What causes heart disease???????

[chetnarayan]

What causes heart disease?

For almost forty years, the lipid hypothesis or diet-heart idea has dominated medical thinking about heart disease. In broad outlines, this theory proposes that when we eat foods rich in saturated fat and cholesterol, cholesterol is then deposited in our arteries in the form of plaque or atheromas that cause blockages. If the blockages become severe, or if a clot forms that cannot get past the plaque, the heart is starved of blood and a heart attack occurs.
Many distinguished scientists have pointed to serious flaws in this theory, beginning with the fact that heart disease in America has increased during the period when consumption of saturated fat has decreased. "The diet-heart idea," said the distinguished George Mann, "is the greatest scam in the history of medicine." And the chorus of dissidents continues to grow, even as this increasingly untenable theory has been applied to the whole population, starting with low fat diets for growing children and mass medication with cholesterol-lowering drugs for adults.
But if it isn’t cholesterol, what causes heart disease? We don’t know enough to say for sure but we do have many clues; and although these clues present a complicated picture, it is not beyond the abilities of dedicated scientists to unravel them. Nor is the picture so complex that the consumer cannot make reasonable life-style adjustments to improve his chances.

How can we prevent heart disease?

How can we protect ourselves against heart disease? Based on what we have learned from the scientific studies, it is possible to formulate a set of guidelines for heart disease prevention, guidelines that include both avoidance of external stresses and common sense dietary advice. Not all external stresses can be avoided, not in today's fast-paced industrial age, but a good diet can provide many factors that help the body deal with environmental toxins and high levels of stress.
There are many points contained in the following guidelines that can be debated but one thing is certain: If you are still afraid of saturated fats and cholesterol, you will find yourself on the wrong dietary path. If you are avoiding foods containing saturated fat and cholesterol, you will not only deprive your body of vital nutrients, but the foods that you consume as substitutes will contain many components—polyunsaturated oils, trans fatty acids, refined sugar—that have been associated with increased rates of heart disease.

[de.malady]

it isn't cholesterol? fine, but what is it then, sounds mysterious now..

[Soul]

The title should be " what causes CORONARY heart disease" rather saying only heart disease. I have seen some cases of myocardial infarction with very low LDL. Some researchers have demonstrated that not only high LDL but also very low LDL levels is also a risk factor for MI. Reason is not well known, but it might be possible that the patients with very low LDL have also low HDL (which has definite cardioprotective role).

[tmk5]

That means certain theories like those of Chiropractic and Osteopathic that so called osteopathic lesions /subluxations in the upper dorsal spine could lead to disturances in autonomic n.s. and may be a siginificant factor in producing local cornonary atery flow disturances and hence to atheroslerosis/arterodcelosis and narrowing and block. although there are numerous articles on this subject in almost all osteopathic/ chiropractic books and being a person from physical medicine(CHD is not my primary subject) but I have very frequentely fould many tenders areas in the upper dorsal spine. Most people think it is due to viscero-soamtic reflex but i know somato-viseral relfex is also possible. But vey few direct research has been done on humanbeing. I wish I could have done that. But theoretically i am convinced.