Cardiomyopathy and heart failure
Cure of cardiomyopathy and heart failure is often possible. Metabolic medicine is an entirely new form of medicine that, in contrast to the cardiologist's medications, can initiate a healing process through which the symptoms of cardiomyopathy and heart failure can be significantly reduced or, in some cases, a total cure is possible. This form of medicine can be used alongside regular treatment from the cardiologist without any problem. In cases of severe cardiomyopathy and heart failure, infusion of carnitine is among the possibilities. However, be well supervised by a physician or therapist. Inform your cardiologist that you are taking dietary supplements.
Most patients with cardiomyopathy have difficulty with efforts such as climbing stairs and therefore avoid these activities if at all possible. In addition, almost all cardiomyopathy patients report that sleeping on the left side feels unpleasant.
The most common complaints in cardiomyopathy are:
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath, shortness of breath
- Fluid retention at the ankles or in the abdominal cavity
- Not being able to sleep completely flat
- Heart palpitations
Additional movement:
Often half an hour of walking a day (seven days a week) is enough. Don't get out of breath while walking, "walk and talk," or you should be able to continue talking as you walk.
Nutrition:
- Sunflower oil warning. In the late 1950s the promotion began: saturated fat is bad, unsaturated is good. Sunflower oil and sunflower oil-based vegetable margarine were supposed to protect the heart from disease, but the opposite was true. After the introduction of many sunflower oil-based products, the incidence of cardiovascular disease only increased. Now it turns out that sunflower oil, linoleic acid, is very bad for the heart. The linoleic acid in sunflower oil causes inflammation of our vessel walls and arteriosclerosis.
Cardiologists sometimes treat cardiomyopathy patients with blood thinners such as acenocoumarol to prevent possible blood clots formed in the malfunctioning heart from causing a brain attack. However, many Multi vitamin preparations contain vitamin K that reduces the action of acenocoumarol.
- Eat more essential fatty acids. For years, patients were advised by cardiologists to consume little fat to prevent cardiovascular disease. However, recent research indicates that not the amount but the type of fat eaten is important in reducing cardiovascular disease. Foods rich in unsaturated omega-3 fats have been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Fish fats in particular appear to be very healthy for the heart. Therefore, eat fatty fish 2 - 3 times a week. Consider fish oil supplements if this is not feasible. Extra fish oil supplements are especially important for patients who still suffer from cardiac arrhythmias.
Cardiomyopathy often slowly gets worse
Cardiomyopathy has an unfavorable disease course. In most cases, a cardiologist will only be able to use drugs that slow the progression of the disease. But a patient will still slowly deteriorate. Eventually the heart deteriorates to the point that it is no longer able to meet the body's circulatory needs. Then we speak of heart failure, a sharp reduction in the heart's pumping function.
Metabolic cardiology - optimal energy supply within the heart
There is increasing attention to optimal energy supply to the heart due to the studies surrounding Q10 and carnitine and their success in treating cardiovascular disease.
An increasing number of cardiologists have therefore become convinced in recent years that the treatment of a "diseased heart" can be supported by improving energy production within the heart. This new direction in cardiology is called metabolic cardiology.
- Eat fewer carbs. So Atkins was right all along it is not fat but carbohydrates that make us fat. According to research by Acheson published in July 2004, a diet low in carbohydrates is not only recommended to treat obesity but also reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Auley reaches the same conclusion: that low-carbohydrate diets reduce the risk of getting cardiovascular disease.
- According to many scientific studies, the consumption of sufficient dietary fiber is the solution to many diseases of affluence, including cardiovascular disease. Brown bread contains too little fiber and is not the solution. With two brown slices of bread you barely reach the 3 grams, while humans need more than 50 grams per day for good health. White bread even contains only 1 gram of fiber per two slices of bread. Rubio concludes, in a 2002 study, that a varied amount of 25 - 30 grams of fiber per day can reduce the risk of wellbeing diseases such as cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
- Eat foods with a low glycemic index value. The glycemic index(GI) represents the effect a food has on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels two or three hours after consumption. Carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed and converted into glucose have a high glycemic index. In other words, the index indicates how quickly carbohydrates are converted into sugars. LiuS writes, in a study published in June 2000, that the Glycemic Index shows a clear correlation with the risk of acquiring cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Foods with a higher GI increase the risk of these diseases.
The following supplements form the basis in metabolic cardiology and therefore should not be missed in the first step:
- Q10
- Carnitine
- D-ribose
- Magnesium
Investigations:
K11-Se-HF-Van derMeer 2019Q-SymbioStudy-2014K10-Alehagen et al (2013) - Se_Q10 and cardiovascular mortality-1
K10-Alehagen et al (2013) - Se_Q10 and cardiovascular mortality-1
Q-SymbioStudy-2014
What to expect from the treatment if it catches on:
2-3 months: reduction of fatigue and shortness of breath
6-9 months: decrease in proBNP and increase in pump function.
1-2 years: size of heart returns to normal size
Carnitine - required for the energy supply of the heart:
Patients with heart failure benefit from supplementation with carnitine and coenzyme Q10. This was shown in a study in which 62 patients with heart failure (class II-IV), divided into two random groups, were supplemented daily for 12 weeks with 2250 mg of L-carnitine plus 270 mg of ubiquinol or a placebo. Ubiquinol is the reduced form of coenzyme Q10 and more bioavailable to the body.
At the end of the treatment period, patients supplemented with carnitine and ubiquinol showed significantly better gait test results and had significantly less dyspnea, palpitations and fatigue compared with the placebo group.
Compared with the situation at baseline, only the patients supplemented with carnitine and ubiquinol showed a marked decrease in the inflammatory marker interleukin-6 (Il6). Also, compared with the placebo group, they showed a greater decrease in blood TNF-alpha concentration. Both IL6 and TNF-alpha are related to decreased sympathetic and parasympathetic activity in heart failure.
Taurine - for functional deficiency:
In cardiomyopathy and heart failure, deficiencies of key building blocks are common. While the diseased heart should actually receive more nutrients in order to initiate a healing process. This additional deficit could be called a functional deficit. Taurine is one of the substances for which cardiomyopathy or heart failure can cause a functional deficit. More taurine is then needed even though blood results indicate an adequate level of taurine.
Vitamin D - vitamin D deficiencies are common:
It used to be thought that vitamin D was only important for proper bone building. But now it appears that vitamin D performs many other important tasks in the body as well. This is not good news because the Health Council reported in 2008, "Insufficient vitamin D status occurs among all strata of the Dutch population."
A large number of studies report that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, cardiologists do not usually look at these deficiencies. Yet research indicates that patients with heart failure are less likely to die as a result of supplemental vitamin D.
Alpha lipoic acid, Vitamin C and E, prevention of atherosclerosis:
Alpha-lipoic acid and vitamins E and C provide the body with sufficient water- and fat-soluble antioxidants. This creates greater protection against the progression (advancement) of cardiovascular disease.
Selenium deficiency can cause cardiomyopathy. Unfortunately, selenium levels in the blood are not measured by a cardiologist. As a result, this cause is missed. An English study indicates that on average the population only gets 60mcg of selenium per day, while everyone agrees that a daily value higher than 100mcg would be much better. The cause of this low selenium value in the English diet is probably caused by a selenium deficiency in the soil. In the Netherlands, the situation is unlikely to be much better.
DHEA - important for patients over 50 years of age:
Blood tests in cardiomyopathy patients indicate that these patients generally have lower DHEA levels. The reduction in DHEA levels corresponds to the severity of cardiomyopathy. It is likely that DHEA is able to protect the heart from shape change. DHEA is a hormone, its value can be determined by a simple blood test. DHEA is an important component in the treatment of cardiomyopathy (heart failure) only for elderly patients. DHEA is also used in life extension. DHEA is a drug and must be prescribed by a physician. The dose depends on measured blood levels.
Men with prostate cancer or prostatitis should not use DHEA. Men over the age of 40, if using DHEA, should have their PSA (Prostate Specific Anti-gen) level tested every year to diagnose prostate cancer early.
Hawthorn extract - improves pump function:
Hawthorn extract is not used to supplement deficiencies in certain nutrients. It is used in this treatment protocol as drugs are used in the treatment of cardiomyopathy or heart failure. In particular, hawthorn extract improves the pumping function of the heart. In Germany, hawthorn extract is a drug that can be prescribed in the treatment of heart failure class NYHA II. The Dutch government could take an example from this.
Berberine - reduces cardiac arrhythmias:
Cardiac arrhythmias are common in patients with cardiomyopathy or heart failure. The use of magnesium can help reduce these arrhythmias. Magnesium also further plays an important role in treating cardiomyopathy (resulting from infarction), lowering blood pressure and preventing other cardiovascular diseases.
Extra potassium can also reduce cardiac arrhythmias. However, potassium is difficult to dose through a supplement. In fact, too much potassium is not good. Therefore, potassium-rich foods are preferred here. There is a lot of potassium in bananas, spinach, in dried apricots and in fruit juice. Try two bananas and five apricots a day to see if there is an improvement. Potassium supplementation is recommended only under the guidance of a physician.
If insufficient results are achieved with these agents, berberine may be used. Berberine can help reduce cardiac arrhythmias common in patients with cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Berberine is particularly appropriate in reducing the life-threatening ventricular tachycardia.
You can also read that a patient with a diseased heart needs more nutrients to initiate a healing process than someone who is completely healthy. Therefore, it is unfortunate that cardiologists do not supplement conventional drug treatment with proper nutritional and supplement advice. Especially since this additional intervention does not carry any risks for the patient.
Treatment BeterKlinic
BeterKliniek is the clinic for Integrative Medicine that bridges regular and non-regular medicine.
An van Veen (physician) and Michael van Gils (therapist) look for the cause of a condition or disease. That is where the treatment starts otherwise, as people often say, it is 'carrying water to the sea'. We call this cause medicine. Sometimes it is also desirable to treat the symptoms (at the same time). We call this symptom medicine.
Chronic disorders often have their cause in epi- genetics. You can schedule a free informative telephone consultation (phone number 040-7117337 until 1 p.m.) at BeterKliniek to discuss your symptoms so that we can provide you with further advice.
