Wonderfully Made

Heart Disease

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Lee Wellard & Dr. Scott Grivas

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Series Code: WM

Program Code: WM000422


00:01 The following program presents principles
00:03 designed to promote good health
00:04 and is not intended to take the place
00:06 of personalized professional care.
00:08 The opinions and ideas expressed
00:10 are those of the speaker.
00:11 Viewers are encouraged to draw their own
00:13 conclusions about the information presented.
00:36 Welcome to Wonderfully Made,
00:38 your host for today is Lee Wellard,
00:40 a lifestyle educator from Wildwood Lifestyle Center.
00:43 And today I have with me Dr. Scott Grivas
00:46 also from Wildwood Lifestyle Center,
00:48 thank you for joining us today Dr. Grivas.
00:51 Today we're gonna be looking at a very
00:52 important topic, one that afflicts millions
00:55 of people around the world every year
00:58 and one that you wanna pay special attention
01:01 to avoid. But today's topic is
01:03 "Coronary Artery Disease" and Dr. Grivas
01:06 this is something that is quite prevalent today,
01:09 could you elaborate as to how important
01:12 this disease is in avoiding. So, we can get
01:16 the good news of coronary artery health.
01:19 Right now, the coronary artery disease,
01:23 which results in heart attacks,
01:27 fatal arrhythmias of heart, irregular beating
01:31 and so forth heart failure. It is estimated
01:34 that this is probably the number one killer
01:38 throughout the, the westernize world,
01:41 especially here in the United States.
01:46 But it's interesting that if you look at global
01:48 statistics that it accounts for over 50 percent
01:52 of all deaths throughout the world.
01:54 So, it is a major epidemic, right, pandemic, right.
01:58 And is there something on the increase
02:00 or has it stabilized in the last few years.
02:03 We can thank the Lord that it is decreasing
02:05 over the last decade or so, there has been
02:08 decline in the incidence of coronary disease
02:11 and I believe that reflects a better public
02:15 awareness of this problem.
02:17 Right and what are some of the preventable
02:20 risk factors that lead to coronary artery disease.
02:23 The traditional risk factors that we have long
02:28 recognized have been the following,
02:32 the first and probably the foremost is the increase
02:36 in dietary fats, especially the animal fats,
02:40 the cholesterol, the saturated animal fats
02:43 which has tended to fuel that plugging
02:50 of the vessels. The others would include
02:54 hypertension, obesity, sedentary lifestyle,
03:01 smoking, stress, hereditary factors
03:06 and even those physical characteristics
03:11 that we now recognized vertex balding,
03:15 the earlobe crease. Now, what is vertex balding?
03:18 The male pattern balding where you begin
03:22 to lose the hair early, okay, on the top
03:26 of the head, hope I'm not showing any signs
03:28 of that today, could you, you mentioned about
03:31 traditional signs, are there some latest
03:34 discoveries that give in additional information
03:38 of some of the risk factors.
03:39 Sure, it has been a real concern in the medical
03:45 world that many people have their first event
03:50 as far as their heart attack, or their fatal
03:53 arrhythmia and we find that they don't have
04:00 any identifiable risk factors, at least
04:03 as far as the traditional concepts.
04:07 But yes, now we are recognizing there are
04:10 other markers and these are usually serum markers
04:13 that we are able to detect in the blood.
04:17 And there are a number of those,
04:19 one that is very important now is the
04:24 C-reactive protein which is a marker
04:29 and also probably a mediator of inflammatory
04:32 changes in the blood vessels themselves.
04:36 An elevated fibrinogen levels, which again is a
04:41 protein that helps in the clotting of blood
04:45 that contributes to the, the thrombus.
04:48 Now, can I go into the clinic get tested
04:52 and I could be perfectly fine as far as
04:55 serum levels, could I still have some tendency
04:58 towards coronary artery disease?
05:00 Yes, you could but it would be much less likely
05:03 without some of these other marker that
05:06 are prevalent, that's why we are calling
05:08 them the newer ones, lipoprotein A levels
05:12 and the classification of even the type of
05:16 LDL cholesterol. Now, let's talk about
05:21 cholesterol for a minute we've had a lot of
05:22 discussion on cholesterol and there are different
05:27 kinds of cholesterol. We have the LDL,
05:29 even within the LDL we have several types of LDL
05:32 and also your HDL, which we know to be the
05:34 good cholesterol. How important of a role does
05:39 cholesterol play, especially the oxidized
05:42 cholesterol is really what we're talking about
05:44 in laying the foundation for artery disease?
05:47 Well, it's, it's very important and we want
05:52 to try to keep the total cholesterol levels
05:56 at optimum level at least below 180 to 200.
06:03 We want the HDL, which is the good
06:06 cholesterol at nice reasonable levels,
06:10 we say at least above lets say 45 or so.
06:15 Preferable levels would be somewhere
06:16 between 50 and 70 and the LDL which is that
06:21 lipoprotein fraction which deposits
06:24 at the vessel site. We want to be low,
06:28 we use to say less than 130,
06:31 now we are recognizing if we can get that
06:34 level down below 100 the person is at much
06:39 less risk. Right now the Framingham studies
06:42 have been shown to suggest that between
06:45 150 and 200, which is about where 35 percent
06:50 of the heart attacks still occur within that range
06:52 is not perhaps the most ideal and yet some
06:58 medical research seems to suggest
07:00 that the idea was between 180 and 200,
07:02 could you elaborate on that? Well, the 180 to 200
07:10 ideal range I think came about Lee, because
07:13 of the concern for stokes, it's been shown
07:16 that when levels of cholesterol are lower
07:19 than 180 in the population there's in
07:22 increased incidence of hemorrhagic stroke,
07:25 right, in the brain, right. And so we're trying
07:28 now to, to find that common ground
07:31 where we are protecting from the heart standpoint
07:35 and levels lower than 150 certainly
07:38 are beneficial there. But also trying to protect
07:42 from the stroke standpoint,
07:45 I see, the levels have been allowed to go up
07:47 a little bit. Now, can we be too
07:49 low on a cholesterol. Well, yes, that's what
07:52 we're referring to and you know cholesterol
07:55 itself is not a bad material, right, right,
07:59 we must have cholesterol in the body.
08:02 But when it rises to high levels and when that
08:05 cholesterol becomes, especially the LDL
08:08 oxidized by free radical damage then
08:12 you've got bad news. Now, we also understand
08:15 that there's gotta be a good ratio between
08:18 the HDL the good cholesterol and also the
08:20 LDL the bad cholesterol what would be an
08:22 ideal ratio between the two?
08:25 Well, probably in the 4 to 4.5 range for the,
08:30 the average the lower you know the better.
08:33 So, if you're three that will be even better,
08:35 okay I see and how significant would you say
08:39 the dietary oxidized cholesterol is when it
08:44 comes to coronary artery disease,
08:46 would it be the most significant or the other
08:48 factors that go beyond the cholesterol.
08:51 You know, I think the dietary ingestion
08:55 of the cholesterol that is in the animal food,
08:58 this is one of the, the big concerns that we want
09:03 to try to help people to, to remove in order to
09:07 prevent the coronary artery disease.
09:10 It was an interesting article in the
09:14 Journal of American Medical Association
09:16 recently that estimated that if we could remove
09:19 from our population here in the United States.
09:23 The animal fats that we would,
09:26 we would prevent probably 95 to 97 percent
09:30 of coronary artery disease.
09:32 Wow, that's amazing, significant.
09:36 So, really what you're saying is, it's where
09:38 it's coming from that's really the problem.
09:41 Now there are people probably you at
09:44 home watching, you know someone who has
09:47 lived or seem to live a healthy life.
09:50 We have saying, as fit as a bull,
09:53 and they don't seem to have any signs
09:54 and one day you hear they've just dropped dead,
09:57 they've had a heart attack. Why is that?
10:00 Why does that happen and,
10:02 and can that be prevented?
10:04 Well, this is where we were making reference
10:09 earlier to other markers that we know can
10:13 contribute to inflammatory changes in the vessels,
10:18 clotting in the blood vessels plague build up
10:22 and those things are often associated with
10:25 hereditary factors such as lipoprotein A,
10:29 the type of the LDL cholesterol,
10:35 homocysteine levels, fibrinogen levels.
10:38 You see all of these factors play a role in the
10:42 fueling toward coronary artery obstruction
10:47 and so a person may not necessarily have the
10:50 traditional risk factors but still be moving
10:57 in that direction over the course of years because
11:00 of these other abnormal factors that
11:03 are taking place. Right, I see and lets talk
11:06 a little bit about stress and it's role in
11:10 coronary artery disease, we know that stress
11:12 elevates hypertension and it causes even changes
11:17 with blood sugar level and hormonal changes.
11:21 What part does stress play in laying the
11:24 foundation for coronary artery disease?
11:27 Well, I believe stress is a significant risk
11:31 factor there, you've mentioned the fact that
11:34 it activates the sympathetic nervous
11:37 system and when that takes place you get
11:40 an increase in your circulating adrenaline
11:44 like compounds, Epinephrine,
11:46 Norepinephrine, Dopamine and so forth.
11:49 And these things are shown to constrict
11:53 the blood vessels, they elevate the
11:57 cholesterol levels, they promote clotting
12:00 I mean there are a lot of things that,
12:01 that go on with these stress hormones.
12:05 You didn't mention cortisol, but one of the
12:08 adrenaline you know hormones,
12:10 cortisol is also elevated in stress and contributes
12:14 to higher levels of blood sugar and you know
12:19 the blood pressure and so forth.
12:24 Now, as we get older there are some changes
12:27 that take place in the arteries, is it harden to
12:31 reverse as we get older when this more
12:34 of a blockage in the arteries?
12:36 As one grows older are given an abnormal
12:40 lifestyle or inappropriate lifestyle,
12:43 and you then have years of crewel what you get
12:49 is not only just an actual plague formation
12:55 in the vessel, but you get a remodeling of the
12:59 entire wall of the vessel.
13:01 You get hypertrophy of the muscle layer,
13:05 you get stiffening, you get inelastic changes,
13:09 decrease complaints of that blood vessel
13:12 we called that hardening of the artery and that
13:15 takes years, right, and so while we may drop
13:19 cholesterol levels in a short time.
13:22 There is vascular changes take time to
13:25 remodeled, right, right, but thank the Lord
13:27 they can be remodeled, amen,
13:29 given a good lifestyle. And I'm glad you brought
13:31 that out because I remember a lady that
13:33 came to our lifestyle center,
13:34 she was in her 70's and she had 90 percent
13:39 blockage in one of her arteries.
13:40 In fact the doctors sent her home to die,
13:43 gave her three months to live and
13:46 she didn't wanna die, she decided she would do
13:48 something about it. And she came to Wildwood,
13:51 follow the program and in a matter of
13:54 three month she wasn't at Wildwood for three months,
13:57 she just was there I think about 18 days.
14:00 And in the matter of three months she went
14:02 back to see her physician and she had
14:05 total clean arteries. Amen. After being
14:08 90 percent blocked and she's still alive today
14:10 years later, so we do see that miracle
14:14 was even take place when we do make
14:17 that decision and we do cooperate with
14:19 God's plan, although some it's a little harder
14:21 isn't that for others? But you remember Lee
14:24 that these types of miracle changes that
14:29 you're talking about were first demonstrated
14:32 by Dr. Ornish back in the early 90's, right.
14:35 And when people begin to follow you know
14:39 a more of a plant base dietary, when they begin
14:44 to exercise, lose weight all of these things.
14:48 He studied those patients with angina
14:50 and coronary blockages at one point
14:53 and a year later he went back and studied them
14:56 and those plagues and those changes were
14:58 already starting to reverse.
15:00 It's interesting you should bring that up,
15:01 because just recently I saw an interview
15:04 with Bill Clinton, our previous President.
15:07 And he was so impressed by these studies
15:09 that he actually adopted a plant based diet
15:13 and he's following the program, it's amazing.
15:16 Now, you spoke of exercise,
15:18 could you elaborate as to what type of exercise
15:21 that you would recommend for someone
15:23 who has a problem with their arteries?
15:26 You remember not too many years ago we used
15:29 to talk about high intensity aerobic
15:32 exercise, to try to condition the heart,
15:36 but we've recognized that, that has been
15:39 actually dangerous for people. Because excessive
15:44 exercise at high intensity levels actually
15:48 promotes free radical production, damage,
15:52 it's Pro-arrhythmic so that persons who have
15:56 like coronary disease may actually be pushed
16:00 to develop ventricular tachycardia and
16:04 ventricular fibrillation, and that's when people
16:06 just pass out. Because they can't supply
16:09 the brain and the rest of the body with
16:11 enough blood, so what we now are
16:16 recommending in just the regular medical circles
16:21 are now low to moderate intensity exercising.
16:26 And for my patients I will recommend walking
16:30 as the best exercise, I believe that it is,
16:33 it exercises all the muscles and it doesn't
16:36 drive the body into this extreme of exercise.
16:43 But it provides the necessary changes in
16:47 coronary artery disease such as vessel dilation,
16:53 alright which you get, decrease in the
16:58 activation of the sympathetic nervous
17:01 system, so you get you know this relaxation,
17:03 a drop in pressure, a drop in that work
17:06 for the heart where you're stimulating
17:09 the heart too much with, with exercise.
17:13 So, the kinds of exercise are now that would
17:17 fall into that walking category also would be
17:20 just useful work, you know outdoors in the
17:23 fresh air. So, they don't have to go
17:25 to marathon, right. You know, it reminds me of a,
17:29 a gentlemen called Ben Levison,
17:31 he was in his early 90's he went to his physician.
17:34 He wasn't feeling too good and the physician
17:38 encouraged him, actually met a trainer,
17:41 that put him on a exercise program,
17:44 that he could be back to where he was in his 80's.
17:47 If he started on a good program and
17:50 would you believe the age of a 103,
17:52 he set the world record for shot-put over a 100.
17:56 Now, I didn't know how many competitors
17:57 he had but nevertheless he was a big improvement
18:01 to where he was. So, no matter what age we are,
18:03 we can make some improvement,
18:05 some gains towards improving arteries,
18:08 amen. So, never too late to start, okay, amen.
18:12 And what would you say would be the ideal
18:15 blood pressure that would be shooting for,
18:18 is there an ideal blood pressure.
18:21 Well, we used to think there was,
18:23 we would tell people that the ideal was around
18:26 you know 120/80 and I still think that's a good
18:30 blood pressure but we now have evidence
18:33 to suggest that whatever the pressure as,
18:38 as it begins to rise from that person's norm.
18:43 That there was an increased incidence
18:45 of vascular damage as one increases
18:49 and so now we are talking about pressures
18:54 that are like 130/85 as being not just normal
18:59 but we call it high normal where there
19:02 maybe associated increase risk for
19:04 vascular disease. And what about to our
19:08 blood pressure, is that also associative with
19:11 coronary artery disease? If we drop the
19:15 blood pressure too rapidly, lets say with
19:18 medications then you can precipitate problems
19:22 with blood flow to the heart muscle.
19:25 If the arteries are already abstracted,
19:28 so you have to be a little careful there
19:30 that you're not overshooting the mark
19:32 in trying to reduce blood pressure levels.
19:35 So, what would you suggest would be the most
19:38 effective ways to lower their blood pressure?
19:42 Well, we know that if we can get the person
19:46 to begin to exercise more with moderate
19:51 intensity to lose weight.
19:54 To start weighting their diet more toward
19:58 plant based foods, to get proper rest,
20:04 to try to reduce their schedule,
20:06 so that they're not so stressed, they're not
20:08 activating that sympathetic nervous system.
20:12 And then using a number of simple
20:16 either herbs, or supplements to help
20:19 lower the blood pressure, garlic, you know
20:22 hawthorn berry, those kinds of things simple
20:25 things that people can do at home will go along
20:29 way toward starting their reduction of that
20:33 hypertensive cycle. And let's talk a little bit
20:37 about sleep and its role with hypertension;
20:42 we know that, it's been a lot of studies
20:44 done at sleep. How much sleep is ideal,
20:47 even what time we should be going to bed?
20:49 What would you consider the, the best plan
20:51 as far as sleep goes? Well, we encourage
20:55 people to try to retire a little earlier,
20:57 what would that be like 10 O'Clock, 11 O'Clock?
21:01 No, not 11, it's a little late, I would suggest
21:05 more like about 9:30, 9:30, yeah, okay,
21:08 or 10 at the latest. And to try to get in
21:12 at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep,
21:17 and we know understand that in sleep physiology
21:21 that all of the repair hormones for the body
21:25 are released during the earlier hours of sleep
21:29 before midnight during deep, delta wave sleep.
21:34 Right, so we could be thinking we get
21:36 enough sleep, you maybe getting 7, 8 hours sleep,
21:40 but still if the sleep is at the wrong time
21:43 we could be missing out of this precious hormones,
21:46 it could be happening us to repair our body.
21:48 Growth hormone, melatonin those things,
21:51 sure, which could possibly elevate the
21:53 blood pressure the next day? The stresses.
21:56 I see okay, let's talk about water as well
22:00 and it's role in preventing the heart disease,
22:03 how much is you know the ideal amount for
22:07 consuming water? We usually recommend
22:09 anywhere from 6 to 8 glasses of pure soft
22:14 water a day, you talk of soft water
22:17 what are we talking about? Good water that
22:19 is not filled with a lot of the harsh chemicals.
22:23 Okay, just like calcium, right, chloride, iron
22:26 and those things. I see, yeah, okay,
22:28 so that can affect your arteries as well, sure.
22:30 Excess iron is a risk for coronary artery disease.
22:33 Okay, now is lifestyle a quick fix for
22:39 coronary artery disease, is it going to disappear in
22:42 a few days or you know does it usually take
22:46 a long time for changes to come?
22:49 Lee, I don't think that there is any quick fix
22:52 for any disease, you have to travel back
22:55 over that pathway that has led you
22:58 to this point, right, in reversal.
23:01 So, no I wouldn't say that there is a quick fix
23:05 but we do have encouraging information
23:10 from, you remember we talked earlier
23:12 about the Ornish study. And while he took
23:17 a year of treatment and then recath those
23:23 patients showing resolution of their
23:28 plagues or regression, what was interesting
23:32 is that it didn't take a year for the patients
23:35 to improve, within days to weeks,
23:39 their angina symptoms were disappearing,
23:42 exercise tolerance was increasing.
23:46 And so we can encourage people,
23:49 make those changes in lifestyle and you can
23:54 anticipate that soon. You're going to start
23:58 noticing the improvement, it may not be all back
24:00 to normal, right, but you're gonna be
24:02 benefiting, but you're on your way,
24:04 your own your way. So, even when we do
24:07 18 day programs at the Lifestyle Center,
24:10 we see that there is progress being made in,
24:15 in many times that. Even the medications
24:18 are lowered, someone says the blood pressure
24:21 is return back to normal, even just within a few
24:23 short days of following the healthy program.
24:26 Right and weight reduction with a good
24:29 dietary plan, okay let's talk about
24:31 weight reduction, what are some of the best
24:35 ways to lose weight without going into any
24:37 fat diets or you know magic pills,
24:40 let's just talk about some of the practical
24:43 simple things we can do on a day to day basis?
24:47 I would start with the foods that we eat in
24:52 terms of what kind, if we will weight over diet
24:55 more toward plant foods. We will have less calories,
25:01 because there is less of the fats
25:04 in the plant foods, we will have more fiber
25:08 so that we can eat less and feel more satisfied.
25:14 And then I would talk about the timing
25:18 of the meals, okay, when we eat.
25:20 So, it's important not just to eat two times
25:26 a day or three times a day but the actual
25:29 definite schedule time is that what you're saying.
25:31 Oh! It's very important that we have regularity
25:33 and for those that are over their ideal of weight,
25:37 they should really consider adopting
25:39 a two meal a day plan and trying to fast that
25:43 third meal. In our country here in America,
25:48 we usually start off with a very light breakfast,
25:52 maybe a larger lunch and by the time
25:54 we come home, a much larger meal.
25:58 But that is not the ideal for weight reduction,
26:03 because the calories that you put in later
26:05 in the day or in the evening you cannot burn,
26:09 you'll store though. So, the body says I've,
26:12 I've had enough, you fat cells can have everything.
26:15 That's right, that's right. Now, if you can give
26:18 just five principles, five of the biggest things
26:22 that people out there who are watching today
26:24 can do on a practical level at home without
26:27 much expense or little expense what would you
26:30 suggest to do? To reverse coronary disease
26:33 and to get on the right path I would begin
26:36 with the diet and I would suggest that a
26:39 person if you're taking in a fair amount of the
26:43 high fat animal foods, that you consider
26:47 prayerfully adopting plant based diet.
26:52 Looking at the weight, trying to reduce your
26:56 weight to ideal, this is a big risk factor for
26:59 coronary disease and adopting the plan that
27:06 we have mentioned about how to take that
27:09 weight off nicely. Increasing your exercise
27:13 program to where you're walking at least
27:17 20 to 30 minutes several times a day,
27:22 proper sleeping patterns, reducing your stress,
27:27 is that five. I think you covered more than
27:31 that and praying for the Lord's blessing.
27:32 Okay, thank you, thank you very much Dr. Grivas,
27:35 I hope this information has been a blessing to you.
27:39 You know God says in his word:
27:40 My people perish for a lack of knowledge,
27:43 you know we don't have to be another statistic
27:46 as we look at some of these simple principles
27:49 that you can implement into your life.
27:52 We can be encouraged that we could do a lot to
27:55 forward advances made in coronary artery disease.
27:59 My name is Lee Wellard, I hope you've enjoyed
28:01 today's program, please join us again
28:03 for another program of Wonderfully Made.


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Revised 2014-12-17