Fuelling The Fire of Cardiovascular Diseases
Ending The Perpetual Prescription
If you came home to find that your kitchen was on fire, what would you do? Call the fire brigade to put
it out, right? If while they were fighting the fire, you were pouring petrol into the house what do you
think the end result would be? It would be an endless battle; the fire would never go out, simple!
Unfortunately this is the truth when it comes to Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), unless we stop
fuelling the fire we will eventually succumb to their effects.
CVD are the biggest killer in Ireland accounting for 33% of all deaths and High Blood Pressure and
Arterial Hardening are two of the primary causes. By 2020 The National Cardiovascular Health
Strategy estimates that 1.2 million people will have high blood pressure or hypertension. Current risk
estimation is based upon the measurement of peripheral blood pressure, cholesterol and family risk
scoring. Peripheral Blood Pressure testing is the regular test carried out by G.P’s, though a clinical
standard, it does not take into account Central Aortic Blood Pressure, the pressure of blood in your
bodies main artery (Aorta), which is now regarded as being more indicative of Cardiovascular (CV) risk
than peripheral blood pressure. No regard is given to increases in Arterial Stiffness, the precursor to
Arterial Plaque build-up which increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, aneurysm, dementia as well as
many other CVD conditions.
We have found that this figure may be grossly underestimated, in 2014 Heart Health Screening
conducted a pilot study on nearly 500 of our screening clients and found that of those with normal
peripheral blood pressure, 37% had elevated Central Blood Pressure, meaning that these people
are being told that they are healthy where in actual fact they have the same risk as someone
diagnosed with high blood pressure. Overall we found that 51% of people were at risk as a direct
result of high Central Blood Pressure. This means that right now in 2014 the figure of those at risk
from high blood pressure is likely to be closer to 2.3 million or 1.1 million higher than the National
Cardiovascular Health Strategy estimates by 2020. When we looked at Arterial Stiffness, which is not
tested routinely, we found that 57% of people had increased Arterial Stiffness meaning 2.6 million
people are at risk while routine testing completely ignores this area. The problem of CVD in Ireland is a
time bomb waiting to go off and without intervention now many people will continue to die
unnecessarily. These conditions are in the most part completely preventable and even some of the
most advanced conditions are reversible with correct intervention.
CVD is known as The Silent Killer because it develops unnoticed until symptoms surface, when they
do, people rush to their doctor and are shocked to hear that they have been diagnosed with
hypertension (high blood pressure), atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) or angina (pain from
blocked arteries), they become desperate for a solution, which often comes in the form or a
prescription to be filled each month. The unfortunate truth with CVD such as atherosclerosis is that
they are progressive, meaning that affected arteries will continue to build dangerous plaque, blood
pressure will continue to rise and risk of death will increase as each year goes by. So too will the
dosage of each medication, then comes surgical intervention from angioplasty to stents and onwards
to bypasses, surgeons will do their best to create a new route around the blockage or widen the
blocked artery, all the time the body is continuing to build up towards the next blockage. It is an
endless cycle, where will it end? The truth is that it won’t unless people change their lifestyle, and it is
surprisingly easy once you know what to!
So where does the fire come into the picture? To understand this we must look back a little further,
back to our childhood in some cases, we need to look at our life and what we have done to maintain
our health, our choices and the decisions we have made that bring us to the point of the perpetual
prescription. Many people give no regard for the foods they consume; yes they are aware of a healthy
For more information please contact us at 1850 807071 or email [email protected]
Fuelling The Fire of Cardiovascular Diseases
Ending The Perpetual Prescription
balanced diet, but for many a healthy diet is the same diet that they grew up with, they perceive this as
being a “Good” diet simply because of an ingrained perception they have about the quality of food on
the plate. If you take a beggar on the street, their perception of a good diet might be a consistent
supply of scraps from a generous restaurateur, it doesn't mean that the diet is good, it simply means
that how they feel about it, their perception of the meal, is good.
To understand fuelling the fire of cardiovascular disease the first area that we must address is diet, the
food we eat is meant to fuel our body to carry out vital processes and to give us energy -- right?-- well
that is in part true, the food we eat also fuels the disease that can consume our body and the choices
we make, and more importantly continue to make, will determine whether or not we will succumb to
these diseases by continually fuelling them or whether or not we can regain our health and our future
wellness. As Albert Einstein said “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different
result” is insanity. If we apply this to fuelling the fire of CVD, by making the same choices over and
over again, then while people continue to have the exact same bad habits as before they are, by
Einstein’s definition, insane.
Addressing the problem of CVD without the need for drugs or surgery is 100% possible and great
strides forward have been made by world renowned doctors such as Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Louis
Ignarro and Dr. Matthew Buddoff to name but a few. These eminent physicians advocate simple diet,
nutrient and lifestyle changes and they are successfully eliminating their patients CVD. Their patients
are no longer having heart attacks or strokes and their bodies actually begin to repair. Their risk levels
plummet! This can only happen when WE stop giving the disease the fuel it needs to survive!
We have embodied the approaches of these doctors in the Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program
offered by Heart Health Screening along with some other essential elements including, exercise,
hydration, toxin removal and inflammation reduction. When we identify a client at risk from the key
health markers we assess, Central Aortic Blood Pressure, Peripheral Blood Pressure, Arterial
Hardening and Heart Rhythm Irregularities they are offered the option to participate in our 90 Day
Challenge. This is a program that has been designed by us to reduce cardiovascular health risk by
eliminating the cause of the problem rather than trying to supress symptoms. It is about simple lifestyle
adjustments that are based upon evidence which takes away the fuel that CVD needs to progress. It
puts out the fire!
We have incredible success with this program with over 99% of our clients reducing the key
health markers we assess when they follow the information provided. It has been designed to be
easy to follow and implement into your daily life. The foods we recommend are the same foods that
you will see in your supermarket, however we will teach you about which foods will support rather than
undermine your health. Participants on this program are coached by a member of our team to help
them to understand how each element works and we provide on-going support to each participant. The
end result is that our client’s blood pressure decreases, their arteries become less hardened and their
risk of stroke, dementia, heart attack, aneurysm and many more cardiovascular conditions decreases.
We believe that by replacing bad habits with informed decisions everybody can take control of their
cardiovascular health and we are delighted to be working with The Contract Bridge Association of
Ireland to offer our service to their membership as part of our National Cardiovascular Health
Screening Program. To learn more about Heart Health Screening and the service we provide please
visit http://hearthealthscreening.com/cbai or call 1850 807071 for more information.
For more information please contact us at 1850 807071 or email [email protected]