According to the latest statistics1 by the American Heart Association (AHA), nearly half (48 percent) of all American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD) — a classification that includes high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke — and deaths from CVD are again on the rise, after decades of being on the decline.
In 2016, there were 840,678 recorded deaths from CVD in the U.S., up from 836,546 the year before. The rise in prevalence of CVD, however, is primarily driven by updated blood pressure guidelines, which as of 2017 identify a blood pressure over 130/80 mm Hg as hypertensive, whereas before the cutoff was 140/90 mm Hg.
According to the AHA, about 80 percent of CVD cases could be prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which includes lowering high blood pressure and high cholesterol, controlling Type 2 diabetes, avoiding smoking, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight.
To this, the AHA has now also added the recommendation to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. Blood pressure remains a primary focus, however. Volunteer president of the AHA said in a press release:2
“As one of the most common and dangerous risk factors for heart disease and stroke, this overwhelming presence of high blood pressure can’t be dismissed from the equation in our fight against cardiovascular disease.
Research has shown that eliminating high blood pressure could have a larger impact on CVD deaths than the elimination of all other risk factors among women and all except smoking among men.”
Cholesterol Is Not a Culprit in CVD
While I agree with four of the AHA’s suggestions, high cholesterol has been repeatedly found to not be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and higher cholesterol may actually be healthier than lower levels. Three to some degree interrelated factors that have a far greater influence on your cardiovascular health are:
- High iron3
- Insulin resistance
- Chronic inflammation
Elevated iron levels will significantly contribute to inflammation, but even if your iron is normal, chronic inflammation can be caused by a wide range of factors, starting with your diet. Your diet is also the key factor at play when it comes to your insulin level, and can worsen the effects of iron overload.
High Iron Significantly Raises Your Risk of CVD
Most people, including doctors, fail to recognize that excess iron causes significant biological harm. When iron reacts with hydrogen peroxide, which is produced as a normal part of energy production in your mitochondria, hydroxyl free radicals are formed. These are among the most damaging free radicals known, causing severe mitochondrial dysfunction, which in turn is at the heart of most chronic degenerative diseases.
Importantly, elevated ferritin has been linked to dysfunctional glucose metabolism,4 raising the risk of diabetes fivefold in men and fourfold in women, a magnitude of correlation similar to that of obesity.5High ferritin also doubles your risk of metabolic syndrome,6 a condition associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
If you eat excessive processed foods and net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) the situation is further exacerbated, as burning carbs as your primary fuel can add another 30 to 40 percent more reactive oxygen species on top of the hydroxyl free radicals generated by the presence of high iron.
A meta-analysis7 published in 2013 found that 27 of 55 published studies demonstrated a positive relationship between iron and CVD, with higher iron levels being linked to higher risk of disease. Twenty of the studies found no significant relationship, and only eight reported a negative relationship, with higher iron levels being associated with lower risk of disease.
For example, a Scandinavian study found elevated ferritin levels raised men’s risk of heart attack two- to threefold. In another, people with high ferritin were five times more likely to suffer a heart attack than those with normal levels.
A third found elevated ferritin doubled the risk of heart attack. Importantly, in this study they found that each 1 percent increase in ferritin raised the risk of heart attack by 4 percent, and the only risk factor that weighed heavier than ferritin was smoking.
Canadian scientists have also evaluated the link between serum iron (opposed to serum ferritin) to heart attack risk, as ferritin is not a perfect marker for iron status. They too found that higher iron raised the risk of heart attack in men twofold, and fivefold in women.
Article From: https://articles.mercola.com