Natural bypass therapy
Do it yourself heart bypass
Helping your heart grow new blood vessels is a natural way to bypass cholesterol-ridden coronary arteries.
This is the image: you are driving on a city highway on the way to stop the traffic. In the distance you'll see a mile-long backup behind the builder that closed two right lanes. Knowing the area you merge with the nearest exit, then follow a path on a road that runs almost parallel to the h toighway. Once you cross the barrier you enter the highway again.
The cholesterol-filled plaque is similar to what happened when the coronary arteries began to narrow. Blood vessels respond to the slow, alert attack of arterial-clogged atherosclerosis by producing lots of chemical and physical signals. The immediate action of these signals is to improve blood flow beyond narrowness. They also make up a lot of the tiny blood vessels that have been sitting idle in the heart since birth. As these parallel vessels become larger, more muscular, and more interconnected, they begin to regenerate somewhat of the blood flow around the blockage (see "Increase around blocked arteries"). This type of natural bypass can keep the heart supplied with oxygen-rich blood, as well as its surgical counterparts.
Scientists have been trying for years to develop and enrich collateral blood vessels, but without much success. You can do it at home without doing anything high-tech than a comfortable pair.
When cholesterol-filled plaque or any other obstruction restricts blood flow (red arrow) through a coronary artery, chemical and physical signals stimulate the development of small collateral blood vessels. They create new routes for the blood that can keep the heart muscles nourished.
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It is not easy to measure the amount of collateral circulation or the blood flow through it. This is one of the reasons why it has become difficult to document the effect of having or not having good collateral. That said, studies since the 1950s have highlighted the potential of this network of recruiting blood vessels. They can:
Limit the risk of heart attack. Japanese researchers have shown that people with improved collateral circulation have smaller areas of damaged muscles after a heart attack than those with poor collateral blood circulation.
Provide extra time for emergency heart attack therapy. Arterial-opening angioplasty provides the best way to stop a heart attack. Ideally, this type of emergency angioplasty should no longer be done two to three hours after the onset of symptoms of a heart attack. A German team has shown that this treatment window can last longer in people with healthy collateral circulation.
Improve survival. A 2007 study of more than 600 men and women with stable coronary artery disease (chest pain with labor or stress) found in 2007 that 89% of those with better collateral blood circulation than col1% still survived after 10 years. Those with low parallel flow.
Bypass before surgery
Most Americans have narrowed coronary arteries or two, except for the outward signs of heart disease. These are the by-products of desk jobs, plenty of food, stress, lack of practice and many other factors.
If the development of the collateral vessels is a failed-safe response of the body to atherosclerosis, relatively few people may have angina or other types of ischemic heart disease (weakened blood flow to the heart muscle). Unfortunately, not everyone is genetically programmed to grow collateral blood vessels effortlessly. Unhealthy habits also get in the way.
Researchers have tried to stimulate parallel blood vessels by bathing with protein-enhancing ingredients and bombarding them with growth-promoting genes. So far, these efforts have not paid off. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people.
When you practice, you dramatically increase blood flow to the coronary arteries. The inner lining of the arteries responds to the stress of atherosclerosis as "stress", stimulating the small collateral blood vessels to lengthen, widen, and form new connections.
Some practice strategy will not. You need to push your heart. If you are not used to practicing, this can mean walking fast. Add the excitement of race walking or jogging if you walk. Swimming, cycling, hiking, any activity that makes your heart beat faster will do as long as you keep the crack for 20 to 30 minutes and do it several times a week.
Exercise is a great way to prevent heart disease. And many studies show that it can help some people with narrow coronary arteries to safely avoid bypass surgery or angioplasty. It is also good for the bones, the brain and every other part of the body. So why not give yourself a natural bypass before you need a surgeon to perform a job that is more painful and risky?