Cardiovascular Disease + Metabolic Syndrome
Coronary artery disease (CAD), is the number one cause of death in Australia. Diet and lifestyle play an important role in preventing and reversing heart disease, but also certain herbs and supplements can help lower your risks and help with heart conditions that you may have already been diagnosed with.
Major risk factors for cardiovascular disease include:
- Smoking
- Inactivity and lack of exercise
- Poor diet
- Excess alcohol consumption
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Obesity and carrying visceral weight around the abdominal organs
- Diabetes
- Genetic factors
Our practitioners can help you if you have been diagnosed with a cardiovascular issue, or if you have a strong family history and you would like to know what you can do to take a proactive and preventative approach for:
- Coronary artery disease
- Hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol)
- Angina
- Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Congenital heart disease
- Cardiomyopathy
- Stroke
- Rheumatic heart disease
- Atherosclerosis
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Tachycardia
- Atrial Fibrillation
If you are suffering with cardiovascular disease, our practitioners can offer a variety of treatment options to support healthy cardiovascular function through diet and lifestyle strategies, herbal and nutritional medicine and acupuncture.
Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a collection of disorders that occur together and increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (stroke or heart disease). The causes of metabolic syndrome are complex and there is thought to be a genetic link, together with lifestyle factors. Being overweight or obese and physically inactive, as well as having a high-sugar/carbohydrate diet adds to your risk. Metabolic syndrome is sometimes called Syndrome X or Insulin-Resistance Syndrome.
Excess abdominal weight, also known as visceral fat, increases your risk of insulin becoming less effective – known as insulin resistance. This means that insulin in the body is less effective at packing away glucose (sugar), especially in the muscles and liver – which increases your risk of Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes and Heart Disease.
More than 35 per cent of Australian adults have metabolic syndrome.
Diagnosis of metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is not a disease in itself, but a collection of risk factors for that often occur together. A person is diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome when they have any three or more of:
- central (abdominal) obesity – excess fat in and around the stomach (abdomen)
- raised blood pressure (hypertension)
- high blood triglycerides
- low levels of high density lipoproteins (HDL) – the ‘good’ cholesterol
- elevated homocysteine
- impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or diabetes. IFG occurs when blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes.
At Remède, our practitioners will assess your current health markers and risk factors and then develop an individualised plan to address the underlying drivers of your metabolic syndrome to kick your metabolism back into gear and restore your health and wellbeing.