Is atherosclerosis reversible.

[Roosevelt44]

I am a 56 year old retired surgeon.  A calcium scan 2 years ago placed me at the 92nd percentile for age with a high plaque load.  A cath revealed 40% circulflex and 10% left anterior descending blockages.  I am hypertensive and on blood pressure meds and statins.  I weigh 148, work out like a dog and am on the Ornish diet.

The Ornish literature says that they have seen up to 8% reversal of blockages.  I also know of several anecdotal cases where patient were symptomatic and years later had dramatic improvement in their cath (collaterals maybe?).

So I am wondering, how reversible is cardiac disease if you apply the full court press (meds, diet, exercise, stress reduction).

Thanks.

Roosevelt44

[Cleveland Clinic]

Aggressive lipid management and a good diet and exercise regimens have the potential to regress coronary and peripheral atherosclerosis.  We have shown in prospective trials coronary atheroma size/volume reduction with rosuvastatin.  But it's probably the absolute LDL level (70 or less), rather than a specific statin therapy that leads to these chagnes.  No company will ever sponsor a diet and exercise regimen trial, but I would argue that those two are probably as important.  I would encourage you to continue with the current regimen.  

[Smaug9]

I am one of the lucky ones that know for sure that my atherosclerosis has reversed . I have had an occluded LAD and 2 other bad arteries 5 DE stents and  then after 6 months  had a reduction of the plaque of at least 20% . Confirmed by the 3 extra caths required to regain my comercial pilots license.All I did was  follow the rules meds, diet , excercise

[Jesse1188]

I think genetics play an extremely important role. A 56-year old family friend was recently diagnosed with several blockages and had to undergo a quadruple bypass. His father died of a heart attack at 57 and he wanted to beat the odds. He lived an exemplary life: grew his own vegetables, trained for at least 2 hours per day, never smoked. I was devastated when I was also diagnosed with HT last year, despite a very healthy lifestyle. More exercise and losing 10% of my body weight made no difference. I had to go on meds. I have a strong family history of heart disease. I have lost a father, two uncles and an aunt, all under 55, to heart attacks. I must admit that all of them had some bad habits, but on the surface, they were very healthy and working full time when they died. I do not agree that nutrition deficits alone explain heart disease, but I would love to know which nutrients can do the work that prescription HT drugs do at this time. There must be a way to clear out and relax those pipes without resorting to potentially harmful chemicals! My husband is a GP and on his recommendation, I do take magnesium supplements, as well as coenzyme Q10, cod liver and salmon oil capsules. I am 47 now, but most people think I am younger. I try to live a very full life, because I don't expect it to be very long. Neither traditional, nor alternative medicine have all the answers. The best we can do is to take the best from both and do our best without becoming so obsessed with our disease that we forget to enjoy life. Thankfully, it is (for the most part) a painless disease. I'm with you in this fight, Roosevelt44!

[MJ-T]

I don't know about an absolute reversal, but I have concluded that like every other chronic illness, CAD results from chronic inflammation and oxidation; and the body's stress system's attempt to manage those two problem (on the backdrop of a genome). The endothelium has a limited number of responses to a multitude of insults. Oxidation and inflammation beget one another. Oxidation in the endothelium--> inflammation--> cascade of events like cholesterol getting trapped in the wall ONLY after LDL gets oxidized--thats why its in a plaque. Platelet aggregation--> clots, impaired NO production causing things like vasospasm (this causes HTN, angina and ED--they are actually all the same thing.  We just think that they are different because medicine is still stuck in a Newtonian reductionist perspective and think that the body actually functions in disconnected parts.  Cholesterol is NOT a poison. Its a necessary precursor to the production of cell membranes, all of our steroid hormones like testosterone, estrogen,  cortisol, and even the misnomer Vitamin D---about 150 of them.  A better strategy would be to assure that the liver clears the cholesterol after its been available to make whatever we need it for.  When we fail to clear it, we usually fail to clear its metabolites as well---like cortisol and estrogen; consequently, it makes people fat.

We are all nutrient difficient of things like magnesium ( that permits too much calcium to enter cells and yields things like a "high calcium score" on that hot new cardiology whiz bang study.  Remember calcium channel blockers initially marked to treat angina.  Why does blocking a calcium channel prevent angina?  What does Mother Nature actually use in that calcium channel?  Magnesium!!  Every cell uses this mechanism.  Think of all of the different symptoms in the body that will result from this deficiency alone.  I practiced 18 years before I finally figured out that most of my patients were really suffering from nutritional deficiencies-- like selenium, iodine, mag, vitamin D, B vitamins, yadda, yadda. Now I recommend a whole food, predominantly plant based diet as starting point for most. There are all sorts of  things that give us oxidation and inflammation and a diet devoid of nutrients tops the list.  However, genetically we will all be unique and some of us need more of a given nutrient than our best buddy does.  Find a practitioner who can think outside of the traditional medical box.  You are young enough to change your life.  The outdated current medical marketplace will never make us well. It simply cannot.  Its best we stop expecting it do anything other than what it does best--it is excellent at providing rescue!

[Encephalomalcia]

There are studies showing that Lipitor can reduce artery plaque.  We have heart disease in our family.  Doctors have told me to not eat red meat and eat little meals.  I decided to test it.  I was 32 at the time.  Stopped eating beef for a year.  Cholesterol dropped LDL from 132 to 96.  Decided to stop eating pork for a year when I turned 38.  LDL went from 96 to 76. We eat salmon, skinless boneless chicken breasts, fish, (pork about once every two months now), along with vegetables, rice, and fruit.  My triglyerides are 35, LDL 96 and HDL 54 and I am now 44 in age. Diet definitely does reduce Cholesterol.  Organic Red rice is suppose to be good for your heart.