What is Coronary Heart Disease ?

Coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerotic heart disease, is the end result of the accumulation of plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium (the muscle of the heart).

While the symptoms and signs of coronary heart disease are noted in the advanced state of disease, most individuals with coronary heart disease would have evidence of disease decades before the first symptoms arise. After decades of progression, some of these atheromatous plaques may rupture and (along with the activation of the blood clotting system) start limiting blood flow to the heart muscle. Current views are that an inflammatory process of the lining of the arteries promotes the disease progression.

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Sleep well to keep your blood pressure down and reduce your heart disease problems

Sleeping well can help lower blood-pressure. Please refer to the following facts and suggestions for getting a good night's sleep:

1) Get plenty of good night's sleep - When you are refreshed, you're better able to tackle the next day's problems, allowing you to avoid and better cope with stress and therefore reducing the possibility of having heart disease.

2) If you have difficulty falling asleep, try keeping a schedule; going to sleep and awakening at a consistent time each day. A bedtime ritual such as taking a warm bath, reading or eating a light snack helps many people relax.

3) Make sure you sleep healthily - People with high blood-pressure are more likely to suffer from a condition called sleep apnea. In this potentially serious sleep disorder, breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep.

If you have been told that you snore loudly or you wake up feeling tired after a full night's sleep or you are sleepy during the day, it may be worthwhile to learn more about sleep apnea.

Click here to read more about insomnia

Omega-3 fatty acids can lower your blood pressure

Omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained from dietary sources such as fish oil and certain plant/nut oils. Fish oil contains both docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), while some nuts (English walnuts) and vegetable oils (canola, soybean, flaxseed/linseed, olive) contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

Extensive medical research have shown that intake of recommended amounts of DHA and EPA in the form of dietary fish or fish oil supplements lowers triglycerides, reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease, slows the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques ("hardening of the arteries"), and lowers blood pressure slightly. However, high doses may have harmful effects, such as an increased risk of bleeding. Although similar benefits are proposed for alpha-linolenic acid, scientific evidence is less compelling, and beneficial effects may be less pronounced.

Significance of an enlarged heart

An enlarged heart is usually considered a sign of cardiac trouble. But the cause of the enlargement is critical in determining whether there's actual heart disease, researchers are reporting.

In fact, the nature of the stress that created the enlargement is more important than the duration of the stress, according to the researchers.

"We set out to answer a longstanding question in cardiac biology, which is what happens to the heart during periods of stress," said lead researcher Dr. Howard Rockman, a cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center.

The researchers looked at different types of stress, such as stress from exercise, as well as so-called pathological stress that causes damage to the heart. High blood pressure is an example of pathological stress, Rockman said......Please click here to read the the whole article

How to control your stress?

Stress can momentarily elevate your blood-pressure and many scientists believe that our highly stressed modern way of life is one of the underlying causes of
high blood-pressure (i.e. hypertension)

Reducing stress by relaxation is always recommended. THe following are some suggestions you can try :

1) If you are about to embark on a stressful situation (i.e. phone calls from angry customers, attending an important interview, walking into the boss's office), take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly. While this simple breathing action will not provide a sustained reduction, it can certainly reduce the temporary blood pressure elevation.

2) Practicing meditation, taichi, yoga and other techniques which encourage slow breathing exercises enable better coping with stressful events and even lower blood-pressure in certain cases.

Hence, always watch your breathing!