Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Consider the natural ways to prevent or reverse atherosclerosis

Hans Duvefelt, MD
Conditions
August 19, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

Some people have high cholesterol but not much atherosclerosis. We think of their arteries as having nonstick surfaces. We know inflammation can predispose to plaque formation and plaque rupture, which is the trigger of most heart attacks.

We know statin drugs can prevent and reverse plaque buildup, and make existing plaque sturdier and less likely to rupture. These drugs lower blood levels of inflammatory substances. Most doctors focus on their cholesterol-lowering properties, but they do many other things that may, in fact, be more important than lowering levels of bad LDL cholesterol.

We also know there are populations where even old people have very little heart disease and very little plaque buildup. Diet and physical activity seem to be a bigger cause of this than genetics. When members of such populations move and adopt the habits of a different culture, their heart disease risk changes in the direction of the disease levels of their new culture.

This is just like using a frying pan:

A new Teflon pan bought around the time I was born may have worked as well as mother’s well seasoned frying pan, but the nonstick chemical, polytetrafluoroethylene, has been shown to have carcinogenic, hormone-disrupting and pro-inflammatory effects. We all know that the nonstick surface of a Teflon pan isn’t indestructible. It ultimately chips, and we have ended up eating Teflon but also some of the not-so-healthy chemicals that are used in Teflon manufacturing, which can cause environmental damage as well as whatever they do to our bodies.

The chemicals in nonstick pans have changed recently, but they have not proven themselves to have long term safety, because only time will tell us about that, so we are all asked to be guinea pigs.

The cast iron pan from the same era is still serving me well, which brings me to what I wish we accepted as a universal truth in medicine:

Pills, even if they show good results in clinical trials, are chemical shortcuts, and usually, in the long run, less safe and effective than natural, lifestyle-based strategies that don’t involve putting man-made chemicals into our bodies.

Some people have advanced disease and radical, desperate measures are indicated. Others can’t or won’t adopt healthy lifestyles, and I agree that pills are probably better than nothing in that case.

But for primary prevention, what to say to a very healthy 66-year-old male with a ten-year cardiovascular risk of 9.6%, which is actually the best-case scenario, it’s hard for me to believe he should be on “moderate to high dose statin treatment,” which is the current guideline.

So what are the natural ways to prevent or reverse atherosclerosis?

Olive oil consumption alone reduces cardiovascular risk by 25%.

A Mediterranean diet reduces heart attack and stroke risk by 50%.

ADVERTISEMENT

And, this just in: People who train for and finish a marathon, even at their own pace, show decreased stiffness of their aortas, seemingly reversing four years of “normal” age-related change.

If our 9.6% risk male were four years younger in terms of his total cardiovascular risk after starting to exercise, he would be at 6.9%; that’s a 28% improvement.

Statistics like these really make you think a little harder about why our focus is so much on drugs for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

I think three forces are at play:

1. The time difference between prescribing a lifestyle intervention and a pharmaceutical one in a fifteen-minute office visit.

2. The power of the pharmaceutical companies over clinical research and publication and also over guideline creation.

3. Americans’ desire for quick fixes and overconfidence in numbers like LDL levels.

I can work on #1 and #3, but as a simple country doctor, I can’t do anything about #2.

But two out of three is enough to keep me trying to do my best.

Hans Duvefelt is a family physician who blogs at A Country Doctor Writes: and the author of A Country Doctor Writes: CONDITIONS: Diseases and Other Life Circumstances.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

A medical student graduates with a lack of closure [PODCAST]

August 18, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

Incremental risk amid COVID-19 re-openings: What do we value most?

August 19, 2020 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Cardiology

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A medical student graduates with a lack of closure [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Incremental risk amid COVID-19 re-openings: What do we value most?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Hans Duvefelt, MD

  • The art of asking where it hurts

    Hans Duvefelt, MD
  • Thinking like a plumber when adjusting medications

    Hans Duvefelt, MD
  • The American food conspiracy

    Hans Duvefelt, MD

Related Posts

  • CBD oil: Natural does not mean it is safe

    Sarah Fraser, MD
  • Caregivers have the power to prevent medical error

    Elizabeth Lerner Papautsky, PhD
  • Qualifying conditions for medical marijuana

    Patricia Frye
  • Settlements in the opioid cases need these non-negotiable conditions

    Rosanne Aulino, RN
  • What does Kelly Loeffler’s health plan do to coverage for preexisting conditions?

    Robert Laszewski
  • How COVID is exposing poor working conditions in the U.S.

    Irene Martinez, MD

More in Conditions

  • Why gambling addiction is America’s next health crisis

    Safina Adatia, MD
  • How robotics are reshaping the future of vascular procedures

    David Fischel
  • How the shingles vaccine could help prevent dementia

    Marc Arginteanu, MD
  • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

    Steven J. Katz, DDS
  • What the research really says about infrared saunas

    Khushali Jhaveri, MD
  • How the cycle of rage is affecting physicians—and how to break free

    Alexandra M.P. Brito, MD and Jennifer L. Hartwell, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

      Pearl Jones, MD | Conditions
    • 2 hours to decide my future: How the SOAP residency match traps future doctors

      Nicolette V. S. Sewall, MD, MPH | Education
    • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why being a physician mom is harder than anyone admits

      Cynthia Chen-Joea, DO, MPH | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The man in seat 11A survived, but why don’t our patients?

      Dr. Vivek Podder | Physician
    • Why gambling addiction is America’s next health crisis

      Safina Adatia, MD | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • How robotics are reshaping the future of vascular procedures

      David Fischel | Conditions
    • Medicalizing burnout misses the real problem

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

      Pearl Jones, MD | Conditions
    • 2 hours to decide my future: How the SOAP residency match traps future doctors

      Nicolette V. S. Sewall, MD, MPH | Education
    • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why being a physician mom is harder than anyone admits

      Cynthia Chen-Joea, DO, MPH | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The man in seat 11A survived, but why don’t our patients?

      Dr. Vivek Podder | Physician
    • Why gambling addiction is America’s next health crisis

      Safina Adatia, MD | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • How robotics are reshaping the future of vascular procedures

      David Fischel | Conditions
    • Medicalizing burnout misses the real problem

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Consider the natural ways to prevent or reverse atherosclerosis
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...