Heart and Vascular Health for Successful Aging

Blood vessel health is human health.

Slide Presentation for Successful Aging - Heart & Vascular Health

Here is the slide deck, by Dr. David Donohue.


How can you avoid our leading killer and grow younger?

Heal your blood vessels to live better and live longer.

As we age, our blood vessels stiffen.  They narrow.  They permit less and less blood to flow with each passing year.  Our organs get less and less functional.  Our brain, our heart, our sexual organs, and every other organ that depends on a blood supply (i.e. all organs) can decline.

How can we stop that process, rejuvenate our blood vessels, and give our entire body the oxygen and nutritinets that it needs?  Science has found multiple approaches:

* Reduce sodium to lower blood pressure.  By some research, excess sodium is the #1 contributor to early death and disability.  

* Boost nitric oxide (NO) to cause blood vessels to dilate and heal.  THe best way to accomplish this is to eat lots of nitrate-rich vegetables, like arugula, collards, spinach, multiple times per day.

* yoga or isometric strengthening exercises like hand grip or wall sits.  Be sure to breathe

* Slow nasal breathing

* Many more things

How can I calculate my risk of a heart attack?

There are a number of valuable heart risk calculators.

This one includes your Lp(a) level.  

This one includes your coronary calcium score.  

This is a more mainstream one from the American College of Cardiology.

Any risk above zero is sub-optimal.  We have drugs that can lower your risk. If you qualify we should use them!

Handouts

Blood Vessel (Vascular) Health Handout

What are all the major ways to lower your blood pressure naturally?  Check out this handout!

Blood Pressure Checklist

How to check your blood pressure properly?  What are some key steps to manage your blood pressure and vascular health effectively?

For High Cholesterol: the Portfolio Diet

The Portfolio Diet has been shown in research to lower cholesterol and to reduce heart attacks.  What does it consist of?  4 elements:

1. Soy products instead of meat

2. Sticky fiber like oatmeal, oat bran, wheat germ.  Instead of psyllium, use flax meal.

3. Plant sterols, either as a dietary supplement or by switching from butter to Benecol or Take Control brand margarines.

4. Nuts