Entries from November 2010 ↓

Imagine how much easier parenting would be if somehow parents could magically keep their kids allergy free for life, there are things that can be done to lessen the threat of a child having allergies.

Start Kids Early To Keep Them Allergy Free

The immune system is developed during the childhood years. The process is not entirely understood, but evidently it is during this time of development—from pre-birth through grade school—when the immune system will begin to recognize nontoxic substances as invaders that in the future will become allergens.

Pregnancy is a time when an expectant mother should commence to think about allergen exposure, particularly if there is a family history of allergies (children of parents with allergies are more likely to develop allergies). There isn’t a lot to be done at this point, and research suggests that most allergies will not develop because of foods a mother eats during pregnancy, but peanut allergies and smoke are likely exceptions. Mothers who are committed to keeping their kids allergy free should avoid these things (smoking entirely, peanuts perhaps in small amounts).

The truly decisive time is infanthood. The period of the first year is the time when lots of children’s sensitivities get their start. For this reason pediatricians have taken a tough stance to reduce exposure, in particular to everyday food allergens such as milk, eggs, and peanuts. It is assumed that holding off on these foods until the immune system is better developed will give the child the possibility to correctly recognize potential food allergens as safe. Breastfeeding is the top defense against child allergies, but some foods, such as peanuts, can pass through breast milk. Mothers of children with a family history of food allergies to wheat, milk, eggs, soy, fish, and shellfish are best off eliminating these foods as well.

Allergies grow with repeated exposure to allergens in most cases. What this means is child allergies to any substance can progress at any time during the maturation of the immune system. Limiting exposure to allergens—without completely avoiding them—can stave off allergies until the immune system is well developed enough to handle them.

Keeping Kids Allergy Free—Is It Possible To Be Too Clean?

It appears rational that since the majorityof allergies develop after constant exposure to an allergen, living in a sterile environment should mean no allergies—right? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Research points to a balanced approach to housekeeping in the fight to keep kids allergy free. Children from exceptionally clean homes do not fare better than kids from less-kempt houses; studies hint at the opposite, in fact. Homes with cats and dogs or other pets in residence have a tendency to produce children with fewer allergies. It seems that children who have never let their immune systems experience allergens set themselves up for surprise allergies when finally an allergen is encountered in later life.

But the truth remains that surfeit amounts of allergens cause reaction in children with allergies, and so good home maintenance is still recommended.

After Exposure Keeping Kids Allergy Free

For scores of children and parents the time has well-passed to take the measures in early infancy and early childhood that can make or break an allergy. At times even the best of intentions at home have limited effect, because exposure to allergens cannot be completely controlled; visits to other locations, time in schools and daycares, and experience with airborne seasonal allergens all leave their mark.

When a child allergy does develop, there are still some actions that can be taken to keep kids allergy free. Keeping kids allergy free after allergy development is a matter of limiting exposure to allergens so that immune antibodies do not build up to the point of reaction. To keep kids allergy free when allergies already exist, a good cleaning regimen, coupled with individual plans for allergy treatment and management, is the best defense.

At this point there is no clear cut simple, black-and-white answer to the question of whether it is possible to keep kids allergy free; perhaps in the future there will be, but for now, what parents are left with is a collection of some excellent medical research and studies, and the chance to create their own best plan for allergy free kids given their family’s predisposition and aggravating child allergy factors.

Before you start to check your cholesterol by eating cholesterol lowering foods, you should know what cholesterol is and the differences flanked by “bad” cholesterol and “good” cholesterol.”

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like matter found in your bloodstream and every cell in your body. First off, it is important to note that cholesterol is normal. We all have to have some cholesterol within our bodies. Without out it, your body would be unable to create cell membranes and various hormones.
The liver is capable of remove cholesterol from the blood circulation as well as manufacturing cholesterol and secreting cholesterol into the blood movement.
After a meal, the livers remove chylomicrons from the blood circulation. In between meals, the liver manufactures and secretes cholesterol back keen on the blood circulation.
Causes of Cholesterol
Several drugs and diseases can bring about high cholesterol, but, for most people, a high-fat diet and inherited risk factors may be the main causes.
1.     A high-saturated-fat, high-cholesterol diet. Saturated fats and cholesterol are found mostly in foods that come from animals, such as beef, pork, veal, milk, butter, and cheese.

2.     Also, many processed foods contain saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil, or cocoa butter. Saturated fats are hard at room temperature and include hardened liquid vegetable oils such as stick margarine and shortening.

3.     Being overweight, which may increase triglycerides and decrease high density lipoproteins

4.     Lack of physical activity, which may increase LDL and decrease HDL

5.     Your age and sex. Cholesterol levels normally begin to rise after age 20 in both men and women. In men, cholesterol levels generally level off after age 50. In women, cholesterol levels stay relatively low until menopause, after which they rise to about the same level as in men.

6.     Health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or hypothyroidism

7.     Your family history. A consistent pattern of early coronary artery disease (before age 55 in a man and before age 65 in a woman) in a family may mean that people in that family have an inherited tendency for high cholesterol levels.
Treatment of Cholesterol
The main goal of cholesterol-lowering treatment is to lower your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level enough to reduce your risk for having a heart attack or diseases caused by hardening of the arteries.
In common, the higher your LDL level and the added risk factors you have, the greater your chances of developing heart disease or having a heart attack. (A risk part is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease.)
Some people are at high risk for heart attack because they already have heart disease. Other citizens are at high risk for mounting heart disease because they have diabetes or a combination of risk factors for heart disease.
Home Remedies for Cholesterol
The patient suffering from high blood cholesterol should drink at least 8-10 glasses of water daily as it stimulates the excretory activity of the kidneys. Good Home Remedy to Lower Cholesterol.
Onion juice reduce cholesterol level and works as a tonic. It clean blood, helps digestive system, cures insomnia and regulates the heart action & helps in lowering cholesterol. This is a good and simple home remedy for cholesterol.
A mudpack practical over the abdomen improves digestion and also improves the functioning of the liver and activates kidneys to promote excretion.
Oat bran 14 is also extremely beneficial in lowering the cholesterol levels and is one of the useful home remedies for cholesterol.
Steam baths are also helpful but the persons suffering from circulatory disorders and hypertension should not use this water treatment.
Cold hipbaths for 10 minutes in use twice every day have been proven beneficial. Another Good Home Remedy to Lower Cholesterol.
Cholesterol treatment – Yogasanas reminiscent of ardhamatsyaendrasana, shalabhansan, padmasana and vajrasana are also useful in lowering blood cholesterol.
Regular drinking of coriander water also helps in lower the blood cholesterol as it stimulates the kidneys. This is a practical cholesterol remedy.
Soy products or soy compounds known, as is flavones are the best to regulate the cholesterol levels in the blood. They act as human hormones.

Diabetes is a disease where our bodies do not produce enough or make well use of a hormone called insulin. Insulin is a hormone that responsible for glucose to get into our cells and provide us with energy. Without enough insulin, glucose will stay in our blood and cause our blood glucose levels to raise. Over time, high glucose level will lead to serious damages in heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves. There are generally three types of diabetes. It is important to understand that not all diabetes can be managed through diabetic diet alone.

Read more on Home Remedies for Diabetes and Maintain Blood Sugar Level. Also visit on Control Diabetes

Diabetes Type 1: This form of diabetes is generally found in child and young adults with heart disease. It is also known as “juvenile” diabetes or “insulin dependent” diabetes. In type 1 diabetes the body does not produce insulin. Diabetes Type 1 must be treated by regular injection of insulin; it cannot be control with a diabetic diet or exercise alone.

Diabetes Type 2:  This is the most common type of diabetes. It is also know as non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin or make well use of the insulin. Approximately 90% of people with type 2 diabetes are obese or overweight, in most cases it can be managed by engaging in a diabetic diet weight loss plan together with proper amount of exercise.

Gestational Diabetes: Gestational diabetes is a form diabetes that develop in some women during the late stages of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes usually disappear after pregnancy. Treatment for gestational diabetes includes special diabetic diet meal and scheduled physical activity. In some cases it may also include daily blood glucose testing and insulin injections.

Diabetes Natural Cure

1.    Bitter gourd is the best natural remedy for diabetes. As often as possible eat this vegetable or at least have 1 tablespoon of bitter gourd juice everyday for reducing blood glucose levels.

2.    Indian gooseberry is also an effective remedy for controlling diabetes. Add 1 tablespoon of Indian gooseberry juice to a cup of bitter gourd juice and drink it daily for nearly 2 months. This enhances pancreas in the secretion of insulin hormone. This is one of the best natural cures for diabetes.

3.    Everyday with an empty stomach take 10 leaves each of Holy basil, neem and bael with a glass of water. This controls the blood sugar levels very efficiently.

4.    Bastard teak is an efficient natural cure for diabetes. This reduces blood sugar levels and also useful in glycousia.

5.    Two tablespoons of fenugreek seeds can be swallowed or can be taken along with milk everyday. This is a well known remedy for diabetes.

6.    Take 250 grams of ozokerite or mineral wax as a single dose twice a day along with stone apple juice.

7.    Everyday eat 10 fresh fully grown curry leaves in the early morning for nearly 3 months. This helps in the prevention of diabetes caused due to heredity factors. This also cures diabetes caused because of obesity.

8.    Overnight soak black raisins in water. Next morning strain water and drink that solution. For best results follow the same procedure for next few days.

9.    Mix equal amounts of raw mango and Indian plum juices and drink this for thrice in a day. This helps in curing diabetes naturally if regularly taken for a month.

Diabetic Diet Plan and Food

Diabetic diet plan is simply a healthy balanced meal plan followed by diabetes patient. A good diet plan will not only help you improve your blood glucose levels but also help keep your weight on track. Diabetic diet plan differ from person to person due to our nutritional needs, daily activity and type of diabetes a patient suffers. Following are some important points suggested by the American Diabetic Association when planning your meal.

1.    Eat lots of vegetables and fruits.

2.    Choose whole grain foods over processed grain products.

3.    Include dried beans (like kidney or pinto beans) and lentils into your diabetic diet meal.

4.    Include fish in your meals 2-3 times a week.

5.    Choose lean meats like cuts of beef and pork that end in “loin” such as pork loin and sirloin.

6.    Choose non-fat dairy such as skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese.

7.    Choose water and calorie-free “diet” drinks instead of regular sugar-sweetened drinks.

8.    Choose liquid oils for cooking instead of solid fats that can be high in saturated and trans fats.

9.    Eating too much of even healthful foods can lead to weight gain. Watch your portion sizes.

10.    Cut back on high calorie foods like chips, cookies, cakes, and full-fat ice cream in your diabetic meal.

Inflammation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis, especially in acute coronary syndromes such as happen with a heart attack. And it was the very inability of ‘established’ risk factors such as high blood cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia), high blood pressure (hypertension) and smoking to fully explain the incidence of cardiovascular disease that has resulted in historically repeated calls to search out an infectious cause and the specific microbe behind it. Today, half of US heart victims have acceptable cholesterol levels, including HDL and LDL fractions, and 25% or more have none of the “risk factors” associated with heart disease, including smoking, high blood pressure or obesity, most of which are not inconsistent with being caused by infection to begin with. [1,2] Cholesterol itself was on the rise in Japanese blood during the very decade (1980-1989) when its incidence in coronary heart disease was on its way down. [22] So Nieto stressed the need to continue to look for an infectious disease behind heart disease. [3}

Which Disease?

Ever since a 1988 report of raised antibodies against Chlamydia pneumoniae in patients with heart disease, it was hoped that this microbe might be behind heart disease and atherosclerosis [28] Hurting this was the low incidence of atherosclerosis in the tropics despite Chlamydia’s high frequency there. [29]. Also Loehe, Bittman and other groups concluded that although Chlamydia, on occasion, might be present, it was not a causative factor in heart disease [30], because there was no correlation between the severity or extent of atherosclerosis and the involvement of chlamydial infection. Recently the Chlamydial hypothesis has been subject to a flurry of antibiotic trials, with mixed results, leaving some investigators to conclude that possibly Chlamydia doesn’t even play a role in atherosclerosis. [42] Certainly this was born out in two sizeable trials, one of which [47] had 1,187 participant. In neither trial [48] could any of the commonly thought of bacterial causes of heart problems – Chlamydia pneumonia and Helobacter pylori be correlated with cardiovascular disease. Nor could a virus. Also, in those trials which did show benefit antibiotics used (Azithromycin, Clarithromycin) are first line agents against certain forms of tuberculosis (fowl tuberculosis or Mycobacterium avium). Contrary to common belief, TB infections occur as a mixed infection with “atypical” TB in up to 11% of cases, even in HIV free individuals. [41] Today the antibiotic Rapamycin is used to coat coronary stents. [45] Rapamycin enhances the killing of mycobacteria like tuberculosis by human white blood cells called macrophages. [46]

Historical Associations

The association between active pulmonary tuberculosis and Acute Myocardial Infarction or heart attack has been reported and stubbornly ignored for around four and a half decades. Certainly, TB shares a more striking connection to heart disease than its nearest competitor, Chlamydia pneumonia. CDC maps for cardiovascular disease case rates bear a striking resemblance to comparable state and regional tuberculosis maps. [4,5]

Long before there was such a thing as a ‘heart specialist’ The National Tuberculosis Association created an offshoot called the American Heart Association (AHA). In one of its first bulletins, the American Heart Association came up with a long list of similarities between tuberculosis and heart disease. [17] And Ellis’s 1977 New England Journal of Medicine article [6], confirmed that the mortality rate for TB and heart disease were curiously about the same: 200 to 300 persons per 100,000.

By 1965, Rutgers investigators Livingston and Alexander-Jackson, working with sterile, post-catastrophic coronary artery and muscle specimens, established low-grade tubercular infection, staining ‘acid-fast’ (stains which did not decolorize when acid-alcohol was added) occuring in all ischemic heart specimens. [11] In that same year Russian investigators began generating their own proof that tuberculosis was causative in both atherosclerotic heart disease [18,19,20,21] and acute myocardial infarction (a heart attack) itself. [13,14,15].

Measuring Heart Trouble With Cardiac Enzymes In The Blood

Cases were soon on record of individuals with no cardiac risk factors, presenting with acute onset chest pain, ST elevation on their electrocardiogram (EKG), and elevated cardiac enzymes – all indicative of a heart attack with no other involvement than pulmonary tuberculosis [37]. As with its predecessor creatine kinase (CK-MB), today’s new enzymatic gold standard for detecting a heart attack, the troponins, are elevated in disseminated tuberculosis, an example of which can be found in TB’s role in acute pericarditis. [43]. Acute pericarditis, often not detected either until death was historically linked most commonly to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In 1951, Christian [44] suggested that viral infection was more responsible for “idiopathic” (of unknown cause) or “benign” pericarditis. Such a viral cause, however, was never substantiated in many cases. Also, when it was found that the fatty substance (phospolipid) phosphatidylinositol  was not only housed itself inside TB’s cell wall, but was a potent coagulant and thrombin former as well – it further raised the question as to whether M. tuberculosis, by its very nature, lays down the conditions for the vessel clogging atherosclerosis behind heart disease and myocardial infarctions or heart attacks. [31]

Livingston and Alexander-Jackson [11] were far from the first ones to document lab evidence that TB can cause heart disease. Hektoen [7], Osler [8], and Schwartz [11], all documented lab and animal evidence to this effect. MacCallum [9] claimed that of all the infectious causes of heart disease, one one, tuberculosis, caused arteriosclerosis. At autopsy MacCallum cited 101 cases of advance tuberculous arteriosclerosis. In separate studies, Kossowsky [13], Tarakanova [14] and Ferrari-Sacco [15] all directly linked heart attacks with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Further evidence

There can no longer be any doubt that tubercular protein HSP-65 is involved in atherosclerosis. Xu [12] used it to cause experimental atherosclerosis in laboratory animals with normal cholesterol. George and Shoenfeld found it not only in atherosclerosis but fatty streak formation in cardiovascular blood vessels. [32] Mukherjee and De Benedictis showed also that the higher the antibodies against such tubercular protein in the body, the higher the possibility of “restenosis” or future closure of heart vessels. Also Afek proved that the higher the amount of tuberculoprotein (HSP-65) administered, the larger the area of vessel clogging atherosclerosis, even despite a low-fat diet. [34] Xu saw similar changes in New Zealand White Rabbits. [35] Xu’s rabbits had normal serum cholesterol, but when injected with tubercular protein, their arteries soon developed the classic features of arteriosclerosis in humans – both with regards to inflammatory cell accumulation and smooth cell proliferation. [IBID]. The only finding missing from Xu’s animals were “foam cells” – fat laden tissue white blood cells called macrophages in which tuberculosis lives and thrives. Xu remedied this by subjecting his animals to a cholesterol rich diet in addition to tubercular protein. this combination produced classic human heart disease, with foam cells. Xu continued to find sustained antibodies to HSP-65 in human subjects with the severe atherosclerosis predictive of mortality. [49] By 2004 Mandal and Xu even confirmed a positive association between high levels of antibodies to HSP-65, which are cytotoxic, and the vexing atrial fibrillation that often accompanies cardiac surgery. [50]

Present day heart disease “markers” have been suggest as indicators of possible heart disease, even in the 25 million US patients who have none of its “risk factors”. These include blood test for C-Reactive Protein (CRP), interleukin-6 and homocysteine [39] – all of which are similarly elevated in tuberculosis. [32,33,34,40,36].

Although blood cholesterol seems an imperfect criterion by itself for determining coronary heart disease, its intimate interaction with TB is unique. Tuberculosis is the only microorganism to depend on cholesterol for its destructive pathogenesis, and it relies upon cholesterol to enter the body’s white blood cell macrophages. [23] The tuberculous bacilli alone is able to produce [24], esterify [25], take up, modify, accumulate [26], and promote the deposition of, and release [27] of cholesterol. The statins, among the most popular drugs in America (Lipitor), inhibit Coenzyme-A compounds, and as such lower serum cholesterol levels. But they do more. Specifically, when macrophages were depleted of cholesterol by these agents, it hinders tuberculosis’s entrance into the body’s macrophages that TB likes to house in, thrive in, and depends upon. [23]

Nieto concludes that the introduction of antibiotic therapies in the 1940′s and 1950′s could have contributed to the decline of heart disease and heart attacks, and so, by 2000, the CDC found that 14% of the cardiologists in Alaska and West Virginia treated heart patients with antibiotics for angina, heat attacks, angioplasty or after by-pass surgery.

Conclusion

In Tuberculosis in Disguise, Rab and Rahman report cases of congestive heart failure and ischemic heart disease (IHD) with chest pain, raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, leukocytosis (elevated white cell count) and inverted T-waves across the chest leads in an Electrocardiogram – otherwise indistinguishable from a heart attack, which turned out to be miliary (systemic) tuberculosis. [38]

Though more than 120 years have passed since its discovery Mycobacterium tuberculosis is still the leading cause of infectious death globally due to a single infectious agent. At least a staggering 1.7 million around the globe die of tuberculosis each year, while another 1.9 million are infected and at risk for active tubercular disease. [16] The World Health Organization [WHO] estimates that 1/3 of the planet has contracted TB. It would take such a disease of such magnitude to adequately explain the scope of cardiovascular disease, which affects, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) about 61 million people, or almost one-fourth of the population of the US alone. Almost 6 million US hospitalizations each year are due to cardiovascular disease, which has become an equal opportunity disease that is now both the leading cause of death among women as well as the general US population.

There is at least as much, and probably much more evidence that Mycobacteria, particularly Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes cardiovascular disease than there is regarding Chlamydia Pneumoniae. Yet oddly, to this point Chlamydia has been pursued in therapeutic antibiotic trial after trial…………with not one such trial directed towards tuberculosis.

References

1. Benson RL, Smith KG. Experimental arteritis and arteriosclerosis associated with          streptococcal      inoculations. Arch Pathol 1931;12:924–40.

2. Thom DH, Grayston JT. Association of prior infection with Chlamydia    pneumoniae and angiographically demonstrated coronary artery disease. JAMA 1992;268:68–72.

3. Nieto FJ. Infections and atherosclerosis: new clues from an old hypothesis. Am J Epidemiol 1998;148(10):937–48.

4. CDC Map: TB case rates, United States, 2001. Atlanta Georgia: US Department of Health, Education and Welfare CDC; 2001.

5. CDC Map total cardiovascular disease – 1995 death rate. Atlanta Georgia: US Department of Health, Education Welfare CDC; 1995.

6. Ellis JG. Plague tuberculosis and plague atherosclerosis. The New England J Med 1977;296(12):695.

7. Hektoen L. The vascular changes of tuberculous meningitis. J Exper Med 1986:112.

8. Osler W. Diseases of the arteries. In: Osler W, MacCrae T, editors. Modern medicine Its theory and practice in original contributions by Americans and foreign authors, vol. 4. Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Fabiger; 1908. p. 426–47.

9. MacCallum WG. Acute and chronic infections as etiological factors in arteriosclerosis. In: Cowdry EV, editor. Arteriosclerosis A survey of the problem. New York: MacMillan Co; 1933. p. 355–62.

10. Schwartz P. Amyloid degeneration and tuberculosis in the aged. Gerontologia 1972;18(5-6):321–62.

11. Livingston V. Cancer: a new breakthough. Los Angeles: Nash Publishing; 1972.

12.  Xu Q. Dietrich Induction of arteriosclerosis in normocholesterolemic mice and rabbits by immunization with heat shock protein 65. Arterioscler Thromb 1992;12:789–99.

13. Kossowsky WA, Rafii S. Letter: acute myocardial infarction in miliary tuberculosis. Ann Intern Med 1975;82(6):813–4.

14. Tarakanova KN, Terent’eva GM. Myocardial infarct in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Probl Tuberk 1972;50(4):90–1.

15. Ferrari-Sacco A, Ferraro U. Myocardial Infarct and Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Discussion of 2 cases of myocardiocoronary disease appearing during hospitalization in a sanatorium. Minerva Cardioangiol 1966;14(8):465–75.

16. Dye C, Scheele S. Global burden of tuberculosis: estimated incidence, prevalence, and mortality by country. JAMA 1999;282:677–86.

17. AHA Similarity of tuberculosis and heart disease. Bull Am Heart Assoc 1927;2(5):22.

18. Bruade VI. Cardiovascular diseases in conjunction with pulmonary tuberculosis (pathological-anatomical findings). Sov Med 1966;29(12):104–7.

19. Kamyshnikova VS, Kolb VG. Biochemical factors involved in atherogenesis in pulmonary tuberculosis. Probl Tuberk 1984;11:48–52.

20. Kazykhanov NS. Lung tuberculosis in patients with atherosclerosis. Sov Med 1965;28(8):37–44.

21. Kazykhanov NS. Arteriosclerosis in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Kardiologiia 1967;7(10):137.

22. Okayama A. Ueshima changes in total serum cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Japan, 1980–1989. Int J Epidemiol 1993;22:1038–47.

23. Gatfield J, Pieters J. Essential role for cholesterol in entry of mycobacteria in macrophages. Science 2000;288:1647–750.

24. Lamb DC, Kelly DE. A sterol biosynthetic pathway in mycobacterium. FEBS Lett 1998;437(1-2):142–4.

25. Kondo E, Kanai K. Accumulation of cholesterol esters in macrophages incubated with mycobacteria in vitro. Jpn J Med Sci Biol 1976;29(3):123–37.

26. Av-Gay Y, Sobouti R. Cholesterol is accumulated by mycobacteria but its degradation is limited to non-pathogenic Heart disease: the greatest ‘risk’ factor of them all 777 fast growing mycobacteria. Can J Microbiol 2000;46(9):826–31.

27. Kamyshnikov VS, Kolb VG. Lipid metabolism and atherogenesis in tuberculosis in experimental animals. Probl Tuberk 1993;4:53–5.

28. Gurfinkel E, Bozovich G. Chlamydia pneumoniae: inflammation and instability of the atherosclerotic plaque. Atherosclerosis 1998;140(Suppl 1):31–5.

29. Stille W, Dittmann R. Arteriosclerosis as a sequela of chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection. Herz 1998;23(3):185–92.

30. Loehe F, Bittmann I. Chlamydia pneumoniae in atherosclerotic lesions of patients undergoing vascular surgery. Ann Vasc Surg 2002;16(4):467–73.

31. Rota S  Rota S  Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex in Atherosclerosis  Acta. Med. Okayama 59:6 pp.247-251 2005

32. George J, Shoenfeld Y. Enhanced fatty streak formation in C57BL/6J Mice by immunization with heat shock protein-65 arteriosclerosis. Thromb Vasc Biol 1999;19:505–10.

33. Mukherjee M. De Benedictis association of antibodies to heat-shock protein-65 with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and subsequent restenosis. Thromb Haemost 1996;75(2):258–60.

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© 2010

The heart is the center of the cardiovascular system. Through the body’s blood vessels, the heart pumps blood to all of the body’s cells.

The blood carries oxygen, which the cells need. Cardiovascular illness is a group of problems that occur when the heart and blood vessels aren’t operational the way they should.

Read more on Home Remedies for Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Disease

The heart is a muscular pump in the chest. Throughout life it beats incessantly and rhythmically to send blood to the lungs and the rest of the body.

The normal heart weighs about 10 1/2 ounces and is about the size of your fist. It beats 60 to 120 times a minute, depending on whether you are excited or resting.

The only sure way to detect heart disease, in particular in its early stages before serious complications occur, is through a comprehensive assessment from a licensed physician or health care professional and regular medical care.

A blockage in the heart’s arteries may reduce or totally cut off the blood supply to a portion of the heart.

This can cause a blood clot to form and totally stop blood flow in a coronary artery, resulting in a heart attack (also called an acute myocardial infarction.

Most heart attack symptoms begin slowly, with mild pain or discomfort, while some heart attacks are sudden and intense. Often the people exaggerated aren’t sure what’s wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

Heart Diseases Symptoms

1.    Discomfort, pressure, heaviness, or pain in the chest, arm, or below the breastbone

2.    Discomfort radiating to the back, jaw, throat, or arm
3.    Fullness, indigestion, or choking feeling (may feel like heartburn)

4.    Sweating, nausea, vomiting, or giddiness

5.    Extreme weakness, anxiety, or shortness of breath

Heart Treatment

1.    Take a low-dose aspirin tablet (160 or 325 mg) every day. Aspirin increases the risk of bleeding in some people. Ask your health care provider before taking daily aspirin.

2.    If you smoke, quit. This is the single best lifestyle transform you can make. After 3 years of not smoking, the risk of heart disease drops to the level of a nonsmoker.

Your health care provider can help you quit smoking from side to side behavioral changes, medications, or use of nicotine substitute products.

3.    Control blood pressure. Uncontrolled high blood pressure is one of the most common causes of heart disease.

4.    Control diabetes carefully. Uncontrolled diabetes increases your risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and circulation evils.

Home Remedies for Heart Diseases

1.    Follow a lacto-vegetarian diet low in calories and sodium with emphasis on fruits, vegetables, seeds and whole-grains.

2.    Sunflower, safflower and corn oil decrease cholesterol levels.

3.    Yogurt, Alfa, garlic, fruits like apples (for weakness of heart), pineapples, pomegranate, custard apples and oranges, and coconut water tone the heart.

4.    Grapes are useful against heart assault, heart pain and palpitation.

5.    Teaspoon of raw onion juice first thing in the morning will normalize blood cholesterol levels.

6.    Vitamin E found in outer leaves of cabbage, green vegetables and entire meal products improves circulation and function of the heart.

7.    Vitamin B found in whole grains and others are important for heart and circulatory disorders.

8.    1 Tablespoon of honey after food prevents all heart troubles, palpitations and cardiac pain.

9.    Gooseberry is careful effective home remedy.