As a vascular surgeon, I deal with the ravages of age on a daily bases. Arterial blockages are known by various names including PAD (peripheral arterial disease), PVD (peripheral vascular disease). Arterial blockages can lead to stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and limb loss. Preventing arterial aging is one of the most important things you can do to live a longer life with higher quality.
The good thing is that there are measureable ways to reliably slow the aging process
One of the most important markers for arterial aging is –Blood Presure
The second leading cause of arterial aging is high cholesterol
Its simple, nothing ages you faster than mistreating your heart and arteries and nothing keeps you younger thatn keeping your CV system healthy. The good news is that most of the premature aging is self inflicted and if we only new how, we could all make some simple change in our lives. The bad news is that most people are not motivated to make change. By virtue of advancing to this point to take the initiative to listen to our DVD, you have distinguished your as having initiative and motivation.
A good way to think about it is the cardiovascular system is like a highway system. Roadways are the infrastructure of the city and blood vessels are the infrastructure of the body. Just as roads take us from here to there, blood vessels take oxygen and nutrients to the tissues of our body and then removes carbon dioxide and other by products.
Its clear that one of the most important steps in any age management strategy is protection of your heart and arteries. We’ll begin with some basics today and build upon these throughout our series of anti aging topics. I want you to begin to think of cardiovascular health in a holistic or integrated fashion. Everything decision that you make either improves your health or detracts from it, but it certainly affects.
For example, simple acts like an aspirin a day, a single glass of red wine at dinner and taking the right vitamins in the proper amount are quick easy and painless ways of improving your cardiac health. So sit back and listen as we discuss more ideas.
Blood pressure measurement is a general overall indicator of the condition of your blood vessels. The difference between having a low normal blood pressure of 115/76 versus 140/ 90 can add as much as 20 years to your chronological age. Nearly a quarter of all Americans 58 million people have a BP over the American Heart Associations danger zone of 140/90. As you know, high blood pressure is a silent killer because people can live for a long time relatively unaffected before severe symptoms appear.
That’s the problem with many of the blood vessel disorders, until their first stroke or heart attack, many people feel relatively little symptoms. And because of that, its very difficult to convince these people that behavioral changes are necessary to prevent some hypothetical occurrence. I use the analogy of an automobile. Nowadays, many people lease their vehicle. If you fail to maintanence the car properly, its probably not a big deal because you will turn the car in after 36 mo. You are stuck with your body for life.
As you age, your blood pressure begins to increase. Why? Because the arteries become less elastic due to where and tear over time and also the buildup of fats and lipids. The hardening of the arteries causes the heart to work harder to pump blood.
1.5 million Americans suffer from heart attacks each year and one-third of those people die. 500,000 americans suffer a stroke each year and one third of them die. Stroke Info
What can be done to prevent you from becoming a statistic.
Nutrition with a low fat diet
Diet to maintain an ideal body weight
Exercise
Stress Reduction
Smoking Cessation
Because these are broad, comprehensive topics we will devote an entire podcast segment to each of them.
The second part of arterial aging is the build up of lipids and plaques along the arterial wall. This buildup causes hardening of the arteries which in turn causes high blood pressure which leads to a vicious cycle of stiffening of the arteries and fatty deposits.
In General men are more likely to suffer from arterial aging at an earlier age. Women usually don’t undergo arterial aging until after menopause.
All of us can do simple things that will help keep our arteries young. Aspirin a day is a quick, easy step toward arterial youth that almost all of us can incorporate into our lives.
While no drug cures everything, If I had to name a drug that came closest to being the cure all of cardiovascular, My choice would be aspirin. Drug of the Century aspirin, with antibiotics running a close second. Got a headache, aspiring. Running a fever aspirin. For the cost of a bottle of asprin, the benefits to your health are tremendous. And now, feeling old. Take an aspirin.
Aspirin has been shown to decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke if taken daily. It works by inhibiting the enzyme that causes platelets to stick together. This decreases the likelihood of clots forming within the artery. The acute formation of clot within the artery is the usual cause of stroke and heart attack.
Moreover, the consistent use of ASA or a similar class of medications called NSAIDS has been shown to decrease the risk of Colon Cancer and perhaps Alzheimers.
The evidence is clear, if you are a man over 40 or a woman reaching menopause, you should begin taking aspirin
As always, you should consult your personal physician before starting any new treatment. The side affects of aspirin are few and primarily related to bleeding ulcers and abdominal pain.
In upcoming podcasts, Learn how vitamin C and E can protect your arteries. Taking both of these vitamins in the appropriate dose can reduce your real age. Also we’ll talk about the use of Folate, which will keep lipids from building up within your arteries.
We’ll talk about how poor dentition and other causes of inflammation can affect ultimately cause hardening of the arteries. And most important, we’ll discuss the combined roll of diet, nutrition, exercise and stress management.
