Category Archives: coronary heart disease

March 14, 2014 · 6:34 AM

Your Oral Health May Help You Prevent Heart Disease

…according to an article at University Herald.

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The idea is that nasty bacteria around your gums somehow cause arterial inflammation in your heart arteries, which could lead to heart attacks. I’ve written about this before.

A quote from the article:

The researchers followed 420 adults as part of the Oral Infections and Vascular Disease Epidemiology Study (INVEST), a randomly sampled prospective cohort of Northern Manhattan residents. Participants were examined for periodontal infection. Overall, 5,008 plaque samples were taken from several teeth, beneath the gum, and analyzed for 11 bacterial strains linked to periodontal disease and seven control bacteria. Fluid around the gums was sampled to assess levels of Interleukin-1β, a marker of inflammation. Atherosclerosis in both carotid arteries was measured using high-resolution ultrasound.

Over a median follow-up period of three years, the researchers found that improvement in periodontal health-health of the gums-and a reduction in the proportion of specific bacteria linked to periodontal disease correlated to a slower intima-medial thickness (IMT) progression, and worsening periodontal infections paralleled the progression of IMT. Results were adjusted for potential confounders such as body mass index, cholesterol levels, diabetes, and smoking status.

Thickening of the arterial lining is linked to higher rates of heart attack and stroke.

It remains to be seen whether alteration of gum bacteria and periodontal disease via oral self-care and dental care will reduce cardiovascular risk going forward. Stay tuned.

Read more at http://www.universityherald.com/articles/5322/20131101/brushing-your-teeth-could-prevent-heart-disease.htm#rvx294vC7VKJ6Qu3.99

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November 10, 2013 · 4:30 PM

Worried About Future Heart Attack? Check Your LDL Cholesterol Particle Number (LDL-P)

…according to Drs. Thomas Dayspring and James Underberg. I don’t know if these guys are right or not. I bet it’s more complicated than simple LDL particle number.

Even if you eat lots of eggs, most of your cholesterol is made by your liver. That's where statin drugs work.

Even if you eat lots of eggs, most of your cholesterol is made by your liver. That’s where statin drugs work.

Most heart attacks (aka myocardial infarctions) do indeed seem to be caused by acute rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque that’s been present for years. Two key questions are:

  1. What causes the plaque?
  2. Why causes them to rupture?

Underberg and Dayspring write:

The only absolute requirement for plaque development is the presence of cholesterol in the artery: although there are additional heart risk factors like smoking, hypertension, obesity, family history, diabetes, kidney disease, etc., none of those need to be present. Unfortunately, measuring cholesterol in the blood, where it cannot cause plaque, until recently has been the standard of risk-testing. That belief was erroneous and we now have much better biomarkers to use for CV risk-assessment. The graveyard and coronary care units are filled with individuals whose pre-death cholesterol levels were perfect. We now understand that the major way cholesterol gets into the arteries is as a passenger, in protein-enwrapped particles, called lipoproteins.

Particle entry into the artery wall is driven by the amount of particles (particle number) not by how much cholesterol they contain. Coronary heart disease is very often found in those with normal total or LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the presence of a high LDL particle number (LDL-P). By far, the most common underlying condition that increases LDL particle concentration is insulin resistance, or prediabetes, a state where the body actually resists the action of the sugar controlling hormone insulin. This is the most common scenario where patients have significant heart attack risk with perfectly normal cholesterol levels. The good news is that we can easily fix this, sometimes without medication. The key to understanding how comes with the knowledge that the driving forces are dietary carbohydrates, especially fructose and high-fructose corn syrup. In the past, we’ve often been told that elimination of saturated fats from the diet would help solve the problem. That was bad advice. The fact is that until those predisposed to insulin resistance drastically reduce their carbohydrate intake, sudden deaths from coronary heart disease and the exploding diabetes epidemic will continue to prematurely kill those so afflicted.

***

And for goodness’ sake, if you want to live longer, start reducing the amount of dietary carbohydrates, including bread, potatoes, rice, soda and sweetened beverages (including fruit juices), cereal, candy – the list is large).

Underberg and Dayspring don’t mention don’t mention LDL particle size, such as small/dense and large/fluffy; the former are thought by many to be much more highly atherogenic. Is that outdated?

Whoever figures out the immediate cause of plaque rupture and how to reliably prevent it will win a Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Read the whole enchilada.

Steve Parker, M.D.

About Dayspring and Underberg:

Thomas Dayspring MD, FACP, FNLA   Director of Cardiovascular Education, The Foundation for Health Improvement and Technology, Richmond, VA. Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School.

James Underberg MD, FACP, FNLA   Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at NYU Medical School and the NYU Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention . Director of the Bellevue Hospital Primary Care Lipid Management Clinic.

h/t Dr. Axel Sigurdsson

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January 14, 2013 · 5:48 AM

Is Low-Carb Killing Swedish Women?

MPj04384870000[1]A recent Swedish study suggests that low-carbohydrate/high protein diets increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in women.  I’m not convinced, but will keep an eye on future developments.  This is a critical issue since many women eat low-carb/high protein for weight loss and management.

Researchers followed 43,000 women, 30-49 years of age at enrollment, over the course of 16 years.  In that span, they had 1270 cardiovascular events: ischemic heart disease (heart attacks and blocked heart arteries), strokes, subarachnoid hemorrhages,  and peripheral arterial disease.  Food consumption was estimated from a questionnaire filled out by study participants at the time of enrollment (and never repeated).

In practical terms, … a 20 gram decrease in daily carbohydrate intake and a 5 gram increase in daily protein intake would correspond to a 5% increase in the overall risk of cardiovascular disease.

So What?

To their credit, the researchers note that a similar analysis of the Women’s Health Study in the U.S. found no such linkage between cardiovascular disease and low-carb/high protein eating.

The results are questionably reliable since diet was only assessed once during the entire 16-year span.

I’m certain the investigators had access to overall death rates.  Why didn’t they bother to report those?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Even if low-carb/high protein eating increases the rate of cardiovascular events, it’s entirely possible that overall deaths could be lower, the same, or higher than average.  That’s important information.

I don’t want to get too far into the weeds here, but must point out that the type of carbohydrate consumed is probably important.  For instance, easily digested carbs that raise blood sugar higher than other carbs are associated with increased heart disease in women.  “Bad carbs” in this respect would be simple sugars and refined grains.

In a 2004 study, higher carbohydrate consumption was linked to progression of blocked heart arteries in postmenopausal women.

It’s complicated.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: I figure Swedish diet doctor Andreas Eenfeldt would have some great comments on this study, but can’t find them at his blog.

Reference: Lagiou, Pagona, et al.  Low carbohydrate-high protein diet and incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Swedish women: prospective cohort study.  British Medical Journal, June 26, 2012.  doi: 10.1136/bmj.e4026

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May 23, 2012 · 4:24 AM

Heart Disease Death Rates For Diabetics Falling Fast

MedPage Today on May 22, 2012, reported a dramatic drop in cardiovascular death rates for folks with diabetes:

The death rate from cardiovascular disease in U.S. adults with diabetes fell 40% from 1997 to 2004, CDC and NIH researchers said.

And that’s not all:

Additionally, all-cause mortality in diabetic participants dropped by 23% (95% CI 10% to 35%), Gregg and colleagues reported, from 20.3 to 15.1 per 1,000 person-years after adjusting for age.

The researchers identified several factors that likely account for the improved life expectancy for diabetic Americans.

Among them was the “steady improvements in quality and organization of care, self-management behaviors, and medical treatments, including pharmacological treatment of hyperlipidemia and hypertension,” Gregg and colleagues suggested.

The MedPage Today article didn’t define cardiovascular disease.  It typically includes heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, aortic aneurysms, among a few others.

Hope that cheers you up!

Steve Parker, M.D. 

PS: Here’s the original research article in the current issue of Diabetes Care.

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March 20, 2012 · 8:37 AM

Meat and Mortality

Red meat and processed meat consumption are associated with “modest” increases in overall mortality and deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to National Institutes of Health researchers.  This goes for both sexes.

Data are from the huge NIH-AARP Diet and Heart Study, a prospective cohort trial involving  over 550,000 U.S. men and women aged 50-71 at the time of enrollment.  Food consumption was determined by questionnaire.  Over the course of 10 years’ follow-up, over 65,000 people died.  Investigators looked to see if causes of death were related to meat consumption.

What do they mean by red meat, processed meat, and white meat?

Red meat:  all types of beef and pork (wasn’t there a U.S. ad campaign calling pork “the other white meat”?}

White meat:  chicken, turkey, fish

Processed meat:  bacon, red meat sausage, poultry sausage, luncheon meats (red and white), cold cuts (red and white), ham, regular hotdogs, low-fat poultry hotdogs, etc.

What did they find?

See the first paragraph above.

Studies like this typically look at the folks who ate the very most of a given type of food, those who ate the very least, then compare differences in deaths between the two groups.  That’s what they did here, too.  For instance, the people who ate the very most red meat ate 63 grams per 1000 caories of food daily.  Those who ate the least ate 10 grams per 1000 cal of food daily.  That’s about a six-fold difference.  Many folks eat 2000 calories a day.  The high red meat eaters on 2000 cals a day would eat 123 grams, or 4.4 ounces of red meat.  The low red meat eaters on 2000 cals/day ate 20 grams, or 0.7 ounces.

The heavy consumers of processed meats ate 23 grams per 1000 cal of food daily.  The lowest consumers ate 1.6 grams per 1000 cal.

Comparing these two quintiles of high and low consumption of red and processed meats, overall mortality was 31-36% higher for the heavy red meat eaters, and 16-25% higher for the heavy processed meat eaters.  (The higher numbers in the ranges are for women.)  Similar numbers were found when looking at cancer deaths and cardiovascular deaths (heart attacks, strokes, ruptured aneurysms, etc).

It’s not proof that heavy consumption of red and processed meats is detrimental to longevity, but it’s suggestive.  The “Discussion” section of the article reviews potential physiological mechanisms for premature death.

The researchers called these differences “modest.”  I guess they use “modest” since most people eat somewhere between these extreme quintiles.  The numbers incline me  to stay out of that “highest red and processed meat consumer” category, and lean more towards white meat and fish.

The study at hand is from 2009.  Another research report in Archives of Internal Medicine this month supported similar conclusions. (Click for Zoë Harcombe’s critique of the study.)

The traditional Mediterranean diet and Advanced Mediterranean Diet are naturally low in red and processed meats, but not designed specifically for folks with diabetes.

Steve Parker, M.D. 

Reference:  Sinha, Rashmi, et al.  Meat intake and mortality: a prospective study of over half a million people.  Archives of Internal Medicine, 169 (2009): 562-571.

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December 26, 2011 · 8:15 AM

Got Spare Time?: Track Your Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid Consumption

One of the major changes in the Western diet over the last century has been the increase in our consumption of omega-6 fatty acids, primarily in the form of industrial seed oils.  Examples include oils derived from soybeens, corn, and rapeseed (canola oil).  Omega-6 fatty acid consumption in the U.S. increased by 213% since 2009.  This may have important implications for development of certain chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease.  Excessive omega-6 consumption may be harmful.  On the other hand, omega-3 fatty acid consumption may prevent or mitigate the damages.  Hence, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio becomes important.

This’ll improve your omega-6/omega-3 ratio!

I haven’t studied this issue in great detail but hope to do so at some point.  Evelyn Tribole has strong opinions on it; I may get one of her books.

I saw an online video of William E.M.Lands, Ph.D., discussing the omega-6/omega-3 ratio.  He mentioned free software available from the National Insitutes of Health that would help you monitor and adjust your ratio.

You can see the video here.  Dr. Lands’ talk starts around minute 12 and lasts about 45 minutes.  He says it’s just as important (if not more so) to reduce your omega-6 consumption as to increase your omega-3.  And don’t overeat.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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October 14, 2011 · 2:09 AM

Coronary Heart Disease on Decline in U.S.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports this month that the prevalence of self-reported coronary heart disease declined from 6.7% of the population in 2006, to 6% in 2010.  Figures were obtained by telephone survey.  Coronary heart disease, the main cause of heart attacks, remains the No.1 cause of death in the U.S.

Self-reports of heart disease may not be terribly reliable.  However, I remember an autopsy study from Olmstead County, Minnesota, from a few years ago that confirmed a lower prevalence of coronary heart disease.  I wrote about that at my old NutritionData.com Heart Health Blog, but those posts are lost to posterity.

The CDC report mentioned also that mortality rates from coronary heart disease have been steadily declining for the last 50 years. 

Improved heart disease morbidity and mortality figures probably reflect better control of risk factors (e.g., smoking, high blood pressure), as well as improved treatments.  I’ve never seen an estimate of the effect of reduced trans fat consumption. 

Obesity is always mentioned as a risk factor for heart disease, yet obesity rates have skyrocketed over the last 40 years.  You’d guess heart disease prevalance to have risen, but you’d have guessed wrong.  In view of high obesity rates, some pundits have even suggested that the current generation of Americans wil be the first to see a decrease in average life span. 

The American Diabetes Association offers a free heart disease risk calculator, if you’re curious about your own odds.  My recollection is that the calculator works whether or not you have diabetes.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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October 1, 2011 · 5:36 AM

Mediterranean Diet Linked to Less Sudden Cardiac Death in Women

"Trust me. You don't want sudden cardiac death until you're very old!"

A Mediterranean-style diet is one of four factors helping to greatly reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death in women, as reported by Reuters on June 5, 2011. The other factors reducing risk were maintainence of a healthy weight, regular exercise, and not smoking.

The study involved women only, so we don’t know if the research, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, applies to men.  I bet it does.

This study confirms many earlier ones linking the Mediterranean diet with longevity and reduced rates of heart disease.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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September 12, 2011 · 12:09 PM

Insulin Resistance, Lipotoxicity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Atherosclerosis

This will bore most readers.

I just want to mention a scientific review article from 2009 that reviews insulin activity (down to a molecular level) in the context of type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and insulin resistance.  Towards the end it starts sounding like an informercial for thiazolidinedione drugs. 

The author makes a great case for the dangers of hyperinsulinemia.

Good reference overall.

R. A. DeFronzo wrote “Insulin resistance, lipotoxicity, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis: the missing links. The Claude Bernard Lecture 2009.”   Diabetologia, 2010 (53); 1,270-1,287.  doi: 10.1007/s00125-010-1684-1

Steve Parker, M.D.

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June 24, 2011 · 2:00 AM

Finally Settled: Alcohol Consumption Linked to Lower Rates of Death and Heart Attack

Canadian and U.S. researchers report that moderate alcohol consumption seems to reduce 1) the incidence of coronary heart disease, 2) deaths from coronary heart disease, and 3) deaths from all causes.  Reduction of death from all causes is a good counter-argument to those who say alcohol is too dangerous because of deaths from drunk driving, alcoholic cirrhosis, and alcohol-related cancers such as many in the esophagus. 

Remember, we’re talking here about low to moderate consumption: one drink a day or less for women, two drinks or less a day for men.  That’s a max of 12.5 grams of alcohol for women, 25 g for men.  No doubt, alcohol can be extremely dangerous, even lethal.  I deal with that in my patients almost every day.  Some people should never drink alcohol.

The recent meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal, which the authors say is the most comprehensive ever done, reviewed all pertinent studies done between 1950 and 2009, finally including 84 of the best studies on this issue.  Thirty-one of these looked at deaths from all causes.

Compared with non-drinkers, drinkers had a 25% lower risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and death from CHD.  CHD is the leading cause of death in develop societies.

Stroke is also considered a cardiovascular disease.  Overall, alcohol is not linked to stroke incidence or death from stroke.  The researchers did see strong trends toward fewer ischemic strokes  and more hemorrhagic strokes (bleeding in the brain) in the drinkers.  So the net effect was zero. 

Compared with non-drinkers, the lowest risk of death from any cause was seen in those consuming 2.5 to 14.9 g per day (one drink or less per day), whose risk was 17% lower.  On the other hand, heavy drinkers (>60 g/day) had 30% higher risk of death. 

In case you’re wondering, the authors didn’t try to compare the effects of beer versus wine versus distilled spirits. 

On a related note, scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina found that middle-aged people who took up the alcohol habit had a lower risk of stroke and heart attack.  Wine seemed to be more effective than other alcohol types.  They found no differences in overall death rates between new drinkers persistent non-drinkers, perhaps because the study lasted only four years and they were following only 442 new drinkers.  

This doesn’t prove that judicious alcohol consumption prevents heart attacks, cardiac deaths, and overall deaths.  But it’s kinda lookin’ that way.

Steve Parker, M.D.

 References:  Ronksley, Paul, et al.  Association of alcohol consumption with selected cardiovascular disease outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  British Medical Journal, 2011;342:d671    doi: 10.1136/bmj.d671

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