{"id":10486,"date":"2024-08-22T01:36:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T18:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10486"},"modified":"2024-08-22T01:36:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T18:36:36","slug":"the-truth-about-heart-stents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10486","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About Heart Stents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coronary artery disease, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/the-top-10-causes-of-death\">number one killer<\/a> of men and women, involves blockages in the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle. As discussed in my video <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/do-angioplasty-heart-stent-procedures-work\/\">Do Angioplasty Heart Stent Procedures Work?<\/a><\/strong>, low blood \ufb02ow can lead to a type of chest pain called <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20820035\/\">angina<\/a> or, if severe enough, a heart attack. Plant-based diets and lifestyle programs have been shown to help <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28630609\/\">reverse these blockages<\/a> by treating the cause of why our arteries are clogging up in the first place. But, for those unable or unwilling to change their diets, there are drugs that may help, as well as more invasive surgical treatments.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Is a Heart Stent?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may have heard of <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20820035\/\">open-heart surgery<\/a>, performed to try to bypass the blockage, or <i>percutaneous coronary intervention.<\/i> As discussed in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/why-angioplasty-heart-stents-dont-work-better\/\"><strong>Why Angioplasty Heart Stents Don\u2019t Work Better<\/strong><\/a>, historically, the more common procedure was <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Blausen_0028_Angioplasty_BalloonInflated_01.png\">angioplasty<\/a>, wherein a tiny balloon is inserted into a narrowed coronary artery feeding your heart to force it to open wider to improve blood flow. Then, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Blausen_0034_Angioplasty_Stent_01.png\">stents<\/a> came into vogue. Instead of just ballooning up the artery, how about permanently inserting a metal mesh tube to prop open the artery? Stents are typically inserted in the groin and threaded all the way up into the heart, and, while stents used to be mostly bare metal, there are now fancy new <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30242142\/\">drug-eluting stents<\/a> that not only force open arteries, but they also slowly release pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-103438 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-1024x662.png\" alt=\"graphic of a stent in a coronary artery\" width=\"393\" height=\"254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-1024x662.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-960x621.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-768x497.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-1536x993.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-1200x776.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-720x466.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311-540x349.png 540w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/05\/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-090311.png 1710w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How Serious Is Having a Stent Put In?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The surgical procedure carries risks\u2014including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/02\/health\/heart-disease-stents.html\">death<\/a>. In an emergency setting, while you\u2019re actively having a heart attack, angioplasty can be lifesaving, but hundreds of thousands of these procedures are for <i>stable <\/i>coronary artery disease, for which there appears to be little or <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29133520\/\">no benefits<\/a>. As discussed in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-risks-of-heart-stents\/\"><strong>The Risks of Heart Stents<\/strong><\/a>, doctors appear to be killing or stroking out thousands of people a year for nothing, and that isn\u2019t even counting the tens of thousands of <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22999732\/\">silent mini-strokes<\/a> caused by these procedures that may contribute to cognitive decline. Indeed, 11 to 17 percent of people who go through angioplasty or stenting come away with new brain lesions\u2014up to one in six patients.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do Stents Work?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Angioplasty and stents for non-emergency coronary artery disease are among the <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25156523\/\">most common invasive procedures<\/a> performed in the United States. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medscape.com\/viewarticle\/888115?form=fpf\">Millions of people<\/a> have gotten stents for stable coronary artery disease, yet it now appears that for such patients, angioplasty and stent placement do not actually prevent heart attacks, do not offer long-term angina pain relief, and <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30226394\/\">do not improve survival<\/a>. Why? Because the most dangerous plaques\u2014the ones most vulnerable to rupture leading to a heart attack\u2014are <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27380178\/\">not the ones doctors put stents<\/a> into. They often aren\u2019t the ones that are even seen on angiogram to be obstructing blood flow.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, in 2007, we learned from the <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/17387127\/\">COURAGE trial<\/a> that angioplasty and stents don\u2019t reduce the risk of death or heart attack, but patients didn\u2019t seem to get the memo. As discussed in my video <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/why-are-stents-still-used-if-they-dont-work\/\">Why Are Stents Still Used If They Don\u2019t Work?<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25234050\/\">only 1 percent realize<\/a> there was no mortality or heart attack benefit, perhaps because <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25234050\/\">most cardiologists<\/a> failed to happen to mention that fact. One can imagine that if patients actually understood all they were getting was symptomatic relief, they\u2019d be less likely to go under the knife. Ten years later, the ORBITA trial was published, showing even the promise of symptom relief <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29103656\/\">was an illusion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are Stents Really Necessary?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The implications are profound and far-reaching. First and foremost, the results <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29103657\/\">showed unequivocally<\/a> that there are no benefits to non-emergency angioplasty and stents for stable heart disease. Basically, patients would be risking harm for <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29595128\/\">no benefit whatsoever<\/a>, so it\u2019s hard to imagine a scenario where a fully-informed patient would choose an invasive procedure for nothing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet angioplasty and stent placement continue to be frequently performed for patients with non-emergency coronary artery disease, despite clear evidence that it provides minimal bene\ufb01t, as discussed in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/angioplasty-heart-stent-risks-vs-benefits\/\"><strong>Angioplasty Heart Stent Risks vs. Benefits<\/strong><\/a>. For example, it does not prevent heart attacks or death, yet as many as <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20820040\/\">nine out of ten patients mistakenly believed<\/a> that the procedure would reduce their chances of having a heart attack.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Are the Side Effects of Heart Stents?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stent placement and the blood-thinner drugs you have to go on after the surgery can cause <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23083784\/\">complications<\/a>, including heart failure, stroke, and death. The risks are <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29133520\/\">relatively low<\/a>; there\u2019s less than a 1 percent chance it will kill you or stroke you out. The 15 percent risk of heart attack is only if your stent clogs at a later date, which only happens about 1 percent of the time in the near-term. There is a 13 percent risk of <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/15464318\/\">kidney injury<\/a>, due to the dyes that must be injected, but that typically heals on its own. The most serious complications\u2014including death\u2014only happen in about 1 in 150 cases. However, you have to multiply that by the fact that <i>hundreds of thousands<\/i> of these procedures are performed every year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, again, although stents appeared to offer immediate relief of angina chest pain in stable patients with coronary artery disease, they <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25156523\/\">do not offer long-term angina pain relief<\/a> and they <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25156523\/\">didn\u2019t actually translate<\/a> into lower risk of heart attack or death. More on this in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/do-heart-stent-procedures-work-for-angina-chest-pain\/\"><strong>Do Heart Stent Procedures Work for Angina Chest Pain?<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diet After Heart Attack and Stents<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Should we be <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30591431\/\">surprised<\/a> that angioplasty and stents fail to improve prognosis? After all, neither does anything to modify the underlying disease process itself. In other words, they don\u2019t treat the cause. As discussed in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/heart-stents-and-upcoding-how-cardiologists-game-the-system\/\"><strong>Heart Stents and Upcoding: How Cardiologists Game the System<\/strong><\/a>, even if stents helped with symptoms beyond the placebo effect, they would still just <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30591431\/\">be treating the symptoms<\/a>, not the disease, so it\u2019s no wonder the disease continues to progress until the patient is disabled into death.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thankfully, we are on the cusp of a seismic revolution in health: not another pill, procedure, or operation, but, instead, treating the underlying cause of heart disease with whole food, plant-based nutrition, the <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30591431\/\">mightiest tool<\/a> medicine has ever had in its toolbox.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heart-Healthy Eating<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most likely reason the majority of our loved ones will die is heart disease. Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/17015535\">begins<\/a> in childhood, as discussed in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/how-not-to-die-from-heart-disease\/\"><strong>How Not to Die from Heart Disease<\/strong><\/a>. The arteries of nearly all kids raised on the standard American diet already <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/5346899\">have<\/a> fatty streaks marking the first stage of the disease\u2014by the time they are ten years old. After that, the plaques start <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/12244281\">forming<\/a> in our 20s, get worse in our 30s, and can then start killing us off. In our heart, it\u2019s called a heart attack; in our brain, it can manifest as a stroke. So, for anyone reading this who is older than ten, the choice isn\u2019t whether or not to eat healthfully to prevent heart disease\u2014it\u2019s whether or not you want to reverse the heart disease you likely already have.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is that even possible? When researchers took people with heart disease and put them on the kind of plant-based diet followed by populations who did not get epidemic heart disease, their hope was that it might slow down the disease process or maybe even stop it. Instead, something miraculous happened. The disease actually started to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25198208\">reverse<\/a>. It started to get better. As soon as patients stopped eating artery-clogging diets, their bodies were able to start dissolving away some of the plaque, opening up arteries without drugs and without surgery, suggesting their bodies wanted to heal all along, but just were never given the chance. That improvement in blood flow to the heart muscle itself was after just three weeks of eating healthfully.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plant-based diets aren\u2019t just safer and cheaper. They can work better because they let us treat the actual <i>cause<\/i> of the disease.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_social_bottom_trigger\"\/>  <\/div>\n<p><script>\n            !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n            {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n                n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n            if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n            n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n            t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n            s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n                'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n            fbq('init', '1582627921973608');\n            fbq('track', 'PageView');\n        <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coronary artery disease, the number one killer of men and women, involves blockages in the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle. As discussed in my video Do Angioplasty Heart Stent Procedures Work?, low blood \ufb02ow can lead to a type of chest pain called angina or, if severe enough, a heart attack. Plant-based diets &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}