and hemoglobin , negatively impacting blood viscosity . Blood being thick and sticky , platelets lumping together is also propagated by , irresponsible dietary choices as well as not doing year round cardio , cardio being the most effective exercise for the heart . Moreover PED ’ s are suspended in oils like cottonseed oil , certain types of vegetable and seed oils when exposed to heat and light cause them to denature , oxidize and become chemically altered . We have more on chemically altered fats later in this article . to focus on the most common that we find in North America leading to the greatest risk to mortality .
First , a brief summary of some heart disease and contributing factors we see commonly , atrial fibrillations ( arrhythmia ), there are many types of arrhythmia , but they all stem from a heart that beats too quickly or too slowly . Atherosclerosis occurs when calcium plaque and certain kinds of lipid materials build up on the inside wall of an artery , making them thick and hard , this restricts the flow of blood and can lead to a blockage . Cardiac arrest , when the heart suddenly stops beating . Heart attack , simply put , the heart is a muscle and cannot get enough oxygen . Enlarged heart , an enlarged heart ( also known as cardiomegaly ), is an increase in the size of the heart , this is usually caused by another medical condition from birth , however it is * something much more common in the athletic community *, then general population genetic predisposition . It ’ s also very important to say that within the athletic community , a thicker ventricle wall , as well as a larger heart , is connected to the growth and development of the bodies muscle in general and is not a focus of risk factor . Enlargements of the heart and thickened left ventricle are often the result of life long high intensity athletic endeavours , common with football players , sprinters and yes bodybuilders alike . Added to this , evidence shows a link to the use of PED ‘ s , and enlarged heart . Heart block , this is a type of arrhythmia ( called bradycardia ), this happens when the heart ’ s electrical signals are too slow or interrupted . Heart failure is when your heart isn ’ t strong enough to pump your blood effectively ; this can cause fluid to pool in your lungs or your ankles and legs . Pulmonary embolism , this is when a blood clot gets lodged in the artery of a lung , clots most often start in the legs and travel up through the right side of the heart and into the lungs , clots from thick sticky blood , high iron content in our blood , and super high RBC is also very common in our athletic community . Make no mistake and I won ’ t sugar coat this , PED ’ S are largely responsible for Increases in hematocrit
There are also several generic contributors like Marfan syndrome , this is an inherited disorder that affects your connective tissue , also IRD ’ s ( inherited rhythm disorders ) people with this condition experience irregular heartbeats like the arrhythmias mentioned above . So given the brief overview , today I want to focus on the 3 that are responsible for the majority of heart disease related mortality in North America .
Blood Pressure ; this is the big scary one to a lot of people , properly explained , this is the pressure of the blood in the circulatory system , often measured for diagnosis since it is closely related to the force and rate of the heartbeat and the diameter and elasticity of the arterial walls . This one is very , very simple , get a testing kit , and keep a tracker to update your numbers . 120 / 80 is the preferred norm for ‘ Systolic / Diastolic Pressure ’. Systolic pressure ( measures the forces of blood against your artery walls while your ventricles — the lower two chambers of your heart — squeeze , pushing blood out to the rest of your body ). ‘ Diastolic pressure ‘( measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart is at rest between beats ). Anything under 120 for systolic is optimal , under 100 you are a bit low , over 130 is not optimal and you can do the math , that as this number increases this is BAD scenario rapidly extrapolate to dangerous . If your diastolic is between 60-80 , that is AWESOME ! Over 80 and climbing , again not great , under 60 and you ’ re probably not getting off the couch too easy . So simply , we want our blood pressure to be optimal not too high and not too low . Now friends , please remember this is the foundation of Blood Pressure reading , we should be very aware of this and have a consistent healthy relationship with monitoring our blood pressure . Yes , even before triglycerides / cholesterol and atherosclerosis etc etc . again , please purchase a testing kit and check your blood pressure in the morning at rest and 12 hours later at rest . I really don ’ t understand why so many of us neglect this , it ’ s so simple and so very informative , there are many natural things we can do to correct it if
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