Chronic Heart and Kidney Disease prevention

Introduction:

Chronic Kidney Disease and Chronic Heart Disease have a lot in common. They both can increase the risk of developing the other. Through the gut. By the gut-kidney-heart axis. Let's start with heart disease. Heart Disease is now the leading killer in America. What do you know about it? Well, let me tell you a little bit. It is a general term for a vast array of heart problems. From congenital or born with. To those that you develop across time. According to MedlinePlus, coronary artery disease is the most common one. It is when plaque builds up in your arteries and interrupts blood flow. Other types are cardiomyopathy or heart disease that affects your heart muscles. Since lifestyle is one of the causes of heart disease, we will look at how lifestyle medicine and other therapeutic means will be able to find ways to resolve heart disease. Or prevent it from developing in the first place. Other causes include genetics, infections, medicines, and other diseases. Those who are at older ages, female, have a family history of early heart disease, melanated, living unhealthy lifestyles, and have other medical conditions are at risk of developing heart disease.

Symptoms depend on the type of heart disease you have. Treatments for heart disease depend on what type of heart disease you have. They include heart-healthy lifestyle changes, medicines, procedures or surgeries, and cardiac rehabilitation. We will also look at how certain therapeutic interventions treat heart disease. You can manage and prevent heart disease with healthy lifestyle changes.

If people had some preventative techniques they were aware of, they would be able to use lifestyle medicine to protect and heal themselves through acupressure, herbs, juicing, aromatherapy essential oils, and yoga. As well as other therapeutic means.

The gut, the kidney, and the heart:

Chronic kidney disease brings a great highlight to the gut-kidney-heart axis. Your intestine microbiome connects to various points in the body. Your kidney and heart are one of them. And when your intestine is dysfunctioned, it leads to the development of chronic diseases and their progression. Chronic Kidney Disease is one of them as well as the fact that Cardiovascular or heart disease is an associated complication of Chronic Kidney Disease.

For healing, therapies include dietary intervention, probiotics, prebiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, antibiotics, conventional drugs, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Chronic kidney Disease is a global health problem. It has reached up to 15% of the population worldwide. The goal is to reduce the pain and socio-economic burden of CKD patients. Cardiovascular disease is " the most common complication and the major cause of death of CKD patients ( Pubmed Central)".

In healthy microbiomes probiotics and vitamins can be utilized as they are intended. Which is " probiotics will continue to reproduce"( pubmedcentral). And " vitamins can be synthesized smoothly"(PubMed Central). Gut health impacts a lot of diseases. And to heal chronic kidney disease you must also be able to heal chronic heart disease as they all function as a whole.

The gut and the heart:

Keeping your gut healthy is another means of keeping your heart healthy. The microbes in your gut, " help with digestion, the manufacturing of certain nutrients, and the release of certain substances that have wide-ranging health effects." (health.harvard.edu).

Gut health with your blood focuses on the kidneys as we remove poison and toxins from the blood to create pee. And what happens when this process does not happen? Well, we're left with waste in our bloodstream. As you follow the gut, the blood from the gut to the kidneys to the heart, you see how it affects the body along the way. So as your gut reduces waste in the kidneys, it cleanses the blood and sends it up to the heart in order to supply our body with energy.

Gut health and the brain:

The gut-brain axis looks at the connections between the gut and the brain neurons. It connects the gastrointestinal tract to the central nervous system. The gut is known as the second brain. This will be our focus next month, as we observe how our brain and gut affect one another. But as of now, we focus on the brain to point out that our gut has a lot of functions as it connects to different areas of the body. Being a second brain our gut controls our emotions as well and this emotional connection of the brain and gut tie into the heart. As our emotions tend to impact our breathing, which in turn impacts our heart health. So what happens when our emotions are irregular? Well, it can lead to the development of heart disease if left untreated for long.

The brain and heart connection:

Heart disease affects the brain. According to Harvard Health, ' "there's a complex interplay between the microbes in our intestines and most of the systems in our bodies, including the vascular, nervous, endocrine, and immune systems, all of which are linked with cardiovascular health," says Dr. Stanley Shaw, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. '.

Healing strategies:

Preventative strategies for kidney disease, heart disease, and the brain include a fiber-rich diet to " lower the risk of heart disease and stroke by as much as 30%"( health.harvard.edu). ' " The best advice for helping your gut help your heart is to follow a plant-based diet like the Mediterranean diet or similar eating patterns. These involve limiting red meat and eating plenty of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, all of which can have favorable effects on the gut," says Dr. Shaw. "And if your gut is healthy, there is a greater chance your heart is healthy, too." ' ( health.harvard.edu)

Herbs from traditional Chinese medicine help to heal the gut thus healing the kidney and the heart. Astragalus membranaceus is the most widely used herb for treating kidney disease. " Some studies suggest that astragalus may help improve kidney function in those with kidney disease. It may also prevent infections in those with reduced kidney function." ( Healthline). " Many Chinese medicinal herbs, including Astragali Radix (Huangqi), Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix (Danshen), Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen), Notoginseng Radix (Sanqi), etc., have been used successfully in China for thousands of years as CHF treatments." ( sciencedirect.com). " In TCM, the heart is the seat of the emotions and the residence of the consciousness while awake. It also controls the circulation and has a special connection to the kidneys. The arteries, veins, and capillaries are all considered extensions of the heart." ( rebelmednw.com). Chinese medicine talks about the yin being the kidney and the yang from the heart create balanced energy. But I'm not gonna go deep into that as I'm just talking about possible solutions one may try s therapeutic treatments. I hope a person is interested enough to do their research and learn more about how traditional chinese medicine works to heal you. Dan shen, Shanza, Di Long, cinnamon, and singing help the heart. Daoists recognize the heart-kidney connection as, they have a meditation just for connecting the heart and kidneys. According to rebelmednw.com, " Meditation to connect heart and kidneys is an intermediate technique in Daoist alchemy to create a container for an inexhaustible spiritual power source within the body." " In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), TCM herbs, such as red sage root (Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza), Ligusticum wallichii (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong), safflower (Flos Carthami), and curcuma root (Radix Curcumae) have proven effective in improving angina symptoms and clinical outcomes." ( sciencedirect.com). Fish oil is best supplement for heart health. Only add herbs if you have the disease.

Juicing helps to heal the gut as fasting and juicing combined help to bring the gut to a balance. Then the addition of juicing adds nutrients that stimulate the body to be in a more healthy state. Combine that with herbs and you have a home remedy for chronic kidney disease and heart disease. Only add herb if you have the disease. " Juicing can also benefit kidney health by providing more fluid to help keep the body hydrated. The extra antioxidants from the fruits and vegetables used to make the juice help reduce inflammation caused by oxidation." ( National kidney foundation). According to goodrx.com " Cranberry juice. Cranberry juice contains antioxidants. ...

• Carrot juice. Research shows that drinking 2 glasses (16 ounces) a day of carrot juice has antioxidant effects. ...

• Beet juice. ...

• Teas. ...

• Apple juice. ...

• Orange juice. ...

• Lemon juice. ...

• Green and black tea."

There are some studies out that a kidney cleanse will help to repair it but there needs to be more information out. But if you want to try it out to see if it works for you, you can. Just consult a doctor beforehand. It can also improve your heart health by giving your gut a fiber boost to absorb nutrients better and give your digestive system a rest. " Studies show drinking no more than five ounces a day is linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. So a small amount of fruit juice seems to be OK, but too much sugar from all sources — including juice — is linked to poor health outcomes." ( Heart and stroke.Ca). Pomegranate juice or green juice is best for the heart.

Yoga helps the gut-heart axis by improving cardiovascular health, lowering stress and inflammation, and helps to regulate the gut through the breathing techniques practiced. According to UCLAhealth.org, " Moreover, supportive studies have shown the significant role of yoga in its ability to control renal dysfunction as assessed by blood urea and serum creatinine values. Thus, more studies focused on CKD patients should consider pairing conventional treatment with yoga exercises." As well as " In a study, it was found that 30 min of hath yoga practice daily for 4 months showed a significant reduction in oxidative stress and an increase in antioxidant activity in patients with CKD who were on hemodialysis." Johns Hopkins medicine states that, ' “A large number of studies show that yoga benefits many aspects of cardiovascular health,” says Hugh Calkins, M.D., director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Johns Hopkins. “There’s been a major shift in the last five years or so in the number of cardiologists and other professionals recognizing that these benefits are real.”'And " Beyond off-loading stress, practicing yoga may help lower blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood glucose levels, as well as heart rate, making it a useful lifestyle intervention. One study has shown that blood measurements and waist circumference—a marker for heart disease—improved in middle-aged adults with metabolic syndrome who practiced yoga for three months." And " Yoga can also improve flexibility, muscle strength and balance. Because it’s not a form of aerobic exercise that raises the heart rate, however, you shouldn’t count the time you spend doing it as part of your recommended weekly total for moderate to vigorous physical activity"

Aromatherapy can aid in gut-heart axis health by relaxing, calming, and improving the quality of life of the individual. An essential that works is Myrrh. "Myrrh Essential Oil Mitigates Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Injury" ( NCBI research study on myrrh essential oil and its affects on Renal induced injury. ). " Recently, a systematic review showed that aromatherapy administered during the dialysis session, reduces anxiety, fatigue, itching, fistula puncture pain, poor sleep quality, depression, stress, and headache of patients on chronic hemodialysis and ultimately improves their quality of life." ( sciencedirect.com) " Lavender essential oil group and Citrus Aurantium essential oil" ( sciecedirect.com) during hemodialsis helps with quality of life. " Most researchers agree that there is no conclusive evidence that aromatherapy has any therapeutic effects on people with heart disease, but there is some evidence that aromatherapy can lower anxiety and stress, which are risk factors for high blood pressure. " ( healthline.com.

Acupressure for the gut, kidney disease, and heart disease helps to " improving kidney function and relieving pruritic symptoms in patients with CKD, but the very low evidence may limit this conclusion. The TSA suggests that high-quality trials are needed to validate the efficacy of acupuncture therapy.". According to tandfonline.com. It will aide in pain reduction and help to improve function of the kidney and heart, along with the gut. But it will not cure or reverse the effects of Chronic inflammation in the kidneys and heart.

Conclusion: Now with the knowledge you have about how the gut, kidney,and heart work together to create a balance and when that balance is disturbed they go out of sync from inflammation and result in chronic disease forms. With the solutions for prevention and management present, one may be able to better manage their recovery from chronic kidney and chronic heat disease. Look in your community to see where you can learn more or discuss the prevention of these diseases and help further the research to reverse these chronic diseases. Please comment your thoughts on this blog post and start a discussion today.