Blog About Health & Medicine

The patches of atherosclerosis which protrude into the interior of arteries are accumulations of fats, cholesterol, and calcium, and scar tissue induced by such foreign substances. These patches, or plaques, are not entirely on the surface of the vessel but usually extend deep into the wall of the artery, so much so that if one were removed, the vessel wall would be thinner and weaker in that location.

Arterial plaques apparently begin to develop at an early age. During the Korean War, autopsies performed on United States soldiers who died of combat wounds revealed that 20 percent of these men in their early twenties already had significant amounts of atherosclerosis in their coronary arteries. Plaques have even been found in the coronary arteries of children under ten years of age. Women tend to develop these lesions at a later age than men, being protected by some unknown factor (female hormone – estrogen?) until after their menopause, at which time they accelerate the development of atherosclerotic plaques and almost catch up to men in the frequency of heart attacks. Heart attacks do occur in men in their twenties and early thirties, but are much more common in the forty to fifty age group.

Certain things appear to accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. Cigarette smokers have a definite increased risk. People who are overweight and sedentary have a greater risk. High blood pressure and diabetes are both factors that increase the risk and the likelihood of developing the disease at a younger age.

The word cholesterol is beginning to produce the same effect on some people as the mention of “Internal Revenue.” The two terms are probably equally maligned and misunderstood by the public. Cholesterol is a type of fat found in certain foods and also produced in the human body. Cholesterol has many important functions in the body, the most important being to supply the basic structure upon which body hormones are produced. Hormones are internal secretions which are essential for bodily function. Sex distinction is one hormonal effect.

In some diseases, such as hypothyroidism (inadequate production of thyroid hormone), an excess of cholesterol is produced by the body and there is also found an accelerated development of atherosclerosis. Certain scientific studies, particularly in Sweden, have demonstrated that an increased cholesterol content of the diet is associated with a higher death rate from myocardial infarction or heart attacks. From these facts and other information a hypothesis has developed that maybe cholesterol is an important culprit in the cause of atherosclerosis. Large-scale studies are underway in the United States at this time to attempt to define the relationship between diet, cholesterol, heart attacks, and death from blood vessel diseases, and to arrive at methods to achieve dietary and drug control of blood cholesterol levels.

Many questions remain to be answered. Several tentative conclusions can be drawn that time may substantiate. First, since the disease process appears to start very early in life, it makes a great deal more sense to consider altering the diet (and thereby, perhaps, the blood cholesterol) in children and young adults rather than in oldsters in whom the disease is far advanced and possibly irreversible. Second, certain persons are not able to handle cholesterol and fats as well as others, and blood tests are available which may be able to identify these higher-risk persons. These people may be benefited by more vigorous dietary plans or even certain drugs. Third, there are many other factors involved in the development of atherosclerosis besides cholesterol and diet, and undue emphasis cannot be placed on this single factor.

If a person has high blood cholesterol and other body fats, a low cholesterol diet may help correct the condition. The usual diet precludes egg yolks, butter, milk, cream, cheese, ice cream, meat fat, and shellfish. Some people, however, appear to produce cholesterol within their own bodies from simple sugars, such as those found in sugar, fruit, and alcoholic drinks. In general, obesity is associated with a higher cholesterol level, and one universal way to reduce blood cholesterol is through weight reduction to lean body size. A physician can best help the patient determine the group he fits in.

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Beet

The juice of red beet is considered beneficial in the prevention and treatment of cancer. It is one of the best vegetable juices and a rich source of natural sugar. It contains sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sulphur, chlorine, iodine, iron, copper, vitamin Bp B2, niacin, B6, С and P. This juice stimulates the liver and its detoxifying activity. Half a glass of this juice can be taken three times daily. Lactic acid a well balanced beet juice will markedly increase the oxygenation of the body cells. It would be advisable to extract juice both, from the root and top.

Cabbage and other Cruciferous Vegetables

Cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and Brussel sprouts are one of the most important foods which may help immunize against breast cancer by managing oestrogen, a known promoter of this type of cancer. These vegetables quickly remove oestrogen from the body by speeding up the metabolism of oestrogen and burning up the hormone so that less of it is available to feed cancer. This has been revealed by the research studies conducted by Dr. Jon Michnovicz and his colleagues at the Institute of Hormone Research, in New York city. These studies indicate that specific indoles in these cruciferous vegetables accelerate a process in which the body deactivates or disposes off the type of oestrogen that can promote breast cancer.

In tests on women and men, the cabbage compound “turned up” the oestrogen-deactivation process by about 50 per cent, says Dr. Michnovicz. The test dose exceeded what people would normally eat: a daily 500 milligrams of indole -3-carbinol, the amount in about 400g of raw cabbage, but eating less would also burn up oestrogen to a lesser degree. It’s known that women with elevated oestrogen metabolism have lower risks of hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast, uterine and endometrial cancer, says Dr. Mchnovicz.

The use of cabbage in its raw form has also been found valuable in preventing colon cancer, according to Dr. Jim Duke at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who had a family history of colon cancer. Dr. Duke says his colon polyps diminished dramatically after he ate raw cabbage every other day. According to another expert, Dr. Greenwald, other fibre-rich vegetables can also reduce the risk of colon cancer. His analysis of 37 studies conducted in the past 20 years, showed that eating high-fibre foods, including vegetables, cut the chances of colon cancer by 40 per cent.

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Anxiety may be psychological, consisting of worry and fear, or it may be physical, with symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches. Panic attacks, which BDD can cause, consist of extreme fear as well as physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, and light-headedness. “The stress of BDD has caused me to have a lot of anxiety and even panic attacks,” Henry told me. “It’s also caused me many stress-related physical symptoms—burning in my stomach, high blood pressure, headaches for which I’ve had brain scans. I’ve seen a lot of doctors for these problems, but I couldn’t ever tell them what the cause was.”

In fact, research has shown that people with BDD have unusually high levels of perceived stress. In a study in which I used the Perceived Stress Scale, a questionnaire that measures the degree to which people appraise life situations as stressful (for example, uncontrollable, overloaded), people with BDD reported very high levels of perceived stress. The more severe their BDD symptoms, the more stressed they felt. Their stress levels were notably higher than for people in the general population or people with a variety of other psychiatric or medical conditions.

These findings fit with Geoffrey’s experience. “My worries about my mouth exhaust me,” he told me. “Sometimes I’m afraid to get up in the morning because my mouth will consume all my energy and take my time. That’s why I’m so tired all the time. It’s totally draining. I’ve had BDD for 16 years, and I honestly don’t know how my body has withstood the enormous stress that this obsession causes me.”

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