Cutting the risk of sudden cardiac death

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Cutting the risk of sudden cardiac death

 

http://www.drsears.com/zonemondaydetailopen.member?zoneMondaysID=279

 

Heart disease remains the primary killer of Americans with more than

500,000 dying every year. Of that number, about 50 percent or

250,000 die from sudden cardiac death. This is when you grab your

chest and die on the spot. Of those 250,000, more than half have no

family history of heart disease or elevated cholesterol. It's as if

these 125,000 people were hit by a thunderbolt. That's four times

more than die from prostate cancer each year and three times more

than die from breast cancer on an annual basis. However, we know

that the underlying cause of sudden cardiac death is abnormal heart

rhythms. The heart is a synchronized muscle. If the rhythms get out

of sync, then the heart simply stops beating and you die.

 

New data appearing in the May 2007 issue of the American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition confirms that taking a lot of omega-3 fatty acids

dramatically reduces the time between the heart's electrical waves,

both reducing heart rate and also the risk of sudden cardiac death.

Other studies have indicated that if the total levels of EPA and DHA

combined in the blood are greater than 4 percent of the total fatty

acids (as measured by the AA/EPA test), then the risk of sudden

cardiac death is reduced by 70 percent. So if you want to reduce the

likelihood of sudden death, then take your fish oil. How much? You

will probably need up to 5 grams a day of EPA and DHA to get your

blood levels over the 4 percent threshold. That's a lot of fish oil,

but considering the alternative (i.e., sudden cardiac death) it's a

pretty reasonable insurance policy to take out.