Posts Tagged ‘Switzerland’

• How 40,000 People Reversed Heart Disease

  Date: 2008.07.24 | Category: Heart Tips | Response: 0

  It is well known that about two-thirds of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese. The U.S. Surgeon General has stated that approximately 75% of Western diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, gout, arthritis, excess weight gain, hypertension, diabetes, some cancers, impotence, biventricular disease, constipation, heartburn, and gallbladder disease, are lifestyle-related. They are directly correlated with our high fat diet, inadequate amounts of exercise, smoking, high intake of caffeine, and high amounts of stress coupled with insufficient support.

  Hoping to address this alarming situation, more than 20 years ago, cardiovascular epidemiologist Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, created the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP). Since then, this 40-hour community-based lifestyle intervention program has helped more than 40,000 people rediscover their health by preventing, arresting and reversing their diseases. It has been conducted in more than 150 North American cities as well as in Bangalore, India, Australia and Switzerland. Depending upon the needs of the group, the meetings are held either live with Dr. Diehl delivering the program personally (usually meeting four times per week for four weeks) or as a video-based program with certified CHIP facilitators (normally two times per week for eight weeks). In addition, Dr. Diehl is a best-selling author To Your Health, Dynamic Living, and Health Power (co-authored with Aileen Ludington, M.D.) — as well as the executive editor of a 24-page quarterly Lifeline Health Letter; he has produced scores of health videos. CHIP empowers people through its scientifically-documented, educational and inspirational program that addresses common western diseases — those that used to be seen primarily later in life. Today, these diseases increasingly appear at far younger ages. CHIP may make all the difference in ones life — even the difference between life and death.

  In 1999, CHIP launched a community health transformation template in Rockford, Illinois, a city with a population of 130,000. The intention was to transform Rockford into the healthiest city in American, thereby enabling it to serve as a model and template for cultural transformation on a community-wide level. Recently, CHIP was recognized as just such a model by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and was approved under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a STEPS to a HealthierUS applicant. In addition to live CHIP, a series of CHIP videos are offered through schools, churches, corporations, and hospitals. In Rockford, CHIP is sponsored by the Swedish American Health Systems Center for Complementary Medicine.

  Who is the typical CHIP participant? Generally, CHIP participants are over the age of 40. Most are between the ages of 50 and 59. There are twice as many women as men, and almost 90% are married. Clinical research, published in peer review journals, has found that they have the following lifestyle diseases:

  10% report having heart disease

  27% have elevated blood sugar

  42% are overweight

  49% show evidence of hypertension

  60% are obese

  89% are cholesterol above 160mg%

  Over the course of the program, strict adherents are likely to experience significant clinical improvements such as the following:

  Serum cholesterol reduction average 15 20%

  Average weight loss of six pounds

  In about half of the participants with type 11 diabetes, a dramatic reduction in need for insulin and hypoglycemic agents

  Lowering of high blood pressure levels

  Diminishing of angina

  Reduced levels of depression and increase in self-esteem

  Class & Video Lecture Schedule

  Week 1

  Modern Medicine: Miracles, Medicines, & Mirages
  The limitations of high-tech medical approaches in dealing with lifestyle related diseases
  Portrait of a Killer: Onslaught from Within
  Atherosclerosis, the culprit in many lifestyle diseases
  Stalking the Killer
  Reviewing the risk factors for coronary heart disease
  Eat More and Weigh Less
  Basic guidelines for healthy, sustained weight loss

  Week 2

  Going Up in Smoke
  Smoking the most controllable risk factor for coronary heart disease
  The Magic of Fiber
  The role of fiber in preventing and reversing lifestyle diseases
  Reversing Hypertension
  Changing the major risk factors for high blood pressure
  Disarming Diabetes
  Lifestyle factors that can arrest or reverse diabetes
  Effective Cholesterol Control
  Dietary factors that prominently affect blood levels of cholesterol
  Fats in the Fire
  The role of excessive fat intake in lifestyle diseases

  Week 3

  Fit at Any Age
  Benefits of regular exercise in preventing and arresting disease
  Boning Up on Osteoporosis
  Cause and prevention of this so-called disease of aging
  Lifestyle and Health
  Clinical studies that demonstrate how lifestyle choices are related to health
  The Optimal Diet
  Positive dietary guidelines for the prevention and reversal of Western diseases

  Week 4

  Diet and Cancer
  Dietary factors in the development and prevention of common cancers
  Atherosclerosis of the Mind
  The importance of adaptability in achieving and maintaining optimal health
  The Gift of Forgiveness
  How a spirit of forgiveness enhances emotional and overall health
  Building Self-Worth
  The development, preservation and role of self worth in a healthy person

  Connie Thebarges Story

  At the age of 59, Connie Thebarge, a patient at the Ottawa Heart Institute in British Columbia, Canada, was told that her doctors could no longer help her. After all, in addition to suffering from hypertension, she had diabetes and painful diabetic neuropathy. She had two heart attacks followed by a triple coronary bypass surgery and an unsuccessful angioplasty. Every day, she had to take 27 pills. Not surprisingly, she was also depressed.

  Yet, today, more than a decade later, Thebarge walks three miles a day, swims twice a week, dances, and travels to Florida and Europe. No longer depressed, she also requires far fewer pills. How was this accomplished? Thebarge participated in CHIP and transformed her life.

  Written by the Editors at Weight Loss Buddy Press in collaboration with Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, FACN, CNS

  Copyright © 2004, by Weight Loss Buddy Press

  May be reproduced and distributed as is.

  Joey Dweck- your Weight Loss Buddy

  http://weightlossbuddy.com

  PO Box 488 Tenafly NJ 07670

  Tel. 877-BuddyUp

  Written By: Joey Dweck

• The Truth About Red Wine and Heart Disease?

  Date: 2007.12.19 | Category: Heart Tips | Response: 0

  Red Wine, Heart Disease, Hungry Sharks and Knights in Shining Armor

  What is so special about wine? What is it that makes it potentially more protective against coronary heart disease, and perhaps other diseases, that other forms of alcohol?

  In recent years, scientists have concluded without doubt that many human diseases such as heart disease, cancer and the aging process is caused or stimulated by a ravenous group of chemicals called free radicals. These highly charged little villains prowl the body and attack healthy cell membranes through a process that is called oxidation. In this scenario, there is however a knight in shining armor that jumps to the rescue and purges these ever hungry little killers. The name of our crusader is antioxidants.

  Without getting too technical, the oxidation process in our bodies is crucial for health, without it, for instance, we would not be able to extract energy from our food. But if there are too many free radicals in our bodies this can be harmful.

  Our body has its own defenses against free radicals, in the form of enzymes that are able to turn the hungry little sharks into harmless water. However, sometimes our bodys natural defense mechanisms cant cope. Other times, external events can cause huge increases of free radicals within our bodies, such as x-rays, cigarette smoke and exposure to toxic substances. At times, this surge of free radicals can swamp our defenses and illnesses such as radiation sickness may take place.

  So what does all this have to do with heart disease?

  Low density lipoproteins, commonly know as bad LDL, can penetrate and gather against the inner walls of our arteries, under certain conditions, forming fatty streaks and plaque. Taken alone, LDL particles arent so dangerous it seems, however, when attacked by free radicals they turn into dangerous and somewhat aggressive cells, capable of actually penetrating and harming the smooth inner walls of our arteries. This process is called oxidation. Oxidized LDL is known to be the culprit in stimulating atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke.

  Antioxidants, as the name suggests (anti-oxidants) can help stop the oxidation process, which are the results of free radicals doing their stuff. Most antioxidant research has been carried out on vitamins (A, E, beta carotene) but quite a lot of work has also been done on the healthy benefits of red wine. While most research on red wine has been done in relation to coronary heart disease, it seems that the benefits of wine dont stop there.

  Red wine and Coronary Heart Disease

  Red wine contains a wide range of flavanoids; these are the chemicals that give the wine its particular taste and character, making one different from another. Many of these flavanoids act like antioxidants. Perhaps the forerunner of wine research was carried out by a certain Serge Renaud, who discovered the French Paradox, which suggested that wine was the decisive factor in protecting the people in southern France from their very high fat diets and ultimately coronary heart disease. Even if these people do eat large quantities of high fat cheese, pt, and salami they have some of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world.

  Another study, statistical rather than practical, by a Professor Grey of the University of Bern in Switzerland focused on the low, medium and high coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality figures of the World Health Organization.

  What did he find? Well from among the high mortality areas were Finland and Scotland, the middle areas included Ireland, and the low CHD areas included Spain, Italy and France. He then compared heart attack rates with antioxidant levels in blood samples taken from men living in those areas.

  What he found was very interesting, the results showed that high antioxidant levels, in particular vitamin E, coincided with low death rates of heart disease. Moreover, his results showed that vitamin E levels were 94% more accurate in predicting CHD rates than were cholesterol levels or blood pressure figures! Apart from diet, the high CHD regions drink very little, if any wine, whereas the low regions traditionally accompany their meals most days with wine.

  It certainly seems strange that two much studied cities; Glasgow in Scotland and Toulouse in France show many similarities and yet many differences. The inhabitants of both cities eat tremendous amounts of high fat foods, traditionally take little exercise and drink alcohol. The surprising difference is that while the people of Glasgow have one of the highest rates of CHD in the world, the fortunate people of Toulouse have one of the lowest. Traditionally beer and spirits are the preferred drinks in Glasgow, while the folks in Toulouse drink red wine.

  It has also been suggested that drinking in moderation together with meals is beneficial, while binge drinking at bars in the evening is harmful. It seems the southern Europeans dont drink for the alcohol buzz, but just as a pleasant accompaniment to their meals.

  At first the large heart institutions such as the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association ignored both antioxidants and frowned upon wine. While it is clear that it could be potentially dangerous for a physician to recommend his patients start drinking alcohol, it is also strange that they pretended for so many years to ignore the evidence. Well, now even if they dont promote the taking of vitamin pills; antioxidants and free radicals are now recognized.

  However, according to the AHA There is no scientific proof that drinking wine or any other alcoholic beverage can replace conventional measures … No direct comparison trials have been done to determine the specific effect of wine or other alcohol on the risk of developing heart disease or stroke. Just ask yourself who would pay for such studies. Clinical Trials have the purpose of showing one thing to be better than another, or whether a certain substance is beneficial to health. The costs of clinical trials is so high that only the pharmaceutical industry have the financial clout to invest in them invest is the correct word. What a surprise.

  About the Author

  http://www.allabout-heart-disease.com the site that tells you how it is, about getting your life back and living it to the full! Articles, tips, advice and the latest news on how to take care of your heart. You can get articles like this in your mailbox each month by submitting to our eZine The Webs Heart at: http://www.allabout-heart-disease.com/webs-heart-subscribe.html

  Written By: Nicholas Webb