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The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

Peppers, especially chilis, contain substances that have been shown to prevent clot formation and reduce the risk for heart attacks and strokes by reducing Blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels and platelet aggregation, and increasing fibrinolytic activity. Although bell peppers are not as rich in these compounds as chili peppers, they are still important in the diet of individuals with elevated cholesterol levels.

Signs and Symptoms Chronic asthma is associated with recurrent attacks of shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and excessive production of mucus. Typically, the asthma patient will show laboratory signs of allergy, including increased levels of eosinophils WARNING: An acute asthma attack can be a medical emergency. If you are suffering from an acute attack, consult your physician or an emergency room immediately. in the Blood, increased serum IgE levels, and positive food and/or inhalant allergy tests.

In contrast, elevations of HDL are associated with a low risk of heart attacks. It is currently recommended that the total Blood cholesterol level be less than 200 milligrams per deciliter. In addition, it is recommended that the LDL cholesterol be less than 130 milligrams per deciliter, the HDL cholesterol be greater than 35 milligrams per deciliter, and triglyceride levels be less than 150 milligrams per deciliter.

Bell peppers also contain substances, including capsaicin, flavonoids, and vitamin C, which have been shown to prevent Blood clot formation and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Although not as rich in these compounds as chili peppers, nonetheless bell pepper consumption should be promoted for individuals with elevated cholesterol levels. For more information on chili peppers, see "Cayenne," page 471. HOW TO SELECT AND STORE Bell peppers are available throughout the year but are usually more abundant during the summer months. They should be fresh, firm, and bright in appearance.

HEALTH BENEFITS The exact location of origin is uncertain, but the cantaloupe may have origi- in patients with heart disease to keep the Blood nated and been cultivated in India, Persia, or thin and relieve angina attacks. Africa in ancient times. The true cantaloupe is a different species of melon that is grown mostly HOW TO SELECT AND STORE in France. This European melon was named The four major signs of a ripe cantaloupe are: after a castle's gardens in Italy.

Eating to prevent hypoglycemia also stabilizes Blood vessels, preventing migraine attacks. Be sure to eat regularly, with small snacks between meals. Avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates, instead focusing on whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. Other Recommendations Biofeedback and relaxation training can also be helpful. The effectiveness of biofeedback and relaxation training in reducing the frequency and severity of recurrent migraine headaches has been the subject of more than thirty-five clinical studies.

Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies Phyllis A. Balch, CNC See book keywords and concepts

In some cases, however, heart attacks do not produce pain. In such "silent" attacks, there may be a sensation like that caused by indigestion, or there may not be any symptoms at all. Heart attacks can occur for several reasons, including arrhythmias, which are abnormal heart rhythms, and aneurysms, which are weak spots in Blood vessels that may give way and disrupt Blood flow. The vast majority of heart attacks, though, occur because an artery serving the heart becomes partially or completely blocked, generally by a Blood clot.

Obesity increases the risk of repeat gout attacks. (See overweight in Part Two.) CONSIDERATIONS Ll Allopurinol (Zyloprim) reduces uric acid formation. It is a highly effective drug but it can produce severe side effects, such as fever, generalized rashes, breakdown of red Blood cells, and liver and kidney problems. Another drug, colchicine, derived from the herb autumn saffron, eases acute gout attacks and prevents future attacks. While often quite effective, it too can have serious side effects. Ll Steroids may be prescribed during acute attacks.

There is general agreement among herb experts that this herb helps stop cramping and migraine attacks during the premenstrual period, and eases the pain of ovarian cysts. Investigations into the herb's actions at a chemical level tend to confirm that it stops certain chemical reactions that induce pain by stopping production of free radicals of nitrous oxide, which cause veins to dilate. It is also known that dong quai teas lower Blood pressure and prolong the resting period between heartbeats. They dilate the coronary Blood vessels to increase Blood flow to the heart.

In a three-month study of angina patients who took arjuna, Indian physicians tracked a number of health indicators, including Blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol, and frequency of angina attacks. Overall, there was a 50 percent reduction in the frequency of attacks, with lower systolic Blood pressure and slightly increased HDL cholesterol levels. The more unstable the angina, however, the less arjuna helped the condition in the first three months of treatment.

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II See book keywords and concepts

So what leads to heart attacks? It turns out that it's the less severe accumulations of plaque, blocking under 50% of the artery that often cause heart attacks.11 These accumulations each have a layer of cells, called the cap, which separates the core of the plaque from the Blood flowing by. In the dangerous plaques, the cap is weak and thin. Consequently, as Blood rushes by, it can erode the cap until it ruptures. When the cap ruptures, the core contents of the plaque mix with the Blood. The Blood then begins clotting around the site of rupture.

The bypass operation, however, is targeted to the largest, most visible plaques, which may be responsible for chest pain, but not for heart attacks. Angioplasty is a similar story. The procedure is expensive and carries significant risks. After identifying blockages in a coronary artery, a balloon is inserted into the artery and inflated. It pushes the plaque back against the vessel, thereby allowing more Blood to flow. Roughly one out of sixteen patients will experience an "abrupt vessel closure" during the procedure, which can lead to death, heart attack or an emergency bypass operation.

Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition Paul Pitchford See book keywords and concepts

To treat the convulsions that may occur with asthma attacks, a lit- ,w tie lobelia tea or 10-20 drops of lobelia tincture can be taken. w Asthma is frequently related to low Blood sugar. (See symptoms and suggestions in "Hypoglycemia" section, page 335.) Asthma attacks may also be caused by allergies (see "Allergies and Food Combining," page 232). When asthma symp- "¦f toms match one of the "syndromes of the lungs" (page 309), the appropriate remew dies given there may be integrated into the treatments in this section.

A Dose of Sanity: Mind, Medicine, and Misdiagnosis Sydney Walker III, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Although porphyria's most famous victim was the "Mad King," George III of England, whose attacks of porphyria eventually led to his removal from the throne, the disease strikes women more often than men. The lab tests I ordered for Nurse M showed the presence of elevated levels of porphyrins in her urine and Blood. (The urine is often a distinctive port-wine color in porphyria patients.

And psychotropic drugs in general appear to dramatically increase the risk of fatal cardiac disorders: a recent study by Margaret Thorogood showed that young women taking psychotropic drugs were 17 times more likely than other young women to suffer heart attacks. Elderly patients taking psychotropic drugs greatly increase their risk of suffering hip fractures, an injury that often leads to rapid decline or even death. One reason is that many antipsychotic drugs cause hypotension (low Blood pressure), which can lead to severe dizziness.

Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D. See book keywords and concepts

It contributes to atherosclerosis and leads to strokes, heart attacks, kidney damage, and dementia. 2. Low Blood pressure is good. 3. Eat less salt. 4. Take your pills. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it were that simple? Like so many things, though, Blood pressure (BP) is complicated. For one thing, your Blood pressure is not a single, solitary number that remains stable day in and day out. If you were to monitor your BP every few minutes throughout the day and night you would likely discover enormous variability. Over the course of 24 hours, readings could change by as much as 50 points.

Others are so salt sensitive that it may increase their risk of heart attacks and strokes even if they do not have hyperten-sion.588'589 There is no easy way to tell whether you are salt sensitive. It normally requires special testing in a research facility. But you could do your own crude experiment. Establish your baseline Blood pressure for a few weeks while eating normally. Then cut back on salt for several weeks and measure your Blood pressure a couple of times each day. Return to your normal eating behavior and measure your Blood pressure again.

Instead of just looking at numbers on a Blood pressure monitor, scientists determined whether people had suffered heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure or had died. Curt Furberg, MD, PhD, chair of the study's steering committee, shared his conclusions with us: "It's important to lower Blood pressure, but it matters how you do it. The diuretics have three advantages. They are unsurpassed in lowering Blood pressure; they are superior in reducing the cardiovascular complications of hypertension; and they are 10 to 20 times cheaper than the newer branded drugs.

We would like to see more comprehensive trials looking at long-term meaningful outcomes (heart attacks and deaths) before we come to any final conclusions about this controversy. If you have any concerns, please discuss this issue with your physician. And this, dear reader, brings us back to the beginning. High Blood pressure is a very serious condition. It is the most common risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and other life-threatening cardiovascular conditions.

Unfortunately, it probably won't prevent Blood clots or heart attacks the way aspirin does. Salsalate may also be a little more likely to cause dizziness or ringing in the ears. It does require medical supervision, just as any NSAID does, and probably has similar side effects. Another aspirin-like arthritis medicine that is often overlooked is choline magnesium tri-salicylate (Tricosal, Trilasate, Trisalicylate). It too requires a prescription and should cost a lot less than $1 a day. Like salsalate, it may be a little less irritating to the stomach than aspirin.

Although Prempro had been expected to protect women from heart attacks and strokes, the results showed that women taking this HRT were nearly 30 percent more likely to develop coronary heart disease and twice as likely to come down with a pulmonary embolism, a dangerous Blood clot in the lung.730 None of this has much bearing, though, on the use of hormones to treat hot flashes. The risks are primarily for women who take Prempro or other forms of estrogen and progesterone for extended periods of time.

Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Revised Second Edition Michael T. Murray, N.D., Joseph E. Pizzorno, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

Panic attacks are very common; about fifteen percent of the United States population experience a panic attack in their lifetime. Among adults aged twenty-five to fifty-four, about 1.5 percent to 3 percent experience frequent panic attacks. Causes of Anxiety and Panic Attacks Clinical anxiety, including panic attacks, can be produced by caffeine, certain other drugs, and the infusion of lactate into the Blood. The fact that these compounds can produce anxiety and panic attacks can be put to good use in understanding the underlying biochemical features of anxiety.

Glucose T Pyruvic Acid Energy FIGURE 1 Glucose Breakdown to Pyruvic Acid panic attacks is an elevated Blood lactic acid level and an increased lactic acid to pyruvic acid ratio. Lactate (the soluble form of lactic acid) is the final product in the breakdown of Blood sugar (glucose) when there is a lack of oxygen. To illustrate how lactic acid is produced, let's take the classic example of the exercising muscle. Muscles prefer to use fat as their energy source, but when you exercise vigorously there isn't enough oxygen, so the muscle must burn glucose.

Studies have demonstrated that hawthorn extracts are effective in reducing angina attacks as well as in lowering Blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels.33-35 The beneficial effects of hawthorn in the treatment of angina are due to improvement in the Blood and oxygen supply of the heart, resulting from dilation of the coronary vessels, as well as improvement of the metabolic processes in the heart.33"35 supply more efficiently. In cases of angina treated with carnitine, improvements have been noted in exercise tolerance and heart function.

Adding eggs to the diet caused gallbladder attacks in ninety-three percent of the patients! Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the association of food allergies with gallbladder attacks. Dr. Breneman believes that the ingestion of allergenic substances causes swelling of the bile ducts, resulting in impairment of bile flow from the gallbladder. Sugar A high intake of refined sugar may be a risk factor for gallstones as well as biliary tract cancer, based on the relationship between sugars, Blood lipids, and gallstone formation.

QUICK REVIEW • Perhaps the most significant biochemical disturbance noted in people with anxiety and panic attacks is an elevated Blood lactate level. • There are at least six nutritional factors that may be responsible for elevated lactic acid to pyruvic acid ratio: 1. Alcohol 2. Caffeine 3. Sugar 4. Deficiency of the B-vitamins niacin, pyridoxine, and thiamin 5. Deficiency of calcium or magnesium 6. Food allergens • Kava extract has produced relief from anxiety comparable to drugs like Valium but without the side effects.

Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements Phyllis A. Balch, CNC See book keywords and concepts

People with high Blood pressure should avoid cold weather, which might trigger heart attacks because the lower temperatures increases Blood pressure, putting more strain on the heart. Q In some cases, heart attacks are caused by spasms of the arteries that suddenly shut off the flow of Blood to the heart. Q Sensible, moderate exercise and a proper diet with nutritional supplements can prevent arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries and myocardial infarction.

Caution: Can induce anxiety, panic attacks, and hallucinations in some individuals. May also cause elevated Blood pressure and heart rate, headache, dizziness, and skin flushing. Serious adverse effects, including renal failure, seizures, and death have been reported. Should not be used by women or by anyone with high Blood pressure; heart, kidney, or liver disease; or a psychological disorder. Should not be combined with foods rich in tyramine, such as cheese, red wine, and liver, as this may increase Blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Considerations Q Researchers believe many migraine attacks are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. Serotonin levels in the brain drop during a headache. This triggers an impulse along the trigeminal nerve to Blood vessels in the meninges, the brain's outer covering. In the meninges, the Blood vessels become inflamed and swollen. The result is a headache.

Heart attacks are directly related to a number of other conditions, such as arteriosclerosis, circulatory problems, hypertension (high Blood pressure), high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disorders (including aneurysms, angina pectoris, and arrhythmias). These conditions are discussed separately in Part Two. It is advisable to refer to all of the sections on these interrelated diseases to learn about all aspects of, and contributing causes to, heart attacks.

Do not take phenylalanine if you are pregnant or suffer from panic attacks, diabetes, high Blood pressure, or phenylketonuria (PKU). Exertion headache Generalized headache during or after physical exertion such as running or sexual intercourse, or passive exertion such as sneezing or coughing. Usually related to migraine or cluster headaches. About 10 percent are related to organic diseases such as tumors or Blood vessel malformation. Take nutritional supplements; apply ice packs at the site of pain. If the pain goes away after exercising and exertion, see your physician.

It can be relatively benign, with only a few minor attacks spread over decades, or it can be rapidly and completely disabling. Most commonly, it progresses slowly, disappearing for periods of time but returning intermittently, often in progressively more severe attacks. The underlying cause of MS is not known, but it is widely believed to be an autoimmune disease in which white Blood cells attack the myelin sheaths as if they were a foreign substance. Stress and malnutrition, whether from poor absorption or poor diet, often precede the onset of the disease.

The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs: A Guide to Understanding and Using Herbal Medicinals Leslie Taylor, ND See book keywords and concepts

Julian Whitaker, MD, reports using cat's claw for its immune-stimulating effects, for cancer, to help prevent strokes and heart attacks, to reduce Blood clots, and for diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome. Cat's claw has several groups of plant chemicals that account for much of the plant's actions and uses. First and most studied is a group of oxidole alkaloids that has been documented with immune-stimulant and antileukemic properties. Another group of chemicals called quinovic acid glycosides have documented anti-inflammatory and antiviral actions.

Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems Bill Gottlieb See book keywords and concepts

That means that the immune system mistakenly identifies part of the body as an outside invader and attacks it with substances called antibodies. According to conventional medicine, Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes occurs because the immune system attacks and kills the cells of the pancreas, the organ that produces the hormone insulin, which ushers Blood sugar (glucose) out of the bloodstream and into the cells of the body. To make up for the shortfall of insulin, people with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin injections.

You will probably need to take a prescription drug such as nitroglycerin (Ni-trolingual) to keep your angina attacks under control. But alternative doctors say that you should also use nutritional remedies that can gradually reduce angina attacks by improving Blood flow to the heart and infusing the heart muscle with extra energy, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach, California.

In some people, dairy foods may cause other, more serious problems, such as gallbladder attacks, irritable bowel syndrome, and even ulcers. Since many of the symptoms of lactose intolerance and dairy sensitivity can mimic symptoms of serious illnesses, you should see your doctor to find out what's going on. Lactose intolerance can often be diagnosed in the office with a simple test called a hydrogen breath test. In addition, your doctor may give you a Blood test for delayed milk allergy to see if you're reacting to something else in milk besides the lactose.

Anti-Aging Manual: The Encyclopedia of Natural Health Joseph E. Mario See book keywords and concepts

Needed for dilating Blood vessels in the heart (Calcium required for constricting), prevents artery micromuscle spasms and counters high Blood pressure by dilating Blood vessels, lowers hypertension (with Potassium and Sodium), a natural Calcium channel-blocker that lowers high Blood pressure, cholesterol, stroke and heart attacks; with Potassium, keeps Calcium in solution for a regular heartbeat, relaxation-constriction balance, Protein maintenance of the heart, lessens palpitations or arrhythmia (500 mg. Magnesium citrate or aspartate 1 -2 times daily, or I.V.

A weak Pancreas leaks too much Insulin into the bloodstream; spurring sweets craving or alcoholism, which further stimulates Insulin and Blood Sugar drop; afflicting insomnia, fatigue, nervousness, intolerance of noises, allergies, asthma attacks, heart palpitations, light-headedness, spasms, stiffening, blackouts, epileptic fits; liver failure to convert sugar into Glycogen storage for deficient sugar when needed. The Blood becomes too alkaline and heightens Insulin's potency which drives Blood sugarto new lows, and Brain energy starvation with migraines, dizziness, and mental disturbance.

There are one million heart attacks per year in America, out of which 450,000 die, others die ofa second attack later. Protect from heart attack with 1 gram Vitamin C per day, reduces deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) by 50%. There are 450.000 strokes per year in America, 85% from Blood clots in the Brain, 15% internal bleeding/hemorrhages. SEE Blood, Circulation, Heart Attack, and Stroke.

Thiazide Diuretics Hydrochlorothiazide, chlorthalidone, and diuril given forhigh Blood pressure, cause Potassium, Magnesium and Calcium deficiencies, cardiac arrhythmia, high cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, and Blood glucose; risking diabetes and/or heart attacks and death. Diuretics also flush body B1 Thiamine (risking heart failure). Artificial Estrogen Therapy With Premarin, Orthodienestrol cream, and Diethylstilbestrol causes slurred speech, appetite loss, tender breasts, ankle and leg swelling, chest and leg pains, and stroke. The fifth most prescribed drug in the U .S.

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