Cardiovascular disease is a huge profit center for those tied to the medical field. This in and of itself is probably not significant; however, because money is what tends to influence medical treatment standards — then its impact becomes quite significant. Surprisingly, pharmaceutical drug companies seem to hold a lot of control over decisions that are made in the world of cardiovascular health. Major medical research, meetings and cardiology conferences are all funded by drug companies, and pharmaceutical advertising dollars are what pays for a majority of the professional journals. Sadly, nutritional therapies aren’t lucrative enough for hospitals, doctors, research institutions or the drug companies and therefore
are rarely recommended for treatment (42).

Some of the most common drugs that are used to treat atherosclerotic symptoms are: statins, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, coumadin, and calcium channel blockers. A discussion of how each of these drugs behave as well as their side effects is beyond the scope of this paper; however, because there is such substantial controversy surrounding the administration of statin drugs, it will be
reviewed briefly.

Statins
Approximately 15-20 million Americans currently take statin drugs for lowering cholesterol. It’s estimated that an additional 15 million will take them in the near
future as doctors are now prescribing them for lowering CRP levels as well. Statin drugs are huge sellers for pharmaceutical companies, estimating $16 billion in
revenue for them in 2003 alone (43).

Ironically, statins work best because they reduce inflammation, not because they influence cholesterol levels (44). Yet, it’s their cholesterol-lowering ability that is advertised the most heavily. Statins seem to reduce atherosclerotic plaque by inhibiting a variety of immune factors, while enhancing other substances (such as nitric oxide) that promote healthy dilation of arteries and inhibit abnormal platelet clotting. This classification of drugs has also been shown to increase plaque stability by increasing collagen and suppressing macrophage growth (45).

As promising as this sounds one should still proceed with caution. Inflammation is a symptom of what is going wrong in the body — by suppressing it, the root of the problem still isn’t being properly dealt with. The immune factors that statins are quenching are the very ones that are needed to maintain our body’s immune defense system.

There are certain instances however where statins have been shown to be useful: in those with proven coronary artery disease, prior stent implementation, bypass or angioplasty, and those having a history of previous myocardial infarctions or stroke. Statins are contraindicated for those with no history of previous cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, or for those with normal CRP levels (46). These drugs also shouldn’t be prescribed to lower cholesterol as lowered cholesterol results in lowered immunity.

The list of statin’s side effects and potential dangers is shockingly large given that it is such a popular drug prescribed by doctors. Some side effects are: muscle weakness (including the heart muscle, which increases the incidence of congestive heart failure), muscle pain, mental and cognitive decline, increased fibrinogen
levels, increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke, decreased longevity, adrenal and gonad disruption, increase in immune disorders, vitamin E depletion, shortness of
breath, cancer, chronic fatigue (from lack of ATP), and aggressiveness, hostility, depression, suicidal tendencies (all from the reduction in neuropeptides that control
behavior and psychological tendencies) (47). Perhaps the biggest and most known side effect of statins is that they have the ability to block CoQ10 production, which
is vital for proper heart functionality.

Besides drug intervention, there are other allopathic approaches that are used regularly. Surgical procedures such as coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty and stent implementation are conducted frequently when atherosclerotic plaque has become very mature and calcified or coronary arteries have become clogged.
Coronary artery bypass surgery is a surgical procedure where new arteries are grafted onto the heart to “bypass” clogged arteries, restoring blood flow to the heart tissue. Angioplasty on the other hand, is a medical procedure that places a balloon into a clogged artery, and inflates it to break away plaque from the artery wall, opening it to restore blood flow. After the angioplasty has widened the
coronary artery, an expandable wire mesh tube (a stent) is inserted to hold the artery open (48).

According to research, these invasive cardiologic approaches aren’t necessarily the best despite the frequency in which they are used by leading cardiologists.Generally within five or six years following bypass surgery, the arteries are found to be blocked again. This is due in part because the surgery creates additional cardiovascular damage, which allows more oxidized cholesterol to be deposited (49). It has also been found that 90% of bypass procedures may be unnecessary even to begin with. The predominant factor to consider when deciding if one needs coronary artery bypass surgery isn’t the degree of blockage or the number of arteries that may be affected, but the condition of the left ventricular pump (50).
This fact should be heavily considered when weighing treatment options as the complications and risks involved with cardiovascular surgeries are numerous. One study has found that 61% of patients having bypass surgery suffer from nervous system disorders (51). In addition, 2-5% of individuals who have the surgery die soon after the operation with an additional 10% having myocardial
infarctions (52).

Read more: Part 6 Holistic and Nutritional Approaches

Hollie Greenwood is a certified nutrition consultant, certified personal chef and owner of Real Cooking —  a sustainably-operated business based with offices in Santa Monica, California and Missoula, Montana. Hollie became interested in how and why food influences health at a young age. With this passion, she created a business to help individuals and families with the tools needed to transition from eating processed foods to whole foods. Created in 2004, Real Cooking has always been a unique business, in that it offers holistic nutritional consulting, personal chef services, kitchen clean-outs, guided grocery shopping and farmer’s market tours, cooking instruction and custom meal plans all under one roof.

Hollie obtained a Master’s of Science degree in Holistic Nutrition with high honors from Hawthorn University and her personal chef certification from the Culinary Classroom in Los Angeles, CA. She is currently a member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition, the Sustainable Business Council, the Montana Organic Association and is co-chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation in Missoula, MT.    www.realcooking.net

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