Some Facts On Cardiovascular Disease And Coronary Heart Disease

Cardiovascular Diseases include all diseases of the circulatory system including acute myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, valvular heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, arrhythmias, high blood pressure and stroke.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a term used to identify several cardiac disorders resulting from inadequate circulation of blood to local areas of heart muscle. CHD also called coronary artery disease, or heart disease, is the leading cause of death in the United States. Each year it claims more lives than the next seven leading causes combined. Cardiovascular diseases kill some 950,000 Americans every year, but as many as two-thirds of these deaths are preventable. Heart disease can take many forms and it varies widely in severity. Some people are born with it, but most often heart disease develops later in life.

Coronary artery disease occurs when the coronary arteries become partially blocked or clogged. Atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of CHD, is the accumulation of plaque (cholesterol, fat, and calcium) along the inner wall of an artery or vessel that transports blood from the heart to organs and tissues of the body. The buildup of plaque causes the artery to become thick and narrowed, partially or totally blocking normal blood flow.

Although clinical signs of atherosclerosis often appear in later life, the disease begins in childhood. The development of CHD is a silent process often lasting decades before the onset of symptoms. The earliest lesions in the lining of the coronary arteries or in the aorta first appear between the age of 10 to 15. The result of progressive narrowing of the vessels may be angina pectoris (pain in the arm, shoulder, neck, or chest), myocardial infarction (heart attack), or sudden death. Elsewhere in the body, the same process may lead to serious and sudden decrease of the blood supply to the brain (ischaemic stroke), peripheral vascular disease, or serious problems caused by the weakening of the lower abdominal aorta.

Decades of research have shown us that when people alter their lifestyles to reduce the risk factors for heart disease, they stay healthier longer. And they can help prevent heart attack. Making these lifestyle changes doesn't mean you can forego regular medical checkups. Still, it's the best thing you can do to help keep your heart healthy. After working with your doctor to make sure your medical risk factors are treated, here's how to help yourself.

  1. Don't smoke. If you're a nonsmoker already, don't start. Avoiding the smoking habit is the single best thing you can do to maintain your health and prevent a heart attack.
  2. Reach your best weight. Being overweight raises your chances of having high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL, high blood pressure and diabetes. Your local AHA has materials on healthy ways to lose weight.
  3. Eat foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. For decades the AHA has encouraged Americans to eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. Why? Because saturated fat and cholesterol raise the blood cholesterol level, which in turn promotes atherosclerosis, a disease process in which cholesterol and other fatty substances build up in the arteries. This build-up is called plaque, and it narrows the artery walls, reducing blood supply to the heart. If the artery becomes completely blocked, blood will not reach the heart and that part of the heart begins to die. This is a heart attack.
  4. Engage in regular physical activity. Regular aerobic exercise helps protect against heart attack. Any physical activity will do. Try to do something that works your heart and lungs for 30-60 minutes, three or four times a week.
  5. Keep your stress to a minimum. If you think that your reactions to stress may be hurting your health or increasing your risk, do something about it. Make efforts to avoid situations that cause stress, like saying yes to a commitment that you know you don't have time for.

An extensive body of clinical evidence supported by animal, epidemiologic, and metabolic studies has established the relationship between high blood cholesterol and increased CHD risk. The relationship is strong, continuous, and graded. [Grundy]

A number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease have been identified. These include male sex, positive family history of cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and physical inactivity. They cannot, without independent evidence, be considered causative agents of the disease, but they may aggravate some event in the overall pathogenesis (development) of the disease.

Diet modification, based on the assumption that reduction of high serum cholesterol levels, will reduce the probability of cardiovascular disease. It has been shown that modification of the diet with respect to levels of fat, kind of fat, and amount of dietary cholesterol of subjects in metabolic wards under rigid dietary control, can result in alterations in their serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations. [Ahrens et al] A high intake of polyunsaturated fat is important in the lowering of serum cholesterol and LDL levels, dietary cholesterol has the least impact.

The effects of high-oleic safflower oil (monounsaturated), high-linoleic safflower oil (polyunsaturated), and palm oil (saturated) on blood cholesterol levels were compared in normal and hypertriglyceridemic patients. Both the high monounsaturated and the high polyunsaturated fatty acids achieved similar results, lowering of total cholesterol.

In another study, beef fat, coconut oil, and safflower oil were exchanged in the diets of healthy normal volunteers. Mean plasma total cholesterol was lower on the safflower oil diet compared with the habitual diet. Mean plasma total cholesterol on the beef diet was higher than on the diet containing safflower oil and lower than on the diet containing coconut oil. [Reiser, et al]

Among Seventh-day Adventists, risk for CHD in non-vegetarian males was threefold greater than in vegetarian males. [Phillips, et al] Substitution of soybean for animal protein caused a reduction in serum cholesterol concentrations. In the Honolulu Heart Study, baseline serum cholesterol was positively related to dietary cholesterol, animal protein, and saturated fat. The percentage of calories from fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol was related directly to CHD mortality.

Customary diets containing 60 to 70 percent of calories from starch, such as those consumed in Asian countries, and by vegetarians, are associated with low plasma cholesterol levels and low risk for CHD. The low levels of plasma cholesterol observed among strictly vegetarian populations may be attributable to the quantity and quality of protein. Studies involving the substitution of soy protein and other vegetable proteins for animal protein in the diets of hyperlipidemic patients have shown a marked reduction in serum cholesterol levels.

Physicians know that the dietary supplement known as L-arginine can help correct dysfunction in the arterial lining known as the endothelium in patients with chronic heart disease. They also know that regular physical exercise helps, too. Now a new study reveals that combining the two approaches works even better. In the study, researchers randomly assigned 40 patients with severe chronic heart failure to one of four interventions: L-arginine supplementation, forearm exercise training, supplementation and training together, and a control group. After four weeks, the researchers used ultrasound to measure the diameter of patients' arteries. They found that combining the two approaches has additive effects that make the combination superior to the separate interventions.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a silent killer. People who are aware of this danger have checkups and take medication before high blood pressure damages their heart and blood vessels.

Scientists now know that hyperlipidemia, or high levels of cholesterol in the blood, can damage the blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attack and chronic heart failure. Scientists have identified exercise and modest alcohol consumption as two factors that raise levels of the so-called "good" cholesterol and determined that a diet low in animal fats results in lower levels of the "bad." In addition, modern medications dramatically and safely reduce the cholesterol level and keep it in check.

The following nutrients have also been shown to be benificial in treating Heart Disease - l-carnitine, chromium, magnesium, selenium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and vitamin C.

Calcium has a role to play in the regulation of various body functions including the cardiovascular and nervous systems. It keeps your heart beating regularly, alleviates insomnia and helps to metabolize iron. It is also believed that megadose vitamin E supplements retard the aging process and prevent atherosclerosis and cancer. Lecithin a phosphatide or phospholipid, composed of choline, phosphoric acid, two fatty acids and glycerol has also been shown to control heart disease and atherosclerosis. If enough lecithin is present the disease does not occur.

Nutrition Programs and Services

Food Labels:
Evidence related to the role of dietary factors in CHD supports the need for manufacturers to increase the number of food labels with their total fat, fatty acids, and cholesterol content.

Food Services:
Evidence related to the role of dietary factors in CHD suggests that the public would benefit from increased availability of foods low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol in food service programs. The need is critical for the one in four persons with cholesterol levels that put them at appreciably high risk for CHD.

Food Products:
Evidence related to the role of dietary factors in CHD suggests that food manufacturers should increase availability of foods and food products that are low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. [The Surgeon General]


The nutrients mentioned above reflect the major nutritional supplements that may help the condition. Please do remember however that nutritional supplementation is an adjunct to medical treatment and in no way replaces medical treatment.

  • Grundy, S.M., Cholesterol and Coronary Heart Disease: Journal American Medical Association. 2849-2858, 1986
  • Ahrens, E.H., Jr, Connor, W.E., Bierman, E.L., Glueck, C.J., Hirsch, J., McGill, H.C., Spritz, N., Jr., Tobian, L., and Van Itallie, T.B., The evidence relating six dietary factors to the nations health , A. J. Clin. Nutr. 32:261-2748, 1979.
  • Reiser, R., Probstfield, J.L., Silvers, A., Scott, L.W., Shorney, M.L., Wood, R.D., O'Brien, B.C., Gotto, A.M., and Insull, W.,Jr., Plasma lipid and lipoprotein response of humans to beef fat, coconut, & safflower oil , AJCN, 42:190, 1987.
  • Phillips, R., Lemon, F., and Kuzma, J., Coronary heart disease mortality among Seventh Day Adventists with different dietary habits, AJCN, 31:S11, 1978
  • The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition & Health, 1988

Discuss It!