This type of pain, referred to as angina is caused by insufficient flow of oxygen-rich blood to a portion of the heart muscle due to plaque-like atherosclerotic deposits.

Angina symptoms may develop gradually; however, an occlusion caused by a clot can trigger a rapid onset of pain with serious consequences.

The body's natural reaction to a narrowing of the arteries are collaterals - small blood vessels that detour blood around any blockages due to buildup of plaque. Collaterals are made only in case of a significant narrowing of the blood vessels - over 90 percent (!).

However, in many people this self-defense mechanism is not functioning properly and may be triggered:

• too late,
• not efficiently, or
• not at all.

Unfortuantely, without immediate intervention, the results of this mulfunctioning are often fatal.

The Most Common Signs for an Imminent Heart Attack
Chest pain (or a "clutching pain") though is not always the typical heart attack observable feeling. As a matter of fact, most heart attack survivors avoid the use of the word "pain" when describing the sensations which accompanied their attack. Instead, they use a range of descriptions, including:

• tightening and pressure in the chest,
• a lump in the throat,
• indigestion,
• wind, belching, and
• a need to keep swallowing.

Heart attack survivors often resort to gestures (such as touching the chest, neck or arm) as they struggle to find words for a sensation for which no shared language exists. Here is a partial list of the most common signals for a heart attack:

• extreme fatigue,
• nausea,
• clumsiness,
• sweating,
• pain in the jaw or back (particularly in women)
• discomfort in the arms and neck, and
• breathing difficulties.

PLEASE NOTE: If these and other symptoms gradually intensify for well over 15 minutes, during which time your remain free to move around normally, you should be dialing 911.

The Less-Known Early Warning Signs of a Heart Attack
The obvious signs of an imminent heart attack can mean that you are having a heart attack, and you should seek medical treatment right away.

However, there are some early warning signs of a heart attack. On the surface, they seem unrelated to the heart - and often are blown off as insignificant or "not that big of a deal" by many patients. But, upon closer examination, they can be predictors of heart problems and should be taken seriously.

• Erectile dysfunction - a difficulty maintaining an erection can be a sign of an earlier stage of atherosclerosis; smaller arteries in the penis often get blocked up before larger arteries (like those supplying blood to the heart). The plaque deposits reduce blood flow to the penis, making it difficult to get an erection.

  According to recent study, the risks of cardiovascular disease and death increased steadily with the severity of erectile dysfunction.

• Sleep apnea - a breathing interruption during sleep (sometimes up to hundreds of times) most often caused by an airway blockage-usually when tissue in the back of the throat collapses, causing oxygen deprivation to the brain and body.

  If left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to a heart attack due to the fact that the reduced oxygen intake leads to less oxygen feeding the heart. Sleep apnea also increases inflammation in the body-another risk factor for heart conditions.

  According to a recent study, sleep apnea was a significant predictor of heart disease (including heart attack and death) in men ages 40 to 70, but not in women or older men. Bleeding Gums - the health of your gums is connected to the health of your heart for a couple reasons. First, the poor circulation often seen in patients with heart disease could contribute to bleeding gums and gingivitis. Second, research supports the idea that oral bacteria can spread into the bloodstream and contribute to arterial plaque.

  According to one study, higher levels of periodontal bacteria were related to greater carotid artery intima-media thickness (thickness of the innermost layers of the arterial walls). The study concluded that there is a direct relationship between periodontal microbiology and subclinical atherosclerosis.

• Edema - although water retention causing swelling can happen for a variety of reasons, on a more serious level, edema can also be an indicator of heart disease. When the heart weakens as a result of disease, it pumps blood less efficiently. This causes fluid to build up, especially in the legs and feet-the areas furthest from your heart, which take the most work to pump blood to.

• Shortness of breath - while shortness of breath, along with other symptoms, could indicate that a heart attack is currently happening, it could also be a sign of future heart troubles. This is because a weak heart pumps less oxygen through the body, which could result in shortness of breath.

  The feeling of constantly feeling out of breath should not be ignored because of its sheer significance in predicting heart disease risk.

  According to one study, the rate of death from cardiac causes was significantly higher in people who reported shortness of breath than in those patients who did not.

Just as heart arteries can become clogged and cause pain, potentially leading to a heart attack, PVD can cause leg pain, and in severe cases results in the loss of the limb. It is a sign of system-wide cardiovascular disease, and often people with PVD also have blockages of arteries in the heart.

Most of the narrowing in PVD occurs between the knees and the ankles resulting in markedly decreased circulation to the feet. This may produce pain in the legs or feet when you walk.

If the pain, especially in the calf or thigh muscle when walking, is relieved with rest, the condition is called intermittent claudication - "angina of the legs" (claudication means "to limp" in Latin).

If the blood vessels to a portion of the legs or, more commonly, part of the feet become totally blocked, then the part of the body supplied by those blood vessels dies and gangrene occurs - your toe or foot becomes dark purple.

Standard Medical Treatment
Medical diagnosis of peripheral artery disease involves an ultrasound Doppler test, which helps to determine the degree of plaque.

Another, more acurate test, called arteriogram (or aortagram), is performed where larger blockages are suspected.

These tests help to determine type of treatment needed:

• surgical intervention, invasive and usually risky;
• balloon angioplasty or stent-grafts (implantations), also risky and invasive;
• bypass surgery, in casse of serious arterial blockage, invasive and risky.

The Conclusion:
Standard medical "treatment" of atheromatous plaque includes:

• removal,
• compression, or
• displacement.

Unfortunately, this "cut or medicate" approach merely by-passes the problem! It does nothing to stop the underlying disease, that is atherosclerosis, and its progression.

However, erectile dysfunction (ED) - a difficulty maintaining an erection - can also be a sign of an earlier stage of atherosclerosis in the penile arteries. The plaque deposits reduce blood flow to the penis, making it difficult to get an erection.

Smaller arteries in the penis often get blocked up before larger arteries, like those supplying blood to the heart. That is why erectile dysfunction should also be considered as one of early warning signs of a heart attack. According to recent study, the severity of erectile dysfunction increased steadily with the risks of cardiovascular disease and death.

Unfortunately, buildup of atherosclerotic plaque as an underlying cause of impotence in men is still frequently underestimated by standard medicine. As a result, instead of addressing this causative factor is involved in this condition, doctors recommend other "solutions", such as oral or injectable medications and mechanical aids, like an FDA-approved vacuum erection device (VED).

Meanwhile, many males suffering from erectile dysfunction have found arterial cleansing effective in improving their sexual functioning, simply by restoring circulation in their penile arteries.

More common in women, who account for 60 to 90 percent of all cases, Raynaud's usually occurs in response to cold or emotion. The affected body part may turn white or blue and feel cold and numb. This may last for several minutes.

After circulation improves, the affected body parts may become flushed and red for a time. However, if these episodes are severe and frequent, small ulcers and - gangrene may occur in the affected areas.

Often people with secondary Raynaud's have symptoms related to the underlying diseases. For example, it is the initial symptom in 70 percent of patients with scleroderma.

When Raynaud's phenomenon is limited to one hand or one foot, it is referred to as unilateral Raynaud's and is always secondary to local or regional vascular disease. As the vascular disease progresses, within several years unilateral Raynaud's begins to affect other limbs.

Arterial cleansing makes the intermittent interruptions of blood flow to the extremities less frequent by:

• improving and/or restoring the entire blood circulation, and, therefore
• bringing sufficient supply of nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood to the commonly affected areas, such as fingers and toes, and
• initiating the process of self-healing of these areas (and also reducing the chances of developing localized gangrene).

Arterial cleansing is also shown to be helpful in improving the symptoms of Raynaud's phenomenon by reducing frequency and severity of attacks and increasing:

• the surface blood flow,
• the blood flow to the extremities (and noticeably relieving pain),
• the blood flow in the fingertips (by acting as a vasodilator).

It takes a great leap of faith to let a surgeon crack open your chest, cutting through the breastbone, and put you on a heart-lung machine while attempting to correct blockages in coronary arteries which limit the flow of blood to the heart muscle.

The coronary artery bypass graft operation, also known as "bypass surgery" or surgical revascularization, involves taking healthy veins, and sometimes arteries, from other parts of the body (from the leg, chest or wrist) and grafting them from the aorta to the coronary artery to "bypass" or detour (go around) the blocked vessel and route oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

Although bypass surgery is being done on a scheduled basis, it may be performed in an emergency.

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When this specific mega-combination comes into contact with the bloodstream, it reaches the inflamed arteries which have been injured by oxidative free radicals. (These free radicals are present in excessive amounts in the body, mainly due to past or present dietary and lifestyle indiscretions.)

The primary purpose of this method is to initiate self-healing processes in the innermost part of arterial lining (endothelium). In this way, over a period of time the accumulated buildup of fatty plaques in damaged arteries begins gradually to cease.

You can see an estimated 50 percent reduction of life-threatening arterial plaque buildup in the carotid artery as a result of a six-month trial of the nutritional arterial cleansing. What an amazing visual proof!

Indeed, a picture is worth a thousand words...

What sets it apart from conventional medical methods is that the nutritional arterial cleansing - by keeping atherosclerotic plaques in solution - helps to emulsify and wash them away safely and gradually. In other words, the nutritional method does NOT pull away "chunks of plaque" that could plug up the arteries further downstream!

Why?

Because, by definition, dietary supplements nourish and heal (never destruct!) - a characteristic which is not true for any medicine. It's no wonder, then, the nutritional arterial cleansing helps make the plaques disappear and, at the same time, prevents formation of new atheromas. That's how the body functions and works - by nourishing and healing itself in order to maintain homeostasis and prevent any damage to it.

So if you or a loved one is dealing with this atherosclerosis, it certainly can't hurt to add therapeutic levels of cardioprotective nutrients to your daily regimen.

As soon as you begin improving the flow of oxygen-dense and nutrients-dense blood in the entire cardiovascular tree, you will start experiencing, almost immediately - literally, within weeks ! - such positive changes as:

• an increase in energy;

Palpation of Posterior Tibial Pulse

• pain-free walking;
• reduction in angina (chest pain) attacks;
• warmer hands and feet;
• measurable posterior tibial pulse (peripheral circulation);
• reduction of shaking/trembling in hands, and tingling in hands and/or feet, if any;
• improved mental alertness, cognition and memory;
• less need for sleep;
• better vision, and even
• better skin tone, resulting in a younger look.

The nutritional arterial cleansing - believe it or not! - can even help you improve your functional age (not the same as chronological age!) by adding more active years to your life.

First of all, however, the nutritional arterial cleansing can help you control the atherosclerosis risk factors, such as:

• hypertension,
• high blood levels of
  • lipoprotein (a),
  • homocysteine,
  • fibrinogen,
  • LDL-"bad" cholesterol,
  • triglycerides,
• nutritional deficiencies,
• complications of diabetes.

The nutritional arterial cleansing can help you avoid such consequences of atherosclerosis as:

• coronary artery disease (leading to angina, heart attack, heart failure),
• carotid artery disease (leading to stroke),
• peripheral artery disease (pain in the lower limbs on walking, typically in the calf muscle, a condition called intermittent claudication, leading to foot gangrene and/or amputation),
• restenosis (obstruction of bypass grafts and stents),
• kidney damage,
• "eye stroke",
• erectile dysfunction (in men),
• mesentric ischemia (inadequate blood supply to the small intestine).

The nutritional arterial cleansing can help you avoid the risks of standard medical treatments such as:

• balloon angioplasty,
• stenting,
• endarterectomy,
• vascular bypass (coronary, cerebral, peripheral),
• amputation.

The nutritional arterial cleansing can complement or - in some cases - even replace the intravenous (IV) chelation therapy. It may also help cut your dependence on medications such as anti-cholesterol drugs, aspirin, blood thinners, diuretics, nitroglycerin, etc.