Dr. Eichhorn is a cardiologist here at MCDH.  He graduated from Yale University and trained at Baylor in Houston, Texas.  

Dr. Eichhorn showed a slide featuring a cross section of an artery.  He told the group that the opening, or lumen, in the healthy artery on the slide was open and that it was lined by a layer of tissue called the endothelial layer.  The endothelial layer is a thin lining of the artery that, when healthy, exchanges gases with the blood flowing through it and enables the artery wall to relax so that blood flows easily through the artery.  He said that in the artery of a person who has coronary heart disease, this endothelial layer becomes damaged and cannot work properly making the artery walls unable to relax.  He explained that a process called atherosclerosis occurs when a person has high cholesterol.  Atherosclerosis occurs when cholesterol deposits (plaque) form within the endothelial layer of the artery.  Usually, the plaque has a membrane or "cap" over it.  If the cap ruptures (i.e., the plaque ruptures), then blood products (cells, fibrin, etc.), adhere, or stick, to the artery wall and the artery becomes occluded, or blocked.  A blocked artery can lead to a heart attack.  When this happens, the person usually finds himself in the Cath. Lab having a cardiologist put in a stent or doing a balloon angioplasty to open the artery again.

A question was asked from the audience.  Someone asked if atherosclerosis (or plaque build-up in one's arteries) could be reversed.  She had heard that a plant-based diet could reverse this process.  Dr. Eichhorn said that a plant-based diet could begin to reverse the process and could definitely keep it from getting any worse, but that it could not undo all of the plaque that had already built up in the arteries.  He recommended the Ornish diet or a vegan diet as a way to accomplish this.  He also recommended that all of us watch two videos:  Super Size Me and Forks over Knives as he believes they are instructive as to how the way we eat affects the development of heart disease.

Dr. Eichhorn explained that our goal for heart health should be to make our risk factors for heart disease as, "good as they can be."  The risk factors that we can do something about are:   high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and other issues resulting from being obese.  He told the group that they needed to keep their total cholesterol below 200mg/dl with their LDL (or bad cholesterol) as low as possible and their HDL (or good cholesterol) as high as possible.  Someone asked about the importance of statin drugs as far as lowering cholesterol.  The individual had been put on a statin regimen and had experienced serious side effects, such as muscle pain, fatigue, etc..  His physician had changed the type of statin and the side effects remained.  Dr. Eichhorn said that statins did have side effects and that some people experienced them to a greater extent than others.  He said that statins deplete the body of Co-Q10 which can contribute to these side effects.  He often puts his patients on Co-Q10 when he puts them on statins.  Dr. Eichhorn said that statins are "miracle drugs" though as they can help lower one's cholesterol level and so decrease their risk of developing atherosclerosis.

Finally, Dr. Eichhorn talked about the importance of diagnosing and treating sleep apnea.  Sleep apnea means that you stop breathing during sleep.  This usually happens many times during the night and, as a result, the person is tired during the day.  However, sleep apnea does not just make a person tired.  It deprives the heart muscle of oxygen which can cause the heart to beat in an irregular rhythm.  This can be deadly!  Sleep apnea must be treated.  There are oral devices that move the lower jaw forward to keep the airway open.  There are also CPAP machines (or continuous positive airway pressure machines) that force air via a mask into the airway which keeps the airway open.  He recommended the audience talk to their physicians if they feel they might need to be evaluated for sleep apnea.