Other Names:
Heart Attack

Symptoms:
Signs of a soon-coming heart attack may include nausea, sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, feelings of anxiety, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, sudden ringing in the ears, and loss of speech.

The heart attack (angina) itself may feel as a band of intense pressure to the heart. A powerful pain is produced, which may last for several minutes, often extending to the shoulder, arm, neck, or jaw.

But it may be a small attack, producing relatively little discomfort. Sometimes it is mistaken as indigestion. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all. This is termed a "silent heart attack."

An angina shows itself as recurrent pain beneath the sternum, and lasts 30-60 seconds.

Treatment:
Here is a brief overview of some of the problems which require changes, if you would avoid a later build-up of conditions leading to a heart attack:

• Too many saturated fats in the diet (animal fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils). Excessive use of overheated or oxidized vegetable oils.

• Lack of natural fat emulsifiers (lecithin) in the diet.

• An excess of salt and other sodium products. Drinking chemically softened water. Water softeners have sodium in them.

• Elevated cholesterol, triglyceride, and uric acid levels.

• A low HDL-to-cholesterol ratio.

• An excess of carbohydrates (especially refined ones) and sugar. Sugar increases triglyceride levels, platelet adhesiveness, uric acid levels, and blood pressure.

• An excess of vitamin D intake (from meat, milk, eggs, or sunlight). Over 3000 units a day add to the plaque development and hardening of atherosclerosis. Carotene (pro-vitamin A) in the diet, from orange and yellow vegetables and fruits, will not cause this problem.

• A deficiency of vitamins and minerals.

• The use of coffee, alcohol, and tobacco.

• Lack of exercise.

• Overweight.

• High blood pressure.

• Diabetes or gout.

• Taking birth control pills.

• Heavy metal poisoning.

• A family history of heart trouble.

Change everything in the above list that you can, and you will live a lot longer.

Here is still more information:

To properly understand the information given in this article, be sure to read the other articles in this section, especially those listed at the end of this one, and in the next (dealing with circulatory problems).

• Check your heart beat every so often. The best way to begin the day is to check your pulse when you wake up in the morning. If it is under 60 beats per minute, you are doing all right. But if your resting heart rate is above 80, that is not so good, and indicates that hypertension may be in progress of occurring. An estimated 25% of those who have heart attacks experienced no previous symptoms. So, right now, start eating right and living right.

• High blood pressure, using tobacco, high cholesterol levels, stress, obesity, sedentary living, diabetes, and type-A personality are causes of heart trouble. These are things you can change.

Here are a variety of factors which you should consider:

• Do not use MSG (monosodium glutamate). Locate your food allergies and eliminate them (see "Pulse Test"). Do not use caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, sugar, and processed foods.

• Caffeine blocks the breakdown of adrenaline, resulting in the same response as heavy stress. Heavy caffeine consumption doubles the risk of coronary heart disease.

• The dangers of tobacco in producing heart attacks and other heart problems are well-documented.

• Do not eat any types of grease or oil (fatty foods, meat, margarine, butter, peanut butter, hydrogenated oil), except a small amount of cold-pressed vegetable oil. (See "Cholesterol, Reducing," for much more detail.)

• Fat is in all meat. Do not eat meat and you will have a longer life. It is well-known that vegetarians live longer than others. They have less coronary disease, less heart attacks, and less heart failure.

• If you are an adult, avoid vitamin D. More than 400 IU per day result in calcification of the coronary arteries.

• Research studies by the Chinese reveal that constipation is a significant factor in many heart attacks.

• Eat smaller meals.

• Be sure and drink enough water every day, and frequently throughout the day! This cannot be stressed enough. Sludged blood is a very real cause of heart and vessel problems.

• Eat a high fiber diet, using whole grains, brown rice, beans, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Through nourishing food and supplements, obtain all the vitamins and minerals. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium are important; so are the vitamins (A, B complex, C, and E). Eat Nova Scotia dulse or Norwegian kelp for trace minerals. Flaxseed oil contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce risk of coronary heart and cardiovascular disease. L-carnitine helps dissolve fat deposits around the heart. CoQ10 and germanium strengthen veins and provide oxygen to the blood and cells.

• If you tend to experience angina attacks at night, place 3-4-inch blocks under the head of your bed. This will reduce the attacks. More blood pools in the legs, and not so much tries to crowd in through the narrowed arteries into the heart.

Sodium is a problem which must be dealt with, since it can increase the likelihood of heart disease. Here are items to omit from the diet:

• Table salt. Use a small amount of Nova Scotia dulse or Norwegian kelp instead. That will supply some salt, plus many vital trace minerals.

• MSG (monosodium glutamate), which is an accent flavor enhancer.

• Diet soft drinks.

• Canned vegetables.

• Commercially prepared food.

• Baking soda.

• Foods with preservatives.

• Meat tenderizers.

• Softened water.

• Saccharin products.

• Foods with mold inhibitors.

• Foods with preservatives.

• If you have any kind of heart problem, see your physician. Prevention—living right and eating right ahead of time—is the best key to success.

Here are additional things to think about:

• Heart disease: Eat no fried foods. Avoid vitamin D. Obtain essential fatty acids; the best is cold-pressed flaxseed oil or wheat germ oil; also take selenium, vitamin E, 5-10 alfalfa tablets daily. And, if needed, obtain HCl. Take a 30-minute walk outside every day. Keep a 30-minute oxygen tank in your house, ready to use when you need it.

• Palpitations: Do not eat MSG, caffeine, sugar, or processed foods. Avoid food allergens. Obtain vitamins B1, B3, C, selenium, and potassium.

• Cardiac arrhythmia: Avoid food allergens and MSG. Add selenium, chromium, magnesium, potassium, and CoQ10 to your diet. Hypoglycemia can be a cause.

• Nervous heart: Causes can include anemia and low stomach acid. Obtain B1 and iron.

• Angina: If you survive, take calcium, magnesium, essential fatty acids, and extra vitamins and minerals. Reduce vitamin D intake from all sources (meat, fish, dairy products, and the sun). Avoid caffeine, sugar, and cigarette smoke. Exercise for 30 minutes every day.

• Congestive heart failure: Causes can include lung disease and high blood pressure. Obtain vitamin B1 and selenium.

• Myocardial infarction: Rebuilding afterward (if you are still alive) should include vitamin C to bowel tolerance, vitamin E, selenium, vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. Obtain HCl and pancreatic enzymes.

Other Information:
What is a heart attack? What leads up to it? This article will provide you with an overview of the problem, along with several specific suggestions.

The cardiovascular system is the heart, a blood pump. The blood is sent through arteries and veins, throughout the body.

Cardiovascular disease is the name given to several problems which can stop the heart and cause death.

1 - A coronary is one type of cardiovascular disease. The arteries which nourish the heart muscle itself are the coronary arteries. But if these arteries become narrowed, not enough oxygen and nutrients are supplied to the heart, and not enough carbon dioxide and waste products are carried off. This oxygen deprivation causes a tight, heavy chest pain, usually following some exertion or after a meal. There is a sharp, debilitating pain in the center of the chest. It is called angina pectoris (or simply angina). The pain generally recedes when the person rests. But it is a forewarning of events to come.

An angina may be precipitated by stress, exertion, a large meal, extreme cold, emotion, or other factors. Average life expectancy after the first onset of angina is 5-7 years.

2 - If that blood flow through the coronaries becomes entirely blocked or limited enough, so that it does not reach part of the heart, then a heart attack or myocardial infarction occurs. This refers to the formation of infarcts (areas of local tissue decay or death) in the myocardium (heart muscle). A heart attack does not always kill. But, whether it is mild or severe, a heart attack always produces some irreparable damage to the heart.

3 - The problem may not be in the heart, but in the arteries which nourish it. The arteries have hardened (called arteriosclerosis), and when cholesterol and other materials flows through them, a clot (also called a thrombus) occurs. The hardened walls do not flex to let the blob pass on through. Arteriosclerosis is responsible for most of the deaths due to heart attack.

4 - Lack of oxygen and nutrients can also cause spasm of the coronary arteries, resulting in a heart attack.

5 - Then there is high blood pressure (called hypertension). This is another form of cardiovascular disease, which also prepares the way for a heart attack. When the heart pumps blood, the blood shoots through the body at a fairly rapid speed. The muscular contractions of the heart produce a certain amount of pressure which produces this pumping action throughout the body. But sometimes the pressure builds up too high. This also is not the fault of the heart.

Here are some of the things which produce high blood pressure:

• Hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) is a primary cause. Earlier, the flexing of the walls kept the pressure lower.

• A second major cause of hypertension is a reduction in the size (interior dimension) of the arteries. They come to look like old water pipes, with congealed stuff sticking to the walls. For years, certain things had been eaten which caused this problem (meat fat, grease, saturated fats, hydrogenated vegetables oils, margarine, butter, corn chips, etc.).

• Too much sodium in the diet, for too long a time, is another cause of hypertension. The solution should have been to cut out the sodium (salty) foods.

• Other causes include stress, enzyme imbalances, certain drugs (including oral contraceptives), and nutritional deficiencies.

• There are still more factors which could be involved: hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, adrenal or pituitary disorders, and heredity.

Unfortunately, there is no pain as the hardening and clogging of arteries (which produce hypertension) progresses. So people keep living and eating the way they should not until one day the crisis comes.