Can lifestyle changes remove deposits in your arteries?
QUESTION: IS IT POSSIBLE TO REMOVE DANGER IN YOUR HEATS OR REDUCE THEIR SIZE THROUGH CHANGES IN DIET OR LIFESTYLE?
Answer: Yes, lifestyle changes, including eating, quitting, stress management, and exercise, can reduce the size of atherosclerotic deposits. They can also help stabilize them so that they are less likely to break off and block blood flow, reducing the risk of heart attack.
The term plaque reduction, medically known as atherosclerosis regression, originated from random observations during World War II. Norwegian researchers have noted that food shortages - especially the lack of high-fat foods such as milk, cream, butter and cheese - are associated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease. This suggests the possibility that dietary changes may induce plaque regression.
The first direct evidence of regression came in 1947. When performing an autopsy on malnourished patients, the astute pathologist noted that the deposits "usually, but not regularly, tend to undergo absorption."
But evidence of regression in living patients did not come for another 40 years. In 1987, a study of diet and cholesterol-lowering drugs first showed that regression was possible in humans. Three years later, these claims were expanded by the groundbreaking Lifestyle Heart Trial study, in which lifestyle changes alone, without cholesterol-lowering drugs, could lead to regression, even in severely atherosclerotic arteries.
However, adhering to the required lifestyle changes was challenging. The diet was about healthy food, it was also a vegetarian diet that limited fat to a maximum of 10 percent of total calorie intake. In addition, subjects had to quit smoking, perform regular aerobic exercise, and participate in group therapies to reduce stress.
However, the Lifestyle Heart study was small, involving only 28 men. But her findings were soon confirmed by larger studies, including a 2015 meta-analysis that combined data from all previous published studies valued the value of lifestyle modifications on more than 2,000 arterial plaques. The data provided convincing evidence that lifestyle changes, albeit intense, can reduce sediment.
Despite their proven benefits, dietary and lifestyle changes must be seen as additives and not as substitutes for medicines for many patients. Regression of atherosclerosis is maximized when all three are used together. Changing habits requires a high degree of motivation, the promise of shrinking plaque, and reducing the risk of heart attack should also be quite motivating.
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