Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: Lifestyle, Risk Factors, and Metabolic Health

Key Quotes

"I have yet to meet a case of high blood pressure that I could not help course correct through lifestyle modifications and good old naturopathic medicine. This truly is not a drug deficiency problem. This really, I know that term gets thrown around a lot, but this truly is a lifestyle issue."

Dr. Tyna Moore asserts that high blood pressure is fundamentally a lifestyle issue, not a deficiency that can only be addressed with medication. She emphasizes her success in correcting such cases through lifestyle changes and naturopathic approaches, positioning them as the primary solution.

"The conclusions of the study in this bi-national study of two prospective cohorts: the presence of non-optimally controlled greater than or equal to one traditional risk factor was nearly universal before any kind of coronary or, I'm sorry, cardiovascular disease events. These results not only challenge claims that coronary heart disease events frequently occur without antecedent major risk factors but also demonstrate that other cardiovascular disease events including heart failure or stroke rarely occur in the absence of non-optimal traditional risk factors, highlighting the importance of primordial prevention efforts."

Dr. Moore highlights the findings of a study indicating that nearly all cardiovascular events were preceded by at least one non-optimal risk factor. She explains that this research challenges the notion that heart disease occurs randomly and underscores the significance of preventative measures focused on these identified risk factors.

"So what are these non-optimal traditional risk factors? There's just four of them. It's pretty straightforward. And if you've been listening to the show for a while, you've probably heard me talk about this. Now, I do want to say, I'm not judging anyone. You know what? I'm not judging anyone if you're taking medication. I would say every single guy I've dated for the past two decades was probably needing some medication or on some medication for cardiovascular disease. This stuff is handed out like candy. I'm not a huge fan long term of heart medication, but it is heresy to tell people to discontinue it."

Dr. Moore identifies four key non-optimal risk factors for cardiovascular disease and addresses the common use of medication. She expresses a personal preference against long-term reliance on heart medication, while acknowledging the established medical practice of not advising patients to discontinue it.

"So what are these risk factors? Blood pressure: so systolic above or equal to 120, diastolic above or equal to 80. I was taught 120 over 70 is optimal. That's what we're looking for. When I see anything between 70 and 80 on diastolic, I raise an eyebrow. When I see anything over 120 on systolic, I am kind of a stickler for this. I know that in the natural health space, a lot of people say blood pressure doesn't matter. I do think it matters. I do think lipids matter. I think all of these things do matter."

Dr. Moore details the first risk factor: blood pressure, specifying target numbers and her personal threshold for concern. She emphasizes her belief in the importance of monitoring blood pressure and lipids, contrasting this with some perspectives in the natural health community.

"The last non-optimal traditional risk factor is past or current smoking. Past or current. So even past smokers. And it's crazy. The presence of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and total coronary vascular disease was almost 100% that these folks had one at least one of these risk factors. So you're not a sitting duck just waiting for a heart attack to happen. Your heart attacks and my heart attacks and all the heart attacks of the world are there's warnings. We just have to know what to look for."

Dr. Moore identifies smoking, both past and present, as the fourth major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. She reassures listeners that heart events are not random occurrences, but rather that there are preceding warning signs related to these risk factors that can be identified.

"So your stress, your activity level, your management of your cortisol, which I guess goes with stress, your sleep, and who you choose to surround yourself with. I will add, and I did a whole podcast about this, our non-communicable conditions are communicable. Meaning, if you live with somebody with cardiovascular disease and or type two diabetes and or obesity, your risk for developing those conditions is incredibly high because we share our biomes, we share the microbiomes that are of our bodies. So we are contagious. Our conditions are contagious."

Dr. Moore posits that conditions like cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, and obesity can be communicable due to shared microbiomes within close relationships. She links these conditions to controllable factors such as stress, activity level, cortisol management, sleep, and social environment.