Keeping Heart Problems in Check
How’s Your Heart?
A new risk factor has joined smoking and cholesterol as a contributor towards heart disease. If you have high levels of homocysteine – an amino acid – in your blood, you could have three times the risk of heart disease as people with high blood pressure as well, that increases your risk even further.
The good news is that changing your diet could help reduce the risk. High levels of vitamins B12, B6 and folate seem to go hand in hand with lower levels of homocysteine and may act to protect you against heart disease.
Experts say that people at risk of heart disease should include in their diet plenty of green leafy vegetables and fruit, and look for folate-fortified breakfast cereals and other folate-rich foods. Fish, poultry, eggs and lean meat are good sources of vitamins B6 and B12.
On the other hand, a lot of medicines have been developed to ease complications associated with cardiovascular disease. Bothersome side-effects produced by such drugs have prevented patients, and doctors alike, from obtaining maximal benefits from these treatments. The solution lies in the development of an effective drug that does not induce adverse reactions to the treatment.
One such orally active specific angiotensin II antagonist drug is losartan. After more than two decades, losartan is the first in a new class of angiotensin II antagonists indicated for the treatment of hypertension.
Angiotensin II plays a key role in hypertension as it causes blood vessel constriction, release of aldosterone (responsible for water retention and volume increase) and mediates all known cardiovascular effects through binding to the angiotensin II receptor.
Losartan blocks all physiologically relevant actions of angiotensin II at the receptor site, thereby decreasing angiotensin II actions in a specific way. Controlled clinical trials show that losartan controls hypertension with the same efficacy of side effects similar to that of placebo.
The approach to handling cardiovascular disease has steadily improved with the development of more efficient pharmaceuticals and medical programs. And now, it is not just a matter of treating the cardiovascular disease; the emphasis is also on helping patients get through their treatment with comfort and ease. The benefits of angiotensin II antagonists like losartan have placed heart patients and their physicians in a better position to manage their health condition, knowing that patients are afforded the convenience and security they need.
Garlic – Natural Medical Aid in Hypertension
Studies show that garlic is known to help fight against high blood pressure and hypertension. Here is a garlic soup recipe that can be considered as natural medicine.
Serious Garlic Soup
Ingredients:
1/3 pound garlic (4 to 5 heads)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
4 cups water
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. fine sea salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. minced parsley
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Procedure:
Separate the unpeeled garlic into cloves and put them on a cutting board. Using the side of a cleaver or the bottom of a large, heavy pan, press the cloves firmly until they are somewhat smashed. Discard the excess papery skins, but do not peel the garlic.
In a heavy 4-quart or larger saucepan, mix the flattened garlic cloves, stock, water, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and ½ teaspoon salt. Add a few grinds of black pepper.
Bring to boil and boil gently for20 minutes, or until garlic is soft enough to smash against side of pan with the back of a spoon.
Pour soup through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large bowl, pressing down with a wooden spoon to extract all liquid. Or put soup through a Mouli food mill. Discard solids.
Return strained soup to saucepan. Reheat briefly, adding more salt if desired, and pepper to taste. (The soup may be frozen at this point.) Serve piping hot; just before serving, sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan. Yield: 4 servings
