snort. In my experience, talking about reversal of heart disease is a wasted effort. To my great surprise, this simple survey received a total of 177 responses. Even more surprising, 122 (69%) of respondents chose number 3, clai
My father had 4 by-passes done at the age of 62. He is 75 now and his heart is in much better condition that it was 13 years ago. I have the test results to prove it…..but I’ll give the devil his due…..he totally changed his diet. very low fat, 12 servings of fruits and veggies a day (yeah, you read that right), high fiber, whole grains, excercises (walks several miles a day no matter the weather)….his blood pressure has returned to normal (ok, well he does take 1/4 of dose of a beta blocker) and his total cholesterol is 137…..without meds So yes, it can be done – he had some severe atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis…..but – its a big but – most people aren’t willing to do what he did….
