Amazing hope for anyone at risk for heart attack or stroke! Homocysteine

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http://www.hfn-usa.com/articles/0200904homocysteine.html

 

Amazing hope for anyone at risk for heart attack or stroke!

 

If you or a friend or relative have survived a heart attack or stroke, you

know that life afterwards is forever changed. A victim of cardiovascular

disease (CVD) lives in fear of when the next attack might strike. And if you

haven't been stricken yet, count your blessings-because in the United States

alone, someone suffers a heart attack every 20 seconds, and a stroke every

53 seconds.

 

The pharmaceutical industry offers plenty of temporary fixes, including

statin drugs for reducing cholesterol, aspirin for thinning the blood, and

anti-hypertension medications for reducing blood pressure. Essentially, they

all help prolong the life of a patient with CVD. But none of these drugs is

without risk or side effects. And none of them fight the very cause of

atherosclerosis-which results in dangerous artery-clogging plaque.

 

But now, based on clinical studies, there's real hope that high levels of

homocysteine-the new established risk factor for CVD-can be significantly

reduced with vitamin B supplementation.2

 

What is homocysteine?

 

Homocysteine is a by-product of the amino acid methionine, which is

naturally found in food and your body. If the right cofactors are present,

it will eventually convert to cysteine and other beneficial compounds. If

the cofactors are lacking, it will build up to toxic levels and generate

free radicals that increase injury to arterial walls, and accelerate

oxidation and the buildup of cholesterol in blood vessels . setting the

stage for heart attack and stroke.3

 

How does homocysteine cause damage?

 

Homocysteine sets off a dangerous chain of events by irritating the inner

lining of arteries and veins. Eventually, the inside of the arteries and

veins become rough instead of smooth. As they become diseased, the inner

arterial wall thickens and results in arteriosclerosis. Cells lining the

artery proliferate and combine with protein and lipids in a mass called an

atherosclerotic plaque. Plaques are typically the first sign of

cardiovascular disease. With time, plaques gather cholesterol and fat,

finally becoming atheromas. Atheromas distort the artery wall, allowing for

calcification. When an atheroma blocks blood to the heart, it is referred to

as a heart attack. When it blocks blood to the brain, it is a stroke.

 

In addition, it was recently reported that homocysteine interferes with the

production of nitric oxide, a substance that impairs the blood vessels'

ability to dilate, or expand-which also contributes to risk of heart attack

and stroke.4

 

Millions of dollars are spent annually on drugs designed to lower blood

pressure by dilating blood vessels and reduce cholesterol. But there's a

better way!

 

The good news is that scientists have discovered Vitamins B6, B 12, and

folic acid can dramatically lower homocysteine levels!

 

Most people with a high homocysteine level don't get enough folic acid,

vitamin B6 or B12 in their diet. Supplementing with these vitamins helps

return the homocysteine level to normal.

 

In 1969, Kilmer S. McCully, M.D. of Harvard Medical School found that heart

patients had nearly 80 percent less vitamin B6 than healthy individuals. As

a result of his work, he postulated that B6 might help protect the arteries

from the damage that precedes heart disease.5 In addition, a deficiency of

vitamin B12 is associated with elevated homocysteine levels and folic acid

is essential for the proper metabolism of homocysteine.6,7 It is estimated

that by supplementing with only 400 mcg. of folic acid daily the number of

heart attacks suffered by Americans each year would be reduced by 10%. It is

also estimated that individuals with low vitamin B6 levels have a five times

greater risk of having a heart attack than individuals with higher B6

levels!

 

More than 20 case-control and cross-sectional studies on more than 2,000

subjects have provided what Harvard epidemiologist Meir J. Stampfer, MD,

calls " remarkably consistent " findings regarding the relationship between

homocysteine levels and cardiovascular diseases. Specifically, patients with

stroke and other cardiovascular diseases tend to have higher blood levels of

homocysteine than subjects without disease. Stampfer points out that

homocysteine levels do not have to be elevated by very much to increase

risk, since most of the patients in these studies had levels that were

within what is generally regarded to be the normal range.8

 

Decades after Kilmer's breakthrough study, the data continues to pour in.

One of the largest studies was reported in the 1992 report from the

Physician's Health Study. The study, which included 14, 916 male physicians,

found that men whose homocysteine levels were in the highest five percent

were three times more likely to have a heart attack over a five-year period

than men with lower homocysteine levels!

 

Homocysteine contributes to cellular aging and Alzheimer's disease

 

A recent study at the National Institute on Aging found that homocysteine

does more than just damage the arterial wall. As a major consequence of

folic acid deficiency-a particular problem with the elderly-elevated

homocysteine impairs DNA repair and may have adverse effects on multiple

organ systems during aging. Folic acid supplementation was found to help

normalize homocysteine levels, and thereby help sustain health for a longer

period of time.9

 

Alzheimer's disease

 

People with elevated levels of homocysteine had nearly double the risk of

developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a new report from scientists at

Boston University. The findings, in a group of people participating in the

long-running Framingham Study, are the first to tie homocysteine levels

measured several years before with later diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other

dementias. The report, which appeared in the February 14, 2002, issue of The

New England Journal of Medicine, provides some of the most compelling

evidence yet of an association between high plasma homocysteine and eventual

significant memory loss.

 

Another report published this summer reiterates the finding that a high

level homocysteine in blood serum and spinal fluid have consistently been

found in individuals who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.10

 

Homocysteine is a clearly established risk factor for heart disease and

stroke. But you can do something about it, and you can do it easily and

quickly!

 

To learn more about how you can prevent heart disease and stroke, click

below to read " Cardio Companions:12 Powerful Nutrients for Cardiovascular

Health. " To learn how you can increase circulation and reverse

atherosclerosis-click on " EDTA Chelation. "

 

 

References:

 

1. FMT Loehrer et al., Effect of methionine loading on

5-methyltetrahydrofolate, S-adenosylmethionine and S-adenosylhomocysteine in

plasma of healthy humans Clinical Science (1996) 91. 79-86

 

2. Klerk M, Verhoef P, Verbruggen B, Schouten EG, Blom HJ, Bos GM, den

Heijer M. Effect of homocysteine reduction by B-vitamin supplementation on

markers of clotting activation. Thromb Haemost 2002 Aug;88(2):230-5

 

3. Olszewski, A. J.; et al. " Reduction of Plasma Lipid and Homocysteine

levels by Pyridoxine, Folate, Cobalamin, Choline, Riboflavin, and Troxerutin

in Atherosclerosis. " Atherosclerosis 75 no. 1 (Jan, 1989): 1-6.

 

4. Ashfield-Watt PA, Moat SJ, Doshi SN, McDowell IF. Folate, homocysteine,

endothelial function and cardiovascular disease. What is the link? Biomed

Pharmacother 2001 Oct;55(8):425-33

 

5. McCully, K.S. " Homocysteine Theory of Arteriosclerosis: Development and

Current Status. " Atherosclerosis Reviews 11 (1983): 157-246.

 

6. Brattstrom, L.; et al. " Higher Total Plasma Homocysteine Due to

Cystathionine Beta-Synthase Deficiency. " Metabolism: Clinical and

Experimental 37 no. 2 (Feb, 1988): 175-178.

 

7. Brattstrom, L.; et al. " Impaired Homocysteine Metabolism in Early-Onset

Cerebral and Peripheral Occlusive Artery Disease. " Effects of Pyridoxine and

Folic Acid Treatment, " Atherosclerosis 81 no. 1 (1990): 51-60.

 

8. Stampfer M, Malinow M. Can lowering homocysteine levels reduce

cardiovascular risk? N Engl J Med. 1995; 332:328-329.

 

9. Mattson MP, Kruman II, Duan W. Folic acid and homocysteine in age-related

disease. Ageing Res Rev 2002 Feb;1(1):95-111

 

10. Teunissen CE, de Vente J, Steinbusch HW, De Bruijn C. Biochemical

markers related to Alzheimer's dementia in serum and cerebrospinal fluid.

Neurobiol Aging. 2002 Jul-Aug;23