Heart & cardiovascular health

The heart beats roughly 100,000 times a day, and the health of the cardiovascular system it drives depends on a network of factors: blood pressure, cholesterol profiles, inflammation, blood sugar regulation, fitness, and sleep. Western medicine has powerful interventions for acute cardiac events and advanced disease; the more important and less dramatic work is the daily maintenance of conditions in which cardiovascular disease is slow to develop. Every major traditional medical system placed the heart at the center of health — they were right, though for different reasons than they knew.