Cardiovascular Health

With heart disease being the most prominent cause of death of men and women alike in the United States, cardiovascular health is paramount. At BodyPro Wellness Center, we’re dedicated to helping our patients maintain their heart health. We provide guidance and testing to help people naturally improve their cholesterol levels, dramatically decrease blood vessel inflammation, and understand the causes behind this condition. With the help of Dr. Tony Ganem,DC along with collaboration with many of the local Cardiologists in and around our area in Newport Beach, CA, you’ll be able to keep your heart healthy.

Understanding Heart Disease and How To Prevent It

We’ve all heard about cholesterol and how it’s important to ensure that we keep our levels low. Cholesterol is a double edged sword. Cholesterol is essential for the body in that it helps you make anti-inflammatory hormones, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, bile, it’s essential for nerves, skin, hair, nails, bones, vitamin D and cell membranes. Without it you cannot be healthy. Oxidized Cholesterol in the arteries is dangerous! It’s the basis of atherosclerosis and heart disease. Fully understanding and maintaining this balance can tricky, especially when you hear terms such as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol. High cholesterol can indeed be a serious concern, if it accumulates and becomes oxidized on your arterial walls. This process is known as atherosclerosis, which is one form of heart disease. As the build-up continues to grow, it becomes difficult for blood to flow through the area. Eventually, this build-up can cause the blood flow to be blocked completely.

If cholesterol is so bad for your heart health, how can there be good cholesterol? HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, isn’t cholesterol. As its name states, it’s a protein, and It’s a carrier of cholesterol. HDL shuttles cholesterol out of the blood and towards the liver. It serves as a scrubber for leftover cholesterol, carrying it to our liver. It’s also an antioxidant to protect oxidation of cholesterol in the arterial walls. Maintaining high levels of HDLs can reduce your overall risk of stroke or heart disease.

Another factor involved in your cholesterol levels is triglycerides. This substance is another form of fat that is found in our blood. It’s heavily influenced by the levels of carbs, sugar, alcohol, and extra calories we consume. You should know that LDL (which is also NOT a type of cholesterol but rather a carrier of cholesterol) is frequently seen in a blood test. It is also a lipoprotein (low density lipoprotein) and is calculated and not measured on most lab tests. It’s calculated based on an equation that considers your triglyceride number. There are tests such as the apolipoprotein B test that really provide a true sense as to how much LDL carrying cholesterol you have. High levels of LDL and Triglycerides can increase your risk of stroke. An Oxidized LDL test can reveal the real risk. VLDL is less well-known than these three participants, or “Very-low-density lipoprotein’. This form of cholesterol is produced by the liver and is responsible for transporting mainly triglycerides to your tissues, unlike LDL, which mostly transports cholesterol. Both of these substances can build up on the walls of your arteries and cause atherosclerosis.

Other concerns that are linked to Heart Disease include:

Arterial Inflammation
Blood vessel injury
Blood pressure
Blood Sugar
Oxidation
Nitric Oxide Levels
Glutathione Levels
Coenzyme Q10 (COQ10) levels

The role of arterial inflammation first began to be acknowledged almost two decades ago. Studies revealed that increased inflammation levels often increased the likelihood of both stroke and heart attack. It took over a decade to confirm that treatment with anti-inflammatory medication can produce significant success in reducing strokes and heart attacks.