Tag Archives: heart disease

How to Prevent Atrial Fibrillation

Heart Health, , ,

Diagnosis

My late husband Brian was first diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) in 1990. He was regularly getting what we called palpitations where his heart rate would soar up to 200 bpm.  The rate would also be unsteady and irregular and often last for hours.  The video below depicts what happens with this type of arrythmia.  The top heartbeat is a normal rhythm, the bottom heartbeat shows atrial fibrillation.

Irregular electrical signals disrupt the normal conduction between the SA (Sinoatrial) and AV (Atrioventricular) nodes and cause the atria to quiver.  This prevents them from effectively moving blood into the ventricles.  It can lead to stroke or other heart related complications. Courtesy AHA/ASA Continue reading How to Prevent Atrial Fibrillation →

How To Keep Your Heart Healthy – Part 2

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Part 2

Carrying on from Part 1 on ‘how to keep your heart healthy’ we will go through the whole process of how cardiovascular disease can happen to a seemingly healthy person.

soldier working outStress is the start

We know that stress is the biggest depleter of magnesium.  All kinds of stress, be it physical, mental, heat, cold, bereavement, divorce, disease, toothache, workouts, marathons, kids, work, money.  You name it, we get stressed from it.  It cannot be avoided and we have to live with it.  We go from day to day, not realising the kind of stress we are under.  We don’t even know we’re stressed because it’s part of everyday life. Continue reading How To Keep Your Heart Healthy – Part 2 →

How To Keep Your Heart Healthy

Heart Health, , ,
Part 1

There is a plethera of much overlooked and ignored evidence about how and why we get cardiovascular diseases.  How to keep your heart healthy is a post giving details of this evidence and how you can apply it and keep your heart in good fettle throughout the whole of your life.  But first some facts:

The Biggest Killer
Artery lesion
Coronary Artery Lesion by
Patrick J. Lynch

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardiovascular diseases killed 17.5 million people in 2012, that’s 3 of every 10 deaths.  Of these, 7.4 million people died of ischaemic heart disease and 6.7 million from stroke.

Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections and chronic obstructive lung disease have remained the top major killers during the past decade.  What’s worse is that since the year 2000, deaths have risen, not fallen.  Cardiovascular diseases alone killed 2.6 million more people in 2012 than in the year 2000.  So much for the super drugs that are supposed to keep the epidemic of cardiovascular disease under control. Continue reading How To Keep Your Heart Healthy →

Can Stress Cause Heart Disease? Part 3

Heart Health, , ,

Part 3

This is the last part of “Can stress cause heart disease?” and we will cover how our energy is produced and why electrolyte imbalance compromises that production.  This imbalance then causing a general cardiovascular deterioration. Click if you missed Part 1 and Part 2

Energy productionHow we produce energy

Firstly I want to go through, as simply and succinctly as possible, how our bodies produce energy.  I’ve tried to avoid you ‘glazing over’ as I’ve  been guilty of being too technical according to some comments.  You can skip the explanation if you want to.  Suffice to say, Mg is vital for producing and storing energy.  Without it, energy production will stop.

Our bodies have around 37.2 trillion cells according to Dr Eva Bianconi and colleagues from the University of Bologna, Italy.¹  This cell count was estimated by counting the amount of cells in each part of an average sized body being: a 30 year old male, 70kg in weight, 1.7m in height and 1.85m² body surface.  They had to account for bone cells, fat tissue, articular cartilages, the bilary system, blood, vessels, skin, organs etc..  and then add it all up, quite a feat!  This, though, is probably the best estimate to date. Continue reading Can Stress Cause Heart Disease? Part 3 →

Can Stress Cause Heart Disease? – Part 2

Heart Health, , ,

Part 2

In Part 1 of ‘Can stress cause heart disease?’, I explained the diversity of stressors that the population, in this day and age, have to contend with.  This burden of anxiety, which is causing most of us to live with stress on a daily basis, is the start of the road to heart disease.

Comparing then to nowgrass fed cattle

Back in the early 20th century, we were getting plenty of Mg in our diet.  The soils were full of vitimins and minerals and as well as tasting great our food kept us replete with Mg and other nutrients.  Our crops were healthy and our livestock fed on the fresh, nutritious grasses and lived out in the fertile fields.  An estimated 400mg-500mg of Mg per day was the average intake for the majority of the population.  In the year 1900, heart disease was not the killer it is today and was way down the list of major causes of death. Continue reading Can Stress Cause Heart Disease? – Part 2 →