"WARNING: What you are about to discover are some of the most important facts about high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke found anywhere. Read it well ... this special report could be the one that saves your life."
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From: The desk of Kevin Riley, Powerful Life Guide
Date: May 22, 2006
Re: Special report for Baby Boomers - the most important report you'll ever read.
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To a heart attack, you are not special ... you are not exempt. It can reach out and take you ... any time it wants.
t's the Number 1 Killer! Cardiovascular disease claims a new victim every 35 seconds. In just one day, it kills 2500 Americans. They die of heart attacks ... they die of stroke.
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"There were no signs. It had been a fine morning ... maybe getting a little hot. Sam* - who'd just had his 49th birthday a week earlier - was enjoying a quiet day at home. The ladies of the house were all off shopping at the new mall. Sam had just sat down at his computer.
"About the time the first pain hit, he remembers reading a funny e-mail from his friend in Tuscon. He'd just started chortling to himself ... when a sudden pain started in the center of his chest. A sharp, steady pain. It seemed to be concentrated in one area.
"But it couldn't be ... those tell-tale warning signs - pain spreading away from the center, arm tingling - they weren't there! Had to be a gas pocket ... Sam hadn't eaten much breakfast. He tried to burp it up. Nothing. The pain was getting more intense.
"Sam remembers getting up ... he remembers reaching the phone ... he remembers a distant voice.
"Then the pain got real bad. Breathing was labored, he was sweating hard. Chest pain was so bad! Sam wished he would pass out ... it would all go away. Things got real blurry after that. There were people. Voices. A clank of metal. Wailing sirens.
"When Sam's eyes opened again, the ambulance was bumping over something. An EMT was looking down at him. Asking if he was OK ... now. They'd had to shock Sam back four times.
"Suddenly, Sam was being wheeled down a stark, fluorescent-lit hallway. A doctor ... or was it a nurse ... was running alongside. Sam kept his eyes wide open. He was too terrified to close them ... worried that if he ever closed them again, that would be it.
"He didn't want to die ... oh, please ... not now. Not with his youngest still in school. Not without seeing his daughter get married.
"Then, they were in the ER. Sam was lying on a metal table ... wires were snaking off him ... tubes poked into his arms ... there were some twinkling lights overhead. A doctor was talking to him.
"He was talking slowly, explaining that Sam was in the middle of a major heart attack.
"The doctor told Sam that there was a large blockage ... a stent would have to be inserted into an artery ... the lights were twinkling brighter.
"Sam heard the doctor say something about the blockage not breaking free ... the lights were turning ... faster and faster. There were only the lights ... getting brighter and turning ever faster.
"Then - suddenly - an extreme warmth washed through Sam's head and brain.
"Later ... much later, in the recovery room, Sam's doctor explained to him ... the lights, the warm flood. With his brain starving for blood, it had started dying. When the clot was broken, the blood started flowing through the brain again ... just in time.
"Sam had a heart attack .. his first heart attack ... most likely brought on by his high blood pressure."
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... of cardiovascular disease. Even worse it's a "hidden" cause. It can bring on disease of the heart and arteries ... and you don't even know it.
High blood pressure is a serious threat ... 69% of the people who suffer their first heart attack, have high blood pressure.
And those who develop congestive heart failure? The major damage to the heart that seriously affects its ability to pump blood? The weakening of the heart muscle that can leave you with blood backing up in your legs - or worse - your lungs? 91% of all cases of congestive heart failure have high blood pressure.
It's because of this "hidden" damage that high blood pressure is called "the silent killer"
There's much too high a chance of "Yes!" In the US alone ... according to the American Heart Association's 2006 Update ... over 65,000,000 people have high blood pressure. That's 1 person in every 3.
Take a look around you. Is it Marge - working on the new designs? Or, is it Jason - loading a toner cartridge in the copier? Or ... is it YOU?
On top of the unbelievably large number afflicted with high blood pressure ... another 59,000,000 Americans have pre-hypertension. Not in the danger zone yet ... but definitely on the borderline.
So ... let's see ... that's 2 out of every 3 people that either have high blood pressure ... or are heading that way.
Note ... this is not just an American problem. This is a worldwide problem. High blood pressure affects all industrialized countries ... and the developing countries are also catching up.
So ... yes, the chances are pretty good (or should I say BAD) that you have high blood pressure.
High blood pressure doesn't usually have symptoms ... over 1/3 of its victims don't even know that the killer is lurking inside them. It quietly damages your heart and arteries.
High blood pressure is involved in 77% of all strokes. Strokes that kill somebody in America every 3 minutes.High blood pressure is the #1 cause ...
Do you have high blood pressure?
And ... there's more bad news
The silent killer lies in wait
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"Earlier that morning, Clifford's* left hand had felt heavy. He hadn't thought much of it. He felt well ... it was a wonderful day ... Clifford and his wife were going for lunch at that nice new restaurant across town ... just, his hand felt funny - nothing really, just a little strange. Oh well ... nothing to worry about.
"Lunch was great ... the new restaurant really was quite nice ... the food all so delicious. Clifford was thoroughly enjoying his meal. It wasn't until the steak arrived ... something was wrong! He couldn't pick up the fork with his left hand. Try, try again ... it refused to work.
"An unsteady walk to the car ... his worried wife driving to the hospital twenty minutes away ... then came the inability to get out of the car. A wheelchair was brought.
"Next thing Clifford knew, he was flat on his back ... shirt stripped off ... IV needles in both arms ... wires attached to his chest and head. The next few hours were a rapid blur. He can't recall exactly what happened ... he just remembers the word "stroke" being said many times.
"For Clifford, it was the worst period of confusion he had ever experienced. He realized things were happening around him ... but he couldn't move to see what. The advancing paralysis had hit his whole left side.
"Over the next few days, the paralysis kept advancing. Nobody knew when it would stop. Clifford - a healthy 57-year-old - lay in fear ... would it take his voice? His eyes? His ears? His right side? Lying in a state of paralysis ... his mind begging for answers.
"X-rays, CAT scans, MRIs ... finally the diagnosis. Nothing could be done. The blood vessel causing the trouble was deep in the brain ... inoperable. They could only wait ... hope the meds did the job ... hope for the best."
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I eat healthy foods ... I hike ... I work out in a gym. Imagine my shock!
One day I decided to use the automatic blood pressure cuff in my gym. It showed a rather high reading. Naw ... couldn't be. So it did it again ... took a few deep breaths to relax ... calmed myself ... hit the button. And waited.
OK, it was a little lower ... but still much too high. Had to be something wrong with that machine.
A few days later, my wife forced me to go for a check-up. I know ... us men are such sissies - we hate going to doctors. Well, he confirmed it ... 146/88.
Wow! That's getting into hypertension range. But how could it be? With my healthy lifestyle? With my diet?
I was quite dismayed. I'm only 48 ... I'm healthy ... I'm not ready to become an invalid.
Yeah, but I'm real healthy ... won't happen to me
(To be continued ...)
Of course you can!
According to the American Heart Association ... high blood pressure is the #1 modifiable risk factor for stroke.
Note ... it is modifiable ... means it can be prevented ... means it can be reduced ... means you can lower your blood pressure ... means you can lower your risk of having a debilitating stroke.
Many needless strokes ... much needless suffering ... can be avoided!Can you avoid having a stroke?
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"He used to be a strong, successful businessman. Look at him now!
"Ryan's* dad doesn't walk anymore ... and he doesn't use his left hand well. It hurts Ryan to see him like this. He remembers his dad's strong hands ... remembers how they tossed a football with him at a picnic just weeks ago. That hand will never grip a football again.
"There's hope ... and Ryan clings to that. It's the only thing that fights off the depression he feels looming. In a hospital room ... on a long weekend ... shortly after a stroke that nearly killed Dad, it hit Ryan. He felt so helpless. They were up against a serious problem.
"Now, Ryan's dad is in a Rehabilitation Facility. He's learning how to get himself from his bed to his wheelchair ... with only one hand. He is learning how to use the bathroom on his own ... but it's a long hard road to recovery - from a stroke. A stroke caused by Dad's high blood pressure.
"And that's what bothers Ryan the most. At nights ... tossing and turning in his bed ... pondering what will be, what could have been. Ryan knows the stroke could have been avoided! Dad knew about the high blood pressure for many long years - he'd had it since his late 30s - he just never did much about it."
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Heart attacks ... strokes ... they don't just kill - they horribly alter lives. Heart attack survivors have a very high risk of a second one ... and they never know when it will hit.
Fear is the strongest reaction to a heart attack. It's a timebomb ticking in your chest ... when will it go off again. Will you die this time? Most survivors are actually more afraid of another heart attack ... than death itself.
Your first heart attack will take away those feelings of strength and invincibility ... it'll leave you a frightened shell of your former self. There's something that you'll never get back.A heart attack will change you
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"Don* had always been healthy ... he rarely even had a cold. The heart attack changed his life in a few short hours. His perspective of life has changed ... his self-image has been devastated ... he doesn't know how to deal with these new emotions.
"He feels fear. Never afraid before ... now he is gripped by a fear of loss. Will the chest pain come back? Will it kill him next time? Don is now strangely aware of every little pain or discomfort. He is no longer the happy-go-lucky man he was.
"Always the tough cop ... now Don is vulnerable. The heart attack surprised Don ... and it dismayed him. It shattered his illusions of invincibility. It made him face his mortality. Don doesn't like his new feelings ... not at all ... but he can't shake them.
"The heart attack took that away from him."
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The horrible risks of heart attacks ... and strokes ... they can be avoided. Controlling your blood pressure can take a huge cut out of the risk.
And blood pressure can be controlled ... high blood pressure can be treated.
Yet ... a whopping 70.7% of all people with high blood pressure do not have it under control. Why?
Yes they can ... but, at what cost?
There are a number of antihypertensive medicines ... doctors prescribe them routinely. But, most patients give up within a year. The reason? The solution is worse than the problem!
The large number of side-effects - some destroying quality of life, others downright dangerous - are worse than the disease.
Who wants the daily grind of a persistent dry hacking cough? Who wants diarrhea or constipation? Who wants to be dragging around in constant fatigue? Who wants to be putting up with headaches? Who wants impotence?
High blood pressure can be treated
Can't drugs control blood pressure?
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Playing drug roulette
Doctors often have to prescribe various drugs to try to control your blood pressure ... while searching for the least drastic side-effects. Then, other drugs are prescribed to control the side-effects.
This soon can leap-frog into 2 .. 3 .. 4 different drugs to offset the numerous problems caused by the original antihypertensive drug therapy.
Each new drug the doctors prescribe multiplies the stress and biochemical chaos in your body. The longer these drugs are used, the greater the risk of suffering long-term damage ... sometimes permanent - even leading to death.
Above all, do no harm
This rule was first set out by Hippocrates ... as a guideline for doctors. Unfortunately, the latest wording seems to have changed to, "Do as little harm as possible".
When it's your body and your quality of life that is being risked ... "as little harm as possible" is just not good enough!
You must look out for yourself.
Starting on drug therapy is something that needs a lot of serious consideration. Before you allow yourself to be subjected to drug therapy ... consider the nasty side-effects drugs can hand you.
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"When Jerry* woke up, he had a moment of panic ... he couldn't see well out of his left eye. But, there was no pain ... no headache ... he just couldn't see well.
"So ... unfortunately, Jerry waited. He took a day off work - he's a truck driver - he gave it time to clear up. It didn't!
"The next day, Jerry got a ride to the hospital ... he was unable to see more than some movement out of his eye now. His left eye was close to blind.
"The doctor found the problem soon ... but too late for Jerry ... the circulation in his left eye had been all but cut off. Starved of fresh blood ... the eye was now severely damaged - beyond repair.
"A few days earlier, Jerry had seen his family doctor ... he'd been having some dizzy spells. His blood pressure was very high and the doctor immediately put him on a duo of antihypertensive drugs.
"The cocktail of ACE inhibitor and a diuretic worked ... they brought the blood pressure crashing down ... too fast. Jerry's system couldn't keep up ... and his eye suffered for it. So did his job!
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The abundance of new drugs brings a dangerous complexity to health care. It opens up more chances for serious drug reactions.
The promise of sophisticated drug therapy comes with some unacceptable risks.
Medication should be a last resort!
Remember, I told you of my surprise ... when I found my blood pressure was 146/88?
Well ... after my initial shock, it was time to do some serious thinking. I knew one thing ... drugs were no answer in my book.
I'd had medication when I was younger ... everytime, it seemed like I was just swapping one problem for another. I traded up to natural remedies a long time ago.
This new problem ... this high blood pressure ... I knew it could be beat. The question was only "how?"
A dangerous brew of drugs
Not for me
(To be continued ...)
A large number of studies have shown ... blood pressure can be controlled, simply by eating the right foods and living the right lifestyle. Most high blood pressure could have been avoided ... to begin with.
Our unhealthy lifestyle ... our unhealthy eating habits ... they lead us down a road to disease and age.
Doctors are routinely telling their patients to change. But change isn't easy ... change isn't fun!
Many sufferers of high blood pressure are given a brochure ... told to eat less salt ... exercise more ... eat less this ... eat more that ... do this ... don't do that!
It all is overwhelming. Habits of a lifetime can't be changed in one fell swoop.
You don't know where to start ... the list is too long. You don't even understand why some things need to be done ... you need a reason.
You put it off ... next week ... next month ... next year. Until it's too late!
Controlling blood pressure with lifestyle and diet
What's holding you back?
So, what happens?
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"John* is still ashamed to be seen by anyone. His left hand dangles helplessly by his side ... he stumbles like a drunk. John loathes the way people look at him. He's only 46 ... he's still a young man ... or, he was!
"Friends often don't know how to behave around John ... healthy people are embarassed in the presence of stroke victims. What kind of behavior is appropriate? How do you shake someone's hand ... when one is a useless lump and the other's clutching a cane?
"Yesterday was John's first time back to church. He felt so conscious of the way he walked ... the way his left hand dangled. He couldn't stand long after the service ... while others mingled ... carried coffee cups ... laughed and chatted ... John had to sit on the sidelines.
"He wonders if life will ever seem fun again."
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