Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
It’s never too early to start making sure your immune system is working to its best ability. Learn about the nutrients you need to help defend your body this winter in Part 2 of this podcast from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
As the cold weather of fall and winter approach, it’s important to know what factors can impact your immune health. Learn more from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
high blood pressure
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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Today, we’re going to discuss the interaction between commonly prescribed high blood pressure treating medications and your immune system. This is a very important, critical discussion we need to have because we’re heading into the fall and winter.†
High blood pressure can be very dangerous. In fact, it can be more dangerous than the drugs used to treat them, so I am not against these drugs at all. However, they can deplete important nutrients that are needed for your immune system. This doesn’t translate to dropping the drug. What it does mean is that you have to replete the nutrients. Frequently, you’re not going to get enough from your food and this is especially true for older people, who are the people who tend to have high blood pressure.†
One of the immune system’s major jobs is to fight off infections. Infections become much more dangerous in people who have poorly functioning immune systems. There are a number of nutrients that are key to good immune system function, such as Vitamin D. You need Vitamin D to create immune cells and to help protect us from infection and our own immune system. Vitamin C is also important for the immune system.†
Then there’s zinc, which is commonly depleted by high blood pressure medication. You need zinc to create immune cells and antibodies. Zinc also makes it hard for infections to attach to our tissues. Studies show that elderly people who are commonly low in zinc have a higher risk of infection, especially pneumonia.†
ZINC FOR IMMUNITY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 42. Listen Now>>
The last nutrient is melatonin, which is known as the nighttime hormone. You need this to sleep deeply and to get a long enough sleep to feel rested and refreshed. Melatonin is also needed to build bone and adjust your nighttime blood pressure. It has been recently found that immune cells can release melatonin to help kill infectious organisms.†
Here’s a study from July of this year looking at how common blood pressure drugs leave your immune cells weak against bacteria. It’s from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this study, the researchers looked at ACE inhibitors, which are very commonly prescribed drugs for high blood pressure and heart failure. Millions of people are prescribed ACE inhibitors. The problem with these drugs is that they can weaken the body’s ability to fight off infections. They also looked at ARBs.†
The researchers looked at ARBs versus ACE inhibitors in both people and mice. They found that giving ACE inhibitors to mice really affects the immune system. After giving these drugs to the mice, they tested their neutrophils to see if they could kill very serious bacteria like MRSA. The researchers found that the neutrophils were much weaker when the mice were on ACE inhibitors.†
In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph. explains how prescription drugs for high blood pressure may impact the immune system. He shares research on this issue and also provides recommendations of nutrients that you may need to help fill any drug-induced nutrient depletions.†
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As we age, our body’s ability to convert CoQ10 into its active form, ubiquinol, decreases. This can increase our chances of having a heart-related issue such as a heart attack. Learn more about the role this nutrient plays in women’s heart health from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Did you know that people who have already suffered a heart attack are more prone to having a second one? The good news is that there are nutrients that can help promote the strength and health of your heart.
heart attack
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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According to research, women more frequently ignore the signs of a heart attack than men, especially younger women. Maybe they don’t recognize the symptoms. This could be that the symptoms in women can be different from the symptoms in men, so they won’t see the classic heart attack symptoms that you see in a TV show. They may even brush off heart attack symptoms out of a sense of embarrassment. There is evidence that women are concerned that they’re not truly having a heart attack and they hesitate to go to the emergency room. This can be really dangerous because the longer you wait during a heart attack, the more damage that can occur to the heart.†
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the number one killer in American women. Recent data shows that 25% of women who died in a given year died due to heart disease. Almost two-thirds of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease never even reported their previous symptoms to their doctor.
THE IMPACT OF ALCOHOL ON YOUR HEART – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 280. Listen Now>>
The problem is that when most of us think of heart attacks, we think of crushing, horrible, stabbing chest pain as the telltale symptom. But that’s not always what occurs in women and even in some men. The symptoms in a woman can be a lot less extreme or dramatic than what you see in men. Women might ignore the symptoms and may not recognize it as a true heart attack. For instance, there have been reports of women who had heart attacks but thought it was back pain or food poisoning.†
I’m going to share some common heart attack symptoms in women. If you get them, you really should not be embarrassed to go to the emergency room. If you wait too long, it becomes really dangerous. If you’re at home and you have symptoms when you’re sitting on the couch, you need to call an ambulance.†
Obviously, everybody knows about chest pain. It could be pain, tightness, pressure or squeezing in the chest. It is really the most common symptom among both women and men. It’s not always a really sharp or stabbing pain, especially in women. They’re more likely to feel tightness or a buildup of pressure in the chest. The pain may also begin to go into your jaw, arm, shoulder, neck or back. Any kind of pain you get suddenly that’s above your waist, consider that it could be your heart. That’s an important clue.†
Another symptom that is common in women is nausea and vomiting. Women may think they have a virus or food poisoning. This is why many women often confuse heart attack symptoms with digestive issues. This is especially problematic when women experience pain lower in the chest.†
Sweating is also a good symptom to note. If the sweating comes on out of nowhere, it’s really important to make note that it could be the heart. Some people actually talk about a cold sweat. You may even faint or get dizzy. Another thing you may see if it’s a heart attack is sudden shortness of breath or a drop in stamina.†
In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph. delves into the important discussion of heart attack symptoms in women. He explains how these symptoms can often differ from those in men and offers tips of what to look out for. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this episode, coming soon!†
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