Is Reversal of Heart Disease Possible?

Heart disease kills around every third person in the Western world. As such it is worth giving much more attention to than comparatively rare causes of death such as shark attacks, lightning strikes and so on.

This short video, a collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and Medscape, discusses whether heart disease can be reversed.

In summary, the answer is a conditional yes. Calcified plaques are resistant to reversal but lipid or fatty plaques are more able to be regressed. And this occurs as LDL levels are lowered. At an LDL level of 80, about half of the patients experienced heart disease regression. When the LDL level was lowered to 60, then 90% of patients experienced reduction in the size of their lipid plaques. There is evidence that the optimal level of LDL may be 50 to 70; watch this excellent 4 minute video.

Smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress are all mentioned as causal factors as is inflammation. Foods discussed as being inflammatory include meats, processed foods and refined carbohydrates, whereas fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains are protective of the endothelial lining of blood vessels. If you are interested in the low-carb approach, then watching this 4 minute video will be time well spent.