Heart Disease and Stroke

Vegetarian diet, blood pressure and cardiovascular risk

his paper reviews the association between a vegetarian diet and a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease investigated in a series of epidemiological and experimental studies. Ninety-eight Seventh-day Adventist "vegetarians" were similar to 113 Mormon omnivores for strength of religious affiliation, consumption of alcohol, tea and coffee and use of tobacco, but were significantly less obese and had significantly lower blood pressures adjusted for age, height and weight.

Vegetarian diet in the treatment of mild hypertension: a randomized controlled trial.

he effect on blood pressure of an ovo-lacto-vegetarian (OLV) diet was assessed in a randomized controlled crossover trial. Fifty-eight mild untreated hypertensive subjects recruited from the Perth Centre for the 1983 National Heart Foundation (NHF) Risk Factor Prevalence Survey were randomly allocated to one of three groups: the first maintained their usual diet throughout 12 weeks; the other two were given an OLV diet for either the first or second 6 weeks of the 12-week trial.

[Estimation of action of lactoovovegetarian and vegan diets on blood level of atherogenic lipoproteins in healthy people].

The biochemical status of 72 vegetarians (aged 40-60) was studied; 35 persons kept to a lactoovovegetarian diet and 37 persons followed a vegan diet (vegetable food only). As the results of the investigation showed, almost all of the biochemical parameters of blood tests in the both groups were kept to the physiological norm.

[The treatment of coronary heart disease by beta-adrenoblockers or tiazide diuretics preparation in combination with vegetarian diet].

Work make on 84 patients with coronare heart diseases were divided into two groups, equal quantity. The first groups were given athenolol (50 mg daily), the second--hypotiazide (25 mg daily). In every groupspart patients received an antiatherogenic lactoovovegetetarian diet, part--an standard antiatherogenic diet 10c. Time observation--24 daily. By the end of the treatment period with athenolol in backoground the vegetarian diet the level of total cholesterol decreased by 16%, low-density lipoproteins cholesterol decreased by 18%.

Alteration of cardiovascular autonomic functions by vegetarian diets in postmenopausal women is related to LDL cholesterol levels.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that alteration of cardiovascular autonomic functions by vegetarian diets in healthy postmenopausal women is related to lipid metabolism. A total of 70 healthy postmenopausal women not on hormone therapy participated in this study: 35 were vegetarians (mean age 55.0 years) and 35 were omnivores (mean age 55.1 years). Cardiovascular autonomic functions and baroreflex sensitivity were evaluated by specific frequency-domain measures of heart rate variability (HRV) and arterial blood pressure fluctuation.

Is the present therapy for coronary artery disease the radical mastectomy of the twenty-first century?

To fully grasp how so many smart, right-minded people could get it so wrong, it might help to start with a quick review of medical history. Take the radical mastectomy, conceived by William Halsted in the late 19th century. The procedure was intended to remove all cancer cells of the breast, the overlying skin, the underlying muscle, and regional lymph nodes (Figure 1). It was mutilating, permanently disfiguring, and no more effective than less radical, less disfiguring procedures.

Nutrition concerns and health effects of vegetarian diets.

Vegetarians exhibit a wide diversity of dietary practices, often described by what is omitted from their diet. When a vegetarian diet is appropriately planned and includes fortified foods, it can be nutritionally adequate for adults and children and can promote health and lower the risk of major chronic diseases. The nutrients of concern in the diet of vegetarians include vitamin B(12), vitamin D, ω-3 fatty acids, calcium, iron, and zinc.

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