Fwd: Congestive Heart Failure

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http://www.doctoryourself.com/congestive.htmlCongestive Heart FailureCongestive Heart HomeIn an average lifetime, your heart will beat two and ahalf BILLION times. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the end product ofany of a number of cardiovascular diseases that candegrade the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently.Much has been written on diagnosing congestive heartfailure but rather less is known about treating it. This is because broken hearts are tough to fix. Adiagnosis of CHF means that it is too late fornutritional prevention. The horse is long gone by thetime most people decide to shut the stable door. Butnutritional intervention can still greatly help adamaged heart.In the past, drugs such as digitalis or one of its ilkwere often given to strengthen and to some extentregulate heartbeat. Vasodilators (blood vessel openingdrugs) are given to improve cardiac

output and relievebacked-up blood from blood vessels throughout thebody, especially in the lungs. Fluid buildup (edema)is commonly treated with diuretic drugs. It may be possible to naturally augment, or perhapssubstitute for, these pharmaceutical drugs.Vitamin EOne of the body’s most powerful defenses against freeradical damage is the antioxidant vitamin E. Thenatural form, d-alpha tocopherol, can also becautiously used to strengthen and regulate heartbeat. An initial dose of vitamin E would be only about 50International Units (I.U.) daily. This is roughlyequivalent to 50 milligrams (mg). To avoid anypossible risks of an asymmetric heart contraction,patients with congestive heart failure need to startsmall with vitamin E. Doses may be graduallyincreased under medical supervision. For additionalinformation, it is most worthwhile read any books byDrs. Wilfrid or Evan Shute(

http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_shute.html ).If their books are hard to find, try an interlibraryloan at any public library.ThiaminSome congestive heart failure is actually caused bythiamin (vitamin B-1) deficiency. 25 to 50 mg witheach meal might be worth a therapeutic trial. I thinka thiamin-containing 50 mg "balanced B-complex" tableteach meal would be even better.Common SenseNo added salt. No alcohol. No smoking. If overweight,lose it. No kidding.Herbal DiureticsIt may be possible to use herbal medicines to reduceswelling due to retained fluids. There are no fewerthan 180 herbs with diuretic properties listed just onpages 53-54 of John Lust’s The Herb Book. (NY:Bantam.1974. ISBN 0-553-13082-X). I am not suggesting thatyou take 180 herbs. I am suggesting that you read upon your options before committing yourself only todrugs.SeleniumSelenium deficiency can cause a

congestive heartdisease called Keshan disease. 100 to 300 micrograms(mcg) of selenium daily would insure against this. Inaddition, selenium works to help your body rechargeand efficiently reuse its vitamin E. MagnesiumThe role of magnesium in normal heart function istremendous. Profound magnesium deficiency causesmuscles to underfunction, malfunction or not functionat all. Several hundred of your body’s most importantbiochemical reactions depend on this mineral. "Thesynthesis of all proteins, vital cell nuclearmaterials such as nucleic acids and nucleotides,lipids, and carbohydrates require ionized magnesium(Mg ++)." (Williams, SR Nutrition and Diet Therapy,Seventh Ed, St. Louis: Mosby, 1993, pp 230-233) Evenmost, ah, "healthy" adults fail to get the US RDA ofmagnesium, which ranges from 280 to 400 mg for adults.These figures are elemental weights: just the corn,not the can. Most magnesium supplements

are compoundsof magnesium with something else. The weight of the"something else" is often obscured in dosagerecommendations. That is why Melvyn Werbach, M.D.cites studies that advocate daily dosages of 2,000 mgof magnesium per day for CHF. (Textbook of NutritionalMedicine. Tarzana, CA:Third Line Press, 1999, pp 273and 275.) The elemental quantity is significantlylower than that. Green vegetables and whole grainscontain quite a bit of magnesium. Pinto beans,almonds, and especially figs are oustanding foodsources.Of the oral supplements, magnesium aspartate ormagnesium orotate may have the best chance of gettinginto cardiac muscle cells. These forms of magnesiumare rarely found on store shelves. Your doctor may beable to have them compounded for you by a cooperativepharmacist, or you might find them with an internetsearch. Intravenous administration of magnesium maybe necessary in more serious cases of

congestive heartfailure. Have a test ordered to check serummagnesium. Most doctors don’t. It is even better tocheck myocardial magnesium (Textbook, p 275). This isbecause the amount of magnesium in the heart musclecells may be considerably lower than in the blood.A great deal of information about magnesium will befound at http://www.mgwater.com and in the work of Dr. HansNieper, M.D. (listed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_nieper.html ).PotassiumPotassium deficiency is associated with congestiveheart failure, and is connected with magnesiumdeficiency, mentioned above. Low potassium can causeerratic heartbeat (heart arrhythmia). A non-technicalway of increasing dietary potassium is to eat lots ofeasy to digest fruits, and juiced vegetables. Theyare loaded with potassium. Nuts, whole grains andlegumes (beans) are good, too. 4 ounces of almondscontains a whopping 800 mg. Brazil nuts have

almostas much. Co-Enzyme Q10. This is very important. One of the best things about Co-Enzyme Q 10 is that itis harmless, having no negative side effects orcontraindications of any kind. No physician orhospital can make a case against taking it. The downside is that it is pricey. But then, so are hearttransplants. Clinical studies and patient reportsthat show success with Co Q 10 usually use somewherearound 400 mg a day, divided into several doses.35mg/day or 50 mg/day simply will not work."I have had patients with such severe CHF that theywere waiting for a heart transplant. After takingCoQ10, they no longer needed a transplant." JullianWhitaker, M.D. (Health & Healing, December 1997. http://www.drwhitaker.com ) If there is higher praise than this, I have not yetseen it.Amino AcidsAs a rule, I am in favor of getting amino acids fromprotein foods in ones diet. With really sick

people,a case can be made for amino acid supplementation. InWerbach's Textbook of Nutritional Medicine, the caseis indeed well made.Dr. Werbach recommends L-Arginine at a daily dosesomewhere between 5,600 and 12,600 mg because it"causes peripheral vasodilation and improves cardiacoutput." (p 273). The benefit to patients was anincrease in "the distance they could walk in 6minutes, and the rate of blood flow during exercise."Arginine is normally considered by dieticians to be a"semiessential" amino acid, necessary only for growth.It is possible that growth includes regrowth,strengthening, and repair of cardiac muscle. Eggs,cheese, whole grains, and legumes (beans) are goodfood sources. Peanuts are absolutely loaded witharginine, containing three times as much as meat does.You’d need to consume roughly a twelve-ounce can ofpeanuts a day to get in the middle of the dosementioned above. Chew nuts well for

best absorption.That, or consider supplements. Or do both.Taurine is an amino acid normally made in your bodyfrom another amino acid, methionine. Methionine isfound in eggs, cheese, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Brazil nuts have over twice as much methionine asmeat, ounce for ounce. Extreme stresses to the body(hospital food, perhaps?) can cause taurinedeficiency. (Desai TK et al. Taurine deficiency afterintensive chemotherapy and/or radiation. AmericanJournal of Clinical Nutrition. 55:708, 1991.) Taurineappears to help regulate heartbeat. Dr. Werbachmentions a doseage of 4,000 to 6,000 mg/day. The amino acid L-Carnitine is also made in your bodyIF (and, to quote Ed Sullivan, this is a "really big"IF) you consume plenty of methionine, lysine, vitaminB-6 (pyridoxine), niacin, and vitamin C. (Iron isalso necessary; adult men do not need to seek afteriron.) Most people, especially the elderly

withchronic illness, do not get nearly enough of thosethree vitamins. This study recommends 2,000 mg ofL-carnitine daily, specifically for CHF: Ghidini O,Azzurro M, Vita A, Sartori G. (1988) Evaluation of thetherapeutic efficacy of L-carnitine in congestiveheart failure. International Journal of ClinicalPharmacology, Therapy and Toxicology 26: 217-220. Large amounts of supplemental Creatine, still anotheramino acid that your body normally produces, may helpstrengthen heartbeat. As creatine phosphate, it isinvolved in supplying energy to power muscle tissue,especially cardiac muscle. Dr.Werbach cites studiesthat indicate that persons with CHF have a deficiencyof creatine in the heart muscle itself, and that dailydoses of 20,000 mg/day "improve cardiac function…physical strength and endurance." (Textbook ofNutritional Medicine, p 276)All quantities mentioned above should be divided upinto several

smaller doses throughout the day. I wouldadd vitamin C, about 4,000 to 10,000/day (or to boweltolerance) both because of its antioxidant propertiesand also because of its role in amino acid synthesis. I also suspect that since the heart prefers fattyacids for fuel, a long-standing deficiency ofessential fatty acids causes deterioration of heartmuscle. Lecithin, fish, and primrose oil are sourcesof essential fatty acids.http://www.doctoryourself.com/lecithin.htmlIf these natural options do not speak strongly enoughto you, bear in mind that 1) there is no drug cure for congestive heart failure;and 2) the pharmaceutical drugs given in an attempt tocope with the condition have many side effects; and3) the excerpt (below) from an article by the NationalInstitutes of Health is quite depressing. When you’vefinished reading it, you may want to read the aboveinformation once again. Brace yourself;

here we go:National Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteNational Institutes of Health Data Fact Sheet:Congestive Heart Failure in the United States: A NewEpidemicAn estimated 4.8 million Americans have congestiveheart failure (CHF)… Half of the patients diagnosedwith CHF will be dead within 5 years. Each year, thereare an estimated 400,000 new cases. CHF is the… most common diagnosis in hospital patientsage 65 years and older. In that age group, one fifthof all hospitalizations have a primary or secondarydiagnosis of heart failure. Visits to physicians' offices for CHF increased from1.7 million in 1980 to 2.9 million in 1993. More than65,000 persons with CHF receive home care each year.In 1993, an estimated $17.8 billion was spent for thecare of CHF patients… The magnitude of the problem of CHF is large now, butit is expected to get much worse…Incidence of CHF is equally frequent in

men and women,and annual incidence approaches 10 per 1,000population after 65 years of age. Incidence is twiceas common in persons with hypertension compared withnormotensive persons and five times greater in personswho have had a heart attack compared to persons whohave not… Survival following diagnosis of congestive heartfailure is worse in men than women, but even in women,only about 20 percent survive much longer than 8 to 12years. The outlook is not much better than for mostforms of cancer. The fatality rate for CHF is high,with one in five persons dying within 1 year… CHFremains a highly lethal condition. With the use ofangiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors as apossible exception, advances in the treatment ofhypertension, myocardial ischemia, and valvular heartdisease have not resulted in substantial improvementsin survival once CHF ensues. The death rate for congestive heart failure

increasedmost years between 1968 and 1993. These increases arein contrast to mortality declines for most heart andblood vessel diseases. In 1993, there were 42,000deaths where CHF was identified as the primary causeof death and another 219,000 deaths where it waslisted as a secondary cause on the death certificate.The death rate for CHF in 1993 was nearly 1.5 timeshigher in black men and women than in white men andwomen). (An ideal) drug (to cure CHF) might improve theheart's pumping ability, open clogged arteries, andprevent tissue damage from free radicals, a byproductof the body's metabolic processes. Free radicals arethought to contribute to the development ofatherosclerosis. Investigations also are being done to improve hearttransplantation for CHF patients. In some cases, aheart transplant is the only possible treatment.However, such patients face a shortage of donorhearts. A possible

solution to this critical shortagemay be the use of a heart from other animals. Calledxenotransplantation, this procedure once was madedifficult because of the rejection of the heart by theCHF patient's immune system. However, new technologieshave been forged that can overcome such a barrier. Forexample, scientists have been able to alter genes inthe heart of a pig to diminish the immune systemreaction in a baboon. Scientists still need todiscover how to turn such genes on and off to preventhuman rejection. (The full text of this article, with graphs andcharts, is posted athttp://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/CHF.htm)September 1996 U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, Public HealthServiceNational Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung,and Blood Institute P.O. Box 30105, Bethesda, MD 20824-0105(301) 592-8573 +++You can see why I get a lot of letters asking

aboutnatural treatment for congestive heart failure. Mostpeople appear to have found very little reason tobelieve that there are serious options for personswith this serious disease.But there are. Back to the top of the page?Copyright 2001 and prior years by Andrew Saul, Number8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470 USA Telephone (585) 638-5357