Cardiovascular Concerns
As you age, your heart muscle becomes less efficient and has to work harder to keep the blood circulating throughout your body. Blood vessels also suffer with age, becoming less elastic. As a result, cardiovascular disease, or CVD — a group of conditions that includes heart disease, hypertension, and stroke — becomes increasingly common in older people. For more information on CVD, see Chapter 7.
Burgeoning Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, a.k.a. hypertension, is a chronic condition involving elevated pressure of blood against the artery walls. It affects more than 65 million Americans, or one in three adults, and is most common in seniors (nearly 71 percent of adults over sixty-five have been diagnosed).
Chronic hypertension can leave your heart enlarged, which can cause heart failure. And it can create aneurysms, or bulges, in your arteries and other blood vessels, which can cause sudden death. Hypertension also can lead to atherosclerosis (see below), kidney failure, and blindness, and is the single biggest risk factor for stroke.
Cholesterol is tied to more than diet and family history. Several disorders that are common in seniors, including diabetes and hypothyroidism (low thyroid gland activity), can raise your cholesterol levels. And some prescription drugs, including steroidal anti-inflammatories like prednisone, dexamethasone, and hydrocortisone, can also affect lipid levels.
Hyperlipidemia, or High Cholesterol
Many seniors have hyperlipidemia, or elevated blood lipids (including cholesterol), which is one of the biggest risk factors for heart attack and stroke. Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance that occurs throughout the body. Some is produced by the liver, some comes from food (especially eggs and meat). Cholesterol comprises a few different lipids: low-density lipoprotein (LDL), known as “bad cholesterol” because it tends to remain in the body, where it oxidizes and accumulates in your arteries as plaque, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol that's generally eliminated from the body. Triglycerides are another type of lipid that's measured along with LDL and HDL and included in your total cholesterol. Ideally, you'll keep your total cholesterol (and LDL and triglycerides) low and your HDL high.
Hardening (and Clogged) Arteries
Arteriosclerosis is a general term for the thickening and hardening of arteries that occurs naturally as you get older. Atherosclerosis, which is a type of arteriosclerosis, involves the buildup of plaque, which is made up of cholesterol, cellular waste products, and other things that can accumulate in your arteries, narrowing and stiffening the passages.
Treatment Options
Conventional medicine treats CVD with drugs called ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and beta blockers, which can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. Hyperlipidemia is generally treated with statin drugs, which decrease production of cholesterol by the liver and include atorvastatin (Lipitor) and rosuvastatin (Crestor); other drugs inhibit the absorption of dietary cholesterol, and include ezetimibe (Zetia), which recently was proven ineffective in preventing heart disease. These medicines can cause abdominal, back, and joint pain, among other things.
Purple grape (Vitis vinifera) juice, along with red wine, can lower blood pressure. Research shows that the chemicals in grapes work like a natural ACE inhibitor in the body (they decrease levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme, which constricts blood vessels in and around the heart).
But there are alternatives, including:
• Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) |
The aboveground parts of this nutrient-rich plant can lower serum cholesterol levels. |
• Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus, C. scolymus) |
Extracts of this Mediterranean thistle lower cholesterol in a few ways. They stimulate the liver to release more bile, which helps eliminate dietary cholesterol and fat. And, like statin drugs, they inhibit a cholesterol-generating enzyme, so your body can't make as much of its own. Artichoke extract also seems to improve your HDL/LDL ratio, and its antioxidants prevent LDL from turning into plaque. |
• Flax (Linum usitatissimum) |
High-fiber flaxseeds attach to cholesterol and prevent it from being absorbed. Research shows that taking almost any kind of flax-whole seeds, ground seeds, even muffins made with flax-can lower your cholesterol. |
• Guggul (Commiphora wightii, C. mukul) |
Ayurvedic practitioners use the resin from the guggul tree to treat hyperlipidemia. Studies have shown that guggul extracts can lower total cholesterol, “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides. |
• Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) |
Pine bark extracts can reduce blood pressure in cases of mild hypertension. |
• Olive (Olea europaea) |
There's evidence that replacing other dietary fats with olive oil can lower your cholesterol and significantly reduce your risk of heart attack. Adding onion (Allium cepa) to your diet could also help lower your lipids. |
• Pomegranate (Punica granatum) |
Research shows that this antioxidant-rich fruit can improve several markers of CVD, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, ischemia (restricted blood flow), and elevated cholesterol. |
• Turmeric (Curcuma longa) |
Studies show that this anti-inflammatory and antioxidant spice can counteract high blood pressure and prevent heart failure. |
• Garlic (Allium sativum) |
Garlic has been shown to decrease the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which is the mechanism that damages the heart arteries. |
