Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Angina Doesn't Care If You Are Half-Right

Comment from one of our readers ...

I did find it interesting that your list of recommended
books did not include any by Ornish, McDougall and others.
But then I recognize that you stress the elimination of sugar
while the others stress the reduction of fats. It seems to
me to be different paths to the same place of greater health.

Mary Ann
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Discussion:

So much for genetics ...

My father had diabetes, my mother had diabetes and of course,
you would expect that at some point, I would have it . Some would
point to a "genetic" pre-disposition. I feel that it is much
more likely a "lifestyle" pre-disposition. I drank a lot of
cow's milk as a child and ate more than my share of "boxes of
24 Clark bars from the local Shell gas station."

The Eisenhower tunnel 1974

Driving through the Eisenhower tunnel in the fall of 1974 I
had this "unusual" pain in my chest. I thought to myself then
-could this be angina? January 1975 I would self-medicate
myself through a bad episode of bilateral pyelonephritis
(kidney infection). Fall 1990 on an attempted 20 mile run
around Lake Wawasee in Indiana, I would stop at twelve miles
due to severe chest pain into my left arm, relieved by rest.
That afternoon still feeling bad, I would sit and wonder
what they would do if I went to an emergency room. How
could this be angina? I was in year thirteen of a daily
running streak and had been vegan for all those years.
About three years later, circa spring 1993, I headed out for
a seven mile run from Broad Ripple in Indianapolis on the
beautiful canal path, only to have to stop in the first
half-mile. That is the first and last run I have ever had
to stop anytime in the first mile. I had severe chest
pain into my throat, left arm then right arm, then
the whole upper half of my body. This was accompanied by
some dizziness, disorientation and an extreme uneasiness.
I managed to run / walk another six miles. I would rest
for a while, let the pain subside, then run till it got
bad again, and then rest.

The answer ...

I would have to wait until July 5th, 1997, to get my answer.
On June 23 of that year I fell and broke the fifth metatarsal
in my right foot. I managed to run the next day, but it was
very painful. However, the fracture healed very rapidly.
While at work on Saturday July 5th, I had one of the
Radiology techs at St. Anthony's hospital take a film.
I was right about the fracture as I had suspected. Being
a Radiologist trained to look at the whole film, I as
usual, examined the whole film. I couldn't believe it when
I saw it. Atherosclerotic vascular calcification of the
Monckeberg variety (diabetes), in my right foot. I expected
to see that in films of other people, especially at VA
hospitals, but never in my own foot.

The last "six pack of Pepsi and late night box of Mike and Ikes" ...

That was the end of my "almost a six pack of Pepsi every day"
habit. That was my last late night box of Mike and Ikes. How
could this be happening to me, a running vegetarian. I had
been a great fan of Dr. Dean Ornish, the "black sheep"
Cardiologist who now is not quite such a black sheep, who
advocated a low fat vegetarian diet to reverse heart disease.
I pulled his book out of my library and reread it and I
quote, "There is no proven relationship between sugar and
coronary artery disease." Something here is not quite right.

Sudden death from "heart attack" in diabetics

I remember from my medical school days the old adage that
"approximately 50% of all people dying with their first
heart attack with no prior history of coronary disease,
would turn out to have adult onset diabetes mellitus." How
can you explain that the days after my anginal episodes
I would run normally with no angina as I still do "mostly"
in the 26th year of my running streak? Significant
obstruction of any of the major coronary vessels would
not go away the next day. Why do so many people with diabetes
die with unexpected and undiagnosed coronary disease?

Coronary arteries and arterioles

Coronary artery disease that we talk about is usually that
which we can diagnose. To make the diagnosis, contrast is
injected into the coronary arteries and then rapid sequence
images are obtained. However, modern imaging techniques
can only measure the larger vessels. To date, there is no
way to image the extremely small vessels (arterioles) where
the oxygen and nutrient transport takes place. There are
basically two types of atherosclerotic changes. Those that
occur around areas of normal turbulence, ie wherever an
artery bifurcates, there will be some turbulence from
boundary layer separation. I associate that type of change
with animal protein and fat ingestion. Then there is the sugar
induced calcification that involves the entire artery. It
is systemic and generally speaking if you have it anywhere
-you have it everywhere.

Stiff pipes ...

What does the calcification of the arteries and arterioles
do? It causes the artery or arteriole to become stiff,
rigid and "non-compliant." This becomes a rather significant
problem whenever one ingests a large fat load, especially
some of the bad fat loads that are out there today. The
normally compliant arteriole can expand to let the larger
fat molecules pass. The stiff, diabetic and non-compliant
arteriole cannot accommodate the larger fat molecule and
voila ... it becomes blocked. Does this cause angina?
You bet! It blocks oxygen and nutrient transport
as surely as a permanent lesion in one of the larger
arteries proximal to the arteriolar level. There is however,
one major difference -once the fat clears, if you survive,
the blockage can be gone.

Don't be "half-right" ...

Before my first severe episode of angina I had eaten some
fat (olive oil on toast) that I had never had before. About
twelve miles into that run I had severe angina. The day before
the worst episode in Broad Ripple, I had eaten a vegan scone
in Bloomington, that was loaded with all kinds of bad fats.
Most diabetics who die with their first heart attack usually
have eaten a big meal, just before the heart attack occurs.
Dr. Ornish is definitely right about eating low fat.
But, that is only half of the equation. The other and
very much the larger half, is NO SUGAR -PERIOD.

The MericleDiet and sugar ...

The MericleDiet is the only "Sugarfree" diet plan today. The
integrated system to cook once a week or so, maintain a
refrigerator stocked full of everything from complex
carbohydrates like rice and potatoes to lower glycemic
index foods like beans and salads, makes it easy to transition
away from all the ubiquitous "sugars and sugar substitutes"
that are in almost all processed and packaged foods. Also,
the MericleDiet is the only diet that is 100% Organic. I
had to make it sugar free for myself, vegan to reduce the
risk of cancer and organic to find any real nutrition.

Use Stevia, if you must have sweet ...

For those of you who have been on this list for some time you
already know about Stevia. Stevia is a naturally occurring
sweetener that has also been demonstrated to lower blood
pressure. For more information click on the link below.

For More Information on Stevia

To Visit Carol Bond Health Foods For Stevia(Stevita on her site)

Thanks for your time.

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