Clogged Arteries: Cholesterol & Plaque

Extremes? Anyone who knows me well knows how easily I jump from one extreme to the other. One minute im a grease addicted, booze swilling ogre content in ending my days ploughing down Heart Attack Avenue, and the next a health obsessed, vegan monk, happy with nothing more potent than water and spinach. I cannot 'do' middle road, I will die parading in the extremes. And this week? This week, to the relief of my internal organs, I am the monk. Ad because of this, I decided to scour the interwebs in order to gain some knowledge on keeping the heart healthy. Found some interesting stuff too, stuff I thought I would share here on my blog.

High cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and strokes. It also appears to boost the risk of Alzheimer's disease. High cholesterol leads to a buildup of plaque that narrows the arteries. This is dangerous because it can restrict blood flow. If the blood supply to a part of the heart or brain is completely cut off, the result is a heart attack or stroke.




See the pic below? Looks like the cross section of vertebrate from someones spine right? Wrong, its actually the cross section of a heavily diseased and calcified coronary artery. Gulp! Look at all that build up of plaque (one of the most common cause of death worldwide.) Risk factors for the disease include poor diet, cigarette smoking, and stress.




People older than 20 should have their cholesterol levels checked at least once every five years. This is done with a simple blood test known as a fasting lipoprotein profile. It measures the different forms of cholesterol that are circulating in your blood after you avoid eating for nine to 12 hours. The results show your levels of "bad" cholesterol, "good" cholesterol, and triglycerides.

'Bad' Cholesterol

Most of the cholesterol in the blood is carried by proteins called low density lipoproteins or LDL. This is known as the bad cholesterol because it combines with other substances to clog the arteries. A diet high in saturated fats and trans fats tends to raise the level of LDL cholesterol. For most people, an LDL score below 100 is healthy, but people with heart disease may need to aim even lower.

Good' Cholesterol

Up to a third of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoproteins or HDL. This is called good cholesterol because it helps remove bad cholesterol, preventing it from building up inside the arteries. The higher the level of HDL cholesterol, the better. People with too little are more likely to develop heart disease. Eating healthy fats, such as olive oil, may help boost HDL cholesterol.

Diet changes offer a powerful way to fight high cholesterol. If you've ever wondered why some cereals claim to be heart-healthy, it's the fiber. The soluble fiber found in many foods helps reduce LDL, the bad cholesterol. Good sources of soluble fiber include whole-grain breads and cereals, oatmeal, fruits, dried fruits, vegetables, and legumes such as kidney beans.

No more than 35% of your daily calories should come from fat. But not all fats are equal. Saturated fats -- from animal products and tropical oils -- raise LDL cholesterol. Trans fats carry a double-whammy, boosting bad cholesterol, while lowering the good kind. These two bad fats are found in many baked goods, fried foods (doughnuts, fries, chips), stick margarine, and cookies. Unsaturated fats may lower LDL when combined with other healthy diet changes. They're found in avocados, olive oil, and peanut oil.

Some studies suggest garlic can knock a few percentage points off total cholesterol. But garlic pills can have side effects and may interact with medications. Other herbs that may reduce cholesterol and dissolve plaque include:

Garlic
Oats and Bran
Olive Oil
Fenugreek seeds
Artichoke leaf extract
Yarrow
Holy basil

Green tea can also protect heart arteries by keeping them flexible and relaxed, helping the organ from the ups and downs of constant changes in blood pressure. A study using this delicious herbal beverage showed that when doctors measured green tea drinkers' arteries a fortnight after a few weeks daily consumption of the tea, they found that their vessels were more dilated than they had been at the beginning of the study.
Apples are great too at reducing cholesterol too. Its all about the soluble fibre in them, fibre that binds with fats in the intestine, lowering your cholesterol levels. It also helps to slow the build up of pesky plaque in your arteries, preventing it from solidifying on your artery walls. I find myself eating three or four apples a day since learning this.
I also find it pretty satisfying to see videos like the one below, seeing that horrid plaque get removed. Ah the marvel of modern surgery, we are truly blessed to live in such an age.

When Sky Lights Scramble A Wired Brain

UFO? What I saw.

I am no fan of Star Trek and space capers so im not one quick to subscribe to stories of UFOs and alien abduction. Indeed much of it I look at as the crazy ramblings of drunkards and attention seekers, eager to find their way into those late night news slots after the important events have been covered and they're looking for light entertainment. Of course this doesn't necessarily mean I discard tales of "little green men" completely. In fact I honestly-to-my-bones don't believe we are alone in this universe, of course I don't, afterall the universe is a pretty vast place and there must be SOMETHING else out there, even its just different coloured grass. These has to be life elsewhere.
But I don't go around (like some do) believing that every strange light the the nighttime sky is down to E.T. Remember, the military have some pretty neat looking pieces of flying kit which can seem very alien to the civilian eye. Especially a civilian brought up on Star Wars and Dr Who. Imagination is a powerful thing, with no limit to the amount of weird images that can be conjured up. When the sun goes down, a science fiction fan can easily transform a Chinook helicopter into the Millenium Falcon. My minds eye is not as easily fooled.
However on the evening of November 17th, 2009 at around 11pm, I DID witness something strange in the sky. Admittedly one might put it down to the fact I had been at the scotch but I was not falling down drunk and seeing things. Also my wife was at my side and she rarely drinks. No this was something....different. If it convinced me it must have been because even when merry on whisky im not one to be persuaded by unicorns and yetis. As we both stood shocked, I couldn't quite orchestrate my thoughts. There was no fear (probably the booze helped there) and no instant panic. Just silence as we watched this craft hover for around two or three minutes. It was made all the more intense because we live on a hill in a very rural area so the only light came from this glassy looking beast, there are no other house lights, streetlights or traffic to catch and maybe confuse the eye.
Other people who have witnessed UFOs have reported hearing low humming sounds but there was no sound to this curious sight on a usually very uneventful Carmarthenshire hillside.
As for colours, I have always imagined UFOs to be neon green and red thanks to a spinning toy I had as a boy but as you can see in my shabbily drawn sketch (made on my computers painting programme) this one was mainly orange and yellow with streaks of light blue. The orange was most vivid and is most 'alive' im my mind when I picture it.
It disappeared as quickly as it arrived and left me, the cynic supreme, with a new appreciation of just how wild and wonderful this life, this universe is.