This research investigates the use of diet and exercise in cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiovascular disease and the resultant heart attacks account for half the deaths in America each year. The traditional medical approach to treatment with angioplasty to clear the blocked arteries and bypass surgery to make new pathways around them are of limited benefit and treat only the result of the prolem, not the cause. This paper looks at non-medical solutions to prevent and rehabilitate cardiovascular problems.
In the United States, more than 40 million people are known to have cardiovascular disease and many more remain undiagnosed (Ornish, 1990, p. 11). Sixty million Americans suffer from high blood pressure and 80 million from high cholesterol levels, both of which are major contributors to the development of atherosclerosis by plaque formation (Ornish, 1990, p. 11). One and a half million Americans suffer a heart attack each year (Ornish, 1990, p. 11), and 20 percent of these are fatal (Zugibe, 1986, p. 3.). Thirty-five percent of first-time heart attack victims are at low risk for having another attack, but 25 percent are at high risk (Gordon & Gibbons, 1990, pp. 29-32). Heart disease is a major health problem in the United States and its prevention and treatment are being rigorously investigated.
The conventional treatments for cardiovascular disease (clogging of the coronary arteries), angioplasty and bypass surgery, treat the problem but do not cure it or prevent it recurring because they do not address the underlying cause according to Dr. Dean Ornish (1990). One third of arteries cleared by balloon angioplasty clog up again within 4-6 months (p. 53). While balloon angioplasty clears clogged arteries, it may also damage the lining of these same arteries, leaving them vulnerable to further plaque formation (p. 53). Bypass surgery is successful in severe cases of cardiovascular blockage, but only of minimal help in tho...