Andreas Moritz
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 Based on the results from these studies, the treatment of heart failure should not involve the use of drug-based blood thinners, such as aspirin. It is relatively easy to keep the blood thin through a balanced vegetarian diet, drinking sufficient quantities of water, avoiding diuretic foods and beverages, keeping regular mealtimes and bedtimes, and cleansing the liver, kidneys and colon. |
Ray D. Strand
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 Against the backdrop of substantial clinical trials already reported in the medical literature, Folkers and Langsjoen showed undeniable proof of efficacy and safety of the use of CoQlO in patients with end-stage heart failure who were awaiting transplantation.
Here is a prime example of a natural vitamin/antioxidant shown in several clinical trials to be effective and safe. This is nutritional medicine at its core. When the heart muscle is weakened, for whatever reason, it places an increased demand on the nutrients the heart cells need in order to create energy. |
Brigitte Mars, A.H.G.
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 Avoid in cases of edema resulting from heart failure or kidney failure.
Goldenrod is often accused of causing hay fever. However, its pollen is actually quite heavy and falls to the earth rather than becoming airborne. It is more likely ragweed, which blooms at the same time as goldenrod that is culprit.
Range and Appearance
Goldenrod is native to all temperate regions on the earth. Nearly one hundred species grow in North America alone. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
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 Unchecked, hemochromatosis can lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, and even cancer. Unchecked, hemochromatosis will lead to death.
For more than 125 years after Armand Trousseau first described it in 1865, hemochromatosis was thought to be extremely rare. Then, in 1996, the primary gene that causes the condition was isolated for the first time. Since then, we've discovered that the gene for hemochromatosis is the most common genetic variant in peopie of Western European descent. |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
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 In 68,000 patients studied to date," wrote the editor of JAMA in 2005, "there is no compelling evidence that higher doses of vitamin E reduce cardiovascular risk or cancer; there are even some hints that vitamin E, in excess of normal daily intake, may slightly increase the risk of ischemic events or of heart failure."8 Added to this is the judgment of the editors of the Annals of Internal Medicine: "We think that high-dosage vitamin E may increase overall mortality. Therefore we believe that high-risk and healthy people should avoid this vitamin at high doses. |
| Indeed, the study found "an unexpected and disturbing increase in heart failure in patients assigned vitamin E," leading to a recommendation that "Vitamin E supplements "should not be used in patients with vascular disease."7 The authors conclude with an admonition: that we should not accept the safety of "natural products" (e.g., vitamins), especially if they have not been proven effective.
The HOPE findings, along with other studies, have produced some definitive official judgment. |
| Specifically, they "reduce the clinical consequences of atherosclerosis, including death from cardiovascular disease, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina pectoris and heart failure, as well as the need for [stenting]."20
To summarize: Statins are widely used in the United States. In 2002, more than 56 million prescriptions were written for Lipitor; as a group, statins were the third most prescribed drug. What can we conclude about their effectiveness? First, they do treat the sign. |
| ACE inhibitors, for treatment of high blood pressure and chronic heart failure, are the fourth most commonly prescribed.
We've already considered semisynthetic narcotics; our discussion of antidepressants awaits the following chapter. Therefore, we turn our attention to...
Statins
Statins are a category of drug9 that slow the body's ability to produce cholesterol and increase the liver's ability to remove low density lipids (LDLs), so-called bad cholesterol. We pose three questions: (1) do statins lower blood cholesterol? (2) do statins prevent heart attacks? |
Marcia Angell, M.D.
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 Participants treated with the diuretic were much less likely to develop heart failure than those treated with Norvasc. And they were less likely to develop heart failure, strokes, and a number of other complications than those treated with the ACE inhibitor. As for Cardura, that part of the trial had to be stopped early, because so many people who received that drug developed heart failure. The director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute was unequivocal in his conclusion: "ALLHAT shows that diuretics are the best choice to treat hypertension, both medically and economically. |
Andreas Moritz
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| Strokes, both ischemic and hemorrhagic, heart failure due to neuropathy, ischemic and hemorrhagic coronary events, obesity, arteriosclerosis, elevated blood pressure, high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides were all known to be common consequences of a disturbed metabolism as it occurs in diabetes. In addition to these symptoms, impotence, retinopathy, renal failure, liver failure, polycystic ovary syndrome, elevated blood sugar, systemic Candida, poor wound healing, peripheral neuropathy, etc. |
Bill Sardi
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 It has been shown that Herceptin can precipitate severe heart failure in some patients.
Nevertheless, Herceptin has been approved for use in late-stage breast cancer in Britain. But pharmaceutical companies weren't able to make much money from the drug because patients who are considered to have late-stage breast cancer don't have long to live. Since 1998, it has been used to treat more than 230,000 breast cancer patients worldwide, all with late-stage disease. The London Times reports Herceptin will not cure the disease, "but it may extend life by a couple of months, at best". |
Andreas Moritz
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| Patients in the aspirin therapy group were twice as likely as the patients in the warfarin group to face hospitalization for cardiovascular complications, particularly worsening cases of heart failure during the first 12 months following the study.
• Warfarin proved to be ineffective and should be eliminated as a treatment option.
Popular medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen can raise blood pressure and raise the risk of heart disease among men, according to findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. |
| According to recent research, such blood pressure mediation can actually lead to chronic heart failure. Without removing the root cause(s) of elevated blood pressure, the standard treatment for hypertension can cause severe cellular dehydration and sharply reduce the blood's main functions to deliver oxygen to the heart muscles and to remove acidic waste from the body's cells and tissues. This further increases the risk of heart disease, kidney and liver disorders and many other diseases.
The Western Hemisphere leads the world in the percentage of population with heart disease. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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 This is a medical emergency; it can lead to heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias,
SIGN OF THE TIMES
It's believed that Van Gogh's ^JB^Bjjr extensive use of the color yellow in such paintings as Starry Night and Sunflowers was the result of the digitalis he took for mania and epilepsy. Digitalis—which is derived from the foxglove plant—has been used for centuries to treat anxiety, mania, convulsions, and heart disease. and death.
If your male partner, who's always seen life through rose-colored glasses, starts complaining that things are looking blue, it may not be because he's depressed. |
| Gynecomastia can also be a reaction to any one of a myriad of medicines commonly prescribed to men, including those to treat baldness, ulcers, heartburn, high blood pressure, depression, heart failure, or prostate problems. Or it can signal marijuana or steroid use and abuse.
WARNING SIGN
Because men with Klinefelter's syndrome have higher-than-normal estrogen levels, they're at increased risk of breast cancer. If you have this disorder be on the lookout for signs of breast cancer, such as swollen breasts and nipple discharge. |
| His death was likely due, they believe, to heart failure brought on by the high blood pressure.
If you look in the mirror and see a diagonal crease on your earlobe, it may be a sign that you've slept too long on that ear or you've been talking on the phone too long. But if the crease is always there, it may be a sign that you're at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) or diabetes. Such creases appear \ to run in families, and they tend to be more common in men than women.
Since first reported in the literature in 1973 by S. T. |
| People with clotting disorders or certain medical conditions that restrict mobility, such as heart failure or chronic respiratory disease, are at risk as well.
WARNING SIGN
DVT without an obvious precipitating cause may be one of the very earliest clues to cancer. In fact, the link between DVT and cancer was first noted by the 19th-century physician Armand Trousseau. Ironically, Trousseau himself later developed DVT and was diagnosed with stomach cancer within a year. |
John J. Ratey, MD
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 Panic doesn't cause heart failure, but it sure feels that way. Muscle tension and hyperventilation cause severe chest pains. Then, because the rapid, shallow breathing expels too much carbon dioxide, the blood's pH level drops, triggering an alarm from the brain stem that causes muscles to constrict even more. (This is why breathing into a paper bag stops us from hyperventilating: it forces us to rebreathe the carbon dioxide.)
Living with panic means avoiding anything that might set off another frightening episode. |
Andreas Moritz
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| If the heart cells run out of glucose, heart failure occurs. If the kidney cells run out of glucose, kidney failure occurs. If the eyes don't get their glucose, eyesight will fail. If the brain cells don't get enough glucose, Alzheimer's disease may result. The same fate of malfunctioning befalls a sugar-starved liver, pancreas, stomach, as well as fuel-deprived muscle and bone cells. By not receiving enough glucose, the body begins to crave food, especially sugars, sweets, starchy foods, sweet beverages, etc. |
Dawson Church
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 Henri Matisse: Suffering from heart failure, gastrointestinal disease, and with his lungs failing, he placed paintbrushes on a long stick and painted from his bed. His style created an entirely new field with a unique combination of color and form.
Enrico Dandolo: While serving as a peace ambassador to Constantinople in 1172 C.E., he was blinded in both eyes by the emperor's guards. Twenty-nine years later, and at age ninety-four, he led Venice to victory over Constantinople, and at age ninety-seven was appointed chief magistrate of Constantinople. |
Mark Sircus
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 Research of this kind may help us to understand why some therapies such as magnesium supplements are important in the prevention and management of hypertension or heart failure," said Jianmin Cui, the lead researcher and assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering at CWRU. "Along with some other groups, we have discovered that when magnesium is applied to calcium-activated potassium channels, these channels will open. We know from literature that the opening of these channels can reduce blood pressure. |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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 A few patients (<5%) may have a significant increase in blood pressure and, therefore, uncontrolled hypertension, a history of heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and arrhythmia are contraindications to the use of this drug. Sibutramine is also contraindicated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors and other serotonin uptake inhibitors, which include medications for depression and migraines. Sibutramine is available in 5-, 10-, and 15-mg tablets and is taken once a day. Weight loss is dose related with the 10- and 15-mg dose. |
Hyla Cass
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 Besides their potential to cause damage to the heart and liver, other side effects include weight gain—sometimes, extreme weight gain—a common issue with any hypoglycemic drug; water retention (edema) that causes swelling and can contribute to heart failure; sizeable increase in "bad" LDL cholesterol (about 19 percent more than placebo), bad news for heart health; and a slight decrease in levels of hemoglobin, a protein that transports oxygen through the bloodstream—another factor that could cause stress to the heart.
A decision to use any medication is about balancing risks with benefits. |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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| Another study, the Canadian Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) randomized controlled prospective investigation of vitamin E supplementation (400 IU/day) in approximately 4700 patients with diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors, linked supplementation with an increased risk of heart failure but no protection from cancer in the 2.6-year follow-up portion of the study; no differences in cardiovascular effects were noted during the first 4.6 years [75]. |
| These life-threatening comorbidities commonly include sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, and vertebral disk herniation [118].
Similar to pharmacotherapy, the use of a surgical intervention in obesity requires a case-by-case risk/benefit analysis. Patients with a low probability of success with nonsurgical interventions and who meet BMI criteria may be appropriate candidates for surgery. |
Gregg Braden
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 Perhaps it's not a coincidence that all the lifestyle factors linked to heart failure are also linked to the force that speaks to the universe itself: human emotion. Is there something that we feel over the course of our lives that can lead to the catastrophic failure of the most important organ in the body? The answer is yes.
The Hurt That Kills
A growing body of evidence from leading-edge researchers suggests that hurt can cause the failure of our hearts. |
Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
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 We know that hearts in patients with chronic heart failure have energy levels that can be 30 percent lower than normal. It is now believed that serious defects in heart cell metabolism are present in chronic CHF and contribute to this loss of energy. Since there's also a loss of free carnitine and an increase in long-chain acyl carnitine in the myocytes of weakened hearts, L-carnitine supplementation may improve mitochondrial dynamics and, in turn, improve myocardial oxygen uptake and utilization. The same is true for the peripheral skeletal muscles in these patients. |
| They found that heart failure patients are routinely treated with two primary types of drugs: a digitalis preparation (Lanoxin? digoxin) to help slow the heart so it can fill and empty better and to increase the strength of its contractions; and a diuretic (Lasix? Bumex? Aldactone? to help the body rid itself of excess salt and water. Both can be given intravenously (IV) in emergency situations, or orally. |
| Congestive heart failure (CHF) and dilated cardiomyopathy (end-stage CHF) are progressive diseases of the heart in which the heart muscle becomes so weak that it can't effectively pump blood to the various parts of the body. Patients with these conditions usually experience shortness of breath with minimal exercise, and have pain in their legs and other peripheral skeletal muscles because the heart is unable to pump enough blood to supply the oxygen needed by the rest of the body to make energy. |
David Winston, RH(AHG), and Steven Maimes
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 Used in combination with hawthorn, dan shen, kudzu root, and tien-chi ginseng, jiaogulan can be of significant benefit for people with angina and mild congestive heart failure and to treat and/or prevent arterial disease and arterial insufficiency.
Jiaogulan is a calming adaptogen, so it is appropriate for anxious or agitated people with labile (erratic) hypertension, stress headaches, and anxiety induced insomnia. It also has been found to help prevent altitude sickness when used with dang shen, and it can be of benefit for relieving jet lag. |
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