Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans, with coronary heart disease costing the United States nearly $109 billion each year.
Yet, so many of the leading causes of heart disease are preventable – think of high blood pressure, obesity and inactivity.
Most of us have heard that we can help reduce our risk for heart disease through exercise and eating well.
But what else can we do by taking a more holistic approach, sometimes called an alternative approach, to prevention?
Listen in as Dr. Courtney Baechler talks about the holistic approach to prevention and treatment of heart disease.
Holistic Heart Disease Prevention
Featured Speaker:
Courtney Jordan Baechler, MD - Internal Medicine
Courtney Jordan Baechler, MD, practices with and is vice president of the Penny George™ Institute for Health and Healing, part of Allina Health. Baechler attended the University of Minnesota, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a medical degree from the School of Medicine, and a master’s degree in epidemiology and public policy from the School of Public Health. Baechler is a consultant to Minnesota’s Statewide Health Improvement Plan and chair of the clinical work group for Minneapolis. She specializes in cardiology, internal medicine and integrative medicine. Transcription:
Holistic Heart Disease Prevention
Melanie Cole (Host): Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans with coronary heart disease, costing the United States nearly $109 billion each year. Yet so many of the leading causes of heart disease are preventable. My guest today is Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler. She is the vice president of the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, part of Allina Health. Welcome to the show, Dr. Baechler. Tell us a little bit about heart disease. What is it, and how rampant is it in the United States?
Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler (Guest): Sure. Heart disease is quite broad. It actually affects one in three Americans, so it’s a very rampant disease. It includes everything from valve disease in our hearts, arrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythm, problems with our arteries, as well as heart failure. So, quite broad.
Melanie: What are some of the risk factors for heart disease that people need to be made aware of?
Dr. Baechler: You know the risk factors are also broad. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco use, stress, physical inactivity, and nutrition.
Melanie: There is a genetic component if a family member has had heart disease. Those are not so controllable. But what about the ones that we can control? What are some of the things, the best information that you would like to get out there about the controllable factors for preventing heart disease?
Dr. Baechler: Well, a couple of things. I want to emphasize that when we look at broad studies, only about 15 percent of our overall heart disease risk is genetic. We actually have upwards of 85 percent of control over our heart disease outcome. That really comes into changing our behaviors. When we look across the United States, we’re looking at folks who have a body mass index between 18 and 25 being considered healthy. Folks that get 30 minutes of exercise a day, folks that drink in moderation, and folks that avoid tobacco use. There’s only about 5 percent of the population that’s doing all four of those things. It’s critical that that’s not a drug, that’s not an intervention; that’s us feeling empowered, engaged, and able to commit to these every day of our life.
Melanie: These are great bits of information and things we should be doing every day. What is a holistic approach to heart disease prevention, and how is that different than what you just discussed?
Dr. Baechler: A holistic approach from my perspective is looking at that onion a little bit deeper. Most of us know we should be eating better. We should be exercising more. But why aren’t we doing that? Looking at things holistically, that gets into life balance, stress, sleep, things that are critical to whether or not we can engage in those healthy behaviors. Have willpower if you will, right? Well, it’s really difficult to have willpower all day long if you’re not getting enough sleep at night, if you’re feeling exhausted from either your family life or caring for ill parents or just burning the candle on both ends at work. That’s looking at things more holistically, taking a look at our social connection, the way we engage with others, the way we fuel ourselves back up. Usually that doesn’t come from a pill or intervention.
Melanie: It absolutely doesn’t and I hear what you’re saying, Dr. Baechler, and I see that everything you just mentioned kind of revolves when you say taking care of an aging parent, work, not getting enough sleep, kind of all encompasses the stresses that we deal with, and stress is such a huge factor for heart disease. And they’re learning more and more about inflammatory markers and those stressors. Tell us what we can do to manage the stress so that we bring that down a little bit and help to prevent heart disease. I think it’s one of our biggest factors.
Dr. Baechler: Absolutely, and you’ll see that we’ve been shy to approach it from a clinical perspective because it’s difficult to measure. Your stress and my stress, we’re going to measure that differently. Again, we don’t have that single-pill solution. What we do have is thousands of years of ancient wisdom and evidence-based integrative health outcomes to show we can change our body’s reaction to stress. That starts first with breathing. There’s so many times during the day where we’ll catch ourselves getting nervous about what’s coming up next and we’re breathing really shallow. Sometimes, simply shutting your door in an office and taking an opportunity to take five minutes to sit and breathe, taking big breaths in and breathing out twice as long can really, again, slow that sympathetic nervous response, tell us there’s not actually a tiger fighting or that we’re running from. So that’s huge. And there’s all sorts of things from aromatherapy to utilize our senses to help us, again, take in a different smell, like lavender, that naturally calms our bodies, to teach guided imagery. And again, for me, that’s taking myself to a beach in Hawaii and getting away from the stress of a cold Minneapolis winter, which really, again, is going to slow that sympathetic nervous system response, has been shown to decrease our heart rate, decrease our blood pressure, the exact things that we sometimes resort to medications real quickly. Acupuncture is another great way to slow that stress response as well as formal training in meditation or yoga practice. So, lots of tools that don’t have any side effects but can be very beneficial to help with that life stress response.
Melanie: If we learn to do these things, maybe we explore acupuncture for people that might be a little bit intimidated by that. We learn guided imagery. We meditate every day, along with our activity. Give us kind of a little bit of a day of practicing a holistic approach, including our nutrition. Because again, nutrition plays such a huge role in heart disease and what we eat. Give us kind of a day of what we can do including activity and meditation, whatever it is. Kind of walk us through it.
Dr. Baechler: Yeah, and I’m going to start my day in the evening, so starting it the day before, if you will, and that’s going to start with going to bed at a reasonable time. For most people, we need somewhere between six and eight hours of sleep at night, and if you’re an eight-hour sleeper, you can’t get six hours. Otherwise, you start the day off, again, not feeling rejuvenated. For me, it starts with that critical piece of sleep. Then, a way to, again, engage and empower a successful day ahead is starting in the morning rather than having that alert of the alarm clock or running to check the emails but giving your body a sense to adapt to this day. Give yourself five minutes to either do some yoga stretches in the morning, light breathing, or a very light meditation just to set the intention of that day to come. Next up is going to be having that really nourishing meal, because we know, again, as you pointed out from a nutrition standpoint, what we’re feeding our body is going to feed our mind and subsequently feed those neurotransmitters and hormones that work straight to our heart. For me, that might start with a steel-cut oatmeal with fresh fruits, almonds, some walnuts so we’re getting fats, we’re getting complex carbohydrates and we’re getting protein, all in one. For others, that’s some eggs. For some, that may be a Greek yoghurt, again, without added sugar, where we’re putting natural fruits and nuts into that. So, lots of great ways to nourish your body starting in the morning. Then, that’s going to start for me on your way into work. How are you feeding your soul at that point? Are you listening to something on the way in that’s soothing, or are you listening to something that’s getting you riled up and starting that sympathetic nervous response? I’m going to go through my morning. I’m going to start at my lunch hour. Rather than simply doing work at the office, I’m going to take 30 minutes to get out and move my body. And I’m here to tell you as someone who practices medicine, a mother of two, and married to another physician, it’s absolutely critical and we’re all capable of finding those 30 minutes in our day to get out and move our body. For me, that’s usually a light walk so I don’t have to worry about showering afterwards, but incorporating that in your day as well as then nourishing yourself at lunch with those same key elements—fruits with vegetables, lean protein, or best yet, plant-based proteins that are naturally low in fat and sugar. I might do a quinoa and some black beans and some veggies with some sesame oil that are a great anti-inflammatory diet. Going about our workday afterwards and then taking the time when we get home to separate anything that was stressful from the day. For me, that’s when I take off my clothes, that’s taking 10 minutes again to yourself to sit and breathe and get ready to move to that next phase, which for me is then being a mom at home. I think there’s lots of great ways to incorporate small chunks of time that still will allow you to do the things you love—work, being a part of your family, taking care of those loved ones, whatever it is—but nourishing ourselves with food, nourishing our mind with time, breathing small chunks of time to be able to really change what we’re doing for ourselves.
Melanie: Dr. Baechler, in just the last minute, where can people go if they want to learn more about a holistic approach to heart health or health in general?
Dr. Baechler: I would check out our website at allinahealth.org/georgeinstitute, where we have a variety of all sorts of integrated health approaches—stress, wellness, aging well, cardiovascular disease, et cetera. It’s a great website.
Melanie: Thank you so much. You’re listening to the WELLcast by Allina Health. And for more information, you can go to allinahealth.org. That’s allinahealth.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Holistic Heart Disease Prevention
Melanie Cole (Host): Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans with coronary heart disease, costing the United States nearly $109 billion each year. Yet so many of the leading causes of heart disease are preventable. My guest today is Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler. She is the vice president of the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, part of Allina Health. Welcome to the show, Dr. Baechler. Tell us a little bit about heart disease. What is it, and how rampant is it in the United States?
Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler (Guest): Sure. Heart disease is quite broad. It actually affects one in three Americans, so it’s a very rampant disease. It includes everything from valve disease in our hearts, arrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythm, problems with our arteries, as well as heart failure. So, quite broad.
Melanie: What are some of the risk factors for heart disease that people need to be made aware of?
Dr. Baechler: You know the risk factors are also broad. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco use, stress, physical inactivity, and nutrition.
Melanie: There is a genetic component if a family member has had heart disease. Those are not so controllable. But what about the ones that we can control? What are some of the things, the best information that you would like to get out there about the controllable factors for preventing heart disease?
Dr. Baechler: Well, a couple of things. I want to emphasize that when we look at broad studies, only about 15 percent of our overall heart disease risk is genetic. We actually have upwards of 85 percent of control over our heart disease outcome. That really comes into changing our behaviors. When we look across the United States, we’re looking at folks who have a body mass index between 18 and 25 being considered healthy. Folks that get 30 minutes of exercise a day, folks that drink in moderation, and folks that avoid tobacco use. There’s only about 5 percent of the population that’s doing all four of those things. It’s critical that that’s not a drug, that’s not an intervention; that’s us feeling empowered, engaged, and able to commit to these every day of our life.
Melanie: These are great bits of information and things we should be doing every day. What is a holistic approach to heart disease prevention, and how is that different than what you just discussed?
Dr. Baechler: A holistic approach from my perspective is looking at that onion a little bit deeper. Most of us know we should be eating better. We should be exercising more. But why aren’t we doing that? Looking at things holistically, that gets into life balance, stress, sleep, things that are critical to whether or not we can engage in those healthy behaviors. Have willpower if you will, right? Well, it’s really difficult to have willpower all day long if you’re not getting enough sleep at night, if you’re feeling exhausted from either your family life or caring for ill parents or just burning the candle on both ends at work. That’s looking at things more holistically, taking a look at our social connection, the way we engage with others, the way we fuel ourselves back up. Usually that doesn’t come from a pill or intervention.
Melanie: It absolutely doesn’t and I hear what you’re saying, Dr. Baechler, and I see that everything you just mentioned kind of revolves when you say taking care of an aging parent, work, not getting enough sleep, kind of all encompasses the stresses that we deal with, and stress is such a huge factor for heart disease. And they’re learning more and more about inflammatory markers and those stressors. Tell us what we can do to manage the stress so that we bring that down a little bit and help to prevent heart disease. I think it’s one of our biggest factors.
Dr. Baechler: Absolutely, and you’ll see that we’ve been shy to approach it from a clinical perspective because it’s difficult to measure. Your stress and my stress, we’re going to measure that differently. Again, we don’t have that single-pill solution. What we do have is thousands of years of ancient wisdom and evidence-based integrative health outcomes to show we can change our body’s reaction to stress. That starts first with breathing. There’s so many times during the day where we’ll catch ourselves getting nervous about what’s coming up next and we’re breathing really shallow. Sometimes, simply shutting your door in an office and taking an opportunity to take five minutes to sit and breathe, taking big breaths in and breathing out twice as long can really, again, slow that sympathetic nervous response, tell us there’s not actually a tiger fighting or that we’re running from. So that’s huge. And there’s all sorts of things from aromatherapy to utilize our senses to help us, again, take in a different smell, like lavender, that naturally calms our bodies, to teach guided imagery. And again, for me, that’s taking myself to a beach in Hawaii and getting away from the stress of a cold Minneapolis winter, which really, again, is going to slow that sympathetic nervous system response, has been shown to decrease our heart rate, decrease our blood pressure, the exact things that we sometimes resort to medications real quickly. Acupuncture is another great way to slow that stress response as well as formal training in meditation or yoga practice. So, lots of tools that don’t have any side effects but can be very beneficial to help with that life stress response.
Melanie: If we learn to do these things, maybe we explore acupuncture for people that might be a little bit intimidated by that. We learn guided imagery. We meditate every day, along with our activity. Give us kind of a little bit of a day of practicing a holistic approach, including our nutrition. Because again, nutrition plays such a huge role in heart disease and what we eat. Give us kind of a day of what we can do including activity and meditation, whatever it is. Kind of walk us through it.
Dr. Baechler: Yeah, and I’m going to start my day in the evening, so starting it the day before, if you will, and that’s going to start with going to bed at a reasonable time. For most people, we need somewhere between six and eight hours of sleep at night, and if you’re an eight-hour sleeper, you can’t get six hours. Otherwise, you start the day off, again, not feeling rejuvenated. For me, it starts with that critical piece of sleep. Then, a way to, again, engage and empower a successful day ahead is starting in the morning rather than having that alert of the alarm clock or running to check the emails but giving your body a sense to adapt to this day. Give yourself five minutes to either do some yoga stretches in the morning, light breathing, or a very light meditation just to set the intention of that day to come. Next up is going to be having that really nourishing meal, because we know, again, as you pointed out from a nutrition standpoint, what we’re feeding our body is going to feed our mind and subsequently feed those neurotransmitters and hormones that work straight to our heart. For me, that might start with a steel-cut oatmeal with fresh fruits, almonds, some walnuts so we’re getting fats, we’re getting complex carbohydrates and we’re getting protein, all in one. For others, that’s some eggs. For some, that may be a Greek yoghurt, again, without added sugar, where we’re putting natural fruits and nuts into that. So, lots of great ways to nourish your body starting in the morning. Then, that’s going to start for me on your way into work. How are you feeding your soul at that point? Are you listening to something on the way in that’s soothing, or are you listening to something that’s getting you riled up and starting that sympathetic nervous response? I’m going to go through my morning. I’m going to start at my lunch hour. Rather than simply doing work at the office, I’m going to take 30 minutes to get out and move my body. And I’m here to tell you as someone who practices medicine, a mother of two, and married to another physician, it’s absolutely critical and we’re all capable of finding those 30 minutes in our day to get out and move our body. For me, that’s usually a light walk so I don’t have to worry about showering afterwards, but incorporating that in your day as well as then nourishing yourself at lunch with those same key elements—fruits with vegetables, lean protein, or best yet, plant-based proteins that are naturally low in fat and sugar. I might do a quinoa and some black beans and some veggies with some sesame oil that are a great anti-inflammatory diet. Going about our workday afterwards and then taking the time when we get home to separate anything that was stressful from the day. For me, that’s when I take off my clothes, that’s taking 10 minutes again to yourself to sit and breathe and get ready to move to that next phase, which for me is then being a mom at home. I think there’s lots of great ways to incorporate small chunks of time that still will allow you to do the things you love—work, being a part of your family, taking care of those loved ones, whatever it is—but nourishing ourselves with food, nourishing our mind with time, breathing small chunks of time to be able to really change what we’re doing for ourselves.
Melanie: Dr. Baechler, in just the last minute, where can people go if they want to learn more about a holistic approach to heart health or health in general?
Dr. Baechler: I would check out our website at allinahealth.org/georgeinstitute, where we have a variety of all sorts of integrated health approaches—stress, wellness, aging well, cardiovascular disease, et cetera. It’s a great website.
Melanie: Thank you so much. You’re listening to the WELLcast by Allina Health. And for more information, you can go to allinahealth.org. That’s allinahealth.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.