Congestive Heart Failure

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Congestive Heart Failure

 

Congestive Heart

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In an average lifetime, your heart will beat two and a

half BILLION times.

 

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the end product of

any of a number of cardiovascular diseases that can

degrade the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently.

Much has been written on diagnosing congestive heart

failure but rather less is known about treating it.

This is because broken hearts are tough to fix. A

diagnosis of CHF means that it is too late for

nutritional prevention. The horse is long gone by the

time most people decide to shut the stable door. But

nutritional intervention can still greatly help a

damaged heart.

 

In the past, drugs such as digitalis or one of its ilk

were often given to strengthen and to some extent

regulate heartbeat. Vasodilators (blood vessel opening

drugs) are given to improve cardiac output and relieve

backed-up blood from blood vessels throughout the

body, especially in the lungs. Fluid buildup (edema)

is commonly treated with diuretic drugs.

 

It may be possible to naturally augment, or perhaps

substitute for, these pharmaceutical drugs.

 

Vitamin E

One of the body’s most powerful defenses against free

radical damage is the antioxidant vitamin E. The

natural form, d-alpha tocopherol, can also be

cautiously used to strengthen and regulate heartbeat.

An initial dose of vitamin E would be only about 50

International Units (I.U.) daily. This is roughly

equivalent to 50 milligrams (mg). To avoid any

possible risks of an asymmetric heart contraction,

patients with congestive heart failure need to start

small with vitamin E. Doses may be gradually

increased under medical supervision. For additional

information, it is most worthwhile read any books by

Drs. Wilfrid or Evan Shute

( http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_shute.html ).

If their books are hard to find, try an interlibrary

loan at any public library.

 

Thiamin

Some congestive heart failure is actually caused by

thiamin (vitamin B-1) deficiency. 25 to 50 mg with

each meal might be worth a therapeutic trial. I think

a thiamin-containing 50 mg " balanced B-complex " tablet

each meal would be even better.

 

Common Sense

No added salt. No alcohol. No smoking. If overweight,

lose it. No kidding.

 

Herbal Diuretics

It may be possible to use herbal medicines to reduce

swelling due to retained fluids. There are no fewer

than 180 herbs with diuretic properties listed just on

pages 53-54 of John Lust’s The Herb Book. (NY:Bantam.

1974. ISBN 0-553-13082-X). I am not suggesting that

you take 180 herbs. I am suggesting that you read up

on your options before committing yourself only to

drugs.

 

Selenium

Selenium deficiency can cause a congestive heart

disease called Keshan disease. 100 to 300 micrograms

(mcg) of selenium daily would insure against this. In

addition, selenium works to help your body recharge

and efficiently reuse its vitamin E.

 

Magnesium

The role of magnesium in normal heart function is

tremendous. Profound magnesium deficiency causes

muscles to underfunction, malfunction or not function

at all. Several hundred of your body’s most important

biochemical reactions depend on this mineral. " The

synthesis of all proteins, vital cell nuclear

materials 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) Even

most, ah, " healthy " adults fail to get the US RDA of

magnesium, which ranges from 280 to 400 mg for adults.

These figures are elemental weights: just the corn,

not the can. Most magnesium supplements are compounds

of magnesium with something else. The weight of the

" something else " is often obscured in dosage

recommendations. That is why Melvyn Werbach, M.D.

cites studies that advocate daily dosages of 2,000 mg

of magnesium per day for CHF. (Textbook of Nutritional

Medicine. Tarzana, CA:Third Line Press, 1999, pp 273

and 275.) The elemental quantity is significantly

lower than that. Green vegetables and whole grains

contain quite a bit of magnesium. Pinto beans,

almonds, and especially figs are oustanding food

sources.

 

Of the oral supplements, magnesium aspartate or

magnesium orotate may have the best chance of getting

into cardiac muscle cells. These forms of magnesium

are rarely found on store shelves. Your doctor may be

able to have them compounded for you by a cooperative

pharmacist, or you might find them with an internet

search. Intravenous administration of magnesium may

be necessary in more serious cases of congestive heart

failure. Have a test ordered to check serum

magnesium. Most doctors don’t. It is even better to

check myocardial magnesium (Textbook, p 275). This is

because the amount of magnesium in the heart muscle

cells may be considerably lower than in the blood.

 

A great deal of information about magnesium will be

found at

http://www.mgwater.com and in the work of Dr. Hans

Nieper, M.D.

(listed at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_nieper.html ).

 

Potassium

Potassium deficiency is associated with congestive

heart failure, and is connected with magnesium

deficiency, mentioned above. Low potassium can cause

erratic heartbeat (heart arrhythmia). A non-technical

way of increasing dietary potassium is to eat lots of

easy to digest fruits, and juiced vegetables. They

are loaded with potassium. Nuts, whole grains and

legumes (beans) are good, too. 4 ounces of almonds

contains a whopping 800 mg. Brazil nuts have almost

as much.

 

Co-Enzyme Q10. This is very important.

One of the best things about Co-Enzyme Q 10 is that it

is harmless, having no negative side effects or

contraindications of any kind. No physician or

hospital can make a case against taking it. The down

side is that it is pricey. But then, so are heart

transplants. Clinical studies and patient reports

that show success with Co Q 10 usually use somewhere

around 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 they

were waiting for a heart transplant. After taking

CoQ10, they no longer needed a transplant. " Jullian

Whitaker, M.D. (Health & Healing, December 1997.

http://www.drwhitaker.com )

 

If there is higher praise than this, I have not yet

seen it.

 

Amino Acids

As a rule, I am in favor of getting amino acids from

protein foods in ones diet. With really sick people,

a case can be made for amino acid supplementation. In

Werbach's Textbook of Nutritional Medicine, the case

is indeed well made.

 

Dr. Werbach recommends L-Arginine at a daily dose

somewhere between 5,600 and 12,600 mg because it

" causes peripheral vasodilation and improves cardiac

output. " (p 273). The benefit to patients was an

increase in " the distance they could walk in 6

minutes, 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 good

food sources. Peanuts are absolutely loaded with

arginine, containing three times as much as meat does.

You’d need to consume roughly a twelve-ounce can of

peanuts a day to get in the middle of the dose

mentioned above. Chew nuts well for best absorption.

That, or consider supplements. Or do both.

 

Taurine is an amino acid normally made in your body

from another amino acid, methionine. Methionine is

found in eggs, cheese, beans, nuts, and whole grains.

Brazil nuts have over twice as much methionine as

meat, ounce for ounce. Extreme stresses to the body

(hospital food, perhaps?) can cause taurine

deficiency. (Desai TK et al. Taurine deficiency after

intensive chemotherapy and/or radiation. American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 55:708, 1991.) Taurine

appears to help regulate heartbeat. Dr. Werbach

mentions a doseage of 4,000 to 6,000 mg/day.

 

The amino acid L-Carnitine is also made in your body

IF (and, to quote Ed Sullivan, this is a " really big "

IF) you consume plenty of methionine, lysine, vitamin

B-6 (pyridoxine), niacin, and vitamin C. (Iron is

also necessary; adult men do not need to seek after

iron.) Most people, especially the elderly with

chronic illness, do not get nearly enough of those

three vitamins. This study recommends 2,000 mg of

L-carnitine daily, specifically for CHF: Ghidini O,

Azzurro M, Vita A, Sartori G. (1988) Evaluation of the

therapeutic efficacy of L-carnitine in congestive

heart failure. International Journal of Clinical

Pharmacology, Therapy and Toxicology 26: 217-220.

 

Large amounts of supplemental Creatine, still another

amino acid that your body normally produces, may help

strengthen heartbeat. As creatine phosphate, it is

involved in supplying energy to power muscle tissue,

especially cardiac muscle. Dr.Werbach cites studies

that indicate that persons with CHF have a deficiency

of creatine in the heart muscle itself, and that daily

doses of 20,000 mg/day " improve cardiac function…

physical strength and endurance. " (Textbook of

Nutritional Medicine, p 276)

 

All quantities mentioned above should be divided up

into several smaller doses throughout the day. I would

add vitamin C, about 4,000 to 10,000/day (or to bowel

tolerance) both because of its antioxidant properties

and also because of its role in amino acid synthesis.

I also suspect that since the heart prefers fatty

acids for fuel, a long-standing deficiency of

essential fatty acids causes deterioration of heart

muscle. Lecithin, fish, and primrose oil are sources

of essential fatty acids.

http://www.doctoryourself.com/lecithin.html

 

If these natural options do not speak strongly enough

to you, bear in mind that

 

1) there is no drug cure for congestive heart failure;

and

 

2) the pharmaceutical drugs given in an attempt to

cope with the condition have many side effects; and

 

3) the excerpt (below) from an article by the National

Institutes of Health is quite depressing. When you’ve

finished reading it, you may want to read the above

information once again. Brace yourself; here we go:

 

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

National Institutes of Health Data Fact Sheet:

Congestive Heart Failure in the United States: A New

Epidemic

 

An estimated 4.8 million Americans have congestive

heart failure (CHF)… Half of the patients diagnosed

with CHF will be dead within 5 years. Each year, there

are an estimated 400,000 new cases.

 

CHF is the… most common diagnosis in hospital patients

age 65 years and older. In that age group, one fifth

of all hospitalizations have a primary or secondary

diagnosis of heart failure.

 

Visits to physicians' offices for CHF increased from

1.7 million in 1980 to 2.9 million in 1993. More than

65,000 persons with CHF receive home care each year.

In 1993, an estimated $17.8 billion was spent for the

care of CHF patients…

 

The magnitude of the problem of CHF is large now, but

it is expected to get much worse…

 

Incidence of CHF is equally frequent in men and women,

and annual incidence approaches 10 per 1,000

population after 65 years of age. Incidence is twice

as common in persons with hypertension compared with

normotensive persons and five times greater in persons

who have had a heart attack compared to persons who

have not…

 

Survival following diagnosis of congestive heart

failure is worse in men than women, but even in women,

only about 20 percent survive much longer than 8 to 12

years. The outlook is not much better than for most

forms of cancer. The fatality rate for CHF is high,

with one in five persons dying within 1 year… CHF

remains a highly lethal condition. With the use of

angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors as a

possible exception, advances in the treatment of

hypertension, myocardial ischemia, and valvular heart

disease have not resulted in substantial improvements

in survival once CHF ensues.

 

The death rate for congestive heart failure increased

most years between 1968 and 1993. These increases are

in contrast to mortality declines for most heart and

blood vessel diseases. In 1993, there were 42,000

deaths where CHF was identified as the primary cause

of death and another 219,000 deaths where it was

listed as a secondary cause on the death certificate.

The death rate for CHF in 1993 was nearly 1.5 times

higher in black men and women than in white men and

women).

 

(An ideal) drug (to cure CHF) might improve the

heart's pumping ability, open clogged arteries, and

prevent tissue damage from free radicals, a byproduct

of the body's metabolic processes. Free radicals are

thought to contribute to the development of

atherosclerosis.

 

Investigations also are being done to improve heart

transplantation for CHF patients. In some cases, a

heart transplant is the only possible treatment.

However, such patients face a shortage of donor

hearts. A possible solution to this critical shortage

may be the use of a heart from other animals. Called

xenotransplantation, this procedure once was made

difficult because of the rejection of the heart by the

CHF patient's immune system. However, new technologies

have been forged that can overcome such a barrier. For

example, scientists have been able to alter genes in

the heart of a pig to diminish the immune system

reaction in a baboon. Scientists still need to

discover how to turn such genes on and off to prevent

human rejection.

 

(The full text of this article, with graphs and

charts, is posted at

 

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/CHF.htm

)

 

September 1996

U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, Public Health

Service

National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung,

and Blood Institute

P.O. Box 30105, Bethesda, MD 20824-0105

(301) 592-8573

 

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You can see why I get a lot of letters asking about

natural treatment for congestive heart failure. Most

people appear to have found very little reason to

believe that there are serious options for persons

with this serious disease.

But there are. Back to the top of the page?

 

 

Copyright 2001 and prior years by Andrew Saul, Number

8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470 USA

Telephone (585) 638-5357