5. - Chronic Inflammation

Inflammation is a clever defense mechanism mounted by your body's immune system in response damage. It is not a sign of weakness, it is a immune repair mechanism designed to get your body back in top shape fast. Inflammation helps your body repel intruders such as dirt, toxins or germs before they have a chance to create real health problems. Research has shown that when inflammation is out control it can seriously affect your health.  For example, if you cut or burn your body or develop a bacterial or viral infection, an inflammatory response will be mounted. Your body's defences are already hard at work long before you notice the signs of inflammation - redness, heat and tenderness around the area affected. 

Chronic inflammation that can't switch off

Researchers have long known chronic low-grade inflammation plays a key role in the development of conditions such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis. Research is currently underway right now by the British Heart Foundation to establish the precise mechanism that triggers the body's inflammatory response.

Signs and symptoms of chronic inflammation

• Tiredness
• Body aches and pains
• Congestion
• Frequent infections
• Diarrhea
• Dry eyes
• Indigestion
• Shortness of breath
• Skin outbreaks
• Swelling
• Stiffness
• Weight gain
• Obesity

The most common and deadly result of chronic inflammation however is cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

CRP - one of your best inflammatory markers

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an immune-system chemical made by your liver in response to inflammation occurring anywhere in your body. In Australia and NZ, CRP is being increasingly found to be a useful way of predicting a person's risk of having a heart attack or other heart problem, but unfortunately it is not yet a mainstream part of medicine. Read more on the Best Blood Tests page on this website.

People who exercise regularly  have much lower blood levels of CRP.

Experts are now saying that a CRP test is possibly the best way to predict your risk as it is seen as one of the best inflammatory predictors, and when it is combined with a person's LDL in particular, but also with HDL, Triglycerides, Homocysteine, Lipoprotein (a)  and other advanced markers offers possibly the highest predictive determination of your full cardiovascular disease risk.

One theory is that while LDL lets you know how much plaque is affecting your arteries, CRP tells you how likely that plaque is going to burst and become liberated in your bloodstream, causing a dangerous clot to form.

Inflammatory triggers

What are some of the main reasons and triggers which can make your body's immune system turn on you like this?  It is interesting to note that your smoke alarm will go on with a loud noise in your home if you smoke near it, just like the inflammation mechanism will go off in your body if you smoke yourself!

Some of the most common reasons for chronic low-grade inflammation are cigarette smoking, tummy fat, excess alcohol or food consumption, eating the wrong foods (deep fried for example), lack of exercise or inactivity (the "sitting" disease) and daily stress. Another source is being infected with agents like herpes, chlamydia and a common digestive bug called Helicobacter pylori, which affects the stomach and upper digestive tract in up to 20 percent of Australians and New Zealanders.

Other possible inflammatory triggers are diabetes which is poorly controlled, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol (LDL) levels. Your inflammatory immune mechanism is always on red alert, and even ready to switch on with minor infections such as gum or tooth disease and urinary tract or skin infections. If these infections remain for some time, then inflammation will remain also. This is why it is so important to fix up any problem areas in your body, such as a continual dental or urinary problem issue before it can cause real problems further afield in your body. A "stitch in time saves nine" literally!

Chronic low-grade inflammation - Common infections such as bronchitis, herpes, chlamydia, continual sinus, gum or tooth infections and other lesser known bugs like Helicobacter pylori (responsible for nearly all tummy ulcers) will stimulate and provoke your immune system to stimulate the production of inflammatory mediators. Many people live continually with one small infection or another. Heart researchers even discovered that just by giving a person long term low-grade antibiotics to curb such infections they could slash the average person's heart risk!

The "sitting disease" - Inactivity is a prime trigger for chronic low grade inflammation. Exercise helps to increase HDL (good cholesterol) as well as reduce the levels of CRP (C-reactive protein) in your blood stream. And high blood concentrations of CRP is very predictive of an early mortality of heart disease.

Anxiety, worry and stress - More and more evidence suggests a relationship between the risk of cardiovascular disease and stress. Stress factors include job strain, marital problems, financial worries/job stress, mortgage stress, bankruptcy, prison term, social isolation and personality traits such as impatience, anger, irritability or being a  Type A personality. Acute and chronic stress may additionally affect other risk factors and behaviors, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, smoking, physical inactivity and overeating.

Eating the wrong fats - "Good" fats are found in nuts like walnuts and seeds, flaxseed oil, oily fish and fish oil Omega 3 capsules. Healthy fats form the building block for inflammatory fighting immune components called "eicosanoids". One of the key good fats is Omega3, and there is now more than ample research to validate taking one or two fish oil capsules every day.

Take away foods - A high fat, sugar and salt laden diet is one sure fire way to develop heart disease sooner rather than later due to the damaging inflammatory effect on the vascular function. Fast foods high in saturated fats like deep fried fish and chips or fatty meat pies will cause the bloodstream to have a sustained level of harmful fats for at least three hours after eating. This condition is called "post-prandial (eating) hyperlipidemia". By eating fast foods regularly you will be ensuring that you be keeping inflammation occurring indefinitely.

Abdominal or central fat - Fat cells are seen by some researchers as "hormone pumps", as they have been found to secrete inflammatory proteins into the bloodstream called cytokines which are directly responsible for inflammation.

Oxidised LDLs - Very dangerous indeed! - Oxidised LDLs occur when the "bad" (LDL) cholesterol reacts with tiny molecules called free radicals (caused by smoking, toxins, liver detoxification, alcohol, chemicals, etc) in your bloodstream. This in turn allows the LDL particles to become more easily incorporated into artery walls where they set off an inflammatory response that helps produce plaque. Once inside the artery walls, cholesterol fatty acids combine in the plaque with the oxidised LDL along with other immune system cells. An inflammatory response then causes a de-stabilisation of the fibrous covering that normally keeps the plaque out of the bloodstream. These "hot plaques" are often the ones most likely to rupture and flood the bloodstream with immune substances that prompt fast blood clotting - that ultimately lead to massive heart attacks or significant strokes.

Key things you need to know about Chronic Inflammation

How inflammation happens- Chronic, low-grade inflammation is bad for the heart and circulation as well as for your health in general. If there is a low grade chronic inflammatory condition present, you will have a continual production of compounds released into your bloodstream, encouraging a continual production of tiny blood clots, leading to a stroke or a heart attack.

How inflammation takes place:

• Inflammatory immune particles discover LDL in artery walls.  
• Immune scavenger cells called macrophages are sent to eradicate the unwanted cholesterol.  
• Foam cells are produced, which are the by-products (oxidised LDL) that form the basis of plaque.  
• Plaque grows and develops a hard fibrous cap.  
• Inflammatory immune compounds weaken the cap and weaken the protective lid covering the plaque.  
• The cap ruptures releasing the fatty contents into the bloodstream.  
• The immune system attacks the liberated fatty deposits encouraging blood to clot. 

Standard medical care for inflammation- There are presently no pharmaceutical drugs to counter chronic low grade inflammation in the body. Some doctors may prescribe Statin (cholesterol lowering) drugs or low-dose aspirin for these conditions. Other doctors are even considering placing patients on long-term low grade antibiotics for people who present with persistent, low grade infections. The problem here is that long term antibiotic therapy will undermine the digestive and immune systems, causing side-effects and long term dysfunction leading to yet more disease.

Predictive value in medicine - It has only been a few years since the link between long term inflammation and heart disease has emerged. We now know the even patients with near normal cholesterol levels yet presenting with chronic low grade inflammation can go on to have heart attacks. Doctors would do well to more fully establish their patient's risks, particularly those with a strong family history of heart disease.

Detecting inflammation - Conventional doctors may well one day use the CRP (C-reactive protein) test more routinely to diagnose patients at risk. Most all integrative or functional medicine practitioners (doctors who successfully combine Western and natural medicine in their clinics) already perform this test. Enlightened naturopaths with more science based training also check a patient's CRP levels.

The possibility of self-treatment - High for most people with chronic low-grade inflammation, but you will need to look after your whole body. Ensure you have regular check-ups with your dentist and eradicate any gum infections or dental caries sooner rather than later. Treat any infections promptly, for example ensure you don't have any stomach bacteria which can cause Helicobacter pylori (have your blood and stool tested if in doubt). Treat herpes promptly. Lose excess tummy fat and make sure you regularly take Omega 3 fish oils which are anti-inflammatory.

Heart Drops can assist and support your heart and circulation, even in those with and elevated CRP, and when your inflammatory response begins to normalise due to your changes in diet and lifestyle and natural treatment you can reduce and eventually stop the Heart Drops. Ensure you ask your doctor to check your CRP levels, and get regular blood tests to determine your inflammatory response in your body.

Heart Drops is New Zealand's leading proprietary herbal medicine formula created since 2004 to assist in supporting those with high blood pressure and high cholesterol concerns in a safe, drug free way. Many Australians and New Zealanders have benefited from this formula, and so can you.

If you are overweight and have high blood pressure, heart or circulatory concerns, high cholesterol, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress or metabolic syndrome, then why not try heart Drops?

Heart Drops are not pharmaceutical drugs

Heart Drops were designed to help support your healthy lifestyle and diet thereby optimising your success with your quest for a healthy circulation and heart. Heart Drops were never meant to substitute for your doctor's professional advice or treatment, they play a supportive role and work on an entirely different and more of a nutritional level than drugs do. Whilst drugs do a good job of controlling symptoms, the unique combination of the herbal medicines helps to encourage the development of healthy tissue and assists in healthy blood vessel growth.

The primary action of herbs used in circulatory disorders is to increase the flow of blood to the body’s extremities (arms, legs, fingers and toes) and to improve the health of heart and blood vessel walls in general.

In conjunction with a healthy heart diet and stress management, the traditional herbs used in Heart Drops are the perfect preventive measure for people who have a family history of heart disease. They can be used in combination with drugs as a safe and effective program for combating the gradual loss of heart and circulatory function that comes with age.

A Superior Formula Gives Superior Results

We ensure that only the very best quality herbal medicines are used in our Heart Drops.The herbs used in our liquid Heart Drops formulation have a patented methodof extraction, which retains each herb’s active ingredient and essential minerals and enzymes to its fullest. This type of processing offers superior bio availability and enhances overall effectiveness making Heart Drops superior over any cardiovascular herbal formula of its kind currently on the market.

Testimonial : " I used to suffer from angina and chest pain in the past and was told by my doctor that an operation was my only option, but I wasn't keen on an operation. I used to rely on a nitro spray even to go shopping. I have used your Heart Drops over a period of about a year and a half and now can say that my walking distance has increased a lot, I can now walk without any pain and my overall health has improved considerably too. I have now no need for drugs. Thanks so much". --- Warren, Wellington ---

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NO RISK! Heart Drops contains a 30 day money back guarantee. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied, just return the bottle with the remaining Heart Drops and we will refund you in full. (Refund policy does not include any freight charges).

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Please Note: Our herbal medicine formulations are not cures nor a remedy for any medical disorder, nor are they a substitute for professional health-care attention, diagnosis and/or treatment.  We never advocate that you stop drugs for blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease, but that you get professional advice regarding your treatment and your options. Do not exceed stated dosages without professional advice. Our herbal preparations are not pharmaceutical drugs and are prescribed for nutritional purposes only to support and assist the body to heal itself. Refrigeration not required. Keep out of reach of children. If symptoms persist, see your health-care professional. People sensitive or allergic to any of the ingredients of Heart Drops should avoid this product. 

Disclaimer - While we cannot make any medical claims, the testimonials on this website speak for themselves. The information contained herein is general commentary and not medical advice. If you have concerns or questions about a medical condition, you are advised to consult your health care professional.