Thursday, June 19, 2008

The tragic and untimely death of Tim Russert raises many questions. Could his death from a heart attack have been prevented or was it inevitable?

By all reports he had excellent medical care, he was on medication for high blood pressure, and it reportedly was under control. He was being treated for high cholesterol, with a statin drug and enjoyed an excellent response. His LDL was 68, below, the new recommended level of 70. His HDL had been raised from the low 20s to 38. He had passed a stress test this past April, and reportedly was trying to lose weight and had begun to exercise on a stationary bike.


Mr. Russert and his family had the false hope as do countless others that taking a statin drug or some other medication solves the problem of heart disease.


Mr. Russert died in spite of excellent conventional medical care. His death was caused by a ruptured plaque in the left anterior descending coronary artery, which blocked it and caused ventricular fibrillation. Sadly this same thing happens to about 90 people every single day, it just does not make headlines.


So what are we to do to prevent this from happening to us or our loved ones?


Modern heart care is excellent at treating symptomatic heart disease and intervening in a crisis, but is very poor at prevention or predicting future events. This is because we have focused on cholesterol levels and ignored the real cause of plaque and plaque rupture; inflammation!


Inflammation is caused by bad diets, inactivity, and excess body weight. Inflammation can be controlled, heart disease can be prevented, tragedies can be avoided.


To learn how please read a new book called The Cure for Heart Disease available at Amazon and www.thecureforheartdisease.net.