My Heart Is Clogged 77%! And You?
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
King Solomon Proverbs 4:23
A Korean War study examined the coronary arteries of American soldiers who had died in their 20s and found that 70% of them had atherosclerosis, with 5% having up to 90% narrowing of the arteries.
The Law of 70s
<70% obstruction doesn't give symptoms of chest pain (angina), shortness of breath or fatigue. Most likely will have a negative stress test with <70% obstruction.
70% of heart attacks happen to those with normal LDL cholesterol levels.
70% of heart attacks are caused by early smaller soft plaques in the coronary arteries rather than the older morecalcified obstructive plaques.
My friend Rob Thompson had died suddenly of a heart attack at just 58 years old on February 10, 2025. He was fit, strong and great. His arteries were later found to be clogged 90% in the Left Anterior Descending (LAD) coronary artery, also known as the 'widow maker', and 80% in the Right Coronary Artery (RCA), a >70% chance of sudden death. At his memorial, his wife Anita, an internal medicine physician, advised everyone to get a calcium heart scan. So I did. My calcium score in my heart vessels was 500, extremely high. Only 10% of people my age have a higher score.
A few weeks ago, I went to San Francisco to get a CT Angiogram that shows the types of plaques (soft, mixed or calcified) and degree of obstructions in my coronary vessels.
I have triple vessel disease in all the main highways of the heart.
77% blockage in D1, the first diagonal branch of the LAD
48% blockage in the RCA
55% blockage in RI, branch off the Left Circumflex Artery
I've likely had these plaques progress over 30 years, with much slower progression as I improved my lifestyle over the past 20 years, and especially over the past 5 years. But the danger of a heart attack is likely not from these blockages.
70% of heart attacks occur from plaques that are more newly formed, that are not calcified. These can rupture, like a pimple, and their content can lead to a blood clot that suddenly fully obstructs the heart vessel. In these cases, a stent is life-saving as it allows blood to flow. In stable obstructions, with adequate coronary blood flow, a stent may not be as useful long term as stents have side effects.
I've been doing extensive research on how to arrest and reverse the plaques. It is possible. Many studies show not only arrest but reversal. A new drug, a PCSK9 inhibitor that reduces LDL to very low levels, has shown the reversal of plaques. I think I will be an expert on the heart over the next few years. Although I am a n=1, meaning one test subject who plans to conduct numerous experiments and data collection via blood and imaging studies, my goal is to stabilize and reverse as much as possible any and all blockages.
I believe I have developed a lot of collateral vessels below the obstruction that have allowed me to bike without any symptoms. The human body adapting to disease is amazing.
Five Principles of Healing
This solidifies more than ever for me the five principles for healing.
Prevent the cause(s)
Remove the cause(s)
Add the cure(s)
Be clear and stay clear
Understand and educate the mechanisms to others after results are clear
A New Life Mission
Reverse Heart Disease
When I was 14, I lay in the hospital bed, unable to move, unable to eat, hooked up to an IV for weeks with severe joint pain. I remember wondering if I would live and what was happening to me. I asked the universe these questions. I didn't believe in God at that time. I decided if I were to live, I would become a medical doctor. I recovered from my autoimmune disease, but while my mission to become a medical doctor remained, my lifestyle habits did not change and were very unhealthy, full of junk food and 4-6 hour sleep days.
Now, as I reflect, turning 55, I am very grateful for these past 54+ years. I am grateful for each day. I am grateful to Rob Thompson, my dear friend, without whom I would not have gotten a calcium heart scan and would not have known about my own severe heart obstructions. I am grateful to God for a new life mission to live a better and healthier lifestyle that can arrest and reverse heart disease. I am grateful to all the scientists and doctors who have spent their lives in this endeavour and shown what is possible.
I've narrowed my list down to what is actionable for me. I want to document my heart journey once each month, not only for my own records, but also in the hope that it might help save someone's life now and in the future. Heart disease, along with cancer, is the #1 killer in North America. Heart disease claimed 680,981 people in 2023, and cancer, 613,352 in the US. I'm working with Dr. Azra Raza, a good friend and an even better oncologist and cancer researcher who has found the first cell that leads to cancer. She's found a likely cure.
Most of my doctors are highly suggesting I go on a high-dose statin and baby aspirin. I am considering foods that can achieve the same effect to reduce LDL from 162 to 70 within six months. I started on the Esselstyn diet a month ago. I'll monitor my blood work monthly. I have high iron and giving blood helps reduce iron levels which are oxidative. I'll have a carotid intima-media thickness test (CIMT) every 3 months to measure plaque in my carotid arteries, where I already have documented plaques of 1.6mm and 1.9mm (<1.5mm ok) in July 2024. I'll repeat my CT calcium score and CT angiogram in a year.
My Ham Diet for Heart Disease Reversal:
My eye diet has allowed me to forego my monthly paid for $4000 Eyelea shot in each eye for wet macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness, for two years. My ophthalmologist was very concerned about even stopping them monthly initially, but I had stabilized my eyes through diet and exercise over the past five years since I first had my right eye distorted vision in May 2020, and now it seems stable and clear. I believe this eye diet of removing all seed oils, heated oils (no fried foods), refined sugars (baked goods and desserts but now also removing white flour and white rice and added natural sugars like maple syrup but allowing a teaspoon of honey with a meal), and almost all processed foods from my diet has also helped my heart these past five years.
I have reread Dr. Esselstyn's book, Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease. I am very motivated to do my best to follow his diet prescription while stacking other proven methods for lowering oxidized LDL and reversing coronary plaque. I've uncovered dozens, but I am starting with the top ten I can follow. I also plan to continue my high-intensity interval training, but reduce the intensity to Zone 3 (FTP) and some Zone 4 (VO2max) and stay out of Zone 5 (anaerobic). I will also do 24-hour fasts weekly and a 72-hour fast monthly to reset my metabolism and enhance autophagy (the process of removing toxins, weak cells, and cancer cells).
I'll update my heart journey in a month!
If you are over 40, please get a baseline calcium heart scan and carotid CIMT to rule out severe heart disease—less than $200 USD in the US and $700 in Canada.
May you live long and prosper and be in good health.
Life Question:
How healthy is your heart?
Lifespan is how long you live.
Healthspan is how long you are healthy.
Make your healthspan as long as your lifespan.
Despite my max heart rate being able to reach 195 and I am able to be in zone 4 heart rate (172 bpm) for over 2.5 hours, my arteries are clogged. My resting heart rate is 40 bpm as I am very fit. My VO2Max is over 50. Yet I am at high risk for a heart attack. I look very fit on the outside. I have started doing weights to reduce the decline in my muscles and bones, as the rate of decline accelerates after age 55.
What I desire in addition to being fit and strong is to be clear in body, mind and spirit now. I'm focused on my three biggest constraints: my heart, then my eyes, then my sleep.
See you next week! Back to business.
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