How to Stop Heart Disease in Its Tracks
October 01, 2023How to Stop Heart Disease in Its Tracks
Considering that half of us will die from heart disease, that's a bold statement. If you were to ask 100 cardiologists, they would likely say, "Take a statin." as their primary tool against heart disease. I am going to show you that they are probably behind the curve. They haven't fully embraced the pathophysiology of how heart disease develops. Statins inhibit the production of cholesterol. That's not the root problem. Inhibiting statins is like giving your infected finger warm soaks. Yes, it helps but some good antibiotic treats the core problem. Let me explain and see if I can convince you. (This article is a return to an important topic, just with new information.)
We have known since 1993 that the inner lining of arteries, the so-called endothelium is the barrier that controls the transport of cells, solutes, and fluids between the artery as a transport system and the extravascular space as a destination. Inflammatory mediators can make the cells of the endothelium contract, opening up intercellular gaps through which various processes lead to increased entry of larger molecules and entities like oxidized LDLs into the cell wall. Please note: the first step in developing arterial heart disease is shrinkage of cells in the lining, leaving gaps in the normal defense.
We have also known that CRP predicts cardiac mortality with far better predictive capacity than cholesterol. What's more, we have known that phosphatidylcholine infusion to experimental volunteers completely neutralizes the effects of CRP protein. Hmm. Now we are on to something! Is this suggesting that if we gave phosphatidylcholine by IV to everyone that heart disease would be ended? It's a little unwieldy, but is that an alternative cure?
From experiments done in the 1990s, we know that dysfunction in the hypoxanthine/homocysteine uric acid ecosystem generates hydrogen peroxide and that peroxide, on a linear basis increases endothelial permeability. That's step one in creating heart disease.
You see, peroxide antagonizes the relaxation qualities of nitric oxide. Once you release peroxide, you start damaging the surface membranes and create lipid peroxides and malondialdehyde. That observation was documented in 1989 by Stringer in the British Medical Journal! He noted that lipid peroxides were better predictors of heart disease than cholesterol. Triglycerides being high was also correlated. Elevated malondialdehyde is a clear indication that peroxide is damaging lipid membranes. You can measure elevated lipid peroxides and malondialdehyde in the systemic arterial system, but not in the pulmonary artery system. Why? It's as though the venous system is cleaning up the damage that starts in the heart.
Well, if it's oxidative stress that's going on, then glutathione should be low and malodialdehyde should be high. What is observed in coronary artery disease? Just that.
Guess what happens when you administer DHA-plasmalogen precursors (the next step after the previously mentioned phosphatidylcholine) to blood malondialdehyde levels in folks with very high levels (high oxidate stress). Yup, yup, yup. Goes straight down.
Oxidative stress making high lipid peroxides, high CRP, high malondialdehyde, and low gluathione is setting the table for endothelial cells to shrink and that starts the cascade of small, dense, LDLs slipping into the walls of the damaged artery. If you want to stop heart disease, that's what you should address. We don't have an easy ability to measure malondialdehyde yet but we can measure CRP and glutathione.
The problem with the statin explanation is that it sucks up all the oxygen in the room. No one ever talks about anything else. There is just too much money in statins. Imagine if we explored the oxidized endothelium a bit more, and started dismantling all the cath labs and Coronary Care Units. One person's life-saving venture is another's economic loss.
Let's repeat and summarize. Oxidative stress that makes peroxide is the first step. That likely starts with dysfunction in the ATP breakdown system that makes hypoxanthine and then uric acid. Peroxide damages lipid membranes, causing them to contract and shrink. Once you have shrinkage, LDLs can get in. They get oxidized too, making for small, dangerous LDLs.
What has changed is that we now have the oral form of plasmalogen precursors that take phosphatidylcholine into its final, useful form, plasmalogens that will populate and repair the damaged membranes that got it all started. That will be the cure.
Taking a statin is showing up for the party at 11 pm. A little late and on the wrong topic. May help a little, but let's get on with a real cure.
www.What will Work for me? I have measured my CRP for years and I'm distressed that it has been 1.7-2.8 indicating that I have a double to triple risk for heart disease. My father had a heart attack. I've been an ER doc for 25+ years and believe me, I'm a bit spooked by having heart disease. I've been to the ER for chest pain and had a stress test, that I passed. Small comfort. I've been on Prodrome Glia and Neuro (the two dominant forms of plasmalogen precursors, made from phosphatidylcholine) for over a year now. My CRP is now 0.3, below the 1.0 threshold. I have repaired my endothelium. I'm taking NO to boot. You can too. There is no toxicity to Prodrome Neuro or Prodrome Glia.
References: Br J Pharm, Asian Pac J Cancer Prevention, Jr Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Oxid Med, BMJ, Biomedical Reports, Jr of Clin Diag Research, Frontiers Dev Cell Biol,
Pop Quiz
1. What do statins do? Answer: Inhibit the manufacturing of cholesterol by your cells.
2. Why is cholesterol harmful? Answer: Small, dense, oxidized LDLs can migrate into the artery wall and accumulate in plaques that expand and plug up arteries. That process is killing half of us.
3. What is the first step in developing cardiovascular disease? Answer: Damage to the lining of your arteries caused by peroxide that causes the lining cells to shrink. (Imagine holding a candle to Saran wrap.....it shrinks)
4. What happens to CRP, the best indicator of heart disease risk, when you give plasmalogen precursor supplements? Answer: It normalizes
5. What happens to the wall of your arteries when you take Plasmalogen supplements and Nitric Oxide? Answer: You repair the root cause of artery disease.