Hardening of the
Arteries: Atherosclerosis
and Heart Disease

Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is the thickening and hardening of the arteries from the build up of fatty substances and the by-products of your body’s struggle to protect it from these substances.

The build up of plaque in the arteries slowly diminishes the supply of nutrients and oxygen to your heart, eventually blocking the coronary arteries around the heart, and leading to a heart attack. Coronary heart disease kills approximately half of all Americans.

Almost all risk factors for heart disease contribute to hardening of the arteries. Conventional medicine commonly uses drugs to try to reduce these causes. Unfortunately these drugs often have health damaging side effects. Surgery is also used, but this does not cure the disease, can cause serious side effects or death, and the condition often returns or shows up elsewhere in the body.

The Total Heart Health View of Heart Disease

Hardening of the arteries, or Atherosclerosis, results from loss of connection of your body with its inner intelligence, due to prolonged unhealthy habits or environment. This results in a specific mind/body imbalance leading to disease.

Imbalance begins on the subtlest level of the basic principles governing all the activities and processes of your body. In the Vedic science of Ayurveda, these fundamental physiological operators are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Vata is the principle of movement, Pitta is the principle of metabolism, transformation or heat, and Kapha is the principle of structure. If allowed to progress, these subtle imbalances in the body eventually manifest as disease.

To restore heart health, the Total Heart Health Program uses simple techniques to restore balance at the subtle level where the imbalance began. This results in a comprehensive, natural return to health in your whole body, including your heart.

There are three main types of hardening of the arteries: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. This means one of these principles has been thrown out of balance by your mind, body or environment. For example:

• Overuse of the mind, stress, anxiety, anger, and depression.
• Poor diet or digestion, fatigue, over exertion or lack of exercise, or unhealthy routines
• Living and working in unhealthy buildings, collective stress of war, or biological rhythms

For effective heart health, the Total Heart Health Program restores balance in mind, body and environment, through re-establishing their connection with the inner intelligence of nature. This may include any or all of the following programs:

Mind: Transcendental Meditation. This is an important part of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health. Extensive research throughout the world has proven its superiority in increasing health and well being in all areas of life, including society. Research studies show outstanding and unprecedented reversals in heart disease and its risk factors.

Body: After determining your specific mind-body imbalance, THH prescribes diet, herbal supplements, exercise programs, and daily and seasonal routines helpful for your mind-body imbalance.

Environment: THH includes an analysis of the buildings where you live and work, and how to make them more natural and supportive of your health. It suggests remedial and preventative measures working with natural cycles and rhythms. The use of sound therapy is advised for advanced or chronic imbalance.