Guest guest Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 Well Harry, Sure looks like one should be blamed careful with what one consumes. I wonder if Actos is different than Glucophage. What about your large doses of Niacin? Did you also increase your intake of Folic Acid? You know, before I am done I will either be well informed or Looney. If it is Looney then I will be sure to take my Folic Acid, B6 and B12. Let's see, oh yes, I do need Niacin to raise something and lower something else. Wonder if a good shot of Dewar's White Label would suffice? Cy, Crystal & Grady... homocysteine HOMOCYSTEINE CAUSES CLOTS Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from France shows that people who get clots in the heart, lungs, brain or muscles should get blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a). After a person suffers from a heart attack, stroke, or lung or muscle clot, doctors routinely look for obesity, cancer, family history of clotting, birth control pills, high cholesterol and factor V Leiden disease. They should also check blood levels of homocysteine and Lp(a). Lack of any one of three vitamins causes the clot-forming homocysteine to accumulate in your bloodstream. You can lower blood levels of homocysteine to normal by taking folic acid, vitamin B12 and pyridoxine. If you have a genetic disorder, Lp(a), that causes clots, you can lower Lp(a) to normal by taking another vitamin called niacin. So, people who suffer clots need blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a), two conditions that can be cured by taking vitamins. Red blood cell methylfolate and plasma homocysteine as risk factors for venous thromboembolism: a matched case-control study. Lancet, 2002, Vol 359, Iss 9308, pp 747-752. I Quere, TV Perneger, J Zittoun, H Bellet, JC Gris, JP Daures, JF Schved, E Mercier, JP Laroche, M Dauzat, H Bounameaux, C Janbon, P deMoerloose. HOMOCYSTEINE AND LOSS OF MENTAL FUNCTION Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from the University of California at shows that people with high blood levels of homocysteine are at high risk for loss of mental function and even Alzheimer's disease. Your body requires 20 protein building blocks called amino acids, but only nine are essential (meaning that you must get them from your food); your body can make the rest from the essential nine. It can use the amino acid, methionine, to make another amino acid, cysteine. But if you lack any one of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid, or pyridoxine, your body converts methionine to a poison called homocysteine that plugs up arteries to cause heart attacks and strokes. Anything that damages arteries can also cause loss of mental function. So people with high blood level of homocysteine are at high risk for heart attacks, strokes, and dementia or Alzheimer's disease. You can lower high levels of homocysteine by eating plenty of leafy greens and whole grains for folic acid and pyridoxine; and meat, fish or dairy products for vitamin B12. Homocysteine and cognitive function in the Sacramento area Latino study on aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003, Vol 78, Iss 3, pp 441-447. JW , R Green, MI Ramos, LH , DM Mungas, WJ Jagust, MN Haan. JW, Univ Calif , Med Ctr, Dept Med Pathol, Sch Med, Res III Room 3200A, 4645 2nd Ave, Sacramento,CA 95817 USA DRUGS THAT RAISE HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from Tulane shows that several drugs used to prevent heart attacks, raise blood levels of homocysteine and therefore may actually increase risk for heart attacks. High blood levels of homocysteine increase your risk for a heart attack. The vitamin, Folic acid, is necessary to lower blood levels of homocysteine. Anything that lowers blood levels of folic acid increases your risk for a heart attack. Glucophage, used to treat diabetes, and cholestyramine, used to treat high triglycerides, block the absorption of folic acid from the intestines to raise blood levels of homocysteine. Niacin, used to treat high cholesterol, and methotrexate, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, block metabolism of folic acid in the body to lower blood levels of folic acid. To prevent heart attacks, doctors should prescribe folic acid along with any of these drugs: methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis, Glucophage (metformin) for diabetes, cholestyramine for high blood triglycerides, or niacin for high cholesterol. Treatment with folate or vitamins B6 and B 12 lowers plasma homocysteine levels effectively. Drugs affecting homocysteine metabolism - Impact on cardiovascular risk. Drugs, 2002, Vol 62, Iss 4, pp 605-616. C Desouza, M Keebler, DB McNamara, V Fonseca. Fonseca V, Tulane Univ, Sch Med, 1430 Tulane Ave SL-53, New Orleans,LA 70112 USA HOMOCYSTEINE Report #6813 10/24/95 Almost every society that eats a lot of fat suffers a high rate of heart attacks. However, notable exceptions include French farmers who drink a lot of wine and the Greeks and Italians who eat a lot of olive oil. Some scientists attribute the French protection from heart attacks to resveritol in wine and the Greek and italian protection to the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. However, a recent report from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that their protection from heart attacks is more likely caused by the large amount of leafy green vegetables, beans and fruits that they eat (1). People admitted to Boston hospitals for their first heart attacks were found to have much higher than normal blood levels of homocysteine, a protein building block that accumulates in the bloodstream when a person's diet is deficient in the vitamins: folic acid, B6 and B12, but, those suffering from heart attacks also have low blood levels of folic acid, rather than of B12 and B6. Fruits, leafy green vegetables and beans are rich sources of the vitamin, folic acid. One of it's functions is to convert the essential amino acid, methionine, to the non-essential amino acid, cysteine. Lack of folic acid blocks this reaction, causing an intermediate product called homocysteine to accumulate in the bloodstream. Homocysteine punches holes in arteries and forms plaques and clots in them. So, not eating enough fruits and vegetables deprives you of folic acid, causing homocystine to accumulate which causes arteriosclerosis and heart attacks. Homocysteine blood tests can be used as a screening test for heart attacks on all American men today. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News 1) P Verhoef, MJ Stampfer, JE Buring, JM Gaziano, RH , SP Stabler, RD Reynolds, FJ Kok, CH Hennekens, WC Willett. Homocysteine metabolism and risk of myocardial infarction: Relation with vitamins B-6, B-12, and folate. American Journal of Epidemiology 143: 9(MAY 1 1996):845-859. 2) JAMA October 4, 1995 (More than 10% of heart attacks are caused by lack of folic acid.) You need at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day to prevent homocysteine from accumulating in your bloodstream. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. The most common cause of senility in North America is Alzheimer's disease, a horrible condition in which a person loses his capacity to reason, think, recognize and function. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who have high blood levels of a protein called homocysteine are the ones most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease(1). Former president Reagan has Alzheimer's disease, as do some Nobel Prize winners and some of the most brilliant people who have walked this earth. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that extraordinarily poor people in Ibadan, Nigeria are far less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their relatives in Indianapolis, further confirming that Alzheimer's disease is probably not genetic but is caused by something in North American lifestyle or environment (2). One in ten North Americans develop Alzheimer's disease by age 65, and 5 in 10 develop it by age 85. Alzheimer's disease means that the brain is damaged and dying brain cells mix with tangles of the protein beta amyloid. Ten years ago, the Kentucky nuns study showed that nuns who have the most ministrokes show the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, while many with lots of beta amyloid do not have signs of that disease. Anything that increases your chances of developing a stroke or a heart attack also increases your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. So the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease include smoking, being overweight, not exercising, eating a high fat diet, eating too many calories, and having high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol levels. Dietary risk factors include not eating enough vegetables; lack of omega-3 fatty acids found in whole grains, beans, seeds and deep water fish; and eating too much meat. Dr. Snowden shows in his Kentucky Nuns Study that nuns who were most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease have low blood levels of the vitamin folic acid and high levels of the protein building block homocysteine. Not eating enough leafy greens and whole grains can deprive you of the vitamin folic acid, and eating too much meat provides you with too much methionine, and the combination of these two factors raises brain levels of homocysteine, that punches holes in arteries and causes plaques to form in them to cause ministrokes, which damages your brain. Methionine is an essential protein building block that your body uses to make another nonessential building block called cysteine. If you lack any of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid or pyridoxine, methionine is converted to a poison called homocysteine that damages arteries and causes strokes, heart attacks and Alzheimer's disease. Meat is one of the richest sources of methionine, and leafy greens and whole grains are full of folic acid that prevents methionine from being converted to homocysteine. Reducing your intake of meat and poultry lowers your intake of methionine. Folic acid is found everywhere in nature that you get carbohydrates, because folic acid helps your body convert carbohydrates to energy. You can help to prevent Alzheimer's disease by getting folic acid from all whole grains and fortified cereals, leafy green vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, and many other plants; and by reducing your intake of methionine by eating less meat. 1)NEJM Feb 14, 2002. 2) JAMA February 14, 2001 To receive Dr. Mirkin's free health & fitness E-Zine each week, send a blank email to subscribe@... NEW BLOOD TESTS FOR HEART ATTACKS Report #6577 8/12/95 If you want to learn your chances of suffering a heart attack, ask your doctor to draw blood for the good HDL and the bad LDL cholesterols and newer tests called, Lp(a), homocysteine and small low-density lipoprotein. If your bad cholesterol is 100, you need at least a 40 good cholesterol to protect you. If your bad cholesterol is greater than 140, you need at least a 65 good cholesterol to protect you. However, there is far more to heart attacks than just a good and bad cholesterol. Having high blood levels of a subfraction of the bad LDL cholesterol called small LDL increases your risk for a heart attack. Another test called homocysteine also predicts heart attacks. When your diet does not provide you with adequate amounts of the vitamins B12, pyridoxine and folic acid, blood levels of homocysteine rise, damaging the walls of the arteries and causing plaques to form. Another genetic disorder called Lp(a) cause clots to form and heart attacks. A coronary profile nowadays can include blood levels of the good HDL and bad LDL cholesterols, small LDL, homocysteine and Lp(A). If your good HDL is low or your bad LDL is high, you need a very low-fat, very high-fiber diet and sometimes medications. If your homocysteine is high, you need to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans and perhaps take high potency B vitamins. If your Lp(a) id high, you need to be on high doses of niacin pills and women who lack estrogen need to take that hormone. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 I wish I could smoke all I want, drink all I want and do lots of things that I cannot go into now. Alas, a good shot of scotch would be good, but I have practically given up all those things I have enjoyed in the past. I did not give them up because of obtaining a puritan state of consciousness, but because it makes me feel bad after a while, and I might add after a short while of indulging in such delights. Now I depend on my fantasy to cheer me up. As far as I can tell Actos is different than Glucophage. Yes, I increased my folic acid from 1.2 grams to 2 grams in the past month while decreasing my niacin from 1 gram three times per day to 500 mg once per day. Still my homocysteine level rose. Some times it just seems like one is damned if they do and damned if they don't. Right now I feel like punting. RE: homocysteine > Well Harry, > Sure looks like one should be blamed careful with what one consumes. > I wonder if Actos is different than Glucophage. > What about your large doses of Niacin? Did you also increase your intake > of Folic Acid? > You know, before I am done I will either be well informed or Looney. > If it is Looney then I will be sure to take my Folic Acid, B6 and B12. > Let's see, oh yes, I do need Niacin to raise something and lower > something else. Wonder if a good shot of Dewar's White Label would > suffice? > Cy, Crystal & Grady... > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 good stuff, thanks harry! Regards, homocysteine HOMOCYSTEINE CAUSES CLOTS Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from France shows that people who get clots in the heart, lungs, brain or muscles should get blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a). After a person suffers from a heart attack, stroke, or lung or muscle clot, doctors routinely look for obesity, cancer, family history of clotting, birth control pills, high cholesterol and factor V Leiden disease. They should also check blood levels of homocysteine and Lp(a). Lack of any one of three vitamins causes the clot-forming homocysteine to accumulate in your bloodstream. You can lower blood levels of homocysteine to normal by taking folic acid, vitamin B12 and pyridoxine. If you have a genetic disorder, Lp(a), that causes clots, you can lower Lp(a) to normal by taking another vitamin called niacin. So, people who suffer clots need blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a), two conditions that can be cured by taking vitamins. Red blood cell methylfolate and plasma homocysteine as risk factors for venous thromboembolism: a matched case-control study. Lancet, 2002, Vol 359, Iss 9308, pp 747-752. I Quere, TV Perneger, J Zittoun, H Bellet, JC Gris, JP Daures, JF Schved, E Mercier, JP Laroche, M Dauzat, H Bounameaux, C Janbon, P deMoerloose. HOMOCYSTEINE AND LOSS OF MENTAL FUNCTION Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from the University of California at shows that people with high blood levels of homocysteine are at high risk for loss of mental function and even Alzheimer's disease. Your body requires 20 protein building blocks called amino acids, but only nine are essential (meaning that you must get them from your food); your body can make the rest from the essential nine. It can use the amino acid, methionine, to make another amino acid, cysteine. But if you lack any one of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid, or pyridoxine, your body converts methionine to a poison called homocysteine that plugs up arteries to cause heart attacks and strokes. Anything that damages arteries can also cause loss of mental function. So people with high blood level of homocysteine are at high risk for heart attacks, strokes, and dementia or Alzheimer's disease. You can lower high levels of homocysteine by eating plenty of leafy greens and whole grains for folic acid and pyridoxine; and meat, fish or dairy products for vitamin B12. Homocysteine and cognitive function in the Sacramento area Latino study on aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003, Vol 78, Iss 3, pp 441-447. JW , R Green, MI Ramos, LH , DM Mungas, WJ Jagust, MN Haan. JW, Univ Calif , Med Ctr, Dept Med Pathol, Sch Med, Res III Room 3200A, 4645 2nd Ave, Sacramento,CA 95817 USA DRUGS THAT RAISE HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from Tulane shows that several drugs used to prevent heart attacks, raise blood levels of homocysteine and therefore may actually increase risk for heart attacks. High blood levels of homocysteine increase your risk for a heart attack. The vitamin, Folic acid, is necessary to lower blood levels of homocysteine. Anything that lowers blood levels of folic acid increases your risk for a heart attack. Glucophage, used to treat diabetes, and cholestyramine, used to treat high triglycerides, block the absorption of folic acid from the intestines to raise blood levels of homocysteine. Niacin, used to treat high cholesterol, and methotrexate, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, block metabolism of folic acid in the body to lower blood levels of folic acid. To prevent heart attacks, doctors should prescribe folic acid along with any of these drugs: methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis, Glucophage (metformin) for diabetes, cholestyramine for high blood triglycerides, or niacin for high cholesterol. Treatment with folate or vitamins B6 and B 12 lowers plasma homocysteine levels effectively. Drugs affecting homocysteine metabolism - Impact on cardiovascular risk. Drugs, 2002, Vol 62, Iss 4, pp 605-616. C Desouza, M Keebler, DB McNamara, V Fonseca. Fonseca V, Tulane Univ, Sch Med, 1430 Tulane Ave SL-53, New Orleans,LA 70112 USA HOMOCYSTEINE Report #6813 10/24/95 Almost every society that eats a lot of fat suffers a high rate of heart attacks. However, notable exceptions include French farmers who drink a lot of wine and the Greeks and Italians who eat a lot of olive oil. Some scientists attribute the French protection from heart attacks to resveritol in wine and the Greek and italian protection to the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. However, a recent report from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that their protection from heart attacks is more likely caused by the large amount of leafy green vegetables, beans and fruits that they eat (1). People admitted to Boston hospitals for their first heart attacks were found to have much higher than normal blood levels of homocysteine, a protein building block that accumulates in the bloodstream when a person's diet is deficient in the vitamins: folic acid, B6 and B12, but, those suffering from heart attacks also have low blood levels of folic acid, rather than of B12 and B6. Fruits, leafy green vegetables and beans are rich sources of the vitamin, folic acid. One of it's functions is to convert the essential amino acid, methionine, to the non-essential amino acid, cysteine. Lack of folic acid blocks this reaction, causing an intermediate product called homocysteine to accumulate in the bloodstream. Homocysteine punches holes in arteries and forms plaques and clots in them. So, not eating enough fruits and vegetables deprives you of folic acid, causing homocystine to accumulate which causes arteriosclerosis and heart attacks. Homocysteine blood tests can be used as a screening test for heart attacks on all American men today. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News 1) P Verhoef, MJ Stampfer, JE Buring, JM Gaziano, RH , SP Stabler, RD Reynolds, FJ Kok, CH Hennekens, WC Willett. Homocysteine metabolism and risk of myocardial infarction: Relation with vitamins B-6, B-12, and folate. American Journal of Epidemiology 143: 9(MAY 1 1996):845-859. 2) JAMA October 4, 1995 (More than 10% of heart attacks are caused by lack of folic acid.) You need at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day to prevent homocysteine from accumulating in your bloodstream. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. The most common cause of senility in North America is Alzheimer's disease, a horrible condition in which a person loses his capacity to reason, think, recognize and function. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who have high blood levels of a protein called homocysteine are the ones most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease(1). Former president Reagan has Alzheimer's disease, as do some Nobel Prize winners and some of the most brilliant people who have walked this earth. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that extraordinarily poor people in Ibadan, Nigeria are far less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their relatives in Indianapolis, further confirming that Alzheimer's disease is probably not genetic but is caused by something in North American lifestyle or environment (2). One in ten North Americans develop Alzheimer's disease by age 65, and 5 in 10 develop it by age 85. Alzheimer's disease means that the brain is damaged and dying brain cells mix with tangles of the protein beta amyloid. Ten years ago, the Kentucky nuns study showed that nuns who have the most ministrokes show the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, while many with lots of beta amyloid do not have signs of that disease. Anything that increases your chances of developing a stroke or a heart attack also increases your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. So the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease include smoking, being overweight, not exercising, eating a high fat diet, eating too many calories, and having high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol levels. Dietary risk factors include not eating enough vegetables; lack of omega-3 fatty acids found in whole grains, beans, seeds and deep water fish; and eating too much meat. Dr. Snowden shows in his Kentucky Nuns Study that nuns who were most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease have low blood levels of the vitamin folic acid and high levels of the protein building block homocysteine. Not eating enough leafy greens and whole grains can deprive you of the vitamin folic acid, and eating too much meat provides you with too much methionine, and the combination of these two factors raises brain levels of homocysteine, that punches holes in arteries and causes plaques to form in them to cause ministrokes, which damages your brain. Methionine is an essential protein building block that your body uses to make another nonessential building block called cysteine. If you lack any of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid or pyridoxine, methionine is converted to a poison called homocysteine that damages arteries and causes strokes, heart attacks and Alzheimer's disease. Meat is one of the richest sources of methionine, and leafy greens and whole grains are full of folic acid that prevents methionine from being converted to homocysteine. Reducing your intake of meat and poultry lowers your intake of methionine. Folic acid is found everywhere in nature that you get carbohydrates, because folic acid helps your body convert carbohydrates to energy. You can help to prevent Alzheimer's disease by getting folic acid from all whole grains and fortified cereals, leafy green vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, and many other plants; and by reducing your intake of methionine by eating less meat. 1)NEJM Feb 14, 2002. 2) JAMA February 14, 2001 To receive Dr. Mirkin's free health & fitness E-Zine each week, send a blank email to subscribe@... NEW BLOOD TESTS FOR HEART ATTACKS Report #6577 8/12/95 If you want to learn your chances of suffering a heart attack, ask your doctor to draw blood for the good HDL and the bad LDL cholesterols and newer tests called, Lp(a), homocysteine and small low-density lipoprotein. If your bad cholesterol is 100, you need at least a 40 good cholesterol to protect you. If your bad cholesterol is greater than 140, you need at least a 65 good cholesterol to protect you. However, there is far more to heart attacks than just a good and bad cholesterol. Having high blood levels of a subfraction of the bad LDL cholesterol called small LDL increases your risk for a heart attack. Another test called homocysteine also predicts heart attacks. When your diet does not provide you with adequate amounts of the vitamins B12, pyridoxine and folic acid, blood levels of homocysteine rise, damaging the walls of the arteries and causing plaques to form. Another genetic disorder called Lp(a) cause clots to form and heart attacks. A coronary profile nowadays can include blood levels of the good HDL and bad LDL cholesterols, small LDL, homocysteine and Lp(A). If your good HDL is low or your bad LDL is high, you need a very low-fat, very high-fiber diet and sometimes medications. If your homocysteine is high, you need to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans and perhaps take high potency B vitamins. If your Lp(a) id high, you need to be on high doses of niacin pills and women who lack estrogen need to take that hormone. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 good stuff, thanks harry! Regards, homocysteine HOMOCYSTEINE CAUSES CLOTS Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from France shows that people who get clots in the heart, lungs, brain or muscles should get blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a). After a person suffers from a heart attack, stroke, or lung or muscle clot, doctors routinely look for obesity, cancer, family history of clotting, birth control pills, high cholesterol and factor V Leiden disease. They should also check blood levels of homocysteine and Lp(a). Lack of any one of three vitamins causes the clot-forming homocysteine to accumulate in your bloodstream. You can lower blood levels of homocysteine to normal by taking folic acid, vitamin B12 and pyridoxine. If you have a genetic disorder, Lp(a), that causes clots, you can lower Lp(a) to normal by taking another vitamin called niacin. So, people who suffer clots need blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a), two conditions that can be cured by taking vitamins. Red blood cell methylfolate and plasma homocysteine as risk factors for venous thromboembolism: a matched case-control study. Lancet, 2002, Vol 359, Iss 9308, pp 747-752. I Quere, TV Perneger, J Zittoun, H Bellet, JC Gris, JP Daures, JF Schved, E Mercier, JP Laroche, M Dauzat, H Bounameaux, C Janbon, P deMoerloose. HOMOCYSTEINE AND LOSS OF MENTAL FUNCTION Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from the University of California at shows that people with high blood levels of homocysteine are at high risk for loss of mental function and even Alzheimer's disease. Your body requires 20 protein building blocks called amino acids, but only nine are essential (meaning that you must get them from your food); your body can make the rest from the essential nine. It can use the amino acid, methionine, to make another amino acid, cysteine. But if you lack any one of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid, or pyridoxine, your body converts methionine to a poison called homocysteine that plugs up arteries to cause heart attacks and strokes. Anything that damages arteries can also cause loss of mental function. So people with high blood level of homocysteine are at high risk for heart attacks, strokes, and dementia or Alzheimer's disease. You can lower high levels of homocysteine by eating plenty of leafy greens and whole grains for folic acid and pyridoxine; and meat, fish or dairy products for vitamin B12. Homocysteine and cognitive function in the Sacramento area Latino study on aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003, Vol 78, Iss 3, pp 441-447. JW , R Green, MI Ramos, LH , DM Mungas, WJ Jagust, MN Haan. JW, Univ Calif , Med Ctr, Dept Med Pathol, Sch Med, Res III Room 3200A, 4645 2nd Ave, Sacramento,CA 95817 USA DRUGS THAT RAISE HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from Tulane shows that several drugs used to prevent heart attacks, raise blood levels of homocysteine and therefore may actually increase risk for heart attacks. High blood levels of homocysteine increase your risk for a heart attack. The vitamin, Folic acid, is necessary to lower blood levels of homocysteine. Anything that lowers blood levels of folic acid increases your risk for a heart attack. Glucophage, used to treat diabetes, and cholestyramine, used to treat high triglycerides, block the absorption of folic acid from the intestines to raise blood levels of homocysteine. Niacin, used to treat high cholesterol, and methotrexate, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, block metabolism of folic acid in the body to lower blood levels of folic acid. To prevent heart attacks, doctors should prescribe folic acid along with any of these drugs: methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis, Glucophage (metformin) for diabetes, cholestyramine for high blood triglycerides, or niacin for high cholesterol. Treatment with folate or vitamins B6 and B 12 lowers plasma homocysteine levels effectively. Drugs affecting homocysteine metabolism - Impact on cardiovascular risk. Drugs, 2002, Vol 62, Iss 4, pp 605-616. C Desouza, M Keebler, DB McNamara, V Fonseca. Fonseca V, Tulane Univ, Sch Med, 1430 Tulane Ave SL-53, New Orleans,LA 70112 USA HOMOCYSTEINE Report #6813 10/24/95 Almost every society that eats a lot of fat suffers a high rate of heart attacks. However, notable exceptions include French farmers who drink a lot of wine and the Greeks and Italians who eat a lot of olive oil. Some scientists attribute the French protection from heart attacks to resveritol in wine and the Greek and italian protection to the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. However, a recent report from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that their protection from heart attacks is more likely caused by the large amount of leafy green vegetables, beans and fruits that they eat (1). People admitted to Boston hospitals for their first heart attacks were found to have much higher than normal blood levels of homocysteine, a protein building block that accumulates in the bloodstream when a person's diet is deficient in the vitamins: folic acid, B6 and B12, but, those suffering from heart attacks also have low blood levels of folic acid, rather than of B12 and B6. Fruits, leafy green vegetables and beans are rich sources of the vitamin, folic acid. One of it's functions is to convert the essential amino acid, methionine, to the non-essential amino acid, cysteine. Lack of folic acid blocks this reaction, causing an intermediate product called homocysteine to accumulate in the bloodstream. Homocysteine punches holes in arteries and forms plaques and clots in them. So, not eating enough fruits and vegetables deprives you of folic acid, causing homocystine to accumulate which causes arteriosclerosis and heart attacks. Homocysteine blood tests can be used as a screening test for heart attacks on all American men today. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News 1) P Verhoef, MJ Stampfer, JE Buring, JM Gaziano, RH , SP Stabler, RD Reynolds, FJ Kok, CH Hennekens, WC Willett. Homocysteine metabolism and risk of myocardial infarction: Relation with vitamins B-6, B-12, and folate. American Journal of Epidemiology 143: 9(MAY 1 1996):845-859. 2) JAMA October 4, 1995 (More than 10% of heart attacks are caused by lack of folic acid.) You need at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day to prevent homocysteine from accumulating in your bloodstream. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. The most common cause of senility in North America is Alzheimer's disease, a horrible condition in which a person loses his capacity to reason, think, recognize and function. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who have high blood levels of a protein called homocysteine are the ones most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease(1). Former president Reagan has Alzheimer's disease, as do some Nobel Prize winners and some of the most brilliant people who have walked this earth. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that extraordinarily poor people in Ibadan, Nigeria are far less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their relatives in Indianapolis, further confirming that Alzheimer's disease is probably not genetic but is caused by something in North American lifestyle or environment (2). One in ten North Americans develop Alzheimer's disease by age 65, and 5 in 10 develop it by age 85. Alzheimer's disease means that the brain is damaged and dying brain cells mix with tangles of the protein beta amyloid. Ten years ago, the Kentucky nuns study showed that nuns who have the most ministrokes show the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, while many with lots of beta amyloid do not have signs of that disease. Anything that increases your chances of developing a stroke or a heart attack also increases your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. So the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease include smoking, being overweight, not exercising, eating a high fat diet, eating too many calories, and having high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol levels. Dietary risk factors include not eating enough vegetables; lack of omega-3 fatty acids found in whole grains, beans, seeds and deep water fish; and eating too much meat. Dr. Snowden shows in his Kentucky Nuns Study that nuns who were most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease have low blood levels of the vitamin folic acid and high levels of the protein building block homocysteine. Not eating enough leafy greens and whole grains can deprive you of the vitamin folic acid, and eating too much meat provides you with too much methionine, and the combination of these two factors raises brain levels of homocysteine, that punches holes in arteries and causes plaques to form in them to cause ministrokes, which damages your brain. Methionine is an essential protein building block that your body uses to make another nonessential building block called cysteine. If you lack any of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid or pyridoxine, methionine is converted to a poison called homocysteine that damages arteries and causes strokes, heart attacks and Alzheimer's disease. Meat is one of the richest sources of methionine, and leafy greens and whole grains are full of folic acid that prevents methionine from being converted to homocysteine. Reducing your intake of meat and poultry lowers your intake of methionine. Folic acid is found everywhere in nature that you get carbohydrates, because folic acid helps your body convert carbohydrates to energy. You can help to prevent Alzheimer's disease by getting folic acid from all whole grains and fortified cereals, leafy green vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, and many other plants; and by reducing your intake of methionine by eating less meat. 1)NEJM Feb 14, 2002. 2) JAMA February 14, 2001 To receive Dr. Mirkin's free health & fitness E-Zine each week, send a blank email to subscribe@... NEW BLOOD TESTS FOR HEART ATTACKS Report #6577 8/12/95 If you want to learn your chances of suffering a heart attack, ask your doctor to draw blood for the good HDL and the bad LDL cholesterols and newer tests called, Lp(a), homocysteine and small low-density lipoprotein. If your bad cholesterol is 100, you need at least a 40 good cholesterol to protect you. If your bad cholesterol is greater than 140, you need at least a 65 good cholesterol to protect you. However, there is far more to heart attacks than just a good and bad cholesterol. Having high blood levels of a subfraction of the bad LDL cholesterol called small LDL increases your risk for a heart attack. Another test called homocysteine also predicts heart attacks. When your diet does not provide you with adequate amounts of the vitamins B12, pyridoxine and folic acid, blood levels of homocysteine rise, damaging the walls of the arteries and causing plaques to form. Another genetic disorder called Lp(a) cause clots to form and heart attacks. A coronary profile nowadays can include blood levels of the good HDL and bad LDL cholesterols, small LDL, homocysteine and Lp(A). If your good HDL is low or your bad LDL is high, you need a very low-fat, very high-fiber diet and sometimes medications. If your homocysteine is high, you need to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans and perhaps take high potency B vitamins. If your Lp(a) id high, you need to be on high doses of niacin pills and women who lack estrogen need to take that hormone. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 27, 2004 Report Share Posted September 27, 2004 good stuff, thanks harry! Regards, homocysteine HOMOCYSTEINE CAUSES CLOTS Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from France shows that people who get clots in the heart, lungs, brain or muscles should get blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a). After a person suffers from a heart attack, stroke, or lung or muscle clot, doctors routinely look for obesity, cancer, family history of clotting, birth control pills, high cholesterol and factor V Leiden disease. They should also check blood levels of homocysteine and Lp(a). Lack of any one of three vitamins causes the clot-forming homocysteine to accumulate in your bloodstream. You can lower blood levels of homocysteine to normal by taking folic acid, vitamin B12 and pyridoxine. If you have a genetic disorder, Lp(a), that causes clots, you can lower Lp(a) to normal by taking another vitamin called niacin. So, people who suffer clots need blood tests for homocysteine and Lp(a), two conditions that can be cured by taking vitamins. Red blood cell methylfolate and plasma homocysteine as risk factors for venous thromboembolism: a matched case-control study. Lancet, 2002, Vol 359, Iss 9308, pp 747-752. I Quere, TV Perneger, J Zittoun, H Bellet, JC Gris, JP Daures, JF Schved, E Mercier, JP Laroche, M Dauzat, H Bounameaux, C Janbon, P deMoerloose. HOMOCYSTEINE AND LOSS OF MENTAL FUNCTION Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from the University of California at shows that people with high blood levels of homocysteine are at high risk for loss of mental function and even Alzheimer's disease. Your body requires 20 protein building blocks called amino acids, but only nine are essential (meaning that you must get them from your food); your body can make the rest from the essential nine. It can use the amino acid, methionine, to make another amino acid, cysteine. But if you lack any one of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid, or pyridoxine, your body converts methionine to a poison called homocysteine that plugs up arteries to cause heart attacks and strokes. Anything that damages arteries can also cause loss of mental function. So people with high blood level of homocysteine are at high risk for heart attacks, strokes, and dementia or Alzheimer's disease. You can lower high levels of homocysteine by eating plenty of leafy greens and whole grains for folic acid and pyridoxine; and meat, fish or dairy products for vitamin B12. Homocysteine and cognitive function in the Sacramento area Latino study on aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003, Vol 78, Iss 3, pp 441-447. JW , R Green, MI Ramos, LH , DM Mungas, WJ Jagust, MN Haan. JW, Univ Calif , Med Ctr, Dept Med Pathol, Sch Med, Res III Room 3200A, 4645 2nd Ave, Sacramento,CA 95817 USA DRUGS THAT RAISE HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A study from Tulane shows that several drugs used to prevent heart attacks, raise blood levels of homocysteine and therefore may actually increase risk for heart attacks. High blood levels of homocysteine increase your risk for a heart attack. The vitamin, Folic acid, is necessary to lower blood levels of homocysteine. Anything that lowers blood levels of folic acid increases your risk for a heart attack. Glucophage, used to treat diabetes, and cholestyramine, used to treat high triglycerides, block the absorption of folic acid from the intestines to raise blood levels of homocysteine. Niacin, used to treat high cholesterol, and methotrexate, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, block metabolism of folic acid in the body to lower blood levels of folic acid. To prevent heart attacks, doctors should prescribe folic acid along with any of these drugs: methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis, Glucophage (metformin) for diabetes, cholestyramine for high blood triglycerides, or niacin for high cholesterol. Treatment with folate or vitamins B6 and B 12 lowers plasma homocysteine levels effectively. Drugs affecting homocysteine metabolism - Impact on cardiovascular risk. Drugs, 2002, Vol 62, Iss 4, pp 605-616. C Desouza, M Keebler, DB McNamara, V Fonseca. Fonseca V, Tulane Univ, Sch Med, 1430 Tulane Ave SL-53, New Orleans,LA 70112 USA HOMOCYSTEINE Report #6813 10/24/95 Almost every society that eats a lot of fat suffers a high rate of heart attacks. However, notable exceptions include French farmers who drink a lot of wine and the Greeks and Italians who eat a lot of olive oil. Some scientists attribute the French protection from heart attacks to resveritol in wine and the Greek and italian protection to the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. However, a recent report from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that their protection from heart attacks is more likely caused by the large amount of leafy green vegetables, beans and fruits that they eat (1). People admitted to Boston hospitals for their first heart attacks were found to have much higher than normal blood levels of homocysteine, a protein building block that accumulates in the bloodstream when a person's diet is deficient in the vitamins: folic acid, B6 and B12, but, those suffering from heart attacks also have low blood levels of folic acid, rather than of B12 and B6. Fruits, leafy green vegetables and beans are rich sources of the vitamin, folic acid. One of it's functions is to convert the essential amino acid, methionine, to the non-essential amino acid, cysteine. Lack of folic acid blocks this reaction, causing an intermediate product called homocysteine to accumulate in the bloodstream. Homocysteine punches holes in arteries and forms plaques and clots in them. So, not eating enough fruits and vegetables deprives you of folic acid, causing homocystine to accumulate which causes arteriosclerosis and heart attacks. Homocysteine blood tests can be used as a screening test for heart attacks on all American men today. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News 1) P Verhoef, MJ Stampfer, JE Buring, JM Gaziano, RH , SP Stabler, RD Reynolds, FJ Kok, CH Hennekens, WC Willett. Homocysteine metabolism and risk of myocardial infarction: Relation with vitamins B-6, B-12, and folate. American Journal of Epidemiology 143: 9(MAY 1 1996):845-859. 2) JAMA October 4, 1995 (More than 10% of heart attacks are caused by lack of folic acid.) You need at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day to prevent homocysteine from accumulating in your bloodstream. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND HOMOCYSTEINE Gabe Mirkin, M.D. The most common cause of senility in North America is Alzheimer's disease, a horrible condition in which a person loses his capacity to reason, think, recognize and function. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who have high blood levels of a protein called homocysteine are the ones most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease(1). Former president Reagan has Alzheimer's disease, as do some Nobel Prize winners and some of the most brilliant people who have walked this earth. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that extraordinarily poor people in Ibadan, Nigeria are far less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their relatives in Indianapolis, further confirming that Alzheimer's disease is probably not genetic but is caused by something in North American lifestyle or environment (2). One in ten North Americans develop Alzheimer's disease by age 65, and 5 in 10 develop it by age 85. Alzheimer's disease means that the brain is damaged and dying brain cells mix with tangles of the protein beta amyloid. Ten years ago, the Kentucky nuns study showed that nuns who have the most ministrokes show the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, while many with lots of beta amyloid do not have signs of that disease. Anything that increases your chances of developing a stroke or a heart attack also increases your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. So the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease include smoking, being overweight, not exercising, eating a high fat diet, eating too many calories, and having high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol levels. Dietary risk factors include not eating enough vegetables; lack of omega-3 fatty acids found in whole grains, beans, seeds and deep water fish; and eating too much meat. Dr. Snowden shows in his Kentucky Nuns Study that nuns who were most likely to suffer Alzheimer's disease have low blood levels of the vitamin folic acid and high levels of the protein building block homocysteine. Not eating enough leafy greens and whole grains can deprive you of the vitamin folic acid, and eating too much meat provides you with too much methionine, and the combination of these two factors raises brain levels of homocysteine, that punches holes in arteries and causes plaques to form in them to cause ministrokes, which damages your brain. Methionine is an essential protein building block that your body uses to make another nonessential building block called cysteine. If you lack any of the three vitamins: B12, folic acid or pyridoxine, methionine is converted to a poison called homocysteine that damages arteries and causes strokes, heart attacks and Alzheimer's disease. Meat is one of the richest sources of methionine, and leafy greens and whole grains are full of folic acid that prevents methionine from being converted to homocysteine. Reducing your intake of meat and poultry lowers your intake of methionine. Folic acid is found everywhere in nature that you get carbohydrates, because folic acid helps your body convert carbohydrates to energy. You can help to prevent Alzheimer's disease by getting folic acid from all whole grains and fortified cereals, leafy green vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, and many other plants; and by reducing your intake of methionine by eating less meat. 1)NEJM Feb 14, 2002. 2) JAMA February 14, 2001 To receive Dr. Mirkin's free health & fitness E-Zine each week, send a blank email to subscribe@... NEW BLOOD TESTS FOR HEART ATTACKS Report #6577 8/12/95 If you want to learn your chances of suffering a heart attack, ask your doctor to draw blood for the good HDL and the bad LDL cholesterols and newer tests called, Lp(a), homocysteine and small low-density lipoprotein. If your bad cholesterol is 100, you need at least a 40 good cholesterol to protect you. If your bad cholesterol is greater than 140, you need at least a 65 good cholesterol to protect you. However, there is far more to heart attacks than just a good and bad cholesterol. Having high blood levels of a subfraction of the bad LDL cholesterol called small LDL increases your risk for a heart attack. Another test called homocysteine also predicts heart attacks. When your diet does not provide you with adequate amounts of the vitamins B12, pyridoxine and folic acid, blood levels of homocysteine rise, damaging the walls of the arteries and causing plaques to form. Another genetic disorder called Lp(a) cause clots to form and heart attacks. A coronary profile nowadays can include blood levels of the good HDL and bad LDL cholesterols, small LDL, homocysteine and Lp(A). If your good HDL is low or your bad LDL is high, you need a very low-fat, very high-fiber diet and sometimes medications. If your homocysteine is high, you need to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans and perhaps take high potency B vitamins. If your Lp(a) id high, you need to be on high doses of niacin pills and women who lack estrogen need to take that hormone. By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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