Heart Health Doctor in Roswell, GA

Cardiovascular Disease develops when waxy plaque builds up inside the arteries carrying blood to and from the heart. It goes by several other names, coronary artery disease, coronary heart disease and arteriosclerotic heart disease among them.

So what causes Cardiovascular Disease, and what does that tell us about preventing it? Most cardiovascular problems trace back to raised inflammation levels. That matters, because inflammation sits underneath most chronic illness, and bringing it down puts the body in a state where healing becomes possible.

There are genuinely healthy options for anyone dealing with Cardiovascular Disease. Changing how you eat, lowering your stress and exercising regularly all bring inflammation down, which is what makes them useful for both treating and avoiding the disease.

Symptoms of Cardiovascular Disease

Not everyone with Cardiovascular Disease knows they have it, particularly in the early stages. Some symptoms are obvious. Others are faint or absent entirely, and a person can carry this illness for years without a clear sign. These are the symptoms that do show up:

Integrative Cardiology

At the Center of Natural Medical Solutions we take a broad, multidisciplinary approach to preventing heart disease and lowering risk, particularly for clients with a family history of it or an existing diagnosis of high cholesterol, diabetes or hypertension. The work complements standard medical therapy rather than replacing it. Dr. Ravello goes after the root of Cardiovascular Disease by changing diet and nutrition, running a food allergy test, and building a treatment plan that gives the body what it needs to repair itself. Call us today at (770) 674-6311 to schedule an appointment.

In March 2012 a study reported that both exercise and non-high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol are important predictors of subclinical atherosclerosis. Calcification in the coronary arteries is an early sign of coronary heart disease. As calcium deposits build into atherosclerotic plaque, the vessels feeding the heart narrow, and that plaque can rupture and form a clot capable of blocking blood flow to the heart.

The study followed 1,637 healthy men in the Prospective Army Coronary Calcium Project, average age 42.8 years, none with a history of coronary artery disease. Participants completed questionnaires covering diet and physical activity. Researchers measured fasting serum lipids, including HDL cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides and non-HDL cholesterol, which is simply total cholesterol minus HDL. They also measured coronary artery calcium to establish whether subclinical atherosclerosis was present.

Coronary artery calcium turned up in 22.4 percent of the men. Average LDL cholesterol came in at 128 mg/dL, HDL at 50 mg/dL, triglycerides at 130 mg/dL and non-HDL cholesterol at 154 mg/dL. Those with coronary artery calcium had markedly higher LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and non-HDL cholesterol, and they were less physically active than the men without calcium deposits. The data also pointed to a link between coronary artery calcium and both higher dietary fat intake and lower HDL cholesterol.

Once the data was adjusted for confounding factors, only non-HDL cholesterol and age stayed independently associated with the presence of coronary artery calcium, and only exercise was associated with its absence.

As the study authors put it, “Non-HDL cholesterol and exercise are independently predictive of the presence of subclinical coronary artery calcium among healthy lower-risk middle-aged men.”