Participants: Lee Wellard & Dr. Scott Grivas
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. |
Revised 2014-12-17