Surviving a heart attack is a life-changing experience for many people and my own dad was one of those people. The rehabilitation process involves medication, exercise and modifying unhealthy habits.

Many people live in fear of another attack, and with good reason. About 10% of those who have a heart attack will have another one within a year of leaving hospital. This risk drops to about 3% every year after that.

Proper rehabilitation, which includes making changes to your lifestyle, can reduce these risks and increase your life expectancy. If you're not offered a formal rehabilitation program, ask your doctor if there's one locally.

Depression affects one in four people after a heart attack. It's critical to address any depression, it won't just go away on its own and it can make it harder for you to make any necessary lifestyle changes or follow your doctor's advice on particular treatments. Without specific help, those who become depressed don't recover as well as they might. This was almost an issue with my own father, after his 4 bypass surgeries.

If you take part in a cardiac rehabilitation program, it will be able to offer treatments ranging from medication to group therapy and stress management (stress and anger may contribute to a heart attack by producing changes in your body that increase your risk of blood clots).

Changing your lifestyle can greatly reduce your risk of a further heart attack:

• Give up smoking – this halves your risk
• Eat a healthy diet
• Take regular exercise
• Keep your weight under control
• Have your blood pressure checked regularly
• Learn to deal with anger and stress, which can trigger an attack

A healthy diet is a vital part of your recovery and can help prevent further problems down the road. But what changes do you have to make in order to start eating healthfully? You can start by reading our Raw Food for Newbies first. Then, you can start implementing a raw Food Lifestyle into your changes.

After the first week, review your food diary. Ask yourself a few questions: Are you getting the minimum number of servings from each food group, on the average? Do you get plenty of fruits and vegetables throughout the day? Are most of the foods you eat low in fat, sugar, and salt? Do you prepare meals at home, or do you eat more fast foods or convenience foods? Do you drink beverages that contain a lot of sugar? Do you drink plenty of water?

The number of calories you need each day depends on your age, whether you are male or female, and your activity level. In general: Less active women and older adults need between 1,600 and 2,000 calories. Active women and most less active men need between 2,000 and 2,400 calories each day. Active men need between 2,400 and 3,000 calories each day.

These calorie amounts may vary from day to day, and are meant to be an average over several days. Pay attention to how hungry you are, and how full you are, instead of counting calories. Eating regular meals can help you be more aware of hunger and fullness.

Do you find that you eat out a lot? If so, you may be getting more fat, salt, and calories than you need. Do you eat a lot of meat but not many vegetables? Your diet may be too high in saturated fats and low in fiber. Do you rely on packaged convenience foods for a lot of your meals? If so, you may be getting more salt and sugar than what is healthy for you.

Guidelines, such as the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, provide tips for eating well to prevent diseases, such as heart attack and stroke.

Don't try to make big changes in your eating habits all at the same time. You will likely feel overwhelmed and deprived of your favorite foods and, therefore, will be more likely to fail. Start slowly, and gradually change your habits.

• Use raw organic nuts & seeds instead of white bread.
• Eat brown rice instead of white rice.
• Use almond milk instead of whole milk.
• Add more green smoothies, fruits and vegetables to meals, and/or have fruits and vegetables for snacks as well.
• Add lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and onion and make wraps.

To make healthy choices, you need to know how certain foods affect your body.

Fat: Learn the differences between types of fats. Saturated and trans (hydrogenated) fats can raise cholesterol levels and increase your risk for coronary artery disease. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids may reduce your risk of developing coronary artery disease. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in flax seed oil or other vegetable and plant bas oils, such as walnuts, canola oil.

Carbohydrate: Learn the differences between types of carbohydrate. Choose whole grains that are sprouted as sources of carbohydrate found in unprocessed cereal grains, such as brown rice instead of white rice. Whole grain sources of carbohydrate add fiber and reduce the risk of heart disease. Other high-fiber carbohydrate sources include vegetables and cooked dry beans.

Sugar: When consuming 100% Organic Raw Food, there are no needs for any added or extra sugars. Because there are a plenty of natural sugars that your body needs in your fruits and some of your vegetables.

Since the early days of the 20th century, people have been using leeches to treat cardiovascular diseases because of the Hirudin enzyme in the leech's saliva, a substance which has systemic anticoagulative effects. A physician would usually prescribe the use of leeches when a person suffered a stroke or heart attack. Also, Hirudin stimulates segmental reflex mechanisms and this contributes to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

It was only when anticoagulants such as aspirin and heparin were invented that the use of leeches declined. The effects of aspirin which are the inhibition of platelet aggregation and for the dissolving of thrombus or embolus, or thrombolysis, were found to be much more effective in treating cardiovascular conditions. However, scientists began to investigate further uses of Hirudin for cardiovascular conditions and they found Recombinant Hirudin was useful for Myocardial Infarctions (MI) and unlike heparin; hirudin was actually a direct thrombin inhibitor which did not need to have a cofactor like antithrombin III. Also, hirudin could inactivate fibrin-bound thrombins. However, the effects of the drugs derived from hirudin were much too potent and caused quite massive hemorrhagic adverse effects. Because of this, hirudin was not considered a good primary treatment for myocardial infarction; however, they found that it was a good treatment for Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia Type 2.

Natural leech therapy that is, the actual application of live leeches on the skin, was believed to have been an effective treatment for thrombosis and other coronary syndromes and Leeches have also been used to treat hypertension. Because leeches suck a host's blood and its hirudin has anticoagulation, it may cause hypovolemic hemodilution which are two of the things that will reduce the pressure of the blood flow on the walls of the blood vessels, thus leading to reduction in blood pressure. However, it should be noted that since there are much more effective treatments for the reduction of blood pressure, such as anti-hypertensive drugs, leech therapy is now mostly considered as an adjuvant therapy rather than an actual first-line treatment.

Aside from those mentioned above, there are many conditions where leech therapy is considered useful. Leech therapy is sometimes used for Coronary Heart disease, where atheromatous plaques accumulate within the walls of the arteries that provide the blood supply for the myocardium.

It is also used for ischemic heart disease, where the blood supply to the heart is reduced. For this condition, leeches are applied to specific areas. During the first session, only about two to three leeches are used in each area, but as the treatment progresses, as many as 12 leeches can be used. During the first week, leech therapy can be applied every day if possible, leading to three times a week, over a course of approximately three to four weeks, depending on the individual.

For cardiovascular diseases, a minimum of three to four leeches can be applied to each specific area during the first session. Thereafter, up to 14 leeches can be applied. This treatment is usually applied three times a week for a total of ten applications, depending on the severity of the disease.

For Valvular heart diseases, again, leeches are placed in specific areas twice a week. Treatment is usually applied for a minimum of twelve sessions.

Leech therapy is effective against these diseases, including hypertension because of its ability to relieve the stagnation of the blood in the vessels. When a leech is applied over a certain area, the blood flow to that area will increase, leading to better circulation. In fact, there are several cases where the patients’ overall wellbeing is improved after leech therapy and rejuvenation takes place.

By TTS Cofounder Omid Jaffari