Heart failure treatment
Heart failure congestive heart failure natural alternatives for heart failure herbs and vitamins for heart disease

 Heart failure affects an estimated 5 million Americans, or 1 percent of adults 50 to 60 years of age and 10 percent of adults in their 80s. Each year, about 400,000 new cases of heart failure are diagnosed in the United States. This clinical syndrome is the most frequent cause of hospitalizations in the elderly. Heart failure causes or contributes to approximately 250,000 deaths every year. The clinical syndrome of heart failure manifests when cellular respiration becomes impaired because the heart cannot pump enough blood to support the metabolic demands of the body, or when normal cellular respiration can only be maintained with an elevated left ventricular filling pressure. Symptoms and signs include shortness of breath, weakness, and fluid accumulation in the legs and feet.

Supplements for Heart Failure treatment or Heart Disease treatment
There are quite a number of herbs and supplements that could have a beneficial effect on heart disease. I have listed some below. You may click on each one for more information but ultimately the use of supplements has to be done with the knowledge of your health care provider.

CoQ10 may be beneficial in heart failure. You can find CoQ10-50mg here.
Hawthorn is vasodilatory, increases coronary flow, acts as an inotrope (stimulates heart contraction), decreases peripheral resistance, and has ACE-inhibitor-like effect. Daily dosage 3 to 5g or 160 to 900 mg extract for a few weeks. Appears to be useful in mild heart failure. Hawthorn can be bought here.
Folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 can help prevent reoccurrence of blocked arteries in patients who have undergone coronary angioplasty. See Vitamin-B12 for more information.
 Carnitine
Psyllium (see below)
 Magnesium (see below)
Cutting calories may slow age-related changes in the heart's genes that lead to chronic disease.
Reduce caffeine from coffee, tea, and guarana. Avoid stimulants of any sort.

Supplements to avoid if you have heart failure
Amino acid supplements that should not be used when heart rhythm problems are present include Tyrosine supplement and Phenylalanine supplement.

Natural Therapy for Heart Disease Research
Psyllium reduces cardiac risk
An article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that supplementing the diet with psyllium fiber has positive effects on blood lipids while potentially cardiovascular risk. Sixty-eight adults with high cholesterol consumed a high-fiber and a control diet for 1 month each in a randomized crossover study. The high-fiber diet included 4 servings per day of foods containing psyllium that delivered 8 g per day of soluble fiber than did similar, unsupplemented foods in the control diet. Fasting blood samples and blood pressure readings were obtained at baseline and weeks 2 and 4, and the subjects' weight was monitored weekly. Compared with the control diet, the high-fiber diet reduced total cholesterol levels. Applying the Framingham cardiovascular disease risk equation to the data confirmed a reduction in risk of 4 percent. Small reductions in blood pressure were found after both diets. The subjects reported no significant differences in palatability or gastrointestinal symptoms between the diets.

Magnesium Good for Heart Patients
Patients with heart disease are often placed on several medicines including beta-blockers and nitrates, but doctors rarely think about suggesting mineral supplements. In a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers enrolled 187 patients with heart disease to try oral magnesium and compare the results with those on placebo pills. The dose of magnesium was about 200 mg twice daily and it was in the form of magnesium citrate. At the beginning of the study, blood magnesium levels were similar in both groups, but increased significantly in those who took the magnesium supplements. After six months of treatment, those taking magnesium were found to have a significant improvement in the amount of time they could exercise without chest pain, but there were no changes in cholesterol levels between the two groups.
     Comments: In patients who are already taking heart medicines and still have not had the best results possible, it seems that magnesium is a safe, cheap, and effective natural mineral to add to the regimen. The ideal dose of magnesium is not known, but it would seem reasonable to take 100 to 200 mg twice daily.

Causes of Heart Disease
Coronary artery disease, previous heart attack, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, arrhythmia, drugs, alcohol, aortic stenosis, mitral or aortic regurgitation, pulmonary hypertension.
      The risk of developing heart failure increases with a person's weight: rising slightly in those who are only slightly overweight, and eventually doubling in those who are obese.

The medical treatment of Heart Failure is often effective and includes:
Salt restriction
Aspirin is a more cost-effective way to treat patients at risk of having a second heart attack or stroke than the new drug Plavix (clopidogrel), but may lead to more hospitalizations. Perhaps a lesser dose should be tried. 
Angiotension-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
Angiotensin II receptor blockers
Beta blockers

Home - Tribulus terrestris extract heart failure congestive heart failure natural alternatives for heart failure herbs and vitamins for heart disease