Heart disease doesn’t get much news coverage unless someone famous dies of it.  We don’t wear pink ribbons to bring awareness to it either, but heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the western world.

You can have advanced heart disease and be unaware of it.  The first sign of heart disease many times is a heart attack.

Heart Attack is a major cause of heart failure!

Some treatments for heart disease actually contribute to heart failure!

The hundreds of patients that I saw over a decade rarely made significant changes in diet and lifestyle before being prescribed drugs, and soon after started experiencing side effects from those drugs.

Many of them had surgery as well.

Much quality of life is lost when health building efforts are abandoned for harsh drugs and traumatic surgeries.

When your heart disease advances and symptoms of heart failure show themselves, you lose valuable time if you don’t recognize and treat them.

John was a patient I cared for a few years ago.

He was amazed that he had received a diagnosis of asthma.

“I thought asthma was a child-hood disease.”

Right away I noticed John’s pale color, and swollen ankles.  So I checked his oxygen level right away.

John’s oxygen saturation was 87% when he answered his front door.  He only walked 10 paces and sat in his favorite chair, but it was several minutes before his oxygen level returned to a safe 92%.

As soon as John caught his breath, he insisted on showing me his prized orchid collection.  He took me through a beautiful garden with shades of orchids I had never seen before!

We exited the back of the garden, where he introduced me to the most charming and charismatic flock of birds I had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

By this time I was becoming concerned about John’s labored breathing and pale color, and I had to argue with him to let me pull out his oxygen machine.  By the time I plugged it in and put him on it, John’s oxygen level was 82%.

As soon as his color returned, John removed the oxygen, and insisted on pushing it back into it’s corner, even though he was gasping by the time he made his way back to his chair.

I gave John my speech about protecting his heart muscle and his quality of life by making sure that his oxygen level was never below 92%.

“My doctor said my heart is fine!” insisted John.

“I am just concerned about your oxygen level when you are caring for your garden and your birds,” I explained.  “If you use oxygen, that activity would be good for you, but without oxygen, you will stress and weaken your heart muscle.”

John smiled and patted me on the back.

“I just had an EKG and my heart is fine, please don’t worry about me.”

“Promise me that you won’t exert yourself, without oxygen?” I plead with him.

He went to patting my back again, “oh don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine,” he said as he lead me to the door.

I couldn’t reach John for a second appointment for more than 10 months, and when I finally caught up with him he had just returned from the Mayo Clinic where he sought help for his “recurring pneumonia”.  It was there that he received his heart failure diagnosis.

John was very angry, not at all the same person I had met 10 months earlier.

“The medical people on this island are terrible!”  he almost shouted at me.  “I had to go all the way to California to find out that my heart has been damaged and it is too late to do anything about it!”

I was a little taken back, but tried to calm him down.  Though I reminded him that I had expressed concern for his heart when I had given him instructions to use oxygen        during my last visit, he seemed to have no memory of that conversation.

“No one ever told me about my heart!” he seethed between clenched teeth.

So I did my best to tell him what he COULD do to regain and protect his quality of life, but he was just too angry to listen.  John just couldn’t get past his resentment so that he could find a positive place to begin making the changes he needed to make.

John was on a slippery slope until his death.

I have always felt that his anger and resentment did him in.

John had plenty of good years left.

____________

So, if heart disease CAN lead to heart failure,

(the devestating and irreversible enlarging of the heart muscle)

You NEED to educate yourself on the diet and lifestyle changes you must make to protect your heart TODAY!

______________

Where should you get that education?

Good question, because if you listen to the organizations chasing the almighty dollar, they will give you minimal materials and support on diet and lifestyle before they lead you down a dangerous path of drugs and surgery.

Stay tuned right here for many discussions about the draw backs of drugs and surgery.  They are NOT for everyone, and we will be discussing alternatives that are much more likely to allow you to live your life to the fullest.

The American Heart Association released a statement in January of this year stating that they had reached their goal of reducing the number of deaths from coronary heart disease.

They go on to say “we are pleased with the progress this new data shows, but we know we can do much more”.

They also have a report on their site boasting that drugs and surgical procedures had reduced the number of deaths from “acute heart failure”.

Nowhere on their site could I find anything about the CLIMBING death toll for Heart Failure!

They do talk about the need to reduce risk factors, and they say “we must make it a priority to institute lifestyle and behavior changes”.

Yet on their site drugs and surgery get all the attention.  Diet and lifestyle are mentioned briefly here and there without much detail, though information about drugs amounts to commercial promotion.

Did you know that The American Heart Association claims to have invested over $543 million in research, professional and public education, advocacy and community service programs to help all Americans live longer, healthier lives.

Where did this money go?

Are they supplementing food bank programs with fresh whole food?  NO.

Are they doing all they can to educate and support us to make diet and lifestyle changes?  NO

They are not even warning us that Heart Failure is on the rise!  They are claiming victory and watering down the message that change is necessary!  WHY?

We need to hold this organization accountable or STOP giving them our money.

With $543 million dollars, Heart Failure Solutions and our ethical partners would make the effort to reduce heart disease palpable in EVERY community!

Is there similar waste going on in other organizations that we support?

Check out any organization organization before you donate!

Consider contributing to Heart Failure Solutions.  Your money and/or your time will be well spent.

Many blessings,

Carrie

PS– Remember everyday:

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1. Relax and Release tension
2. Take deeep breaths
3. Be active in a way that adds joy to your life

Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter

Tags: anemia, arrhythmia, arthritis, cardiomyopathy, chest pain, concentration problems, congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure, cough, diabetes, emotional distress, fatigue, heart attack, heart disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism, inability to sleep unless propped up, low oxygen level, lung disease, lupus, retaining fluid, shortness of breath, sleep apnea, smoking, swelling, technorati, tiredness, waking up breathless at night, weakness, weight gain