TODAY there are some 300 risk factors listed for coronary heart disease and, if that doesn't raise your heartbeat a point or two, remember that specialists expect this list to grow.

Presently it includes cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity, diabetes, thiazide diuretics, heavy alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, not eating enough mackerel fish, living in Scotland, having a high level of phobic anxiety, being very stressed out and snoring.

High blood pressure is a biggie today. If you're over 55 your doctor may well have found your blood pressure too high, although it is normal for older people to have higher readings than younger ones.

Once diagnosed, you are likely to land up on a diuretic, beta-blocker or an are inhibitor (a drug class that was originally used to treat heart attack victims). Once on, it is not always possible to get off. Stopping beta-blockers, for example, could bring on a heart attack.

Today, many are looking for alternatives to depending on drugs for the rest of your life.

In Nutritional Medicine Dr Stephen Davies gives guidelines to controlling high blood pressure with diet.

• Exclude ADDITIONAL salt from the diet and AVOID obviously salty foods, such as those listing salt as a major ingredient on their labels (in the first half of the list).
• Eat potassium-rich foods like kelp, apple cider vinegar, mung beans, wheatgerm, chick peas, spinach, broccoli, kale, carrots, pumpkin and bananas to balance salt levels.
• Do not boil these vegetables as they lose a high percentage of potassium - eat them raw or steamed.
• Include calcium / magnesium supplements as more recent research has found links between low calcium and magnesium levels and raised blood pressure.
• Cut down on refined sugar, saturated fats, tea. coffee and alcohol.
• Watch other known blood pressure raisers such as the Pill, liquorice, lead, cadmium and arthritic drugs.
• Build up on mild-vigorous aerobic exercise and proven stress management techniques (sued as TM, yoga, autogenic training).
• Increase intake of soluble fibre.

Then there is the "up with garlic - down with high blood pressure'' brigade led by Dr F.G.Piotrowski, University of Geneva.
According to his study garlic treatment brings about “excellent results" in patients with abnormally high blood pressure. Subjective symptoms began In disappear three to five days after the start of treatment.

In other studies garlic produces a decided drop in Blood Pressure in most cases of hypertension. With the addition of mistletoe and / or hawthorn, the garlic action was decidedly enhanced.