Major changes in diet and lifestyle can not only prevent heart attacks, but can reverse the clogging of the arteries, according to a small but groundbreaking study.
The study showed that a vegetarian diet, moderate exercise and one one day of yoga and meditation can be a reversal of atherosclerosis, a blockage of the arteries that can lead to a heart attack in men and women who were strict in the following daily regime.
Experts say that this is the first study to report that such a blockade could be reversed without using cholesterol-lowering drugs or surgery.
The study, which was performed by Dr. Dean Ornish, director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, was presented during the meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans.
This is a tremendously important study in the fight against cardiovascular diseases. It is the first study indicating regression of coronary heart disease without pharmaceutical intervention. The results also suggest that the current medical guidelines for changes in the habits of people with severe cardiovascular disease does not go far enough.
Previous studies have shown that exercise and diet changes can delay the progression of cardiovascular disease, but not vice versa.
Although the study does not determine what percentage of the improvement can be attributed to lifestyle changes alone the researchers found that stress-control methods has been shown to ease restoration of various diseases such as hypertension.
But some experts are skeptical about the need for stress-management methods, which are currently not covered by the standard recommendations for people with severe cardiovascular disease.
Some experts in the field of cardiac rehabilitation whether most people with cardiovascular disease may follow such strict changes in their habits.
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