Greetings Gang, Dr T here
Have you had a heart attack, and don’t want another?
As the epidemic of heart disease continues to kill and disable thousands upon thousands of people, it would only seem reasonable that most cardiologists would be up on what one could do to prevent a second heart attack.
It always shocks me to find that the medical literature is loaded with inexpensive and non-prescription natural products that have been found to cut your chance of a second heart attack in half but few if any doctors are telling their patients.
These natural and well documented products have been shown to lower triglycerides, turn off arrhythmias, and dramatically drop your chance of dying from a heart attack.
The literature even goes so far to say who will survive a heart attack and who will die based on the people who are smart enough to take the responsibility of their health in their own hands.
These three natural products include cod liver oil, complete Vitamin E and magnesium.
Have you been told that even the expensive implanted defibrillators does not compare to something as inexpensive as cod liver oil?
In fact cod liver oil does something a defibrillator can’t do and that is it provides the ability to stabilize plaque by decreasing the inflammation in the plaque thereby making it less likely to rupture or clot.
This may be a bold comment but it borders on malpractice not to recommend cod liver oil, vitamin E and magnesium. In fact, from a functional medicine standpoint it would be far better to have your levels of fatty acids, magnesium and vitamin E checked so the best dosage can be prescribed.
I would ask your cardiologist if he or she is planning on measuring your fatty acid levels. That will tell you pretty quick if you have a 21st physician or a physician who is behind the times.
Meanwhile, for anyone who has already had a heart attack, I suggest a bare minimum of a daily teaspoon of Carlson’s Cod Liver Oil, Di-phasic PM (complete vitamin E supplement), 1 tablespoon of magnesium chloride to every heart patient. I personally would go the extra mile and test my patients to see how deficient they are in the above natural products. This would then allow me to increase or decrease the dosage accordingly. So the motto is: Oil those arteries so the plaque just slips right off and can never grab on.
References:
Reiffel JA, McDonald A, Antiarrhythmic effects of omega-3 fatty Acids, Am J Cardiol, 98: 50i-60i, 2006
Rogers Sherry, Total Wellness, Prestige Publishing, May 2007
Jacobson TA, Secondary prevention of coronary artery disease with omega-3 fatty acids, Am J Cardiol, 98: 61i-70i, 2006
Gapinski JP, et al, Preventing restenosis with fish oils following coronary angioplasty, Arch Intern Med 153:1595-1601, 1993
Defilippis AP, Blaha MJ, Jacobson T. Omega-3 Fatty acids for cardiovascular disease prevention. Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med. 2010 Aug;12(4):365-80.
Banning M. The role of omega-3-fatty acids in the prevention of cardiac events. Br J Nurs. 2005 May 12-25;14(9):503-8.
Jacobson TA. Beyond lipids: the role of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2007 Aug;9(2):145-53.
Thanks to the Functional Medicine University for this article.