Heart Health
2020 was a crazy year for a lot of reasons, but one of my biggest takeaways from that year was that we closed our eyes to some hard truths. We were so afraid of a bug that we ignored the true killers. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune disease killed millions more people in 2020 than COVID, yet the world came to a grinding halt because of a virus – not the diseases that killed 5 out of 6 Americans. It’s time we open our eyes to the reality of what our biggest threats actually are and make some changes to reclaim our health and our freedom!
Let’s start with heart health: Raise your hand if you or someone you know has heart disease? Feel free to actually raise your hand! But the fact is that all of us are either currently dealing with heart related issues or know someone who is. Heart disease has been the number one killing disease in our country for over 50 years now. We have been fighting it with trillions of dollars and all the best science and research known to man, yet the facts remain: More people will die today from heart disease than any other way of dying.
I had a friend. Devin was 43, married with 3 children. He was in good shape and full of life. On Friday he began to feel some tightness in his chest. As the day went on the tightness persisted and slowly was getting worse. His wife drove him to the hospital thinking there must be an issue. The ER doctors took him back and performed many tests. There was nothing. All tests came back normal. They said that he must be experiencing stress and anxiety. He told his wife that he wasn’t feeling particularly stressed out but by this time the tightness had subsided so he felt it must be fine and they went home.
The next day Devin was eating lunch with a friend. In the middle of a burst of laughter he grabbed his arm and dropped to the ground. He died in the restaurant on the spot from a massive heart attack.
Heart Disease, also known as the “Silent killer” is the leading cause of death in North America killing 1 out of 3 people. Last year 836,546 people died of heart issues. That’s 1 person every 38 seconds! And the scary thing is that despite your medical doctor’s best efforts for the vast majority of people, the first sign of finding out they have an unhealthy heart is experiencing a heart attack!
In the case of heart disease PREVENTION is key!
- Ensuring that your brain can tell your heart how to function through spinal correction and chiropractic adjustments is essential! One study found that an adjustment to the top bone in your spine (C1 or atlas) decreased blood pressure better than taking two heart medications at the same time!
- Your diet plays a huge factor in heart health. Taking in plenty of healthy fats and minimizing sugars are vital.
- Exercise! Your heart is a muscle and just like the muscles in your arms and legs it needs to be pushed to grow and be healthy. Regular exercise ensures your heart muscle is performing at its best.
- Many toxins will contribute to the hardening of your arteries (atherosclerosis). The most common toxins related to heart dysfunction are cigarette smoke and alcohol.
- Stress will lead to chronic elevated blood pressure if left unchecked. Practicing daily gratitude and mindfulness can dramatically reduce stress thus lowering blood pressure.
But even with the best prevention it’s good to know where you stand through testing. The problem lies in the misinformation that exists today. Things like cholesterol, blood pressure ranges, and even the medications given for heart issues are widely misunderstood.
On Tuesday, June 14th we will be covering these topics and how to give your heart the tools it needs to be HEALTHY! Bring your family, bring your friends! Together we are building a healthier community!
In Health and Faith,
Dr. Marc
