Congratulations America! Heart disease is still the #1 killer. Obviously people aren’t taking the proper dietary and lifestyle steps to reign in this statistic, so let’s do something ab out it! Join Dr. Larson on another hike & learn to understand the pitfalls of Ibuprofen and 3 very simple and proactive steps you can take right now to offset your risk of a heart attack.
This new study found that whether you take a little or a lot of Ibuprofen, your risk of a heart attack is drastically increased! DR. CHAD LARSON
In Episode 26, Dr. Larson discusses:
- According to statistics, heart disease, heart attack, and stroke remain the number one killer of Americans
- A study recently released studied NSAID use in a population size of 400,000 people
- NSAID are anti-inflammatory non-steroid drugs such as Aleve, Ibuprofen, Advil and Motrin
- Taking them dramatically increases your risk of a heart attack or myocardial infarction
- A myocardial infarction happens when blood is cut off from the heart causing the person to suffer a heart attack
- It used to be general knowledge that chronic use of NSAIDs was not recommended and increased heart attack risk
- Newly released information shows that short-term, or acute use, as little as one week’s time, of NSAIDs can increase your risk of a heart attack the equivalent of long-term use
- NSAIDs work by decreasing inflammation in the body which can lead to pain, but there are many other ways to prevent or treat inflammation
- Often, if you can find the underlying cause of inflammation and eliminate it, there is no need for NSAID use
- For example, low blood sugar can lead to chronic headaches. Instead of reaching for pharmaceuticals, like NSAIDs, a person should consider not skipping meals to reduce low blood sugar
- Dehydration can also lead to inflammation causing pain, increasing not just the water you drink but ensuring that you have the proper electrolyte balance, which includes sodium and potassium, is just as important
- Stress, although not directly related to inflammation, is something known as a magnifier
- A magnifier is something that can magnify the effects of an underlying condition leading to changes in vasculature and muscle tone
- Other causes of inflammation and pain are physical stress
- Because we spend so much time in front of computers, on our laptops and smartphones, our upper bodies are in a constant state of tightness
- Chronic upper body tightness can cause pain in the head and neck, which can be felt in the back of the eyes. Although having nothing to do with your head, referred pain from your head and neck can make you feel as if you have chronic headaches
- It is always best to challenge the status quo of using pharmaceuticals to treat both chronic or acute pain. Sometimes it is best to find out the underlying cause and change those things that are causing the inflammation instead of using NSAIDs after the fact
- Overall, if you are going to use NSAID, let it be your last resort. And, only use them conservatively to reduce your risk of heart attack and other harmful side effects
